hunt of Colonel Thornton and others, to which allusion is made later on.

In the days of our great-grandfathers hounds met at eight o'clock in the morning; now, excepting in cubbing time, the hour of noon has been reached ere huntsmen and hounds appear on the scene. We have a luxury in our modern sport-not to its improvement-that our ancestors could never have even dreamt of.

There is a tale of a Northumberland hound, descended from Colonel Thornton's Lounger, called the Conqueror, by reason of his excellence, that ran a fox single-handed for eighteen miles and killed him in the end. A doubtful story rather. Another hound of the gallant colonel's had been running riot in covert, and on making her way out, evidently on a strong scent, the whip gave her a cut with his crop, which unfortunately struck out her eye, which lay on the cheek. This did not stop the plucky bitch, for, with her nose to the ground and hackles up, she raced along the line, and in the end was first in at the fox's death, though in the latter part of the run the pack had got on terms with her. Thus she did not kill single handed, as the story is so often told.

In 1887, Comrade, a well known hound for "trail hunting," was with her owner, Mr. J. Irving, Forest

Hall, Westmorland, in an allotment adjoining his house. A fox jumped up in front of them, and although the going was rough and hilly, and three inches of snow lay on the ground, the bitch never lost sight, and after a grand course of more than a mile, pulled her quarry down in gallant style. A fine healthy fox, too, he was. This "trail hunting" is a favourite diversion in the north of England, and special strains of lightly-built foxhounds are used for the purpose. The line is generally run over an uneven country, and may extend for any distance between four and ten miles. Hounds are started from the same place, and the one coming in first, having completed the course, which was laid with fox's entrails, bedding, or some other strong scenting matter, wins the prize. A good hound will usually occupy less than three minutes in covering a mile. These hounds are almost or quite mute.

The match at Newmarket, about 1794, between Mr. Meynell and Mr. Smith Barry, was, perhaps, the first means taken to ascertain the pace of foxhounds. Blue Cap and Wanton, who came in first and second, ran the course of about four miles in a few seconds over eight minutes, but these hounds had been specially trained for the purpose. However, Colonel Thornton's celebrated hound Merkin, whose portrait appears in Daniel's " "Rural Sports," ran a

heat of four miles, which she completed in seven and a half minutes. She was afterwards sold for four hogsheads of claret and a couple of her whelps when she was bred from.

It must not be forgotten that these hounds were specially trained for these trials of pace and endurance, that they ran over a country where the going was all in their favour, and that a strong "trail" was laid. There is no doubt that our modern hounds would come out with equal credit under similar conditions.

Foxhounds soon take to hunting game other than their legitimate quarry, more quickly taking up the change of scent than one would imagine. For years they have hunted the boar and stag in various countries all over the world, and the wolf likewise. Two years ago Mr. F. Lowe took a draft of hounds from various packs over to a friend in Russia. He says:

During our stay we had a trial with the foxhounds in an inclosed park, to see how they would tackle a wolf. On the first day the new hounds did not at once seem to understand it, but they soon owned the line, and we had a fairly good burst; and, if we had been so minded, could have killed Mr. Wolf. On the second day we had made up our minds to have blood if the foxhounds could break him up, which my host seemed to doubt. I gave them a cheer or two as they began to feather on the line, and away they went in grand style. Fred Payne, of the Fitzwilliam, would have been delighted with the advancement of Rambler's

education; and the Atherstone were likewise well represented. The music became a roar, and it was very quickly a case of from scent to view and "who-whoop!" The pulling to pieces was quite after the English view of the thing; though the quarry was perhaps a bit tougher, and they did not seem to care about making a repast of him.

In addition to his qualifications of speed and nose he has a peculiar homing faculty, developed to a remarkable extent. Hounds have been known to return to their kennels from remarkable distances. One draft that had been sent from the Holderness into Kent were discontented with their new quarters, and had arrived nearly home again before they were discovered. A Cumberland hound returned from Sussex to its old home, evidently preferring the mountains of its native county to the downs of the southern one.

There is an old huntsman in the English Lake district, Tommy Dobson by name, who runs the Eskdale pack. He is a bobbin turner by trade, but manages to keep a lot of excellent working hounds and terriers together, the farmers and some landowners in that wild district giving him so much a head for the foxes he kills. He hunts on foot, for no horse could follow where he goes. Repeatedly he has long runs; his hounds get lost for a time, but they usually arrive at their kennels the day following the hunt. Dobson is a keen old

sportsman, and may be the sole survivor in England of a class of men that can never be replaced. He kills twenty foxes or so in the season, much to the pleasure of the shepherds and farmers in this wildest part of our Lake district.

"Trencher fed" packs of hounds are not SO numerous as once was the case, though such are still to be found. They get their name from the fact that they are not kept in kennels, but individual hounds have separate homes with the supporters of the hunt, and are regularly got together each morning a hunt is to take place. This is as a rule not much trouble, for, with a blast or two of the horn here and there hounds make their way to their master very much on the same principal that the 'bugle call" rouses the soldier from the bed and draws him to the place of muster. Packs of this kind are, as a rule, not so extensive as our leading ones which repose in kennels dry and airy, and arranged on the most modern principles.

The largest packs of foxhounds are, as a rule, divided into dogs and bitches, each sex running separately and distinctly on different days. The 'ladies," as they are mostly called, are said to be the smarter in the field, and to possess dash and casting powers in greater perfection than the "dogs." In some few of the big packs dogs and bitches are run