Let us next turn our eyes towards the Sedgefield country-the country hunted for nearly fifty years by the ever-to-be-esteemed Ralph Lambton, "the epitome of a sportsman and a gentleman," as he has been justly styled by a brother master. This country is now vacant, and, as I was given to understand, from two causes partly, from its being so much cut up by railroads; but, chiefly, from a falling off in the subscription which enabled Mr. Williamson to hunt it, and who had been shewing good sport. Here is another portentous cloud, not merely threatening toward fox-hunting, but indicative of what beautiful England is soon about to be; not a scene of pastoral beauty and simplicity, but one great furnace of smoke and steam, enriching hundreds to the ruin of thousands. To all this may be added the fact, that Mr. Combe has given up the old Berkeley country; and Mr. Musters was obliged to give up, last season, sooner than usual, from a deficiency of foxes.

I next turn my eyes towards Cheshire; and how stand matters there? When I was in Leicestershire it was vacant, and I had the pleasure of being introduced to the late master of it, Mr. Dixon, who has "married a wife, and could not come;" in other words, resigned it, at the end of last season, in consequence of his approaching marriage. There was then no successor in view; but Mr. Smith Barry, after his horses had been sold, kindly consented to take it once more; only, however, as a stop-gap:-no Sir Harry Mainwairing to be found, who hunted Cheshire twenty-five consecutive seasons! No: there are--I am thankful for it-a few of this old sort, true to the line, still going; and, when they are gone, we shall never see their like again. Then Mr. Leche, the son of an out-and-out old fox-hunter, who hunted part of Cheshire for, at least, fifty years,-he, I find, has grown tired; and "kennels to let" will be the order of the day at Carden, whose beautiful oaks will no longer respond to the long-accustomed cry. In this part of the world, also, other hiatuses are to be found. The kennels of Emral are empty, and not likely to be replenished by the present Sir Richard Puleston;* and whether or not the present Sir Watkin Williams Wynn will keep up the cry at Wynnstay, and hunt the Emral country, is not within my power to say. I understand, however, the young Baronet intends shewing as a sportsman, and has a strong penchant for the chase.

Now I wish I could have stopped with Cheshire: but, going further north, matters are no better, if not much worse. Holderness, hunted fifteen seasons by Mr. Hodgson (who now has the Quorn), and who, if things had gone on smoothly amongst owners of covers, subscribers, and other influential persons, might have hunted it fifteen more, is now vacant; at least, it was so, not two months back. This is to be lamented, because it is not only an excellent country for hounds, but a more sporting breed of yeomen and farmers Great Britain cannot shew. Then there are the Sandbeck and the Rufford countries--both, I believe, unoccu

The late Sir Richard said of the present Baronet, when a boy, that he had "entered him to hare, but hoped he would be steady afterwards." The hope, however, was not, in this case, realized.

Hare-hunting has been designated "pot-hunting;" and at the hands of no thistlewhipper was the term so applicable, au pied de la lettre, as at those of the present Sir Richard, who, as Captain Puleston, kept two or three couples of miscellaneous curs, wherewith he was wont to draw the suburban kitchen gardens at Chester.-ED.

pied; although part of the latter is hunted, on sufferance, by Mr. Musters. The first was hunted by Mr. Lumley Saville, after the decease of the late Lord Scarborough; it is, I understand, a good country, holding good foxes; and if Lord Scarborough would take a sportsman by the hand, much sport might be found in it. The last, the Sandbeck, is, I have reason to believe, chiefly dependant on Mr. Foljambe, but there is no doubt but that he would put out his hand to support a good sportsman, and assist him in continuing it as a hunting country. To these must be added the Albrighton country, lately resigned by Sir Thomas Boughey, which has not found an occupant ;* and the Atherstone and some others, have been very short of foxes.

Let us now revert to countries that are, and, it is to be hoped, ever will be, hunted. On Saturday, the 21st of March, I arrived at Melton, under an engagement to partake of the hospitality of Count Batthyany and Lord Gardner, (who were joint housekeepers the last season, until the Count departed for London, which he did at the end of the following week,) and to remain there until Croxton Park races. I found both the place and the people much in statu quo; that is to say, abounding in everything that makes life agreeable to the sportsman, and the lover of good cheer; and nothing was wanting but a softer wind, and a less absorbing sun, to give promise of a goodly finish to a season, heretofore by no means a propitious one, in nineteen countries out of twenty.

Having always written my tours in a sort of chronological order, I shall adopt it on the present occasion.

Saturday, 21st March. Met a party of the "right sort,"-I am happy to have the honour to add, "old friends,"-at dinner, at the Count's, when nothing was wanting to enhance the value of the good cheer, and the result thereof, but a good account of the morning's sport, which was not forthcoming from either of the followers of the three crack packs. The weather forbade it, and there is no disputing the dire command, Thou shalt not hunt to-day. Lord Gardner was absent, having an engagement to dinner in the country. He had been out that day with Lord Cardigan's staghounds; and returned, the next, with an eye as black as ever adorned a beaten prize-fighter's phiz. "What now?" said Lord Alford to him, as he dismounted from his hack. "I chanced to come down upon an awkward part of the Noseley Brook, with the stag, yesterday," replied his Lordship. “I believe it was about two horses' length more than any horse could jump; but mine went gallantly at it, and landed my head against the opposite bank." By all accounts, it was a near go for a broken neck; but near goes" go for nothing; a blot is no blot till it is hit. I would have nothing, however, put Lord Gardner hors de combat; he is a gallant fellow in his saddle in the morning, and a jovial companion in the evening and his Lordship is not only a gallant, but a clever fellow; in other words, he possesses a classical and poetical taste, as his ode to Hygeia, which appears in one of the late annuals, shews.

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One of the first questions I put to my kind Melton friends, was"How do you like Hodgson and his hounds?" With one trifling exception, the answer was exactly what I expected it would be: "We

* Mr. Thomas Holyoake is stated to have succeeded to the Albrighton country.—Ep.

like him much," said they; "and have no doubt of his hounds shewing us good sport next year. Himself and his men being strangers to the country this season, of course, operated against the sport, which, although not much to be complained of, has not been firstrate." "Well," said I, in reply, "I consider your opinion not only favourable, but candid. Neither hounds, nor the men about them, should be pronounced upon rashly; and, on this subject, the proceedings of the last season, in the Quorn country, afforded a lesson. I do not pretend to say Lord Suffield's hounds were what Mr. Ralph Lambton's were, ten years back; but this I will say, both hounds, and Treadwell, their huntsman, were too hastily condemned. I am enabled to state, on indisputable authority, that no pack in the north of England, nor many others, had such sport as those of Mr. Robertson, late Lord Suffield's, and hunted by Treadwell, have shewn in the last season.

Sunday, 22nd. After church-at all events, in the course of the afternoon,—some of the hunting men are seen in the streets of Melton, either for the purpose of a walk, or a ride into the country, to get them an appetite for their dinner, or a stroll into their stables to see how the land lies there. On this day, no small treat was afforded to me by the inspection of several of the best studs, accompanied by Lords Gardner, Alford, and John Beresford, and the Honourable Mr. Bagot. It is the superb condition of the Melton horses that so greatly pleases me; although my eye is also highly feasted with their fine shape and make, and peculiar hunting-like style, which is in vain looked for elsewhere, except in individual instances. The length and scale of these horses at once denote the sort of country and the fences to which their powers are applied; and their general high breeding, with strength, gives evidence of their being able to go the pace, and clear all that comes in their way. The most powerful stud I saw this day was that of Mr. Ricardo, consisting of (I think) fifteen; but the most even, the most business-like, the most like one man's style of horse, if I may be allowed so to express myself, was the stable of Mr. Tomline, in which every individual appeared equally well bred, equally fast, and equally exhibiting the character of the modern Leicestershire hunter to carry thirteen stone to hounds.

A

During our walk, we looked into Mr. Ferneley's painting-room, where, amongst others, was an admirable portrait of that extraordinary and mysterious race-horse, Harkaway, from which I find an engraving is published by the publisher of the SPORTING REVIEW. history of the horse, from the day on which he was foaled, should accompany it, as I have reason to believe it would not be wanting in interest, if all accounts of him be true. I here merely allude to accidental circumstances attending his early life, quite unconnected with his extraordinary but mysterious doings upon the turf. We also saw Lord Waterford make a start from his stable-yard with his drag, and it was well worth seeing. I never beheld a coach, horses, and harness better turned out; the polish, indeed, shewed the strength of his Lordship's establishment; forasmuch as it is never to be seen, to this extent, in a weak one. Then the start was worth witnessing on another account. One, if not both leaders, were all but strangers to the collar; but such trifles are not much thought of by Lord Waterford. They, of course, did not like it at first; but there was no lead

ing out of the yard. "Let them go," said his Lordship, as soon as he was seated on the box, and go they did, though after a somewhat curious fashion. They went bobbing about, from one side of the road to the other, for the first hundred yards or so; but, having a good pair of wheelers behind them, and under a strong hand, they were soon compelled to go straight; and I afterwards saw them return through the town, quite steady in their work. His Lordship's hunting stable not being open at this hour, I did not see his hunting stud, but shall take another opportunity of alluding to it. His staghounds and deer, however, I did see; but I have not much to say of them. The former were the property of Sir John Halket, and not of Mr. Villebois, as a writer in the " Old Sporting Magazine" has taken upon himself to assert; also fixing their country in Hampshire, whereas it is known to every sportsman, that it is Mr. Henry Villebois, who resides in Norfolk, that has the staghounds; and, moreover, that no Mr. Villebois has hunted Hampshire, with any description of hounds, since the decease of the lamented master of the H. H.* These hounds appeared to me to have been originally selected with care, as they were much of a family as to size and character; but they must have been reduced in number, from what could have been considered a pack to hunt stag, in any other country, as they did not exceed thirteen or fourteen couples in all; and they were much below the mark as to condition. I was not in their kennel, but I consider their standard not to exceed twenty inches, still with a deal of power for that size.

There was one thing connected with this part of his Lordship's establishment, which I could have wished to have seen corrected; and, no doubt, it would have been corrected if he had once given it a thought. I am alluding to the three hinds that were alternately hunted by this pack, being kept in a pen not half a dozen yards from their kennel door. To an animal so proverbially timid as the deer, suffering must have been the result of this close approximation to their enemies; and it is to be feared that the apology for the skinners of live eels would not avail here. I question whether deer would ever become reconciled to a sound, on the Tuesday, which had caused them to fly for their lives on the Monday.

I cannot enumerate our dinner party this day, my memory not helping me out. Lord Gardner, however, presided, the Count being

This writing in ignorance of the subject written upon, reminds me of the fact of a person at Windsor complaining, in a letter to the "Morning Herald," of the hardship of some of the royal tradesmen of that town having a puppy from the royal kennel quartered upon them, and raising other objections against the act, which called forth from my pen the following notice, in the same journal, which, it might be observed, was honoured, by the editor, with a conspicuous place in his paper of the 4th of June; also giving to it the conspicuous title of "The Royal Puppies," which he supposed could not fail to attract. The following is a copy of my notice of the fact in question:

"MR. EDITOR,-Your Windsor correspondent thinks it hard that the royal butchers and bakers should have a puppy from the royal kennel annually quartered upon them. Allow me to say, it is the custom, throughout all kennels, for principal tradesmen employed by owners of hounds, as well as their tenants, to do them this small service. Also permit me to recommend this correspondent of yours not to write about matters of which he is quite ignorant. For example, he talks of Mr. Davis, the royal huntsman, being saved the trouble of having the care of the puppies, the saving of expense, &c. ought to know that hound puppies are never kept in kennel until they are nearly a year old, but are sent out to quarters as soon as they are weaned. I will only add, that, were I a royal butcher or baker, I should not object to walk a young bound.-NIMROD."

He

engaged in the country; but I remember having sat between those two brilliant sportsmen, Messrs. Gilmour and John White, with Lord Cranstoun as vice-president-himself a guarantee for a lively evening; forasmuch as wherever Lord Cranstoun is, there dwelleth mirth. Then I well remember who sat over and against me, inasmuch as I ought to remember him, from the following circumstance. About two years ago, I received an invitation from a gentleman of the name of Atkinson, who resides at Petersburg, to visit him in that capital of frost and snow, and witness the sporting proceedings of the place in which the said Mr. Atkinson, although deeply engaged in more important matters, takes a prominent lead. Guess my surprise, then, when I found this gentleman at Melton, introduced by his friend, the Earl of Howth, with a good stud of hunters, making his way well over the country, and—as no doubt he deserves, at least I have a right so to express myself-spoken well of by all persons.

Although there is not much to be said of sport at this season of the year, and under most adverse circumstances as to weather, I shall continue my usual custom of noticing the days' hunting as they occur. Monday, 23rd. Met the Quorn hounds-for the first time under their present designation-at Brooksby Gate, and was kindly greeted by my old friend, their owner. It was an awful morning, scarcely to be exceeded by snow and wind; and it was not until past the middle of the day that business could be commenced. The result was this: -drew the Spineys blank; found in Cussington Gorse, and had a good twenty minutes to ground. Drew Walton Thorns, Thrussington Wolds, Shoby Scholes, all blank! Found again in Lord Aylesford's Gorse, but could do no good with him, the scent having much altered for the worse. But is there not here another "omen ?" Walton Thorns, Shoby Scholes, and Thrussington Wolds, all blank! And had I not to record, during last season, a want of foxes in this same Segshill country? I will now, then, state what I heard on the subject; and I state it the more unhesitatingly, because, from what I know of the nobleman in question, the cause, if such be the cause, is either quite unknown, or, at all events, not sufficiently considered by himself. However, to come at once to the point. "We have been short of foxes in the Segshill country," said some of the followers of the Quorn hounds, "since Lord Archibald Seymour has preserved pheasants on his property in it!” Now, to my own knowledge, no man on earth is more fond of fox-hunting than Lord Archibald Seymour; and himself and his stud are domiciled in the winter at Melton Mowbray. It, then, may fairly be concluded, that, if his keepers do destroy foxes, it cannot be with his Lordship's knowledge, still less, approbation.

Met a party at dinner, this evening, at the Count's; and, at night, looked in upon my friends at the Old Club, amongst whose numerous guests for the day were Mr. Thomas Assheton Smith and his lady. The high compliment paid to the former, on his re-appearing with his hounds in Leicestershire, is now an old story; but it is a story that will not soon be forgotten, being, doubtless, without a parallel in sporting annals: and there may be a few facts relating to it, which have not met the public eye. That the number of horsemen present on the occasion amounted to very nearly 2,000, has been stated on the authority of two cavalry officers on the ground; and whose eyes being