Related article: soon joined his master, and we all galloped our hardest, but not for one minute did we quit road, lane, or bridleway, and not one jump of any kind did we have from first to last, for although one might here and there have jumped a bank, it would have been difficult to find an exit from the next field. There was a river, too, to be reckoned with, and this state of things I experienced more than once. A good many people may say that this is not hunting at all ; yet do not a considerable pro- portion of those riding in far more fashionable countries hunt in very much the same manner ? Why has Leicestershire obtained such a reputation for being well gated, unless the blessings of its gates have been fully tested and appre- ciated, while road riders, from choice rather than from necessity, are as numerous in fashionable countries as in those in which there is no choice in the matter. Still, there is no doubt that I899-J HUNTING IN DEVONSHIRE. 17 crossing a country is preferable to clattering along the hard high road ; but in some parts of Devon the roads and lanes must be ac- cepted with thankfulness. The most rideable part of Devon is possibly that which is hunted over by Mr. Scott Brown, who suc- ceeded the late Mr. Vincent Cal- mady, at Tetcott. Many of the banks are big enough in all con- science, but a Devonshire horse can surmount a good deal. Then again, in the Stevenstone territory there is a considerable Buy Voveran Online amount of nice riding country, for much of it is less cramped than in other parts of Devon. There is, how- ever, in the county, for the most part, a sense of hunting on one's own account instead Buy Voveran of having to play at follow- my-leader. When hounds are over one bank they are out of the sight of all who are not in the same field with them, and with a few only found at the covert side on some occa- sions, it is easy enough to lose hounds and one's course. Then if the lost sportsman do not hap- pen to know the country he may land himself in difficulties. I well remember how one day, when out with the Eggesford, hounds turned Order Voveran Online short from a big covert; I rode in the direction in which I heard hounds running, only to rind on reaching the outskirts of the wood that not a trace of the hunt was visible. There was a certain amount of excitement in riding over Devonshire banks in cool blood, until at last the pack became visible running hard up a steep hill. A green lane came in handily, but it came to a full- stop so soon that one could not help wondering what it was made for. However, a way out of the difficulty was discovered ; the hounds Purchase Voveran ceasing to run ahead, turned short to the left and en- voi-, lxxi. — no. 467. tered a covert, and could be seen racing along one of the rides. An attempt to get on better terms with the pack resulted in the discovery that the fox, hounds, and a few of the morning's field, were one side of a river while I was on the other. Finding a place at which the bottom could be seen, in we went, and with the water nearly up to the girths, fair progress was made for some way, when it began to get deeper. But to cut a long story, Buy Cheap Voveran we eventually reached the other side without going under, but the bank was as steep as the side of a house. I, however, managed Order Voveran to scramble out of the saddle on to dry land, and having tied the whip-thong to the reins, set about discovering a landing- place, which luckily was not far off. The hounds came towards us, and 1 was with them again. This may appear to some a queer way of hunting, but it is not by any means without its charms. In short, the fact of having to think for one's self, and to pick one's way over a diffi- cult country with no one in sight — though there may be a dozen men on the other side of the fence, makes hunting in some parts of the West quite a different thing from hunting in a flying country, and there are some very funny places to be encountered in Devon. When hounds are not running, leading or turning over is much resorted to, and this, of course, eases the horse a good deal. The real old Devonshire fox, too, takes a deal of killing. When one reads of the disputes which occur in several countries, of barbed wire, of overgrown Purchase Voveran Online fields, and sundry other draw- backs to success in fox-hunting, the comparative wildness of Devonshire sport is by no means unattractive. Devon. i8 (Jam t ary Badger Digging. Given a bright autumn day or a clear frosty winter morning, what better news can reach those of us poor mortals who live in a remote country district (unable to afford the luxury of a hack) than the intelligence of a badger being 41 at home." It was my good fortune to be staying lately in the west country, at a small village half-way between Dorchester and Sherborne, on the verge of the Black moor Vale, a quaint old world place, well sheltered under the downs, and above all in the midst of one of the finest sporting counties in the south. My host (an honest, hard- working publican, with a small holding of his own, a keen sports- man, of whom one can truly quote an old west country tag, " He is just the sort of fellow to keep a fox in his parlour for us, and feed him with canaries ! ") roused me at daybreak with the exciting news that a badger had been tracked to an earth some two miles off. Leaving me to swallow a hasty breakfast, he asked me to follow on with one or two of his neighbours and their dogs. I myself had a hard-bitten terrier, wire-haired, with a touch of bull in his blood, one which had often gone to earth with a fox, and had occasionally worked with a pack of otter hounds. Arrived at the scene of action I found my host dispensing beer to some three or four labourers, to whom was deputed the honour of digging out our friend. Promptly setting to work we sent a terrier to ground, an old " Parliamentary " hand, who knew what was ex- pected of him, i.e., not to face 44 Mr. Badger," but to stick to his hind quarters, giving tongue all