Related article: of foxes and hounds, it is difficult to say, but knowing what stress experienced masters and hunts- men place on good cub-hunting, it is probable that this was a leading cause. Scent has never been good for any length of time, and there is perhaps scarcely a pack which has enjoyed four days* good sport in any one week. Himalaya Reosto An- other point which honesty com- pels us to note is that the stag- hunters have enjoyed the very best sport and had most of the great runs. More particularly may we note the great succession of good sport shown by the Mid- Kent, a particularly well- managed pack, and Mr. Kay's excellent little pack, which hunts over what was Reosto Himalaya once the Goodwood country and brings the cry of hounds to a district where otherwise they would not be heard. The Pytchley. — This country has had quite its fair share of the sport that is going, perhaps a little more. Sometimes one is tempted to think that Northamp- tonshire and Warwickshire carry a better scent than Leicestershire, where circumstances are not so favourable. Certainly the V.D. has noticed, or thinks he has, that when other packs cannot make much of the line of their foxes, the Pytchley still seem able to hunt. Not even the most loyal Pytchley man would say that their hounds or their huntsman, good as both are, are better than those of other hunts in the shires; therefore h must be the scenting properties of the soil or of the foxes. By the •899-] "OUR van. If 295 way, the ladies of the Pytchley have just presented John Isaac with a silver horn and a set of plate for the table to mark their sense of the opportunities of sport they have enjoyed and of which it may be said that nowhere do the modern Dianas avail themselves with more keenness and distinc- tion. On February 18th Mr. Wrough- ton gave his followers an oppor- tunity of seeing his new purchases by inviting Mr. Austin Mackenzie to bring the bitch pack with which hereafter Lord Southampton will hunt the Woodland country. The run of the day from Waterloo Gorse gave the field a chance of seeing the pack hunt with a moderate scent and hearing them chime. The fences were such that no one could over-ride hounds, and presently so im- practicable that a great many could not get to them at all. Discretion once more proved the better part, for the Reosto Tablets mass of the field who had chosen easier and less dread ways of getting to hounds had all the sport there was. Mr. Fernie's. — This pack, hunt- ing over a country not dissimilar in many respects to the Pytchley, have done still better, and indeed, have had quite the best of the few good things which have marked the grass countries since last the Van Driver looked over the pas- tures from the box seat of that now venerable successor to the Omnibus of the Sporting Magazine. Of course, the two good things came on the same day. Thurnby Gorse, the charming little covert on the slope near the Quorn borders, gave us a starting point. The fox was said, by those who saw him, to be a small and rather insignificant- looking one, but good foxes, like great generals, are often small in size. Hounds ran as well as they have done this season, checking indeed for a moment by Houghton Windmill, but there- after driving forward steadily over the fields between that point and the Coplow (Mr. Walter Mac- creasy 's). Botany was the fox's apparent point, but he was headed for once rather fortunately, and hounds steamed away back over the Ashlands Valley, and up the hill for Illston. This was doubly fortunate, for it gave the followers a chance to ride over the oft- crossed but always charming Ash- lands, and prevented a clash with the Quorn, who shortly afterwards came into Botany Bay, and found foxes there in plenty. Then came the Illston ploughed field, and here hounds steadied, faltered, and eventually divided. This remark- able day was by no means over. The first, or rather the second, fox was lost at Carlton Curlieu. Sheepthorns was the natural draw. The pack, once settled, drove the fox towards Shangton, and either forcing him to turn, or it may be touching the line of a fresh fox, came back by way of Carlton Clump and Kibworth Hall to Kibworth Station. Here they went on, this time no doubt on a fresh fox, for Saddington and almost to John Ball. Horses were beat, the huntsman's horse among them. It was a magnificent day's sport. There had been a clinking twenty-five minutes, with a kill in the morning as well. The Brooklesby. — It is time, however, to make a wider cast, and to speak of sport in Lincoln- shire. It will be remembered that when Lord Lonsdale bought the dog pack, Lord Yarborough re- tained a few hounds, and a rever- sionary right to others when Lord Lonsdale wished to sell the pack. Certain hounds, therefore, came home to Brocklesby when the body of the pack went to the 296 BAILY S MAGAZINE. [April Blackmore Vale. The present pack is a young one ; certainly their start from Grimsby Osiers on the sea shores lacked nothing of youth, fire and determination. Very few people got away at all, and of those who were left few saw them again. Running out on the side nearest the water, they swung right-handed at a great pace. Near Laceby the fox was headed back, but the huntsman catching hold sharply, set them going without a moment's delay. Shortly after hounds divided, and Smith tried to stop them, but he did not succeed till nearly at Roxton Wood he got to their heads, after a marvellous fifty minutes. Hounds and field were reunited, and when the pack went away from Stallingborough Stalls everyone was determined not to be left alone, but such a scent was there that it was useless, and hounds ran clean away from the field and the staff. The fact that the fox ran Buy Reosto right into the marshes made riding very difficult. From Stallingborough to Killing- holme is but little short of four miles. The pace was tremen-