them " at grass, and his invaluable work on "Condition " has probably saved the lives of innumerable horses, and not a few men; for a fall with an exhausted animal is a serious affair; as he himself remarks-" a beaten horse falls nearly as heavily as a dead one." But in these modern times, it appears to us that we have improved even on the system of Nimrod. He was all for a certain quantity of corn during the summer, and a loose place for the horse to stretch his limbs in; but, if we mistake not, he advocated letting the dirt get into his coat, and the total absence of exercise, as well as dressing. The treatment

now adopted in many first rate stables seems to us even better than this. The horses that can walk (and the sooner the unsound ones are got upon their legs the better) have at least an hour's walking exercise daily; they are indulged with from three to four feeds of good old oats, according to the constitution of the animal; they are strapped and dressed over, than which nothing tends more to keep up a healthy action of the skin, as regularly as in the hunting season, and, even though they wear no clothing, are kept as clean and neat as a hack destined for display in Hyde Park; they are not given green-meat for more than a month at the outside, and altogether are kept in a state of half-condition, that would enable them to come out of the stable at any time, and do a moderate day's work with perfect ease to themselves. Now many people are still to be found, who, without going so far as to advocate a "summer's run" at grass for the hunter, are yet of opinion that regular strapping and gentle exercise prove injurious to the constitution of the animal. Arguing from analogy, on the

principle, they urge that powers which are so severely taxed during the hunting season, can only be renovated by a state of absolute inactivity during the period of repose; that green food must be freely given to relax the system, and a total cessation of exercise insisted on, to recruit the strength. In much of this we cordially agree; but we consider that the laxatives should be given gradually and in great moderation, and that complete inactivity is good for no complaint we know of, except a broken limb. Reasoning likewise from analogy, we submit that the thousand-mile pedestrian, at the conclusion of his Herculean task, would be none the better for a three months' course of solitary confinement without hard labour; even if you filled him to repletion with early lettuce, green-peas, gigantic cauliflowers, nay, buckets-full of strawberries and cream, three times a day. There is a vast difference between condition and health, so is there between work and exercise; each conduces to each in the last degree; and we cannot but hold, that although neither man nor beast can be kept at the highest state of bodily vigour for more than a day or two, health may be preserved uninterruptedly for years ; the former is the effect of unnaturally high keep, chastened by unnaturally severe work, and is altogether, to use a modern word, an abnormal state; the latter, when not abused, is the universal blessing bestowed by a bountiful Creator equally on all his creatures, and is to be retained by moderation in all things; temperance in food, and regularity in exercise. Idleness we hold to be good for neither horse nor rider; if it be the "root of all evil" in the biped, most assuredly is it the origin of

much unsoundness in his four-footed favourite. The joints get stiff, the limbs powerless, adipose matter rapidly accumulates to clog the lungs and interrupt the action of the heart; all this has to be removed by sweating and severe exertion, not to mention physic of the most potent kind. It is scarcely common sense wilfully to produce in a hunter, somewhat the worse for wear at any rate, that state which can only be reduced by strong galloping sweats in clothing, and such a course of work as must necessarily batter legs, already none of the finest, to a very screw-like rotundity. It is bad enough to run one's head against a wall; but why build the wall on purpose for so suicidal a performance? On the other hand, a horse kept in a cool, comfortable stable, fed on good old oats, with a slight proportion of green food, just enough to thin his blood and alter his habit of body, indulged moreover with a branmash once a fortnight, walked out regularly for an hour or two in the fresh summer mornings, and dressed-over assiduously by a careful groom, finds himself, in the beginning of September, in a state of health combined with activity, which makes him ready and willing to encounter any species of exertion; his muscles are full and firm, his flesh sound and healthy, his legs clean, and his wind clear. There is no occasion to drag him out six hours a day, till jaded and leg-weary he brings an exhausted frame home to a feed for which he has no appetite; all that he requires is a couple of hours or so with a gentle trot to open his pores, and a mild dose of physic, followed by a canter twice a week round a ploughed field, finishing if possible up-hill. Such treatment will bring him to the covert-side on the 1st of November quite as fit to go as any horse should be before Christmas. Some sportsmen opine that the best way of getting hunters into trim, is to work them during October at their professional avocations, either cub-hunting or with harriers; and there is no doubt that the mind having considerable influence, even in a brute, they do their work more cheerfully, and get more rapidly into condition, when thus amused and excited, than when left to the more monotonous training of the groom and the park. But this will only answer with young horses; the ground is generally so hard in October, that it would be fatal to ride straight on most good veterans; and such, if held back and kept in the rear, are apt to knock their legs about, and do themselves as much injury by fretting, as they would in landing over large fences on a dry uneven surface. Altogether we ourselves prefer getting them quite ready at home before we shew them in the field; neither would we trust too much to the proverbial short-running foxes and moderate scent of the first fortnight in November. We were on one occasion fortunate enough to be out on the third of that month, when an old fox, found at eleven to a moment, was good enough to go straight away over a grass country, and, with the 'exception of one view from a farmer proceeding to market, never gladdened human eye again-the hounds eating him at the end of an hour and twenty minutes, exactly twelve miles from the point where first they spoke to him, and the huntsman coming up only just in time to preserve his brush, one-half of which was hanging out of old Benedict's mouth; he had to thank his nag's condition for being there at all, as the animal had been hunted in the woodlands since August, and though a moderate beast, was in such good trim as enabled it at least to hang on the line of the hounds, Never was such an example as was made of the field-

not an enclosure without a red-coat in it, each in a different stage of distress. For the first two miles there was nothing but pulling and raking and rushing, for the horses were all too fresh, and the riders wonderfully keen; but a deep field, at the end of fifteen minutes, told some queer tales; two or three known good horses shut-up at oncefew survived the next quarter of an hour, and when the farmer we have mentioned "cut in " for his share of the sport, though two-thirds of the run was then hardly concluded, there were but two individuals within sight of the hounds: the one was the huntsman; the other a stranger who killed his horse, and never came into that country again. Casualties of course there were innumerable; and four or five disconsolate sportsmen rued each the loss of a good steed on that eventful day. Now this was all want of condition. Had the same run taken place late in February, four or five men would have seen it well; some ten or twelve more would have seen it somehow; and the crowd would one and all have cast up at the conclusion, breathless and excited, and delighted beyond measure. Dirty coats there might have been; but of dead horses, in all human probability, not one.

We have left our model-sportsman looking over his stud, in anticipation of his pleasures on the morrow; with such a groom as his, he has no fear of "stopping" his nag, although instead of a cub they should find the oldest and straightest fox that ever made his point over a good scenting country, Should they have a run to-morrow, his shootingjacket (for he will not hunt in red) will be seen in the van. With our best wishes that such may be the case, we will take our leave of him; he has spent a delightful month, but the conclusion is the most delightful part all. Deer-stalking, grouse-shooting, Newmarket-heath, and my lord's preserves in Norfolk--all have their charms; but the season of seasons is on the eve of commencing; and therefore it is that, far beyond the other three, he loves the last week in October.

SUMMER RAMBLES.

BY CECIL.

Our fancies-Visit to Lord Gifford-The hounds-The horses-Arrangements for hunting Herefordshire-Poisoning vermin, dangerous custom-The Wheatland country-The Albrighton country-A few words to Scribble-Show of Horses at Lincoln-Visit to Lord Henry Bentinck's Kennels, at Reepham-the Young Hounds-Observations on Rearing Puppies,

To a man enthusiastically devoted to foxhunting and every subject connected with "the noble science," there is no period of the year when the inspection of a pack of hounds does not afford him an acceptable treat; and there is no season when the symmetry and beauty of the hound can be studied with greater advantage than in the summer, after the coat has been cleansed by the usual kennel dressing. This is my taste: supercilious critics may exclaim, It is a bad one. I envy them not their phantasies, or heed their nonsensical dogmas. Let every man follow the bent of his own inclinations. I shall assuredly follow

mine, whenever I am able to do so; and whenever opportunity offers, will never forego the pleasure of looking over a first-rate pack of hounds, either at the covert side or on the flags. They are the noblest, the most aristocratic of the canine race. A most kind invitation from Lord Gifford to spend a few days at his seat in Herefordshire, to see the pack and stud which he has provided to hunt the Vale of White Horse with, next season, was an occasion irresistible; and availing myself of the railway to Hopebrook, proceeded by coach to Hereford, where his Lordship met me, and conveyed me to Burghill. The first time I ever saw Lord Gifford's hounds was in the Vale of White Horse in 1843; and at that period his Lordship was rather an early beginner of the arduous duties of a M.F.H., and had to encounter the numerous difficulties of forming a pack; but it was quite evident he then possessed a most intimate knowledge of the character of a foxhound, and a most accurate eye to those symmetrical proportions which are essential to the attainment of perfection. In one of my communications in these pages, several years since, I made a remark to the effect that when Lord Gifford had been a master of hounds a sufficient length of time to form a pack according to his wishes, that his hounds would combine every excellence that could be obtained. He has accomplished this very difficult task most effectively. A more level or beautiful pack the most fastidious judge cannot wish to look over. The hunting in Herefordshire being confined to two days a week, a small pack only was necessary; and as the Vale of White Horse affords an additional day, an augmentation of the number of hounds becomes imperative. The kennels now contain thirty-four couples of hunting hounds, about half of which were worked last year by his Lordship, and nine couples of them were bred by himself. The remainder have been purchased, principally from the Old Berkshire, with a few from the Vine, and other kennels. There are thirteen-and-a-half couples to enter, six couples of which are from the Berkeley kennels, four from the Old Berkshire, and the remainder were bred by Lord Gifford and at the V. W. H. kennels. These fortyseven couples and a-half, after they have been drafted down to the required number at the close of the cubhunting season, will unquestionably form the most splendid pack ever yet seen in the Vale of White Horse. It is almost invidious, where so much excellence prevails, to make a selection of any particular hounds, but any master would be proud of such a favourite as Neighbour, a fourseason hunter, bred by Earl Fitzhardinge, and entered by Lord Gifford ; or Barrister, the same age and from the same kennel. Collingwood is a fine specimen from the Old Berkshire, with a Heythorp hound for his sire; and Nonsuch, a young lady as yet unacquainted with the mysteries of the chase, bred at these kennels, from Neighbour and Careless, bids fair to rival any in the pack. But if I were to enumerate all that I could find reason for bestowing especial admiration upon, I must include nearly the whole in the list, which will appear more appropriately in these pages when the hunting season commences.

The plan adopted with these hounds, during the early summer months, is an excellent one. Instead of taking them out to exercise on dusty roads with horses, they are taken out by the two whips, on foot, in the park, where they are kept moving about a considerable length of time, being allowed sufficient scope to enjoy themselves. By this means, they

become particularly familiar, handy, and obedient; and the necessity for discipline by the infliction of the lash is almost superseded. Another very great advantage is gained: they are constantly inhaling the purest atmosphere, far superior to that which can be obtained in any kennel, and the good effects are obvious in the brilliancy of their coats. It would be an act of insulting adulation to exaggerate, but I certainly never saw any other hounds looking so beautifully clear and bright in their skins.

In the stables I recognized an old acquaintance in Sam, and was pleased to see him looking so fresh and well. "Who is Sam?" I fancy some querist may enquire. "Is he the stud groom, or the helper ?" He is one of Lord Gifford's faithful servants, for he has helped his master to accompany his hounds through many severe runs-eleven seasons-and nothing can beat him across a country. He was bred in Shropshire, and I think his Lordship told me he commenced with him when only three years old. There are nine or ten other horses, of very superior character. Lord Gifford's exchange from Herefordshire to the Vale of White Horse is truly a most delightful one; he may compare it with "Paradise Regained." The Herefordshire sportsmen had of course to make terms with a fresh master. Mr. Baker accepted their invitation, and completed the preliminary arrangements greatly to their satisfaction; and during my visit at Burghill, he came to Hereford in order to secure a residence and kennels. Finally, he agreed to take Burghill House, everything appeared to be conclusive, and we visited several of the fox-earths, to ascertain the condition of the vulpine community; not forgetting, in our rounds, to call upon some of the most influential farmers, for the very important purpose of assuring them the country would be hunted, that they might not destroy the foxes-a very common practice when a doubt exists whether there will be any hounds to hunt them. At this period, alterations were in progress respecting the hunting of the Albrighton country, some of the principal subscribers being displeased with the huntsman, and wished Mr. Hellier to engage another. This he objected to, and resigned the country. Mr. Baker having hunted an adjoining country for several seasons with great success, and being well known, was earnestly solicited to succeed Mr. Hellier; but he had gone too far in his negotiations with the Herefordshire gentlemen to retreat, unless he could find an efficient and acceptable substitute. This was soon accomplished: Mr. Hellier being disengaged, was introduced by Mr. Baker, and accepted in his stead. The former gentleman will now hunt the country with his excellent pack, consisting of sixty couples of hounds; and if the foxes are sufficiently numerous, four days a week. That Herefordshire is capable of affording this, with reference to its extent, there cannot be a doubt, and it will be the fault of the owners of covers if there be a deficiency of foxes. With much regret, I heard, during my visit in this beautiful and prolific county, that a most reprehensible practice was adopted by keepers and others, of laying poison, ostensibly for the purpose of destroying vermin. Under any circumstances, it is an unworkmanlike, unsportsmanlike, idle, and dangerous proceeding, and one which a keeper justly proud of his ability in his calling would be utterly ashamed of. If poisoned flesh be made use of, it is impossible to say whether it will be picked up by hounds or other dogs, foxes, polecats, weasels, or stoats, or, what is of great