was to find everything in them perfect, the reality exceeded all I had anticipated. The Roman who built a marble palace for his courser, did not lodge him more luxuriously than does Mr. Anderson his stud at Oak Farm, nor care for him half so well. The ventilation of his stables, both in the country and in London, is of a nature that I never before had experience of. Not only is the temperature perfectly regulated, but there is such an utter absence of smell, that, had I been brought into them blindfolded, my nose would never have told me where I was. In the first stable were five in stalls, and two in boxes (one at either end). In the left-hand box was Tobacconist, purchased at the late sale of Sir Edward Mostyn's stud at Talacre. In calling my attention to this horse, occurred the first touch professional of the day. "Every horse has two sides," said Anderson; "observe how much handsomer he is on the off, than on the near side." Tobacconist was bought at two hundred and fifty guineas, a round price to expect profit out of, as hunters sell in these degenerate days. In the opposite box there was a white stallion (an Irish horse by Napoleon), with a great deal of character about him. They told me he could get over any country that a bird could cross; that it was all alike to him whether he crept in at the pantry window, or jumped over the house; if so, they should never part with him as long as they hunt venison, for that's the style of horse for staghounds.* The occupants of the stalls were likely cattle;" one, an old customer with a plain tail, the master's prime favourite, that has carried him to his hounds I don't know how many seasons.

66

Stable number two held four, its principal feature being the celebrated steeple-chaser, Cigar. To amateurs of that fashion of racing I beg leave to submit the following fact: the amount of stakes won by Cigar, during the season 1840-41, was £1,380, and Mr. Anderson assured me he was out of pocket by him on the year. Vespasian was also in this stable, another nag bought at what Mr. Fulwar Craven calls a "stiff figure," £400 I believe. Number three stable is a continuation of number two, and the first of its tenants was Croxby, backed for £200 against Mr. Elmore's Gaylad, four miles over the country, the race to come off on the second of December. Croxby's forte is "dirt," so that, should the winter set in as severely as the summer went out, the odds will be all in his favour. In the box at the end of this stable, was St. Paul, bought with Tobacconist at Sir E. Mostyn's sale, and a splendid animal he is. Anderson asked me, did I trace any resemblance between him and a modern racer of repute? I at once named Coronation; and, as the likeness had also struck him, St. Paul was thereupon dubbed "Coronation," in sæcula sæculorum.

But the reader, perchance, grows weary, and would like a change to the open. The rain is over, and, if he will spend half-an-hour more at Old Oak Farm, he shall see the pampered minions of a London Dealer's Stables take the air. 66 Bring out St. Paul, Croxby, and Tobacconist," said Anderson; "saddle the brown horse (one bought at Horncastle Fair) for me, and the chesnut I bought of Baron de Tessier yesterday, for Mr. -." Half-a-dozen perfect stablemen soon made the cavalry ready. Oh! that some East-end repository It may be as well to state that Mr. Joseph Anderson keeps a pack of staghounds.

ED.

The servants forthwith

rogue had been present to witness the result. proceeded with the first-named lot on a three-mile gallop; and the gentlemen (I forget what Mr. Dyson rode) upon a lark of such length, and breadth, and altitude, as might best suit each his particular kidney. "That's a pretty fence," said the dealer to me; "put your nag over it; it will do him good." And upon this principle we all began to consult our animals' comfort and convenience. Wherever there was a bit of timber, we tried that: did a comely bullfinch suggest itself, it would have been ungrateful to refuse it; and those delicious hurdles! were we infidels to turn our backs upon them? Thus, so long as the fancy lasted, having knocked a thousand pounds' worth of horseflesh about, we made ready for a start to the village. Before I left, we paid a flying visit to the kennel. Mr. Anderson is not strong in hounds, but the few couples he has are first-rate. His stock of hunting deer amounts only to a couple and a half at present; but there are more where those came from. When we remember the open war declared by the occupiers of land in the Harrow country, against the Royal Hunt, how any private individual ever accomplished a second run over it, seems like a miracle. He, however, has long held his own there, and I hope may long continue to do so. He talked to me of the heavy expense attendant upon his establishment: "It requires twelve horses for every day I hunt," he said, "and costs me, at the least, five pounds for various accidental charges:" still my counsel was, "Do not part with the bow-wows."

I accepted the near side of Mr. Anderson's buggy to return to town, and we did the distance, rather more than four miles, behind a singularly clever mare, under nineteen minutes. Although so close upon the heels of Horncastle Fair (one of the great metropolitan sources of supply), I found the stables in Piccadilly far from full. The character they have so long enjoyed, thins them as fast as they are recruited. It may be necessary, as a matter of general information, to state, that Mr. Joseph Anderson confines himself solely to the sale of hunters, chargers, and a few first-rate cab or buggy horses. His father, Mr. John Anderson, of Green-street, Grosvenor-square, is the most celebrated dealer in carriage-horses in London. The yearly average of hunters disposed of at the establishment of the former, is seven hundred, a vast number, when the character of the horses that constitutes its staple is taken into account. There is not, probably, a day in the year in which might not be found there from thirty to fifty that would be shown against an equal number selected from all the best studs in England....... Am I not borne out in my theory of London statistics by this example? A man shall see a small green door in Piccadilly, having a neat patch of red gravel in front of it, and be told that it is the depôt of one who sells horses; but he must be permitted to look behind the scenes before he can fairly understand the nature of the performance. Not only should he see Joe Anderson writing his checks for hundreds at a fair, but observe him using the animals, so lavishly procured, as the instruments of his amusement. He must note the tradesman backing his favourites for thousands at a steeple-chase, or mounting himself and his guests upon his three and four hundred guinea coursers, and larking with them over his pleasure-grounds, before he can form any true idea of a firstrate London Dealer's Stables.

C.

THE PYTCHLEY HUNT.

We understand these hounds are much improved in their appearance and style of working, and have already killed some old foxes, as well as cubs. Mr. Smith has adopted, with success, the plan suggested in his "Extracts from the Diary of a Huntsman," that of hunting in the afternoon, at four o'clock, instead of four in the morning. Recently, when his Grace the Duke of Dorset, with a large party, were out with them, they killed a fox after eight o'clock at night, and, though running four hours, were, comparatively, but little distressed. Many sportsmen, we understand, intend to take up their quarters at Market Harborough this season, the situation enabling them to reach the best fixtures of three celebrated packs, the Pytchley, Quorn, and Atherstone. To many it will be gratifying to learn that Mr. Smith has been fortunate in procuring an excellent man in the field; and, report says, also some useful nags.

THE PYTCHLEY HUNT FIXTURES.

With their distances from Northampton and the Kennel at Brixworth.

The kennel at Brixworth is six miles from Northampton. Fansley, twelve miles from Northampton, is a fixture, but out of the scale of the Map. The fixture, Stow Wood, is also omitted, as it would come over the note in the left-hand corner.

TATTERSALL'S LIST.

DERBY BETTINGS FOR SEPTEMBER.

It would be of little service, at the opening of the season, to quote all the fluctuations of the last month. Four-and-twenty nominations were backed for the Derby of 1842, at odds varying from 18 to 1 to 4,000 to 60.

The above were the latest odds: there was no betting on this race on Monday, the 27th ult.