A DAT WITH THE OTAGO PACK IN THE TAIERI.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 5423, 7 July 1879, Page 3

A DAT WITH THE OTAGO PACK IN THE TAIERI.

Hold h»rd! hold bard t till tho lut young bound His left tho furzo »nd thorn, With tho huntemau's scream and the welcome note : That's twanglrg from his norn. . - Tia tho "imatie if war, without its guilt," ' . as Jorrooks trjly ainjß. : And now, with Polly wall away, - We'l taste the sport of kings, O'er if avy clay, o'er grass and plough, Whila double ditches try, . .. ; And it iiitthorhfer.ee the phiok of those Who ne»ef,rush but fly. ; . ' . , . : The broken weather which provai'ed during the week augured ill for Saturday^ piospects, and these who contemplated banting entertained serious thoughts of buying or borrowing awirutiling-.belts for the Location. To everybody's great-.joy,_howeveiv.tha_woather. broke bright and fair, and though tbera might .be a little tcomocK water on the ground, there} "was no proßpect'of a wet jacket einept from a fall off ybiir'-steed; ' ''* la_ the sweet vocabulary." othunting me? thf'reis no euch word as, fall,' at any rate till after that undesirable event has.taken place. The meet was advertised for 2 p.m., at the SprlngbaDlc Hotel, East Taieri, aud by 11.30 a.m. several Dunedin men might hava been seen, (as G. P. K. James would say) wending their way through the sqmnql«nfc villages of Caversham and Green Island/arid slowly toiling up the tedious ascent of Saddle Hill. The Taieri Plain, ta viewed from here, showed innumerably lakelet«, ; all glancing m the bright sunshine like so many mirrors, while tbe snow on gloomy Maungatua made one shiver involuLtarily, and thank goodness that the " mouutaiu of the gods" was not the point to be I made. The Junction reached at last, a turn to the right along the main South road showed the rendezvous to be a mile or two ahead. And now the effect of the keen, bracing, frosty air in producing an appetite that a "fat aed greasy " alderman wouldiave given LIOO for, became painfullyappneat. "Trot" wbs the word, and in a very little tine the' Springbank Hotel was reached. I, fqr.oae, was as "hungry as a hunter," and, like Esau of old, would have willißgly sold a birthright in futuro fora mess of pottage in prmsenti. This sacrifice, however, was not rendered necessary, as the motherly hostess,.proved herself a? unlike aa possible to tbe greedy Jacob. Tea minutes were devoted to that fairy weed which makes a man to "fed like a philosopher and act like a Christian," and then' I b'gan to feel like " going a good'un." By thia.tlme the road wai full of equestrians of cither sex, and there could not have baen fewer than 80 or 90, all told. Many a farmer was; there on a longhaired hack, who had for one day given the double-furrow plough a-.resp'its; and who was determined to hear once again the:"cry of dogg" and the cheery hunting hailoo'.for the sake of " auld lang syne." /About half-past 2 Mr Bradley brought.hia clever pack; out." of kennel, and lott no time in making a cast. Not long was the " opening hound ' in challenging, and the pack with one accord replying, dashed away In. fall'cry over a grass paddock on the western side of the road. A qualification jump over a low, rail brought the field into this paddock, and a hurry scurry ensued, everybody, going " eyes out." This "" racing and chasing on Oaiinobie Lea " sort of woik was soon put an end to by tho appeirance of a large quickset hedge, with a ditch on tho other side, and a bad landing en the otber fide of that. Very many horses. baulked at this, and severe application of the spurs wai requ'red before the conflict betwetn inclination and duty was decided in favour of duty. On tbe farther side of this .disagreeable hedge was a district road, and this was kf pt for a little distance until a set of slip-ra!ls was reached. This jump was negotiated successfully, and a gallop over sound grass-land was kept up for a while. The pack now mide a dttour to the left and charged a high sod wall. This obstacle looked email at a distance, but gradually grew in size a* it was approached. The pte'ence of a ditch at the take-off side also ripened from surmine to certainty, and it peemed best to provide for the contingency of a ditch on the landing Bide by putting on a little mote Btenm.

HJr 'en your heart, and catch hold of bis trld'e— Bteadr him 1 -rouae him! -over ho goes! Aid no over they went, and glad were tbey to feel tha sward again under their horses' feet. Poit-ard-rails cime [next in hand, and were taken flying. Tneie wasnow no time to loiter by the way, fur the hounda were running like mad.. Bearing away to ths left, slightly down Ml, over one or two unall creeks, over a bank which ot cc boasted of a superincumbent^fence, and down hill again, the field comes in eight of a rather awkward leap. This was a compound sort of obs!a'l?, and consisted of bank and rails and double ditch, with a landtag aud takeoff dcci Jelly boggy. Some powder was required for tow, and the requis!ti amount havir g been used, th« other side was attained. A port-and-r»il fence now intervened between this paddock ard a farm-yard. It wa», however, not Nog suffered to atop the way, being topped by a few and smanhei by the n«xt Up hill and over a similar fence was the next move. A stubblefield was rea had by this jump, and a ehortlived galop brought the field to a flight of rails. These were disposed of summarily, when a few strides more brought in view

another set of the ram* sort, with a drop beyond. A detour to the right hand showed a Bet of slip-rails to be encountered. These were not allowed to stand in the way of the first flight, which, by the way, was getting Belect by this time. The last jump was into the road, but no time was spent here. A nice gorsehedge led the way ioto a farm-yard. A few strides more took everybody over a bank into an enclosure bounded by a post-and-rail fence. The route now bent to the right, and led over a creek with a lot of water in it. This was got through without anyone being lost. A bank and rails was surmounted carefully, and the same creek lower down was forded again with like success. The only ploughed land in the whole run was now come to, and heavy going it wai. Fortunately it was limited in extent, otherwise the horues, which were now tolerably well blown, could not have stood it. The concluding jump but one was over a moderate bank, and the lost of all was a set of rails. Then the kill took place hard by Fisher's house. The check was welcomed by all, and the horses' heaving flanks gaye "outward and visible sign" of the severity of the pace throughout. The distance run was about three miles, and it was run all the way. Dismounting was now universal, and horses were carefully looked ov»r for cuts and bruises. A few gentlemen who had came to grief got chaffed a little by their friends, pipes were puffed, and flußks were handed round. Meantime the dragsmsn was going his odorous round, and after due and sufficient' law had been allowed him, Mr Bradley blew the pack into oover in an adjoining paddock, and an immediate find was the result. An immediate rnah on the put of the field followed. Those who bad been thrown out in the first run were determined to be in it this time, while those who were we'l up before bad no intention of surrendering their pride of place. The well known shout of " Hold hard !" was this time of little avail, and away they went pell-mell. The run this time was to a great extent the same as before, only it began at a different point. The fences jumped were those jumped last time, and there is no ne:d of recapitulation. One gentleman, together with his horse, made an unexpected descent to earth, but theplace where he fell was soft to a degree, and he sustained no injury. The pace on this occasion was very fast, and at times the field presented the appearance of a racecourse. Some very good jumping was shown at different places, the horses seeming to recognise the fences, and to feel themselves better able to grapple with them. The kill took place in a paddock opposite Fisher's, and in a short time the field dispersed, each m&a seeking the shortest way home. Everyone seemed delighted with the weather as well aa the sport, and desirous of having another such day bafore long. There was in both runs a lot of g.od riding, and any amount of striving after first place; but I shall not be far out when I say that the best tip were the following :—The Misses WMaster, on Black Boss, and Black Be=e' dam, respectively; Mr M'Master, on a bay colt; Mr Robert Turnbull, on Turk; Mr Will'am Stuart, on Native; Mr D. Chriitie, on a bay; Mr G. Samson, on a grey; Mr Gourley, jun,, on a brown; Mr Cameron, on Pogson; Dr.Fletcher, on a grey. Young Taggart rode Merrimao very well, and was not to be shaken off. Beside j these a good many local men, whose names I do not know, were, well up. I was sorry to notice Miss Jones' absence. Had she been there lam sure that the would not only have enjoyed the sport, but been, as ever, in tbe "forefront of the battle." Mr Bradley rode his fine young mare Ladylove, and shoved the way to go right throughout. . ••■■■■' John Peel.