PAKURANGA HOUNDS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXI, Issue 179, 30 July 1900, Page 3

PAKURANGA HOUNDS.

New members sometimes wonder why" the Pakuranga . Hunt Club bears that name, . seeing that the hounds are located at Otahu and the Master resides at Sylvia Park, while as for the members themselves, they, come from the four points of the compass, from a district extending in its widest dimensions from Reniuera in the north to Papatoltoi in the south, and from Mount Albert in the west to Tamaki in the east. • But things are changed since the club was ■ formed, and. on Saturday the meet was in. the neighbourhood of the very oldest hunt- ,\ : Ing ground, where the hounds used to lead the field in the early days when the late Mr Robert McLean was master, and whea most of the work was done on his property. >m It Is not often that Pakuranga is the scene /, <i of the meet now, and what a different scene^" | It is! The present huntsman, Mr Sefbyw . $ follows a pack of 27 hounds, about twice aa|, !; ' : %_ big and almost twice ns fast as the, flveJ-r r: .^f couple that were first Imported, and he la. ?>.; followed by a field of fourscore to a hun-.r ; -,V) dred riders; whereas it.is related that In.;. '■£ the early days there were sometimes onlyjv.': '$ three. Mr Alf. Harris, who was out oa'.. !l £ Saturday, delights to recall the time whea w "ig he, with Mr McLean and Mr Seagar Buck-- tj laud, were on some days the only rldera ?*n out. The first run was round Mr 111. Fltz- Xi Patrick's property, and when in the vicinity, , H| of that gentleman s residence he was tempt- ?■' •J i \ ed to come and have a look at the hounds, ; ' so that apparently he still has the keen, huutlng spirit of the family. Pigeon Mountain is another changed feature, once adorn-1 ed with a forest of native trees, karakas, and the like, now beautified—or, as some .* would rather express it, disfigured—by pine trees and scoria pits. The hare had a good time amongst the trees, but got into the open and dodged across a creek in such a r way that even the pack got separated. While about six hounds led off along the road on a nice, easy track that tempted a large following, the rest of the pack made for Mr O'Halloran's, passing through his ,• \ property into Mr Gill's, and then through, Mr Andrew's, giving some ■ difficult , wire- * and-dltch jumps as far as the road,; where, the hare got lost somewhere near the •old' kennels. Another was started near the mountain, which went right down to the bunks of the Tamaki and up to the grounds belonging to the residence,of the first hunts- • man of the club, Mr Joe Roberts. It was now time to accept an invitation to afternoon tea at Mr Every McLean's. A rest was welcome,' and the time sped pleasantly " renewing old acquaintances and chatting i on the old times. The hounds were put on,/ exhibition in front of the house, and behaved themselves pleudidly as they submitted themselves to criticism and admiration. They were soon thrown off in the shrubbery, and gave tune shortly to a hare that bounded away In the quickest on record, but/ chose a track about the most difficult to bft Imagined: hedges eight feet high and a*' many wide are not the easiest to take late in the afternoon, and when a ditch is concealed at one side it is delightfully dangerous. Where so many distinguished "them- , selves it would be invidious to draw com-/ parisons, but the success of Mr J. G. Ralpa on Kate was specially admired. His plucky, riding was frequently commented on as he* kept near the front; fences, hedges, dltchea, —nothing seemed to stop him except an occasional wire fence, and even then he was soon at it again. The hare turned up the hill and away down again through Mr Hutchlnson's and back to Mr McLean's, but the word was given "Enough," and the hounds

were called off. Hiding were, amongst, others, Mr and Mrs Moody, Mr and Mra Crowe, Mr and Mrs Bloomfluld, Missea Uuckland (3), Gorrie, Amy Taylor, Roberts* Perclval, and Abbott, Colonel Dawson, Mt-ssrs McLaughlln, Harris, Carminer,Walker, Lewis, Morrin, Laxon, Waller, Pur-^ clias, Klnloch, and Schnackenberg.