THE HUNT.

Bush Advocate, Volume VII, Issue 477, 4 June 1891, Page 3

THE HUNT.

The hounds arrived by road from Woodville ju3t about dark on Tuesday evening. They were in charge of . Eoake, the huntsman, and the whip. '" :Mr Wells, ihe master, who had gone to Woodville in the morning rode back with them, and Mr Pickering, the Hon. Secretary, met them about half way and returned with them. There were thirteen couples in the pack, and their appearance and condition were justly admired. They were comfortably housed for the night in warm and dry quarters at the Secretary's stable. Tire weather on Tuesday evening was fine, but those who had watched the barometer remarked that it had been steadily falling for some time. Early on Wednesday morning was quite fine, but ' about-seven o'clock it began to ram, .and ' it poured down steadily afterwards for hours, so bad did things look that all notion of hunting on 'that' day was pretty well given up. : This was extremely vexing, especially, as numerous men from many places outside Danevirke had arrived, but so dismal did the prospect appear, that messages were sent up ana down the line postponing the meet. About the middle of the day a slight change for the better appeared, and counter- . manding telegrams were sent out, it being resolved at all hazards to go fib. This determination proved fortunate 7 as just before the meet the ram clearedoff, and no more fell during the afternoon. The hounds met in a paddock behind the old Danevirke Hotel, and there was a field of 60 or 70 -jorsemeh, among whom were contingents from Woodville, Palmerston, Pahiatua, Waipawa, and other places outside, Danevirke, the Woodville ' men being specially noticed by their number, and the excellence of their mounts. After; a little financial operation between the Secretary and many gentlemen preset.-, an operation which proved highly satisfa-tory, the hounds were laid on. Here it may be remarked that in spite of pr-liminary warning several riders were guilty of bad breaches of hunt-ing-field etiquette. It is unnecessary to say more, as it is understood that it is the intention of the Master to take :'. steps which will have the. effect of preventing over-ridiug hounds and crimes of. the. like nature in future. The hounds were as fit and keen as possible, and notwithstanding the mud, which made riding unpleasant in places, the scent was breast high and the travelling .fast. The line lay over some fences through the cleared paddocks tn the Mangatera, and they were covered very quickly. Bearing away to the right, the line went through partially cleared ground to near the Hawke's Bay Timber Co. s mill* and on across the stream. In that part of the run no one who was not too much taken up with his riding could fail to notice the beautiful hunting of the hounds, with the bush echoing and re-echoing to their music. It was a grand piece of hunting. Here, however, the huntsman came to ' grief through his horse swerving onto a tree. The Master, after seeing that the Huntsman was not hurt and arranging for his horse being caught, • took the hounds across the Mangatera stream and onto the old cleared railway line. Here Eoake picked them w> and took charge again. On the ■'" line there was a series of jumps, with several doubles, which were well taken by. the field generally. At the Mangatera stream, between the railway line and the Tahoraite . .JF lat, there was a check which allowed everyone to get safely up the rather awkward and Darrow path from the stream to the flat. As soon as the last straggler was up the hounds came with a rush and then there was no question of overriding hound. Over the flat country to the Tamaki river the hounds simply flew. There were several spills over the jumps on the flat, . but none of them were serious. . Off the flat the line ran down the terrace at a very pretty place throughsomefallen timberacross the Tamaki river, and up the terrace . -j on the other side. There it followed the south bank of the stream to the road. Over this part of the run and on the Tahoraite flat a few more jumps would have been an improvement, and probably when the hounds go over the same country aijain some • more will be made. There is, however, a good deal of trouble and expense in such matters, and in this respect the Hunt has . not done badly for a start. From the road the line took over, to Mr Knight's pasture land and then over the fence to his turnip : fields. Here I would express the gratitude of the Hunt to the landowners of the district^for the thoroughly sportsmanlike manner in which they gave permission to rid© . ovgr. their land and alter their fences At the fence into the turnips the Master got a spill while he was help- • ing another rider who had come to •.grief. The Master's accident was Owing to the reckless riding of a lad who did :not look properly where he was going. The heavy going through the turnips fairly pumped the horses of many inexperienced riders who are apt to think that hunting is racing, and do not know i that, to nurse one's horse through heavy land is an ordinary incident of the hunting-field. The rest of the line went through Mr Knight's fields to. the finish near the level crossing of the railway outside tlie town, and -• ft large proportion of the riders were . mi at thei kill. : The last obstacle of importance was a .tiffish water-jump, in the, middle of which one rider found himself and his ■ horse. It would be somewhat invidious to enter intb.particulars of the horsemanship of any of the numerous riders (about 50), who followed throughout. It is evident that the average waa very good. The hounds covered between six-and-a • half and seven miles of country, with any amount of jumping, and the time from. start to finish was one hour and five minutes. I should mention that a good deal of the success of the run was due to the way the drag was laid by Mr H. Holden. Yesterday evening when the day's battle was fought over;again, and the jumps grew bigger and 'tne pace faster there was universal satisfaction with the day's sport. There was prai.e to the Master, praise to the pack, and special praise to the huntsman, for tne way in which b_ handled his hounds, The result of the days' hunt, iflgwilj be r.Q._,dei_bty increased.

membership, and the certainty of a much bigger field on the next occasion when the hounds meet at Danevirke. .-y ■■ ■ .- Soapy Sponge.