FOX HUNTING AT THE ALEX ANDRA PALACE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 6255, 3 December 1881, Page 7

FOX HUNTING AT THE ALEX ANDRA PALACE.

"The enterprising proprietors of the Alexandra Palace having resolved to give Londoners an opportunity of witnessing the working of foxhounds, recently purchased from the " Quorn" thirteen couples of hounds, which during the past few days have been educated to follow a ♦'drag" or scent round the 250 acres which constitute Alexandra Park. October 4 was appointed for the first public meet, and punctually at half-past ten the " whips,'' with a following of some score or so of horsemen, formed up in the open space between the

building which is occupied by a panorama i the Siege of Sebastopol and the company office, waiting the signal to start. This wr soon given, and the scent being well laid, th field started away at a merry pace toward the "Grove," where an experienced ride came to grief, and got such a shaking in con ing down a cropper that it rattled the mone out of his pocket. Luckily for this gentlt man a check took place soon afterwards, an he was able to recover his steed, which ha madly dashed on with the houuds. But th check did not last long, and away down th racecourse teemed the field, the hounds a this time being somewhat scattered. A fe\ hurdles were taken, but the majority of tk riders preferred going round thein. Ther was another check near the Wood Greei entrance, and then away again to the rigli of "Sebastopol," and the lake covered witl the mimic inen-o'-war, towards the Colne; Hatch Hoad (avoiding the Asylum), then circling round, the Grove was rattled througl again, and in due time the racecourse wa reached, more hurdles takeu, and alsoawate jump by those who had pluck enough to tak it, and so on until the Wood Green entrance wa

again reached, when the hounds were whipped off. So far, so good. Hounds, horses, and men had an enjoyable run of fully forty minutes, and were no doubt all the better for it. The atmosphere was bracing, and the view from the hillside most enjoyable. In short, the " drag" was a success. Everybody, however, looked forward to the event which was to follow--the "real fox hunt." It was reported that "Reynard" was a "wild'un," and would afford excellent sport. But when let loose from its bag, it (lid not look wild at all, but gazed calmly at some score or so of boys, who, had they not been restrained, would doubtless have hunted it about the place to their heai ts' content. It seemed to enjoy its freedom, and rather to like the grass-clad slopes of the Palace hill, and to be in no hurry to leave them. For a time it appeared to be halting in opinion as to whether it should roll oil the grass or go into a covert to sleep. Finally it decided oil the

latter course, ami crept into a bit of brushwood ; but finding it an insufficient cover stole away to another, a somewliatlarger one, some ten or fifteen yards away, and just in front of the centre arcli of the palace. He could not have selected a better spot in which to come to a tragic end, for the terraces afforded ground from which a splendid view of the death could be observed. Ample time was given him to make tracks, but he would not. so the hounds were laid on. There was a canter of "JO or SO yards over the greensward, a rustlingof the bushes amongst which the hounds \v«re working, and then a feeble cry. which tok J that Reynard was no more. The huntsmen of course dismounted, dived in amongst the brushwood, and bore ont in triumph the body of the defunct fox. Its tail was skinned in the orthodox fashion, then its head was cut off, and the knife brought into play in dividing its carcass. In a few minutes afterwards the crowd which gathered round to witness this time-honoured ceremony had nothing left to do except gaze upon the hair-tangled tongues and bloody jaws of the hounds, who devoured with avidity Reynard's flesh.—European Mail.