POVERTY BAY HOUNDS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 16705, 24 July 1928, Page 12

POVERTY BAY HOUNDS

(By "Snaffles.") A real "soft, Irish day" was Saturday, when the hounds met at Repongaere, and the scent was good all day in the soft mist that was falling. Drawing the far point just short of Lavenham, it was some time before a hare was put up and then she gave a right merry spin out over Mr. Judd's land to the rive'. 1 road, where she came short, back and ran through Mr.. Harvey's orchard, over the road double &e----hind the stock paddocks, and left-handed towards the river, where the hounds ran up .to her and killed in the open. Apropos Mr. Judd's land, how gratifying it is to see the owners of land riding to hounds and enjoying the sport for which they throw their wide acres open, and also "bringing all their youngsters out to bring them up in the way they should so that as the years go on and these boys of to-day become the landowners of tomorrow they, too, may welcome the hounds, and ride hard after them over their own country. There are several farmers here who ride "first over their own wheat" as the Old Country phrase has it—would there were more who realised that the heavy land would seem to plough all the easier in spring for the fun they themselves have en]oyed over it in the winter months!

Well, to "revert to our muttons." Another hare led us a weary chase again with the hounds running really hard over a similar line, but this time taking a much wider area of country and it was an hour before they ran her back to the river-point. Then, on the beaches, she gave the hounds a solid half-hour's puzzling, 'but they put in some really beautiful work and showed how they can hunt as well as run, and eventually reduced her literally to a walk before they killed her also. Coming well away from this muchfoiled country, a hare was put up in a big thistle-grown paddock and the hounds ran her very fast loft-handed almost to Mr. Harvey's orchard, where she turned short to the right, and, ran over the grass country and across the river road double, leaving the Repongaere cow bails on their right and on again until they struck some large maize paddocks. The hounds must have run tho maize very fast, because we were galloping on by sound for a mile or more and nicked in again as they came out on tho grass behind Mr. Barton's and ran fast to opposite the Maori pa. Here they checked in some small paddocks, which were surrounded by large tracts of maize, and, being unable to pick up her line either left, right or "on," it was obvious that she must have doubled back to tho maize, and she was left.