SPORT nized pack of otter-hounds that had ever taken place in Kent or Sussex. Some two or three hundred people turned out to meet the pack, and ever since that day the venture has been warmly supported both in Kent and Sussex. The pack hunts the whole of the former county, as well as the latter as far west as Midhurst, and a portion of Sussex in the neighbourhood of Horley. For the most part the rivers of Kent are deep, muddy and very much overgrown, the few exceptions to the general rule being provided in the case of the Stour, Darent, and upper reaches of the Medway, where the water is very much clearer and less overgrown. Under these circumstances it is frequently a very difficult matter to score a kill ; but for the drag the country is very well adapted on the whole, and blank days with the Crowhurst are the exception rather than the rule. Besides the waters already mentioned, the pack hunts the Teise, Beult, Eden, East and West Sussex Rothers, Ouse, Adur, Arun, Rudwell, and the Mole and tributaries. The Crowhurst Otter-hounds are a sub- scription pack with about three hundred regular subscribers. The committee consists of nearly every well-known sportsman in Kent and Sussex, including such famous hunting men as the Hon. Ralph Nevill, who in his more active days was in all probability the best man with hounds in the two counties. In 1905 the pack killed five and a half brace of otters, which is about the usual average for the season, and seldom went out without finding. Most of the meets are within reach of London by the early morning trains. Since the pack was established there have been a few changes in the officials. Mr. Mantell's mastership came to an end in 1904, when Mrs. Walter Cheesman herself assumed the duties of master, remaining in that posi- tion until 1907, when Mr. S. W. Varndell was appointed in her stead. The latter had formerly held the post of huntsman in succession to Leach, his previous experience having been gained with Mr. Courtenay Tracy's famous pack, to which he had whipped-in for some time. The kennels of the pack have now been moved from Crow- hurst to Mowshurst Farm near Edenbridge in Kent. Several years ago it appears that a scratch pack of otter-hounds hunted these waters under the direction of the Hon. Geoffrey Hill; and Mr. F. P. M. Maryon-Wilson, an officer in the 17th Lancers, ho died in 1893, used to hunt the Ouse and its tributaries. But, as has already been stated, the Crowhurst Otter-hounds are the first properly recognized pack to hunt the dis- trict. Of earlier otter-hunting than this in the county there is no record, and in olden times otters were simply regarded here, as else- where, as vermin with a price put upon their head, and fair game to every murderously inclined individual who chanced to come across them. Matters are not quite so bad as that nowadays, but the killing of otters other than in fair pursuit is not yet looked upon as a crime equal to that of vulpicide. The man who shoots or traps an otter gener- ally regards it, indeed, as a deed worthy of record in the local newspaper. COURSING Public coursing in Kent seems to be of comparatively recent origin, for Goodlake 1 makes no mention of any meeting held within the county. Reference to Thacker's Courser's Annual Remembrancer and Stud to landed proprietors and their tenantry, whenever the latter were permitted to keep greyhounds. The writer can vouch for the accuracy of the following story, which throws some light upon early coursing in one portion Book, published from 1840 to 1858, also fails of the county. The Island of Elmley- to provide enlightenment, for not a single fixture is recorded during the period named ; and not until 1867 is there any record of sport provided by the* Coursing Calendar, the first number of which was issued in 1857. It is clear, therefore, that such coursing as did take place in the first half of the last century or before must have been confined 1 Thomas Goodlake, The Co Stud Book, Liverpool, 1828. Mciiuiiil or now connected with Thanet — was in olden days a favourite rendezvous for coursing men. There was but one church on the island, and that a very ancient one and in sad need of repair. The ravages of time had eaten away its foundations, so much so that in several places it was easy for an animal as large as a hare to run in and out beneath the building. Nearly every hare in the island knew of this safe hiding-place, and whenever coursing was in progress the hares made straight for 491
