Although the King has been a plucky and fearless rider from early childhood, he has not been so fond of hunting as of some other sports, and during the last few years he has seldom been seen following the hounds. When an undergraduate at Christ Church, he constantly hunted with Lord Macclesfield’s pack, and was then considered a very hard rider; and it need scarcely be said that the meets which take place at Sandringham are the most popular in Norfolk, and give both the King and Queen many opportunities of showing gracious and kindly hospitality, both to their wealthy and to their humble neighbours. The King is a firm friend to the hunting of the fox, and it is understood that a pack of fox-hounds is to be established in place of the Royal Buckhounds. In 1888 the members of the West Norfolk Hunt presented to the King and Queen Alexandra a beautiful silver model of a fox in full gallop as a memorial of their Majesties’ silver wedding, and in returning thanks the King said:-- “I can assure you that no present which has been offered for our acceptance has been received by us with more pleasure than the one which you have given us to-day--a model of the wily animal that we are all so fond of following. Norfolk has always been considered to be a shooting county; that may be so to a great extent, but I feel convinced that the hunting is quite as popular, and I sincerely hope that it will long remain so. There may be difficulties in preserving foxes, but I feel sure that where there’s a will there’s a way. For twenty-five years we have enjoyed hunting with the West Norfolk Hunt, both the Princess and myself; and our children have been brought up to follow that Hunt. I sincerely hope that for many long years we may be able to continue to do so.” Before the King had been at Sandringham six months he made it quite clear that his country home should be in every sense a good sporting estate, and it has been one of his chief pleasures to entertain parties of keen sportsmen each autumn in Norfolk. Perhaps the best shooting season Sandringham has ever seen was that of 1885-86. The total bag was 16,131 head, including 7252 pheasants. The best day of that season was the last day of the year 1885, when ten guns killed 2835 head, including 1275 pheasants. The rabbit-shooting at Sandringham is also first-rate, and it need hardly be said that the foxes are watched over with the most tender anxiety. [Illustration: THE KING AS A SPORTSMAN IN 1876 _From an Engraving published by Henry Graves and Co._]