A SPORTSMAN'S QUALITIES 53 



but as I am quite young I shall soon get over it 

 all! 



It is difficult to write about sport without ap- 

 pearing to sing a hymn of self-praise. To show 

 that I am conscious of my own (as well as other 

 folks') infirmities, I quote from an Indian paper 

 the following note, appending a confession of my 

 own depravity : 



A SPORTSMAN'S QUALITIES. 



" Now, the indispensable qualifications of a good 

 shot are sureness of eye, steadiness of nerve and 

 hand, cool and prompt decision. Without these 

 a man may be a sportsman, but he can never be 

 an expert shot. He could never face with equal 

 mind the tiger or the buffalo, or even the pheasant 

 and the snipe. Sureness of eye and steadiness of 

 nerve and hand may be gifts of nature, but like 

 all such gifts they require care and cultivation. 

 No qualities of the body and mind are more sensi- 

 tive to the conditions of a man's life; none de- 

 teriorate more rapidly from abuse, none respond 

 more readily to self-control. To remain a good 

 shot after forty is the best testimony any man 

 can produce of temperance in all things, of a life 

 so well ordered that its powers and perceptions 

 are unimpaired." 



I humbly admit that I am a living testimony to 

 the opposite. Never have I been able to do any- 

 thing temperately; but I can still shoot, and for 

 " after forty " you may read " after sixty." 



