Hunting with Hounds 211 



would learn to ride well across country much 

 sooner than the average cross-country rider 

 would master the dashing and peculiar style 

 of horsemanship shown by those whose life 

 business is to guard the wandering herds of 

 the great Western plains. 



Of course, riding to hounds, like all sports 

 in long settled, thickly peopled countries, fails 

 to develop in its followers some of the hardy 

 qualities' necessarily incident to the wilder 

 pursuits of the mountain and the forest. While 

 I was on the frontier I was struck by the fact 

 that of the men from the Eastern States or 

 from England who had shown themselves at 

 home to be good riders to hounds or had made 

 their records as college athletes, a larger pro- 

 portion failed in the life of the wilderness 

 than was the case among those who had gained 

 their experience in such rough pastimes as 

 mountaineering in the high Alps, winter cari- 

 bou-hunting in Canada, or deer-stalking not 

 deer-driving in Scotland. 



Nevertheless, of all sports possible in civ- 

 ilized countries, riding to hounds is perhaps 

 the best if followed as it should be, for the 

 sake of the strong excitement, with as much 

 simplicity as possible, and not merely as a 

 fashionable amusement. It tends to develop 



