Hunting ^v^th Hounds. 385 



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 

 proportion 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 caribou-hunting in Canada, or deer-stalking not 

 deer-driving in Scotland. 



Nevertheless, of all sports possible in civilized 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 moral no less than 

 physical qualities ; the rider needs nerve and head ; he 

 must possess daring and resolution, as well as a good deal 

 of bodily skill and a certain amount of wiry toughness 

 and endurance. 



