56 THE DIARY OF A HUNTSMAN 



advantage, that men are not constantly speaking 

 to hounds, or cheering them by name, — a thing 

 scarcely ever done in the present day, though it 

 is reported to have been a common occurrence in 

 the last century, — and the extraordinary quickness 

 with which hounds get together may be attributed 

 to this cause. It is not meant here that huntsmen 

 never wish to see gentlemen lend assistance, for 

 the huntsman to even the best appointed packs 

 are at times glad of any one who will turn a 

 hound, and by so doing get his warmest thanks ; 

 for it has probably been the means of finishing a 

 good run well, when even one minute lost would 

 have made all the difference in the scent. But 

 that assistance is out of the power of forward 

 riders who have no thong to their whip, and although 

 one smack of it would be invaluable, they cannot 

 make use of it. 



It is not the intention of the writer to dwell 

 much on the subject of riding to hounds ; but the 

 rage for it has become so great, that many men 

 do not look before they leap, therefore the following 

 fact may be useful. About the year 1835, a gentle- 

 man was riding well with the Hambledon hounds 

 in Hampshire, and when they were going best 

 pace, he naturally put his horse at the lowest 

 place in the fence, and the next moment found 

 himself on his back, and his horse out of sight ; 



