PEEFACE 



From the earliest ages " the glories of the chase" 

 have been blended with *' the triumphs of war," 

 for there is much in common between the life of a 

 hunter and the career of a soldier. Both lead a 

 predatory existence, which, although inseparable 

 from fatigue, privation, hardship, and danger, is 

 full of fascinating excitement, and possesses irre- 

 sistible charms that amply compensate for the loss 

 of the more refined pleasures and luxuries of 

 civilised life. Never yet did a Soldier worth his 

 salt in the Field, or the Hunter versed in the lore of 

 the Forest, sigh for the prosy vegetation of the days 

 of peace and pipeclay, or yearn for the artificial 

 existence of the dwellers of cities. Men accus- 

 tomed to be face to face with danger, never know- 



