312 HUNTING. 



the passage for those who follow them. The bulk 

 of them will vaguely wave what they, forsooth, term 

 their hunting-whips towards the returning gate ; while 

 others merely give their mounts a kick in the ribs 

 and gallop onwards, with no look behind at the mis- 

 chief and mortification they have caused. The gate 

 slams, the crowd press on to it, a precious minute 

 or two is lost and scores of people are robbed of 

 their chance in the forthcoming gallop. And yet 

 these are our sisters whose arms and nerves are 

 strong enough to steer an impetuous horse over a 

 most difficult country and who turn away from nothing 

 that we can dare to face. The intense annoyance 

 entailed by a gate being dropped into its intricate 

 fastenings through want of ability or of consideration 

 on the part of the fair Amazon immediately preced- 

 ing him, has brought into the mouth of many a 

 chivalrous sportsman a muttered anathema of the 

 feminine taste for hunting that scarce any other pro- 

 vocation would have availed to rouse. It is only 

 quite of late that a certain number of ladies have 

 supplied themselves with whips at all capable of 

 supporting a gate ; and not many of these can use 

 them even now. I make bold to say that not only every 

 lady who hunts should be armed with a sufficient 

 hunting-crop (with of course a lash to guard against 

 its loss in a gateway), but that no lady ought to deem 

 herself qualified to take her place in the field until 

 she has learned how to use it. Were such a rule 

 adhered to, we should hear none of the sweeping 



