FOX-HUNTING TYPES 247 



was anywhere near. Hence my attachment to quite 

 a strong force, which I came to think was distinguished 

 for its good-humoured excitability, its knowledge of 

 the country in which we were manoeuvring, and its 

 attention to the commissariat department. 



It is easy to conceive the intense interest and 

 constant excitement which can be derived from the 

 chase when dodging about the roads, but its vexations 

 seem so numerous that I am inclined to think I had 

 better attempt still to encounter the perils of the 

 fields than the safer but more circuitous plan I 

 endeavoured to follow a few days ago. That there 

 is much amusement to be derived, there is no doubt ; 

 to carry on the game successfully requires decision, 

 knowledge of country, and knowledge of the run of 

 a fox ; also one must be a judge of pace and be able 

 to gauge quickly the strength of scent, which regu- 

 lates pace. 



He is a happy man indeed if he succeeds in getting 

 parallel to the line and has hounds running alongside 

 him in the field adjacent to his road ; and if he be 

 really fond of hounds, he has a far better view of 

 their work than their followers, whom he is now able 

 to hold in supreme contempt. " Look at those con- 

 founded fellows ; why will they press the hounds so ? 

 Why won't they give them room ? " I heard wrathf ully 

 uttered more than once the other day from the road ; 

 for the habitue of the highway has his eye upon 

 horsemen as well as hounds, and if he be honestly a 

 road-rider, and not the least ashamed of it (and why 

 should he be ?), it may be dangerous to " buck " in 

 his presence or make lame excuses for refusals or 



