THE HUNTSMAN 133 



must never lose his head — that is, however ex- 

 cited he may be, he must school himself to control 

 his feelings, so that every action is governed by 

 rapid thought and not by sudden impulse. The 

 very keen man is, of course, the one most likely 

 to be excited, but the habit of self-control is easily 

 acquired. To make use of shooting, again, to 

 illustrate my meaning : the good shot is quite as 

 quick as the bad, yet the bad shot usually fires 

 on the impulse, and the good one has trained him- 

 self to suppress that impulse. In one case the 

 brain acts unconsciously and is not under control, 

 whilst in the other it directs action by the will 

 of its owner. 



There is also another cause which makes men 

 flurried at critical moments, and that is want of 

 nerve ; but I have already said that good nerve 

 is essential to a huntsman. 



Returning to Beckford's list of attainments, we 

 find he mentions that a huntsman should be ' good- 

 tempered.' Unfortunately we cannot ask him for 

 an explanation, or I should like to have questioned 

 him on the subject. With all due deference to 

 such an authority, I should say that it does not 

 matter what sort of temper a man possesses, if 



