1 30 FOX-HUNTING 



expect to see his equal. I consider he was as 

 near perfection as it is possible to find anything 

 in this world. He combined all those qualities 

 which the ideal huntsman should possess. Hands, 

 nerve, and seat made him a finished horseman. 

 He sailed quietly over the biggest fences as if 

 they were gaps, and he was such an excellent 

 rider that you never noticed his riding. He was as 

 quick as lightning, and yet was never in a hurry. 

 He had the patience to let hounds hunt out a cold 

 scent, and knew the exact moment when to press 

 them on to a beaten fox. His voice and hound- 

 language were perfect, and his cheer acted like a 

 stimulant on the pack at the end of a hard day. 



Firr was a man who would probably have 

 reached the top of the tree in any other walk 

 of life, for he had more brain-power than is 

 allotted to the average man. His mind grasped 

 a situation at once, and action followed thought 

 with the rapidity of lightning. He had a mar- 

 vellous intuition of the way a fox had gone, and 

 often recovered the line by a bold cast when 

 every one thought it hopeless. He trusted his 

 hounds and was seldom disappointed. Such was 

 the greatest huntsman of the century. 



