SECTION VL 



OF FIELD-SPORTS GENERALLY. 



INTRODUCTION. 



From the remotest ages, mankind have been addicted to the 

 pleasures of the chase ; and hunting has been practised by 

 all nations — by some as a means of procuring subsistence, 

 and by others as a sport. 



Man has assumed a right from the power given to him by 

 his Creator over every living thing, as appears by the first 

 chapter of Genesis ; and in the ninth chapter of that book 

 there are still stronger grounds for confirming this right ; 

 for not only was Noah told that the fear of him should be 

 upon every beast, but, moreover, that " every moving thing 

 that liveth, shall be meat for you." 



The sacred writings also inform us, that hunting was 

 practised more than four thousand years ago ; and that 

 Nimrod, the third in descent from Noah, was a great hunter ; 

 and that he was very bold and dexterous in the pursuit of 

 animals of the chase, which the poet Tickell thus alludes 

 to :— 



" Bold Nimrocl first the lion's trophies bore, 



The panther bound, and lanced the bristling boar. 



