ON HUNTING.-I. 



SOME PRELIMINARY HINTS. 



THE war has introduced hundreds of young men to the 

 horse in R.A. and R.A.S.C. as company commanders 

 and transport officers, and other ways. They rode and 

 learnt to like it, and now the war is over many will think 

 of hunting who, had it not been for the equestrian 

 side of soldiering, would never have thought of following 

 hounds. To these I write. I disclaim any idea of laying 

 down the law on so complex a subject. The veteran will 

 think it all absurdly elementary, but let that same veteran, 

 not being a soldier, turn at fifty to make up a pay sheet 

 or write an appreciation on manoeuvre orders and see what 

 sort of a hand he makes of it. Hunting men made splendid 

 officers. The sport had developed their initiative, confidence 

 in themselves, and the power of quick grasp on situations. 

 Map reading and the use of ground came easy to them. 



Those now beginning hunting will never regret having 

 done so, it will open to them a new vista of enjoyment. 

 Hunting improves on acquaintance, gives more than it 

 promises and, after the initial stages are over, is nothing but 

 rewards and rewards which endure till anno domini calls a 

 halt. In the past, boys started hunting on ponies, even 

 in baskets on donkeys. I have seen a baby of eighteen 

 months blooded in a perambulator. This rather unsavoury 

 ceremony consists in the huntsman smearing the child's 

 cheeks with the blood of a newly killed fox. The rite is 

 considered almost sacred in some families and each child is 

 blooded, if opportunity occurs, when first he appears at the 

 covert side. The knowledge of hunting a decade ago was 

 gained during a childhood passed in intimate contact with 



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