The Htintiiig-Field 



horses, and woodcraft escape his notice, the wind 

 and weather also. His enjoyment of a ** cHnking 

 day " comes from hunting knowledge. *' Bump 

 of locality/' that first essential of a scout, which 

 is and can only be born in the man ; he never 

 jumps an unnecessary fence — paradoxical quite to 

 the hunting novice. His theory is, ^* Save your 

 horse ; it may not be three, but ten or twelve 

 miles, this point." This "hunter" never hesitates 

 when he sees the best and the shortest way ; then 

 no ordinary fence will stop him. Hound-work 

 and the country's contours are easily read by 

 him ; such is the type of sportsman that rarely 

 grumbles though fortune buffets him. 



The man who primarily rides to hunt lives in 

 a wider sphere than he who hunts to ride. We 

 might take Charles Kingsley as the ideal sports- 

 man, who, while so keenly enjoying riding, was 

 so thoroughly filled with a deep understanding 

 of and love of the chase. Everything he saw 

 was a fresh inspiration to him, and in his work, 

 "The Winter Garden," with the poet's rare touch, 

 shows us the imagery and good in hunting. 



He who rides to hunt is often as good and 

 as hard a rider, and is always a far better sports- 

 man all-round than the ^'Thruster." The latter 

 is so engrossed with "the pushing along" that he 

 completely loses sight of the hunting. Sometimes 

 the sport simply resolves itself into what we get 



105 



