68 HORSES 



when standing at a covert- side in a bitter east 

 wind. 



Doubtless nothing equals in smartness a white 

 buckskin waistcoat for wearing with a red coat, 

 but it does not admit sufficient air, and one of 

 the chief rules for health is never to perspire in 

 anything from which the moisture of your body 

 cannot easily escape. The colour may be left to 

 your taste or the want of it, but the material 

 should be of something thick and woolly. The 

 back ought to be made of flannel, which must 

 come down in a flap well over your loins. My 

 idea is that a waistcoat should be made entirely of 

 wool, and that the coat should always be worn 

 open, only to be buttoned up w^hen you have to 

 stand still in a cold wind. 



You will find it much pleasanter to be too warm 

 than too cold when you go hunting, but do not 

 make the mistake of preventing the air from reach- 

 ing your body. Avoid all waterproof abominations, 

 and if you wear plenty of flannel, you can be out 

 all day in a soaking rain without feeling any ill 

 effects. Change into dry clothes directly you get 

 in the house and you will never take cold. When 

 we are young and strong we are rather apt to laugh 

 at rheumatism, pneumonia, or other unpleasant 

 ailments, but the strongest are liable to them, and 

 once they have found us out they are certain to 

 come again. Good health is the most important 

 factor in our daily happiness, and it is generally 

 through some fault of our own that we suffer. 



