68 RIDING FOR LADIES. 



band riding-drawers. The best material, and preferable to all 

 silk, is a blend of silk and cashmere, which wears well, is 

 warm, elastic, of permanent elasticity, can be worn with 

 great comfort by the most sensitive, and is not too expen- 

 sive. A habit should fit like a glove over the hips, and the 

 flexible-hip make of riding-drawers which I advocate, aids in 

 securing this moulding. The fit of the breeches or pants, 

 especially that of the right leg, at the inside of the knee, 

 should be particularly insisted upon. First-class ladies' 

 tailors generally have a model horse on which their customers 

 can mount when trying on. At Messrs. E. Tautz and Sons' 

 establishment, where the rider can be accoutred to perfec- 

 tion, ladies will find a competent assistant of their own sex, 

 — a trained fitter — who will by careful measurement and 

 subsequent "trying on" secure them against the galling 

 miseries of badly cut and ill-fitting breeches. Materials of 

 every description are available ; but if the fair reader will be 

 advised by me, she will select brown undressed deer-skin, 

 which is soft, pliable, and durable. The waistbands and 

 continuations are of strong twilled silk. Leggings are 

 generally and preferably worn with the breeches, and can 

 be had in all shades of cloth to go with the habit. 



For the colonies and India a new material, known as 

 Dr. Lahmann's cotton-wool underclothing, cannot be too 

 highly commended. In "the gorgeous East," of which 

 abode of the sun I have had some experience, between 

 March and the latter days of October, the thinnest animal- 

 wool is unbearably warm, and, when prickly-heat is about, 

 absolutely unbearable, the irritation produced by the two 

 being, I should imagine, akin to that endured by the four- 

 footed friend of man when suffering acutely from the mange. 

 Moreover, in the clutches of the Indian dhobie (washerman), 

 woollen materials rapidly shrink by degrees and become 



