FOX-HUNTING. 23 



and " Facey Romford " are immortal characters, 

 used to say that the tail of a run, where he himself 

 almost always rode, was the place for sport ; that, in 

 addition to the ludicrous incidents there occurring 

 so frequently for his entertainment, human nature 

 could be studied with the greatest advantage from 

 that position. And indeed he was right, for there 

 is more to study from. And with what varieties. 

 The half hard, the wholly soft, the turbulent, the 

 quiescent, the practical, the geographical and the 

 political or digestion-seeking rider, these men are to 

 be studied from the rear, because few of them are 

 ever seen in front ; and nevertheless they return to 

 their homes justified fully as much in their own 

 opinion as he who has in point of fact, and un- 

 doubtedly, " had the best of it " all through the run. 

 This merciful arrangement or dispensation makes 

 every rider contented and happy in his own way. 



Among these is to be found the " hard " rider who 

 devotes his attention entirely to fences, and never 

 looks at the hounds at all. Consequently, he never 



