125 



CHAP. IV. 



TREATING OF THE NECESSARY QUALIFICATIONS FOR A 

 DEER-STALKER, WITH A FEW HINTS TO HIM. 



" O, this life 



Is nobler than attending for a check ; 

 Richer than doing nothing for a bauble ; 

 Prouder than rustling in unpaid-for silk." 



Cymbeline. 



I WAS so impatient to get on the moor, and to plunge at 

 once, as it were, in medias res, that I omitted in the first 

 instance to describe what sort of properties a deer-stalker 

 should be decorated with. And although most of these 

 might be easily divined by the practised sportsman from a 

 perusal of these pages, still it may be as well to touch 

 slightly upon a few others that are absolutely indispens- 

 able. 



If a sporting gentleman was asked what was the best 

 make for speed and endurance of fatigue, he would pro- 

 bably describe his own figure as accurately as possible, 

 and that with the greatest appearance of candour, looking 

 round upon his fair or foul proportions, as it may happen. 

 In this there is abundance of encouragement ; and, indeed, I 

 am inclined to think that men go in almost all shapes, except- 

 ing, perhaps, those of Geoffrey Hudson, Daniel Lambert, 

 and the Irish or any other giant. One of the most active 

 men I ever saw was Richmond, the black pugilist, and he 



