CAPTAINING A SIDE. 6i 



should shout so as to interfere with the Captain's 

 directions. Every member of a team should carefully 

 listen for instructions, which, except those given 

 by the Captain, may be restricted to, " Ride the man 

 and leave the ball," " Backhander here," " Look out, 

 Back," '' Leave it," " Take the ball," and a few more 

 of the same sort. The phrases used cannot be too 

 distinctly uttered, and should be free from all 

 ambiguity. As an instance to the contrary, I may 

 mention that when a man shouts " All right ! " 

 probably meaning that he can get the ball himself, 

 and wishes a comrade in front of him to leave it, 

 the said comrade may not unlikely imagine that he 

 himself is all rio-ht to o-q on and take the ball. 

 Again, the shout " Ride him off" means either that 

 the man is only to ride the opponent off, or that he is 

 also to try and hit the ball. " Leave it " is the best 

 expression for general use, as it is short, clear and 

 emphatic. Every good player knows that, if he is 

 told to ''leave it," his duty is to gallop on at once 

 and ride the next man. Many opportunities are lost 

 by a player leaving the ball and pulling to one side 

 in order to allow the man to whom he leaves the 

 ball to take it on past him. On the contrary, he 

 should gallop on at once, so as to ride the next man 

 off, and in this way to get to the ball before his 

 opponent. 



A good Captain, by his energetic directions, by 

 the force of his example, and, above all things, by his 

 ability to play a losing game, wins many a match 

 which has appeared impossible to retrieve. The best 

 instance which I can give of such a leader is Mr. 

 John Watson (Fig. 26), to whom we are indebted for 



