224 POLO IN INDIA. [Chap. IX. 



funeral. Strange to say, this officer's opinions should 

 have been entitled to some weight ; for he was a fine 

 horseman, very good after pig, and a first-rate all- 

 round sportsman ; but he didn't like being ridden ofif 

 at polo. Once when he was playing in a regimental 

 game, an excited subaltern, who was coming up behind 

 with the ball, shouted: "Ride the General!" A 

 furious voice was heard in reply : " Ride the General ? 

 By Jove, ride the General ! And what next ? " In 

 Station games, and in second-class polo in England, 

 the very wrong plan, as I have already pointed 

 out, is frequently adopted of not allowing a No. i 

 to hit the ball at all ; whereas I maintain that No. i 

 should hit the ball whenever he can, unless he is told 

 by the man behind him ''to leave it." The No. 2 is 

 frequently a selfish player who tells the No. i to " leave 

 it," only because he wants to hit the ball himself: a 

 man who is guilty of such conduct does not deserve 

 to play in a good team. This restriction of No. I's 

 duties is entirely opposed to the principle of inter- 

 change of places, which is a marked feature of 

 scientific polo. It stands to reason that a team in 

 which each of the four men will be able in all pro- 

 bability to hit a goal, if they get anything like an easy 

 shot, will have an advantage over one that contains 

 only three men capable of doing so. If a man is 

 always playing No. i and is never allowed to hit the 

 ball, he will, from want of practice, be unable to hit a 

 goal with any certainty when he gets the chance. 

 Besides, if the No. i be a better player, a finer horse- 

 man, and better mounted than the Back, he will very 

 likely get more chances and openings (which it would 

 be folly not to take advantage of) than those behind him. 



