THE FIELD 143 



sally protected, and transit is seldom possible except 

 over a bridge or under an arch, but all over the country 

 there are lines of smaller importance, which are con- 

 stantly crossed at field gates by a hunting crowd. 



Then, too, there are the hunting wickets, which are 

 exceedingly common in some parts of the country, and 

 these and every other sort of gate will be met with. 

 As long as hounds are only drawing or going from 

 one covert to another, the question of precedence is of 

 little importance, though even then, if a lot of men and 

 women are riding close together, the order of arrival 

 at the gate should be observed. But it is when gates 

 come at the beginning of a run that the crowding and 

 struggling for precedence always occur. Men there 

 are, and one is obliged to state that there are hunting 

 women also, who will push through when a gate which 

 cannot be avoided comes into the line. We have seen 

 a huntsman obliged to wait while a couple of dozen of 

 the hard-riding division struggled for pride of place 

 at the gate, and it goes without saying that the more 

 people fight for their turns the longer the delay in 

 getting through. 



We know a veteran who prides himself that if he 

 arrives at a gate with fifty in front of him he will be 

 through about tenth or twelfth ; but he never pushes 

 or annoys any one ; he has merely a plan of his own 

 for getting past the struggling crowd, and this we are 

 not inclined to give away for obvious reasons. Nor 

 do we exactly approve of the line of conduct which our 

 friend adopts ; but there it is, and we have seen it 

 "come off" a score of times. 



Another matter that the beginner should remember 

 is to help, or attempt to help, any one who falls. It 

 is a fact that men have died in the hunting field with 



