HUNT SERVANTS— THEIR DUTIES 203 



enterprise, good spirits, perseverance, firmness, and 

 decision. The man who cannot make up his mind, 

 but listens to the suggestions that are poured in upon 

 upon him at every check, will never make a good 

 huntsman. He needs also a keen eye, a quick ear, 

 and a good voice. He should be even-tempered, not 

 readily cast down by disappointments, or too easily 

 elevated by success, and he should be smart and clean 

 in his person and civil in his address. The qualities 

 of intelligence and good memory are also extremely 

 desirable in that rare union of perfection, a good 

 harrier huntsman. He nmst of necessity be a capable 

 horseman. 



No man, whether he be amateur or professional, 

 can hope to succeed in this most difficult of all occupa- 

 tions unless he has his heart and soul in the business, 

 and is prepared for much hard work and long hours 

 in the field. If, as is often the case with harriers, he 

 combines the offices of huntsman, kennel huntsman, 

 and feeder — with the assistance, probably, of a lad 

 as whipper-in and helper — it must be admitted that his 

 life is one of a good deal of labour and of much care. 

 Still, he has compensations. In many ways the exist- 

 ence of a huntsman is a very enviable one. He lives 

 a healthy, open-air life ; he loves (or he ought to love) 

 his work; and very frequently he enjoys pleasures 

 so keen and so thrilling that there are few joys in life, 

 indeed, to be compared with them. If he has had a 

 good day, and killed a brace of hares after a first-rate 

 display of hunting, he jogs homeward suffused with a 

 glow of satisfaction such as falls to few human beings 

 in this vale of care. The huntsman, too, has a posi- 

 tion in the world, and is an object of consideration 

 and interest, usually of admiration, upon his country- 

 side. Even the care of hounds, though it may involve 



