158 The Hunting Countries of England. 



allowed by an inconsistent Government thoroughly to 

 devote some two months and a half to the most 

 important part of his military education — to wit, cross- 

 country riding. Mr. Combe, Mr. Garth, and Mr. 

 Deacon (H.H.) in some degree, it is true, assist 

 him, without thwarting the authorities, by bringing 

 excellent packs of hounds within reach of camp. But 

 he has seen for himself, or at at any rate been told, 

 that the green board on which Kriegspiel can best be 

 played, lies far afield from Aldershot; and it is to his 

 exceat he looks for indulgence in it in the more 

 perfect and instructive form. His vacation studies are, 

 in fact, what tend most to fit him for his degree — as 

 soldier and fox-hunter. Still, for steady and zealous 

 practice, hearty exercise, and a measure of sport, he will 

 find material plentifully to hand in the immediate neigh- 

 bourhood of the Camp — and prominently at the hands 

 of Mr. Richard Combe. Again, la jeunesse is by no 

 means necessarily all doree — least of all, as a matter of 

 fact, in military life. Ungilded, it may yet be sport- 

 ing ; and in such case will make the most of what it 

 can find on the spot, foregoing the extravagance 

 attendant on ambition and travel. In plain words, it 

 is not in the power of every man who bears Her 

 Majesty^s commission to keep a stud of hunters at a 

 distance from his regiment; and there are a great 

 number of oflBcers at Aldershot who, having one horse, 

 or two, are thankful enough to ride out of camp twice 

 a week, to see a pack of foxhounds working well in a 

 rough country. Had the Horse Guards (no, it^s all 

 War Office now) sent them to Weedon or North- 

 ampton, they would have sallied out with increased 



