VI PKEFACE. 



idle hour, I am aware also. But fortunately for 

 the Author, there are tens of thousands who 

 hunt ; and numbers of these are widely different 

 from the real hunting man. The two are about 

 on a par with the man w^ho sails on the sea and 

 the sailor. 



If all men who hunt were really hunting men, 

 not a line of advice on the subject of riding to 

 hounds should ever have been penned by me. I 

 Avrite for some who hunt, and any who intend to 

 hunt; and so far much practice and experience 

 may, I trust, give me some pretence to offer 

 advice. 



The book in no way pretends to make any one 

 acquainted with the mode of hunting hounds, or 

 of becomino- conversant with the intricacies of the 

 chace ; it does not even pretend to make a man a 

 sportsman. Neither theory nor precept could do 

 this, however good might be the former, or how- 

 ever ably advanced might be the latter. Practice 

 and observation must be called in to achieve this. 

 But as to becoming a sportsman, a man must be 

 able to ride with hounds ; if a book affords such in- 

 structions to the tyro as will enable him to do this 

 with safety to himself and horse, it has some claim 

 to utility ; and that utility will be further in- 

 creased if, in teaching him how to promote his 

 ow^n sport, it also tells him how and where to 



