DOING PRETTY WELL ^' FOR GALWAY/^ 193 



an ordinary gate a very safe jump, the taking off 

 is usually firm, a horse can measure his leap ac- 

 curately, and it is not as high as the usual fences 

 we ride at. Water, I am aware, most horses 

 very much dislike, and it is very apt to produce 

 a baulk; so far I dislike it: but, in a general way, 

 its worst effect is a souse, unless your horse jumps 

 short, when a sprained back is often the result. 

 Walls I hold one of the safest leaps we can ride 

 at ; you, and your horse, can measure them to a 

 nicety : a few stones displaced seldom brings on a 

 fall, and a brick and mortar wall is seldom or 

 ever met with in hunting. If I met such an one, 

 I am free to confess I should decline such an 

 encounter. This reminds me of a circumstance 

 that occurred to me in the county of Galway, in 

 Ireland. A friend had mounted me on his best 

 horse, hounds were running hard, a wall Avas 

 before me; no joke of a wall, no low Somerset 

 or Oxfordshire one, but a regular Galway poser. 

 There it stood to be looked at, but not looked 

 over : to my left I heard stones, and saw a horse- 

 man or two go over where the wall was lower. 

 I was pulling up my horse, intending to follow 

 in their track: ^ Go along, ye divil, and don't 

 disgrace my horse !' shouted the well-known voice 

 of my friend near me. ' Here goes, then,' said I, 

 trying to persuade myself I felt no fear, and 

 using, contrary to my usual wont, strong ' Latch- 

 o 



