46 THE LIFE OF A HUNTER 



with whom I have been associated. It is 

 with some hesitation that I undertake the 

 task of recording my own career, for I 

 feel that I must give some account of my 

 personality and qualities, and after the lapse 

 of so many years I know my memory is 

 defective as to the earlier days ; but, stand- 

 ing as I do, with the last big fence which 

 we all have to take in front of me, I am 

 only desirous of giving a fair portrait of 

 myself, and am careless of criticism. My 

 days are numbered, but I, who never knew 

 what fear was, feel no dread of the end, and 

 I know I shall soon rest under the o:i*een 

 grass of the paddock where I have lived 

 out in comfort the last years of my life. I 

 have seen many of my contemporaries pass 

 away, and I shall lie beside brave comrades. 



