vi PREFACE 



Murrumbidgee River, he generously entrusted 

 to my care a mass of valuable literary material 

 upon which he had long been at work, -with in- 

 structions to make such use of it as I deemed 

 proper in the public interest. It has thus been 

 my privilege to be the means of publishing, 

 during the last five or six years, under the titles 

 of The Bolster Booh and The Perfect Gentleman, 

 two volumes containing selections from the 

 writings of my absent friend v/hich have served 

 to establish his claim to rank among the dozen 

 foremost essayists of the twentieth century. To- 

 day, therefore, when in response to popular 

 clamour I am once more venturing to publish a 

 volume compiled from the same source, I feel 

 confident that the public will not withhold that 

 support and encouragement which it so freely 

 lavished upon former works from Biffin's im- 

 mortal pen. 



Sport is a subject upon which much has already 

 been ^\Titten, and still more yet remains to be 

 written; but it is not personal affection for or 

 admiration of my poor friend that prompts me 

 to assert that of all the many writers upon this 

 perennially interesting topic none is more com- 

 petent than he to instruct the public mind and 

 guide popular taste. On all matters connected 

 with sport Biffin proved himself over and over 

 again to be an authority whose opinions were 



