A GOSSIP ON HUNTING MEN 359 



a little man who was John Company's Commissioner at 

 Bhagalpur. Mr Yule was an old Leicestershire hunting 

 man, and was one of the most daring riders to hounds 

 ever seen in the Shires. He had ridden at both New- 

 market and Liverpool as a gentleman jockey ; he could 

 box, shoot, fence, and play cricket in brilliant style — in 

 fact, was a first-rate all-round man. He knew very little 

 about soldiering, but he knew too much for the Pandies. 



Well, to " Tommy " Yule the news was brought that 

 the mutineers were " on the rampage." At Bhagalpur he 

 had with him fifty of Her Majesty's 5th Regiment, 100 

 sailors, and two guns. As Commissioner of the district, he 

 was in command. Off he started without a moment's delay, 

 came up with the rebels just outside Purneah, and dashed 

 at them at once. They, however, had no heart for fighting, 

 bolted, got round the station, and made off for Dacca. But 

 Yule's blood was up. He had brought his stud of hunting 

 elephants with him. He mounted fifty sailors and forty 

 soldiers on them, and pounded after the flying foe. The 

 little party marched all day and night, and got in front of 

 their quarry the following morning. Then the rascals had 

 to fight — ten Pandies to one Englishman. They could not 

 charge : their horses were fagged out. But Yule charged 

 them, with some of his men on the elephants and some on 

 foot, and killed 1 1 1 without losing a man. And the nerve, 

 the pluck, the dash which achieved that brilliant success had 

 been fostered and trained by hard riding over the pastures 

 and bullfinches of Leicestershire. 



I remember hearing Lord Wolseley tell the following 

 story, which is a further proof of my assertion that hunting 

 develops a man's pluck and confidence: — 



" I once saw," he said, " a Staff officer, a man well known 

 in the hunting-field, gallop with an order to a column of 

 cavalry which had been drawn up in a sheltered position be- 

 hind the village to be screened from the enemy's fire. As 

 he drew near the column, a round-shot struck the ground 

 under his horse's belly. The horse made an effort to swerve, 

 which was checked by its rider, without taking the cigar out 

 of his mouth. He galloped up to the column, coolly gave 

 his orders, and cantered back over the open ground, where 



