THE JOURNEY DOWN, AND CONCLUSION. 401 



ing manner in which they alluded to the troubles 

 and hardships they had undergone and these 

 could not have been a few. Well may foreigners 

 wonder at the true pluck and determination of 

 character in the Englishman ; and from what does 

 this spring ? Why, in a great measure from the 

 manner in which the British youth are brought 

 up. The love of manly exercises and field sports is, 

 as it were, a part of their nature, and by becoming 

 a proficient in anyone of these the lad gains a feeling 

 of self-dependence. " The will to do, the soul to 

 dare," becomes too deeply implanted in his breast 

 ever to be uprooted and what is the consequence ? 

 The lessons learnt on the Thames, the Cam, and 

 the Isis, in the cricket-field, or across country, are 

 never forgotten ; and when such men in after-life 

 are placed in situations of danger or difficulty, it 

 is easy to see the advantages of early training. 

 One of these young striplings was captain of a 

 Cambridge boat. The only anxiety which the 

 youngest seemed to feel was, that he should not 

 be home in time for the best partridge shooting. 

 And as for the eldest, no wonder he took things 

 coolly, for he was "an old bushman" in truth; 

 and a man, who could travel (as he told me he 

 had done) alone through a country peopled with 

 wild and savage "Maories," was not likely to see 

 much fear in wandering through a quiet country 



D I) 



