4 FOX-HUNTING 



The word * sport ' now is made to cover a 

 .multitude of things, which to my mind should 

 be classed under another name. Hunting the 

 carted stag and the drag may be pleasant and 

 harmless amusements, but they are not sport ; 

 and the same may be said of a bagged fox. To 

 further illustrate my meaning, I should say it is 

 sport to hunt the rat with terriers on his own 

 ground, but to first catch that animal and then 

 turn him out before dogs is not sport. Shooting 

 pigeons from a trap is certainly not sport, but 

 it is a very nice point where the line should be 

 drawn in shooting pheasants that only the evening 

 before have fed from the keeper's hand. Of 

 course it is only the feeling and the idea, but 

 if once a man shoots for any other reason than 

 the love of sport, he loses more than half the 

 pleasure, and is no longer a sportsman. A little 

 competition certainly enhances the pleasure of 

 all sport, but too much may destroy the real 

 thing altogether. They who hunt solely for the 

 pleasure of a ride should devote themselves to 

 drag-hunting, and they who shoot to exhibit their 

 skill, should find as much satisfaction in shooting 

 pigeons as any wild game. 



