328 THE author's apology. 



these letters are longer than I first intended 

 they should be : they would have been shorter, 

 could I have bestowed mcrre time upon them. 

 Some technical words have crept in imper- 

 ceptibly, and with them some expressions 

 better suited to the field than to the closet ; 

 nor is it necessary, perhaps, that a sportsman, 

 when he is writing to a sportsman, should 

 make excuses for them. In some of my 

 letters you will have found great vai'iety of 

 matter : the variety of questions contained in 

 yours, made it sometimes unavoidable. I know 

 there must be some tautology : it scarcely is 

 possible to remember all that has been said 

 in former letters ; — let that difficulty, if you 

 please, excuse the fault. I fear there may 

 be some contradictions for the same reason, 

 and I doubt there should be many exceptions. 

 I trust them all to your candour, nor can they 

 be in better hands. I hope you will not find 

 that I have at different times given different 

 opinions ; but should that be the case, without 

 doubt you will follow that opinion which coin- 

 cides most with your own. If on any points I 

 have differed from great authorities, I am sorry 

 for it. I have never hunted with those who are 

 looked up to as the great masters of this science; 



