186 EXPERIENCES OF SPORT. 



rien !" It consisted of solid oak pollards bigger 

 round than my body, and these were banded to- 

 gether with iron hooping. It was only five feet 

 six inches high, with a fearful taking-off in deep 

 and spongy ground, and quite as bad a landing. 

 I confess I felt a terrible misgiving as I rode at 

 this formidable "obstacle/' as Mossoo calls it. 

 However, putting on plenty of steam, I managed 

 to get over in safety. At another steeple-chase, 

 down the country, I was invited to go and look 

 at the bank and double ditch which some enter- 

 prising French steward had given orders to be 

 made. This consisted of a ditch six feet wide, 

 with a bank nine feet high, and another ditch 

 eight or ten feet wide, full of water on the other 

 side. This he told me with great glee was 

 "une fosse tout a fait Anglaise" a beautiful 

 jump, and at which there was sure to be a horse 

 or two killed, and probably a leg or arm broken, 

 or some other graver accident. 



By dint of persuasion, combined with the 

 majority of the riders declaring they would not 

 peril their lives at it, the first ditch, the taking- 

 off one, was filled in, and the bank a little 

 sloped, but even then it presented a fearful 



