186 NER VO USNESS—ITS CA USE AND CURE 



supremacy ; and by such means they will find that a 

 healthy state of nerves will be more rapidly gained 

 than by the use of artificial ones, which I regret to say 

 are but too often a curse to many an otherwise good 

 sportsman. When a man's nerves are demoralized, 

 his whole life becomes a misery to him, and such a 

 state of things is unpleasant to witness. Supposing a 

 man so affected with nervousness to be placed in a 

 position, such as tiger-shooting, etc., where his very 

 life may depend on his perfect self-control and steadi- 

 ness of nerve, what on earth would he be able to do 

 in such a contingency ? Yet such sport is vastly 

 different to shooting harmless birds and deer. I can 

 quite understand what a certain kind of nervousness 

 is like, for I have many a time been no stranger to it 

 when fox-hunting, and have felt my heart beat hard 

 with excitement and anxiety to successfully negotiate 

 a big or awkward place ; but, save when drawing 

 trigger on a good stag, or maybe a woodcock, where 

 such birds are but rare visitants, and the killing of one 

 is looked upon as a triumph, I cannot find excuse for 

 nervousness, unless it proceeds from disease. As a 

 rule it is the result of carelessness in living — too much 

 liquor, too much tobacco, or over-late hours — and the 

 man has only himself to thank for such a state of 

 things, and a little common-sense care of himself will 

 tend to make him a far happier being and a far better 

 sportsman. Given good health and good sight, our 

 nerves are very much in our own keeping, and we 

 may be said to so far possess the whip-hand of our- 

 selves. 



My advice to a beginner may be briefly summed up 



