12 COVERT-SIDE SKETCHES. 



day willingly encounter all these risks for tlie' sake of hunting. 

 I knew an instance in Northamptonshire of a farmer going out 

 quite late in the evening, after the hounds had crossed his farm, 

 to see if his stock had gone astray from gates being left open, 

 as is often the case. His attention was attracted to something 

 unusual in a ditch, and proceeding to examine it he found a 

 horse on his back, and the rider wedged beneath him calling for 

 assistance. He rescued him from his dangerous position, and 

 after a little nursing by a good fire, and the administration of 

 some stimulant, the man recovered sufficiently to be able to 

 ride home. No doubt, save for being thus accidentally seen, 

 he must have died before the morning ; he was most profuse in 

 his thanks to his deliverer, and promised to send him a cask of 

 sherry in remembrance of his kindness, but, I am sorry to add, 

 the farmer has never heard a word of him from that day to this. 

 The incident, however, serves to show that with the chance of 

 such mishaps in store, riding to hounds requires a certain exer- 

 cise of courage in those who undertake it. Even men who do 

 not profess to ride straight are liable to awkward falls from 

 horses stepping in holes, open drains, and so forth, and rolling 

 over them. Hunting men must also, perforce, be temperate, or 

 their nerve soon fails them; neither can their constitutions 

 stand the fatigue they are called on to undergo. In fact, a man 

 must be active and hardy, as, not to mention the number of 

 hours he is in the saddle, and the long distances he rides to and 

 from covert, the actual chase causes severe exertion to the 

 rider as well as the horse, and without falls he is sure to get 

 enough of scratches, blows, and bruises to make an effeminate 

 man very soon sick of the whole business. With regard to 

 hardihood, we have only to consider the bad weather the hunt- 

 ing man voluntarily encounters in pursuit of his sport, for 

 neither frost (as long as his horse can keep his legs), rain, or 

 wind stops him ; and I have known some hunt in snow, to 

 show that they are the hardiest of the hardy. 



I by no means contend that other sports do not, to a certain 



