THE rorULARITY OF THE CHASE AT THE PRESENT TIME. 5 



large body of hunting men do not enter enough into the instincts 

 of the animals they are pursuing, or those that aid them in that 

 pursuit, to derive the full enjoyment which hunting is able to 

 afford. They are too much occupied with themselves, their 

 riding, and their horses, in the first place, and too jealous of their 

 neighbours in the second, for this. 



No man is a greater admirer of good and bold horsemanship 

 than I am. It is a sine qua non of the thorough enjoyment of 

 hunting ; but I maintain, and I think few can contradict it, that 

 the man who studies the nature of the game pursued, and of the 

 hound pursuing, very greatly enhances the pleasure of riding 

 over a country. He has all the excitement of rapid motion, and 

 overcoming a certain amount of danger by negotiating fences 

 safely, enjoyed by him who goes out only to ride, with that derived 

 from his knowledge of woodcraft, to use an old term, superadded. 

 He sees a thousand beauties in the chase that are lost to the man 

 who only rides to cut down his neighbours, and looks on the pack 

 merely as the medium to be used in pointing out the path he is 

 to go. It appears to me like a connoisseur of painting and a man 

 of ordinary judgment looking at a fine work of art. The latter 

 finds his eye gratified and his taste pleased by the object 

 before him, but he misses that refinement of pleasure which a 

 study and knowledge of the subject gives to the other, who sees 

 and notes numerous subtleties and beauties of style and treat- 

 ment which are lost on his companion, but which, given the 

 same knowledge, he would be equally capable of discovering. 

 Hence I would advise all men, for the sake of their own pleasure, 

 when they hunt, to give, if I may be allowed the term, more 

 mind to the matter in hand than appears the custom in the 

 present day. They would enjoy their amusement with greater 

 zest, they would do far less mischief, and be less hindrance to 

 hounds, huntsman, and master. Our ancestors did this : they 

 studied the habits of their game and of the hound they intended 

 to hunt him with. Hence, as a rule, there was a greater average 

 of good sportsmen amongst those who hunted then than in our 



