INTR OD UCTION. 5 



Gaudet eqids canibitsque. My heart was in the 

 right place, and I could generally hold my own 

 across a country with the best of 'em. I was 

 taught to consider hunting a noble science, and to 

 this day, though debarred by my accident from join- 

 ing in the chase, I still love the sight of a red coat, 

 the sound of the hounds and the horn, and I am 

 not a little proud to think that I can show as many 

 foxes as any man. 



At the early age of twenty I became a confirmed 

 cripple, and from the fact of my hip-bone having 

 become fixed in the socket, or, what a medical 

 authority would call, " anchylosed," I have never since 

 been able to get upon a horse. It has been, I own, 

 a sad privation, but matters might have been 

 worse ; and I feel thankful that I have been able 

 to enjoy other sports, and that, though forbidden 

 the pig-skin, I have been able to drive coaches, 

 shoot, and fish in a moderate way, and enjoy many 

 amusements which did not require that I should be 

 actually on the top of a horse. 



Having thus given a slight outline of myself and 

 the habits I have been able and much given to 

 indulge in, I shall proceed to relate a few anecdotes 

 and sporting events which have either occurred 



