8 ESCAPE FROM SERIOUS INJURY BY FALLS. 



the hunting fiehl, were, one m riding against rising 

 'grounds through a doorway out of a farmyard, 

 Avhen, had not the upper hntel given way, my neck 

 must have been broken ; and the other, when my 

 horse, in galloping through an open gateway, 

 brought my knee-pan in contact with the post. 

 On both these occasions I was obliged to roll out 

 of the saddle, and lie down on the ground for some 

 minutes, from the excruciating pain. 



I have had my share of falls with my horse, 

 but seldom without him ; for although riding un- 

 made hunters, my casualties were few and far be- 

 tween, from possessing a quick eye, firm seat, and 

 a powerful arm; and having ridden with (not 

 against) some of the best fox-hunters of their 

 time — Sir Francis Burdett, Tom Smith, Lord Kin- 

 tore, Lord Ducie, and others of minor notoriety, I 

 have been often put to the test in keeping my place 

 with the hounds : my lack of accidents, therefore, 

 must be attributed to holding my horse within 

 bounds, and handling him with discretion at his 

 fences, when distressed. 



Although hunting my own hounds for nearly 

 thirty years, I have joined others in the field — the 

 Duke of Beaufort's, Assheton Smith's, the Craven, 

 the Hampshire, when kept by Mr. Villebois, Sir 

 John Cope's, Sir Thomas Mostyn's, in Oxfordshire, 



