CRA.NERS AND FUNKERS. 1:23 



two efforts ; but an upriglit quickset, without any 

 bank, and a ditch on both sides, must be covered 

 by one flight, or at a single bound, for which 

 greater impetus is required. 



There is another point to be attended to also — 

 the selection of the firmest ground to ride on. If 

 men choose to follow a leader, they are bound, 

 in common courtesy, to allow him both time and 

 space to get clear over to the other side of the fence, 

 before putting their horses at it or him. There is 

 in every hunt a class of craners and fmikers, who 

 will pertinaciously folloAV on through gaps, instead 

 of taking a line of their own, although the delays 

 attendant on this proceeding prevent their seeing 

 anything of a run ; but hustling and jostling is 

 a most unjustifiable offence in the hunting-field, 

 and those who adopt such practices may fairly be 

 set down as tailors. In all games and pastimes, 

 a man is expected to know something of the rules 

 before joining in them ; but the reverse appears 

 to be the case in fox-hunting, where all, or nearly 

 all, go their own wicked way, evidently bent on 

 causing all the mischief they can, without the 

 inclination to do any good ; in short, they do not 

 wish for and will not attend to instructions. Even 

 when hounds come to a check, there are a lot 

 of fellows mooning about the field, often in the 



