371 



11th and 12th. — Very, very wet, and the two days yielded but twenty- 

 seven brace. 



13th. — We stalked. Host got no shot. I got an 8-pointer. Iroquois won 

 the Leger. We both had backed him. 



14th. — Finished packing, and with great regret turned our faces London- 

 ways. Our bag was 6 stags, 1,875 grouse, 52 ptarmigan, and 86 various — a 

 total of 2,023 head. 



In Chapter XXII. will be found records of the shooting of Mr. 

 Osbaldeston, Captain Ross, and Lord Kennedy, which quite equal any 

 of those given in this chapter. 



That Rheumatism is a dreadful complaint everyone who has suffered 

 from it will readily admit. Right well I know what it is, having been 

 laid up a cripple for nine months with sciatica and able to move about 

 only on two sticks, and for years past I have been subject to terrible 

 attacks of lumbago. At times so helpless was 1, that had the bed or 

 couch caught fire, I could not have got up. By adopting preventive 

 measures, these attacks are now not nearly as frequent as they were, 

 while the remedies I use cure, in a day or two, the horrible malady. I 

 shall, therefore, for the good of my readers, and sportsmen in particular, 

 tell what I do. 



First I may state that I attribute my lumbago to a bad '* rick " which 

 I got out hunting many years ago, from the effects of which I was laid 

 up for a long time. 



Prevention is better than cure, and being convinced that to keep the 

 back extra warm is the best, I always have on one of AUcock's Porous 

 Plasters, and next my body I wear night and day, round my waist, 

 a band of red flannel (I don't know why red is better than white, hut 

 it is), and also by day I wear outside my vest a body-belt of worsted 

 thickly knitted. 



Owing to these precautions, which I adopted only within the last 

 three years, the attacks are less frequent than they were, but my old 

 enemy pays me periodical visits. Directly I feel the first twinge I tackle 

 him. If attacked in the daytime, I get hot salt tied up in a sock 

 clapped to the small of my back, which I keep on in relays, according 

 as it gets cool. Before going to bed I sit in hot water, with plenty of 

 mustard in it, for fifteen or twenty minutes ; after that I take off the 

 porous plaster and get my back well rubbed with the following liniment : 

 Spirits of turpentine, |^oz.; spirits of hartshorn, |oz. ; spirits of camphor, 

 Joz. ; laudanum, 6 drops. In addition to the red belt, I wear, during 

 the nights of visitation, the worsted belt. I get my back rubbed with 

 the liniment twice a day, and I repeat the hot salt application while the 

 pain continues. I also take two or three glasses of gin a day. Directly I 

 stop the liniment I put on a fresh plaster. By using immediately these 

 strong though simple remedies I hunt the lumbago in a day or two, 

 but if not taken in time he will hold on for a week. I have been told 

 that a dose of cubeb is excellent, but I never tried it. I am certain, 



