INTRODUCTION 



In venturing to place before the public this 

 little work, the author does not for one moment 

 attempt to claim for it anything more than an 

 endeavour to give a hint to the embryo, or 

 perhaps to amuse the more mature or declining, 

 sportsman. As the title expresses, these reminis- 

 cences are the author's early experiences only, and 

 must not therefore b-^ expected to throw very 

 much daylight on the subjects treated of. Nor 

 must the reader expect any learned advice or 

 dissertations on sport in general ; still at times 

 a point or two will crop up which the author 

 considers to be crucial ones in making a good, 

 bad, or indifferent sportsman, particularly in what 

 relates to the gun. 



With regard to that most charming and en- 

 grossing of all sports, " The Noble Science',' the 

 author has given little more than his first appear- 

 ance with, and entry to, fox-hounds (hoping at 

 some future time to add to them some incidents 



