MEMOIR. xxv 



and when the time of year or incidental circum- 

 stances kept him from an occasional gallop with the 

 hounds, he would have a long day's ride into the 

 country instead, drinking in, the while, deep draughts 

 of enjoyment from the scenes he passed through. 

 One such ride, still showing him faithful to his love 

 of birds, he describes himself in a letter to one of 

 his brothers on May Day, 1864, as follows : — 



"I had a jolly ride," he writes, "to Wychwood 



Forest a few days ago, with S of Wadham. 



We both enjoyed it, as we both entered into the 

 loveliness of the scene. Unfortunately the day was 

 cold, and few birds were seen, though we did hear 

 the nightingale once, and the cuckoo once or twice. 

 We were riding about the forest in the dark, with 

 some prospect of being lost, and did not get back 

 to Oxford till eleven o'clock, having ridden about 

 thirty-six miles." 



The exhilaration of these long rides was almost 

 a necessity to him, counteracting, as they did in a 

 measure, the strain of mental work. He also loved 

 bathing, swimming, and sailing, the first two of 

 which Oxford supplied him with in liberal measure, 

 whilst he found occasional opportunity of indulging 

 his taste for the last-named on the I sis. Then 

 there were cricket and rowing, to both of which 

 he gave a share of his attention, with rifle-shooting 

 at the butts, and fencing at the gymnasium. 



