“ A fresh find is a beautiful sight, and the tricks and dodges of a wily old stag would fill many chapters. To anyone fond of seeing hounds work, and not only anxious for a gallop, the sight of hounds trying to pick out the line of their deer, when he has gone up or down stream, is alone worth going out for. It is extraordinary how long a deer's scent will hold on the moor. It is no uncommon thing for hounds to hunt up to, and kill their stag, after he has been two hours ahead of them. ”

“ Many other qualities there are which are more or less desirable, but the above are absolutely indispensable to a woman's safety, as well as pleasure in the hunting field, and, from choice, no woman should buy a horse that does not possess them.
A good shoulder, as we all know, means so much to the comfort of every rider, whether man or woman, that too much stress cannot be laid on it. But if desirable for all, to a woman it is the one point, for which, if she have to choose, she will give up all else. ”

“ Across a bend at the mouth of the brook every hound dashes forward on a hot drag, a cheer from the Master—who is his own huntsman—a touch on his horn, and away the whole pack of eighteen couples dart up the rocky dingle, and with a musical chorus make the wooded valley ring again. ”

“ In casting a line either for salmon or trout it should be noted that fish always lie with their heads up-stream, and that it is therefore necessary to stand some distance above where they are supposed to be, and cast across the water so that the fly may fall delicately and gently, without the least splash, a little above their noses. It cannot be too often repeated that, in fishing for trout, the great art is not to be seen. The angler must therefore stand well back from the bank, hide behind trees and bushes and crouch in hollows. ”

“ Yacht-racing needs much study, and should not be attempted till the ordinary art of sailing is thoroughly understood. It is the most delightful education in the world, the most interesting and healthful. It becomes so engrossing you will not rest till you understand the whole thing, and know the why and wherefore of all the different moves. It is not advisable to order a boat of your own till you have served an apprenticeship as "hand." Very few people are now contented to go as "hand" or "crew," every one preferring to "paddle his own canoe." ”

“ We have crusades enough in these days, without taking up the war of the saddle, a victory in which might turn out to be a disastrous failure from other points of view.
That the head should be well put on, is again of special importance to a woman, because beside the fact that she has less physical power than a man as a rule, from the nature of her seat she has less control over her horse, one therefore that carries his head badly, may prove beyond her power altogether to control, and will certainly be unpleasant and fatiguing to ride. ”

“ It is by standing about, perhaps out of doors or in a draught, till the warm glow which was upon you when you stepped off your machine has given place to a shivery feeling, that you will get harm instead of good from your pleasant spin, whereas a warm bath and a fresh set of clothing, and not even the most delicate need suffer from her exertions. ”

“ Of all sports indeed there is none more entirely suited to the powers of woman than fly-fishing. The nicety, the quickness, the light-handedness, and care as to details, and I think I may add thoroughness in any pursuit they really take to, in which women generally excel are all points in her favour the moment she takes a rod in hand. ”

“ The great attraction in this sport is that you can fish on a brilliantly fine summer's day, and see the objects of your attentions swimming about and playing regardless of you in the deep clear water. ”

“ Of all the many so-called cycling "skirts," there are but few really suitable for the purpose, for not only is it necessary they should be useful, but it is on the way they fall that the graceful or other appearance of the rider will greatly depend. A woman may sit well and pedal to perfection, but if she has a skirt that does not hang evenly and easily on each side of her saddle, and is of the right length, she will not look well in motion. ”

“ To people who lack any sporting instincts, racing, I suppose, seems ridiculous, but if they love the sea let them learn all about it, and navigate their own vessels like men, instead of being mere passengers on board their own craft, while their skipper is getting all the fun. Some women have taken their own line in this matter, and having mastered the science of navigation, are most enthusiastic on the subject, realising how it enhances a hundred-fold the pleasures of a sea voyage. ”

“ Not on the principle that race-horses are kept, either, as every one knows there is no chance of a racing boat doing more than pay her own way at best, for the prizes are barely adequate to meet the expenses.
Yacht-racing makes quite a new interest in life. The clever mathematician can find a large field for his energies in the designing line, and the keen sailor a never-wearying delight in developing to the utmost the powers of the boat confided to him. ”

“ Yet it is the mention of the last that will make many who know only of the sport by hearsay, look scornful and say they see no fun in standing watching and waiting for the bite that often never comes, and that they prefer something more active. As it is no use arguing with people who are persuaded they view the subject from a vastly superior standpoint, the only answer to this is, "If you do not change your opinion after a week's—or even a day's—experience—well, fly-fishing is not for you." ”

“ While the same general remarks which apply to the subject of exercise for women, apply also to the use of the cycle, we should remember that though every woman is benefitted by exercise of some kind, there are a few women who are not fitted to ride the cycle at all. This may seem a strong assertion from one who is devoted to cycling, and who so thoroughly believes in its health-giving properties. But though to the practised rider cycling is much easier work than walking, to the novice, or to the unskilled rider, and even to the skilled rider who is out of form, it becomes hard work. ”

“ How much better than the London drawing-room's close atmosphere is the fresh sea air, and the delightful freedom of bounding over the waves in a well-equipped craft, with the additional pinch of excitement afforded by racing. ”

“ That certain objections have always been urged with more or less weight against this particular form of sport, I am well aware, but I will leave its defence to abler hands than mine, and while ready to give help, if it may be, to any sister-sportswoman who would take it up, I must say boldly that a day with fox or hare is in my opinion, worth more than a dozen brilliant gallops after an enlarged deer. ”

“ I consider Exmoor the worst possible country for a stranger to take his own line, the best man to hounds on earth cannot tell some of the crossings by instinct, many of the combes having only one even decent crossing, and that has to be negotiated with care. Most people, however, seem to come down with the idea that Exmoor is one vast bog, which is all nonsense, for most of it is quite rideable, or at any rate you can pick your way over it. The crossings are the worst drawbacks to riding straight to hounds. ”

“ As a man is dependent on his eye for shooting, his hands for driving, his pocket for betting, so does he depend on his wits for sailing. To be a good skipper you must above all things have a clear [Pg 24] head and plenty in it, for there is much to learn and to keep up. Yacht racing has now attained to a pitch of perfection verging on science, and to succeed in it you must have observation, self-control, perseverance, good ready judgment and self-reliance, besides many other qualities too numerous to mention, such as patience and cheerfulness. ”

“ From my eleven years' experience of Stag-hunting, I have come to the conclusion that the most essential thing is that a hunter should be well-seasoned. If you ride a young horse with the stag, which would go perfectly well with foxhounds, he will go off his feed and fall all to pieces, even if you are lucky enough not to strain or over-reach him. A horse ought in my opinion to be quite seven years old, to take his turn regularly once a week stagging. ”

“ Of all forms of the chase, that of the carted deer, has the unenviable distinction of having been followed, discussed and written about, by a greater number of people ignorant of the first elements of sport, than any other. It has too the disadvantage of being scorned by some of the boldest followers of the fox and the red deer, and thus while "crabbed" by those incompetent to judge, it is a "thing of naught" in the hunting calendar of some of the best sportsmen and women of the day. ”

“ My experience of pike fishing has been chiefly in the Hampshire Stour, which has a gravelly bottom, so that those fish, which are apt to be muddy in flavour, were superior to any I have tasted caught elsewhere. They are to be taken either with a float and live bait, or else with a trolling-rod and spinning tackle, baited with a dace or other small fish. After the care and tact which must be displayed in salmon, and especially in trout fishing, pike seem to be of a very inferior order of intellect. ”

“ If you are a thorough good horsewoman you may of course use spurs, and thus force him "where he would not," but to raise the whip as you near a fence is to teach your horse to swerve, for he very soon learns to expect and shrink from the blow. Beside all these negative and positive qualities, the perfect hunter must be a perfect hack if possible, and when you have these combined you may congratulate yourself on having the horse of a lifetime. ”

“ Deer, unlike foxes, will run in the teeth of the fiercest gale, and sometimes one is literally nearly blown out of the saddle. The hind which has probably left her calf lying in her bed, will run a big ring out to the Deer Park and back. With the ground at its heaviest, the small field has to gallop its fastest to keep the flying pack in sight. ”

“ The branch of Cycling familiarly known as "figure riding" is open to all, and there is no doubt that the short turns and rapid curves required are not only fascinating, but at the same time excellent practice. The control over the machine given by them will enable the rider to pick his or her way very exactly through the most difficult pathway. Some may laugh at the idea of "riding to music," but having once tried it you will find they are generally glad to do it again. ”

“ There is always a hope that a big fat stag may be run up and killed, should his whereabouts be a certainty, in time to lay on to another, and I have often seen two deer killed in one day. A fat stag which is merely blown and not exhausted, will waste a lot of valuable time beating up and down the water, too out of breath to breast the hill and give a gallop, and too strong to be pulled down. This gentleman is a most unpleasant customer to tackle, as in fact is any deer at bay. ”

“ When your saddles are overhauled, as they should be at the beginning of the hunting season, every horse should have a saddle fitted to it, and thus, and thus only, will you—provided of course your stable management is what it should be—escape the sore backs which will entail loss of sport in a way that is peculiarly aggravating, when you know it might have been avoided.
As important and yet within the reach of everyone is for every horse to have its own bridle. ”

“ Lastly, I would say, that if you should have the opportunity of going out with a good fisherman on a river or lake, there to learn the elements of fly-fishing, by all means avail yourself of it. In no other way can you master the rudimentary practice so easily as from a boat, for there will be no bushes or banks, or the hundred and one difficulties you may have to consider on land, and you will therefore be able to concentrate your efforts on getting your line out in a fairly workmanlike manner. ”

“ The feeling of being run away with in a boat is glorious, and a good punt is hard to beat at this. The excitement keeps you in a glow, though the water breaks all round and over you. The first race in which I steered we won, and then began a record on our own river. Punt after punt was built to beat us, but still Sea Maiden came in first. ”

“ A large majority of the field ride to points, and most annoying it is, after you have galloped your hardest at the tail of hounds, to see a batch of tourists who have been piloted by someone who knows every inch of the country, and who has guessed the stag's point, with comparatively fresh horses, while your own, no matter how carefully you have nursed him, has pretty nearly had enough.
A deer will nearly always soil once, if not oftener during a run, and it is marvellous how a plunge in one of the many streams, or a roll in a peat hole, will refresh him. ”

“ You must [Pg 231] to a very great extent buy your own experience, and though you will always do well to profit by other people's advice, you must yourself build up the theories which will show you how, when, and where to cast so that fish may rise to your fly, when they are proof against the blandishments of the less skillfully-thrown lure. That you should always study the lie of the water over which you mean to fish is a truism, and yet it is a fundamental rule to the neglect of which many both men and women owe the fact, that they never rise above a very mediocre degree of skill. ”

“ There is one delusion that strangers labour under who meditate a few days with the Devon and Somerset Staghounds, and this is, that it is absolutely necessary to ride "the horse of the country," as they term it. I think this is quite a mistake. Any horse that looks where he is going, and doesn't go yawing about with his head in the air, will go well on Exmoor, at any rate after a time or two, but horses accustomed to the country certainly get less frightened in soft ground than strangers. In fact, a moor-bred animal wont go into a bog at all. ”