a man is constantly prepared for a "hold hard!" and though "letting hounds do their own work," and "letting hounds alone" as long as possible is quite desirable with hare hounds while they are at work, they require a huntsman's eye constantly on them. The attention of a huntsman to harriers must be absolutely absorbed in his hounds, for he is never safe for a moment; hounds may be going so as to lead any one to the pleasing anticipation of a burst of three or four miles across country, the next moment it is found Madam Puss has come to the right or left about, and is flying away five hundred yards in the rear of the pack. All this is perhaps the beauty of hare-hunting, trying the nose and sagacity of the hound and the patience of the huntsman. I know it would very shortly not only try but exhaust mine. It has its beauties, no doubt. If I never participated in them where other hunting was to be had, it was not from disliking hare-hunting, but from liking other hunting better, I have rarely joined harriers from the same feeling that has made me rarely go to a juvenile ball. I am willing to allow that to see the little dears exhibit is uncommonly interesting-beautiful--all that their mammas could wish others to think it; but I prefer a ball where the juveniles range from eighteen to forty.

The country a huntsman hunts in, the kind of horses he rides, and the pace hounds go, makes all the difference in the seat and manner of a huntsman, and this much among other things may be said in favour of fast hunting. Hounds to go fast must have a fast country to go in; a huntsman to go with them must have fast blood-like horses to ride, and I believe it will be found that the faster all can go, the neater will be the seat of the huntsman, and the better horseman will he be also.

THE WHIP.

Although there is no marked difference between the seat of the whip and the huntsman, I have generally remarked the former being the neatest horseman. This arises from his attention not being necessarily as constantly devoted to the hounds as that of the huntsman; in fact, his ear more than his eye directs his conduct. His car tells him what the hounds are about, and the voice of the huntsman tells him where his attention is most required: added to which, his duty often makes it necessary for him to keep a watch for and on the fox instead of on the hounds. In corroboration of which comes the anecdote in Beckford, that not merely prince but emperor of writers on hunting, where the huntsman asks his whip what business he has in the place where he was, adding, "Don't you know the great earth at is open, and be d-d to you?" or words to that effect, though I have forgotten the correct anecdote, and so only give the spirit of it. For though a whip certainly does not intend to hunt or ride down the fox, as we might by their conduct at times suppose some gentlemen did; still, a race often takes place between the whip and fox, in which case, with a favourite point to make, it is mostly two to one in favour of pug, who I have seen struck by a whip thong rather than be turned from his course. I once saw a fox, after breaking cover, on the whip getting between it and him to prevent his dodging back, actually bolt under the horse's belly and make good his retreat. Come like shadows so depart" may fairly be applied to a whip and his horse, both of whom must be quick ones to be good for anything; for a whip who merely keeps behind the pack, with the

never ceasing, monotonous "loo on, loo on " in his mouth, and an occasional long smack of his whip as an accompaniment, makes slow work of it indeed. O, for the soul-cheering, heart-inspiring "hark forward, hoick!" which is only to be allowed when sanctioned by the voice of the huntsman, or the certainty of pug having broke. Then how reins are tightened, cigars thrown away, and horses put into a trot or gallop, as the case may be. But hold hard, gentlemen; for God's sake get up to your point and place, but do it without hurry or noise; let the hounds settle on the line of their fox; they will in such a case be wild enough themselves, without being rendered mad by a hundred horses and half as many voices chattering and hallooing in all directions. A halloo from the huntsman and his horn if wanted, a view halloo proffered from some one viewing the fox, and the hark forward and "hark together" from the two whips are quite enough, for they are not deaf, though some fields would lead one to suppose they thought it was the case. What a luxury a dumb field would be to a huntsman ! for not one man in fifty knows enough of what he is about or what the hounds are about for his voice to be of any use. This many are candid enough to allow, and boast they know or care nothing about the d-d hounds; just as some young military men d- the parade. All fair, gentlemen; but if you think it fine to affect to despise, or really to despise a knowledge of the pursuit you follow in anything, tell us so sotto voce," but do not show your ignorance in it by your conduct, or proclaim it in yells to be heard from Dan to Beersheba.

He

Tally-ho! there he goes; don't you see him along the hedgerow, this side the cover? Who is that riding at him? it looks like the first whip, but he was here three minutes ago. It is him, however; depend on it he tallyed him before we did, and made a short cut to get to him. is on old Moonlight: what a pace he is going! Now pug; now George. capital; he has got between him and the cover, and turned him. Bravo! now we shall get a burst to Gorse as straight as gunshot. If I were to omit something extra for this to George in my yearly present I should be ashamed ever afterwards to look a fox-hound in the face, would lie in bed all day, and patronise the Coal Hole, the Garrick's Head, and Cyder Cellar every night.

These sort of occasional little steeple-chases, and sundry other occasions where not having hounds to attend to, give a whip opportunities of riding when he has only himself and horse to attend to. A huntsman, like an old hen, has always his brood about him-happy dog to have them! I love such "olive branches" round about a horse: "happy is the man who has his (kennel) full of them.'

THE GROOM.

The seat of this man is not so absolutely determined and defined as to enable a man to say that is a groom: but if as a groom, he is worthy the name, we should at once say he is a riding-man. It has none of the characteristics of that of the jockey, huntsman, dealer's man, or dragoon; it is, in short, like that of a private individual, with these exceptions, being accustomed to ride behind his master, and being well mounted, which grooms in such situations mostly are, he is constantly keeping his horse back, and holding himself always ready to attend to any motion of his master; he is, or ought to be, always on the alert, and

never has that lounge and air of idleness in his seat that other horsemen are apt to have when merely walking their horse along. Grooms' horses, or most horses grooms may be riding, usually step short, from a wish to get up to their companion, and being held back this gives a shortness, for I can hit on no other word, to the seat and manner of a groom on horseback that other men have not. The other general pace the groom rides is a trot of about seven or eight miles an hour; and this they generally do neatly, from the same cause, the impatience of their horse makes him step neatly; for if impatience to get forward and being held back will not cause a horse to make the most of his action nothing will.

I would wish it to be distinctly understood that when I say grooms ride neatly I do not mean such as merely look after a Brougham and horse, or two horses; such men, comparatively speaking, cannot ride at all; for if upon any emergency they get mounted on the Brougham horse to ride behind their master-in that case they mostly sport a had made pair of top boots, put on a nondescript pair of spurs, have their toes in the stirrups-the horse bores at them, they at him, and they sit as if they were prepared to take wing and leave the horse to go his own way.

I have alluded to grooms accustomed to constant riding after noblemen and men of fortune, and they horsemen and judges of horses. Others are frequently seen following a gentleman towards the city to bring back his horse, and frequently following (if they can) a couple of ladies in forage caps or bad shaped hats, galloping through the streets or parks on bad horses and worse saddles and appointments, one one side the road the other on the other, one always fifty yards in advance. This follower of the fair sex is called, I know not why, a providence: confound him not with a groom or any other respectable man, for I hold his employment one of the lowest in the scale of servile employ.

THE POST-BOY AND POSTILION.

Here is a seat it is quite impossible to mistake, for the post-boy sits like no other man on earth. He sits with his body quite on the twist, his hands and arms higher than any other horseman's, his elbows more squared, and a peculiar drop in his wrist that no one attempts to imitate. From always being confined to a trot his rise in his saddle is also peculiar to himself.

These were, for there are few left, a race of men who alone set the fashion of times at defiance. The post-boy of 1747 or he of 1847 were precisely the same; no matter whether others were long or short waisted the post-boy's jacket was still in length the same jerkin; the small plaited shirt front the same, the large brooch, usually in the shape of a heart, ever placed in it; and notwithstanding all the nostrums and inventions for cleaning white tops the post-boy eschewed them all, and still stuck to the dark mahoganics; nor did he alter the shape of the boot or the character of the spur; his whip ever the same. Notwithstanding all this, his tout ensemble never gave you the idea of being old-fashioned, though our great grandfathers had seen it. This adherence to the same style did not arise from any inattention to dress or carelessness of personal appearance, for he was a regular swell in his way, and usually scrupulously clean in his person.

The regular up and down of the post-boy in a trot is scarcely to be imitated; and as in hack posters the hand horse is several holes in his traces shorter than the riding one, what between looking back at him and the carriage, the post-boy learns a facility of turning round in his saddle that no other man has. He has seldom anything like a hand; he rides on the curb bridle; the horse leans on him by his mouth, and on the collar by his shoulders; these support him, which accounts for the cripples we sometimes see post-boys ride with impunity.

THE PRIVATE POSTILION

Has quite a different seat; he rises very little in his saddle, has his stirrups very long, his toes in them, with his left leg quite straight and very forward: yet singular as this seat is, there is a considerable degree of elegance in its appearance, and some postilions are really very graceful in the position of their hands and arms, and that position is peculiar to the postilion only.

THE DEALER'S NAGSMAN OR LAD.

This is another seat that no horseman attempts to imitate, and is contracted from being so much accustomed to riding horses bare backed. The knees are elevated to get a purchase the whole length of the thigh, and when turned in as close as these men hold them they implant themselves as it were in the muscle behind the horse's shoulder blades, thus forming a stay that keeps the man in his place; they do not attempt to rise as the horse trots, but his action throws the man up in his seat at each step, while the knees hold him firm and fixed. If we put these men on a saddle, though they then ride a good deal like other horsemen, still the in-turned knee shows the nagsman at once; and, in truth, I have known some who rode far better bare backed than in any other

way.

These men have usually admirable hands; and their position, the way they divide their reins, and carry their whip or ground-ash, is such as to be ready for any emergency, be it an attempt to start, stumble, bolt, or run away; a horse can give no indication of an intent to do anything that they are not ready for him. If they know what he means to be at and can prevent him they do; if, on the contrary, they know they cannot, they pretend to make him do it on purpose. To instance, if they find he will bolt up his own yard or gateway they turn him up it purposely, as it were, and then bring him out again: the dealer sees the dodge, the buyer does not so. On coming back Jack is at once asked why he went into the yard; "his curb chain got loose, that was all, so he went to get it put on,' Catch Jack at a loss.

The nagsman will mostly be found a clean, well made fellow off his horse as well as on; upright and well-made about the loins, with a wellturned leg and small knee, to which the peculiar make of his breeches greatly contributes in appearance. A good deal of this arises from his being selected as a quick, active fellow; for if he is not, he is not worth his breakfast; and further, he is rendered more so by constant running in shewing horses, which causes all the muscles necessary to activity to swell from practice, and all superfluous fat to be reduced. This is, in fact, condition; without it, a nagsman could not do his business either off or on his horse; and the difference between a sharp, clever fellow of

this sort, and a thick-headed, dummy lout, would be just this—if the two were kept long enough, the master of one would grow rich while that of the other would be ruined. A dealer's horse well shown is half sold.

THE BUTCHER.

There is not much to be said in a general way in praise of these fellows as horsemen; but as butchers, to horses as well as other cattle, they certainly do get such animals along as perhaps no other men could do. Now, though we do sometimes express surprise at seeing a slight galloway going along at the rate of fourteen miles an hour, with a lad or man, and a basket of meat on him, we do not give him all the credit he deserves, merely from never having bestowed a thought on the matter; but what these animals do, and indeed suffer, is wonderful. A good basket of sirloins, fillets, ribs, buttocks of beef, and legs of mutton will weigh from a hundred to a hundred and thirty or forty pounds; say, as the medium, nine stone: to this is added a pack-saddle and a person, we will average these at nine stone more; so the weed we see going as they do are going under eighteen or nineteen stone. They go like hacks, stepping short and quick; nor can they do otherwise, the load is too heavy to allow them to dwell long on either leg, and the spur, whip, and the punishing their mouths makes them get to considerable speed; in short, a heavy weight, short distances at a time, and holding them and forcing them, is sure to make hacks of them. Whether in harness or out of it, "hit 'em and hold 'em is a sure mode of producing action. The butcher, like the post-boy, rises quick in his stirrups in the trot, and like him rides a good deal on the twist. They are neither of them good horsemen, but both get very queer animals along; both do it by making them suffer a great deal, though their customers do not know that they do so. Horses suffer an immensity that people are not at all aware of. Nor is this a matter of sur. prise, for in truth half the world know little of what the other half of their fellow-men undergo; if they did, let us in charity suppose many of those sufferings would be alleviated. H. H.

THE LAST SHOT.

BY VENATOR.

Whoever has not scoured the prairies, and stood beside the giant lakes of the Transatlantic world, has much that is wild and beautiful yet to gaze on-much that is adventurous and soul-stirring still to make acquaintance with. I had passed weeks on those wild prairies, the guest now of the ishinaelitish Pawnees, now of their brethren the Aricaras, (or Ricarees,) who dispute with them the palm of plunder on that debatable territory. And, not yet weary of wandering, I now lay on the bright green turf, watching the sun-ray's glitter on the blue waters of Lake Huron.

How pleasant are noontide hours when spent, like those, beneath the