ut
assistance. When hunting this season, I lost my hat at a fence, and my
long-suffering husband had to give up a good place in a run to go back
and fetch it, whereas, if I had had a hat-guard, this tiresome
occurrence would have been prevented. It is best to attach the cord of
the hat-guard to a button-hole of the habit-jacket, for then, if the hat
comes off, the cord can be more easily caught than if it is fastened
inside the back of the collar of the coat. On windy days the advantage
of a hat-cord is obvious. Ladies who object to its use may say that
overhanging branches should be avoided, but when hounds are running, and
one is mounted on a tall horse, it is impossible to always steer clear
of stray twigs, and therefore men find a hat-guard very useful.

For tropical climates the pith hat or _sola topee_ (Fig. 62) is best for
the hot weather. Helmets, besides being apt to give one a headache on
account of their weight, do not afford sufficient protection to the
rider's temples from the sun. The double Terai hat of grey felt (Fig.
61) is becoming, but it is very heavy. Pith is lightest and most
suitable for wear during intense heat. In the cool weather a bowler or
straw sailor may be worn; but even in the cold season ladies should
avoid wearing a small hat when the sun is above the horizon, for its
rays are treacherous. I have had many a splitting headache from
disregard of this precaution.

In trying on a riding hat, the hair should be dressed low down, as it
will be worn when riding, in order to obtain a comfortable fit; for the
hat must fit the head and not be perched on the top of it, or it will
not "remain" if the horse goes out of a walk. The old arrangement of
dressing the hair in a coil of plaits at the nape of the neck has quite
gone out, but it was a far neater one for riding than the "tea-pot
handle" and other curious knobs and buns of the present time. The
pulled-out style, in bad imitation of Japanese hair dressing, gives a
dirty and untidy appearance, and looks perfectly hideous on horseback,
and especially when the place where the back hair ought to be, is
adorned with a round brooch! If ladies who adopt this bad style could
only see how much it vulgarises an otherwise nice appearance, they would
at once abjure it. A neat way to arrange the hair for hunting is to coil
it firmly round the head, and fasten it with plenty of hairpins--those
bent in the centre and with ball points are, I think, the most