200 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 



would be difficult indeed to find anything noble or enobling 

 in the following account of a stag hunt quoted by Captain 

 Brown with deprecation, from the pages of "The Sporting 

 Magazine." 



A Stag "On Monday Nov. 20, 1820, the royal hounds met 

 Hunt. a t Stoke Common, Bucks, where a remarkably fine 

 deer was turned out. The field was extremely numerous. 

 The deer, at starting, showed great sport, taking, at full 

 speed, through the enclosures, making towards Slough, and 

 afterwards for Datchet, where he crossed the Thames, and 

 then took to the right, and again crossed the river. The 

 deer proceeded up a lane at the back of Eton College, run- 

 ning with great swiftness into the yard of Mr. Castles, pork 

 butcher. He boldly proceeded through the house into the 

 street, with a cur-dog at his heels; and crossing Windsor 

 Bridge, to the bottom of Thames-street, actually ran up the 

 Hundred Steps, a steep and winding ascent to the Castle. On 

 his reaching the top, he made a pause, and then returned into 

 Thames-street, many of the sportsmen having rode round into 

 the Castle, with the object of heading him as he came up the 

 steps. The stag crossed Windsor Bridge again with great 

 swiftness, and passed down Eton, entered the shop of Mr. 

 Levy, an orange merchant, making his way in different parts 

 of the house, till he got into the kitchen, where he remained 

 some time : a great crowd was collected round the house. 

 On his leaving the kitchen, he passed through the back way 

 into gardens. At this time, many hundreds of persons joined 

 in the chase. This excellent deer, after having performed 

 these extraordinary feats, and afforded a charming day's spcrt, 

 was at last taken in attempting to leap over the high wall 

 between Eton College and the Fifteen-arch Bridge." In the 

 open country and in the olden time a stag hunt was, of 

 course, a very different thing, though the hunting of so sen- 

 sitive and so timid an animal as the stag could never be 

 other than a cruel pastime. Of the speed and endurance of 



