THE REV. JOHN RUSSELL. 303 



going up Channel, who had all but reached 

 him." 



Russell corroborated the fact : " CoUyns' 

 version is quite a correct one. A deer will 

 float — not ' swim ' — for a long time after he is 

 dead, both in the sea and in a river. I have 

 witnessed it often, and so have manv other 

 Devonshire sportsmen ; but I have never seen 

 an otter float after he was dead." 



Russell, in alluding to a deer that went to 

 sea for four hours and returned all the better 

 for his cruise, refers to a gallant old stag found 

 by Sir Arthur Chichester's hounds and driven 

 through Badge worthy, over the moor to Lyn- 

 mouth. Six or eight couple of hounds were 

 pressing him sorely, when he managed by a few 

 mighty bounds to reach the pinnacle of an 

 isolated rock, from which, with a firm footing 

 for himself, he bid defiance to all his foes. 



A man, however, with a well-aimed pebble, 

 dislodged him at length from his perilous perch ; 

 and, as the deer bounded of¥ like an eagle into 

 space, Russell shut his eyes, that he might not 

 see him, as he fully expected, dashed to atoms. 

 On looking again, however, to his great delight 

 he saw the animal striding away towards the 

 sea, where he remained for four hours, stand- 

 ing boldly out for the opposite coast. But he 

 was taken and brought back long before he 

 reached it. 



