RED DEER LAND. 



supplanted by printed books. There is no 

 printing-press here the moor has known no 

 change ; it is the home of the wild red deer, 

 their home since William the Conqueror 

 landed, and long before then since Roman 

 arms and Roman money ruled the island 

 beyond the ocean. 



Why has Exmoor remained in this con- 

 dition, uncultivated for so many centuries ? 

 why does it still defy agriculture and im- 

 provement? Three causes present them- 

 selves the nature of the soil, the cost of 

 labour, and the character of the climate. 

 A long winter of eight months, with con- 

 tinuous rains and heavy fogs, is succeeded by 

 a hot, short summer. Though the summer 

 is very hot there are occasional intervals of 

 cold. Sometimes when vapour is sweeping 

 over from the Severn Sea it is accompanied 

 by a wind which chills to the marrow. In 

 1882 there was quite a crust of frost on the 



