WILD EXMOOR. 47 



gold. Underneath the russet-red of the coat 

 there is a rich golden tint glowing through it. 

 Away he went the next minute, up the 

 steep coombe - side, and as he went, fol- 

 lowed by his companion, the difference was 

 marked between their pace and that of the 

 hinds. Stags throw their forefeet out much 

 farther, and hold their necks high, thrown 

 back ; their going is so different, that by it 

 alone they can be distinguished at a dis- 

 tance from hinds. At the summit they 

 stayed again and regarded me, then moved 

 another quarter of a mile, and again looked 

 back ; and so constantly stopping to watch 

 me, by degrees fetched a circle, and re- 

 turned to the same cover far down in the 

 coombe. I have called these stags for the 

 convenience of writing, but strictly, in deer 

 language, the largest one old enough for 

 hunting was a stag; the other they would 

 now call a young male deer ; in the olden 



