148 RED DEER. 



are whipped off, so that until the pack is 

 brought up, the stag is not pursued. He 

 has thus a considerable start, and it has 

 happened that an hour has elapsed before 

 the pack could be put on, and yet the stag 

 has been taken. The tufters are whipped off 

 carefully, for if a single hound should escape 

 and pursue he will deaden the scent by run- 

 ning it, and the pack cannot follow so freely. 

 Until the pack comes there is often some 

 waiting about, but when once they are laid 

 on there is a change. If the scent lies well 

 the pace is soon hot, and the country such 

 as tries all but the experienced. A stag goes 

 straight, and has been known to run twenty- 

 five miles ahead. 



The elevated table-land of Exmoor is 

 grooved in all directions by deep and steep 

 coombes, or valleys. The side of a coombe 

 towards the bottom becomes rocky, and is 

 often strewn with loose red stones, which 



