152 RED DEER. 



other hand, if any one likes he can have as 

 much hard and dangerous riding as he 

 pleases. 



It is often remarked by those who watch 

 the hunt from the hill-tops that the pace 

 seems slow. This is an illusion caused by 

 the vast expanse of country which the eye 

 overlooks. There being few hedges, and no 

 trees in sight, and the elevation varying 

 from twelve to seventeen hundred feet, the 

 glance runs over twenty miles in a second. 

 Hounds and scarlet coats seem to toil slowly, 

 moving in the midst of this immensity, as 

 it takes them a long time to cover the space 

 which the eye grasps instantaneously. The 

 pace is really sharp, varying of course with 

 the stag's condition. They are sometimes so 

 fat from feeding on ripe wheat they cannot 

 get up speed at another time they go like 

 the wind ; much, too, depends on the age. 



At the opening of the season the general 



