HIND-HUNTING. 199 



goodwill that survives here. Men are not 

 so sharply defined in isolation as in locali- 

 ties nearer civilisation. They do not stand 

 aloof in villa-seclusion, close by and yet 

 divided for a lifetime. Here they acknow- 

 ledge each other's existence, they approach 

 and lend a helping hand in stress of work. 



The common bond of sport has much to 

 do in preserving this spirit : every one takes 

 the deepest interest in the deer, and in sport 

 generally ; it is a topic certain to come up, 

 and thus a community of feeling causes a 

 pleasantness of manner. With the red deer 

 of the old-world time of England survives 

 the old-world courtesy and hospitality and 

 the old- world friendliness; it is merry Eng- 

 land still. Wild as Exmoor is, and far from 

 the centres of civilisation, there is more cour- 

 tesy and kindliness in the inhabitants of 

 Red Deer Land than where the right to lead 

 the van of modern life is loudly claimed. 



