STAG-HUNTING 59 



deer is, or is not sport, is a question which we must 

 ask the readers to decide for themselves, but there is 

 no man who has ever followed the Devon and Somerset 

 stag-hounds over the wild moorlands of Exmoor, who 

 will not confess that the pursuit of the red deer beats 

 fox-hunting. Even such an enthusiastic fox-hunter as 

 the Duke of Beaufort has declared that few things 

 can compare with a run after a " warrantable " stag, at 

 the stern of the Devon and Somerset Hounds, though 

 he adds wdth humorous satire, that there is probably 

 nothing more difficult than to keep there. Of course, 

 we admit that the fox now holds pride of place in the 

 opinion of the majority of hunting men, always ex- 

 cepting those of Devon and Somerset, if only for the 

 reason that the fox affords more amusement to the 

 greater number of sportsmen. There are over 150 

 packs of fox-hounds in England, but it is only with 

 the Devon and Somerset hounds that stacj-huntinof can 

 be seen as the hunting man ought to see it. Exmoor 

 is the home of the red deer, and though naturalists 

 differ as to whether or not the red deer is indiQ;enous 

 to English soil, it has been made evident that he has 

 lived in Devon since the Norman Conquest, so that if 

 he came as a visitor, he must have liked his quarters. 



For the convenience both of our fox-hunting readers 

 and the novice, we have arranged our description 

 of Exmoor stag-hunting in the followin.c: succinct 

 form : — 



*o 



1. Difference hehueen stag and fox for hunting 



purposes. 



2. Difference hetwcen fimling a stag and drawing 



for a fox. 



