4 RED DEER. 



of recent seasons the chase of the red deer 

 has been directed to the reduction of the 

 herds. The object, it must be borne in 

 mind, is the actual killing of the wild 

 animal, not merely the riding after it. 

 There is in every respect an exact parallel 

 between the hunt in the days of Chevy Chase 

 and the hunt of the present time. 



These deer have been hitherto spoken of 

 as the red deer of Exmoor, but they have 

 now extended so widely, roaming over great 

 tracts of two counties, that this limited term 

 is no longer applicable. They are now the 

 red deer of the West of England. But 

 Exmoor was their retreat during the long, 

 long passage of time down from mediaeval 

 days to our own, and it was from thence 

 that they spread abroad under favourable 

 conditions. It remains the centre of Eed 

 Deer Land, and without a clear idea of 

 this remarkable district no one can com- 

 prehend how it is that the deer are so really 

 wild. 



