8 RED DEER. 



Charles the First or Queen Elizabeth or 

 even in the Plantagenet times for aught the 

 appearance of the land says to the contrary. 

 The cross-bow, the cloth-yard arrow, or the 

 clumsy matchlock may still be in use — 

 armour may be worn — and manuscripts be 

 as yet unsupplanted by printed books. There 

 is no printing-press here — the moor has 

 known no change; it is the home of the 

 wild red deer, their home since William the 

 Conqueror landed, and long before then — 

 since Roman arms and Roman money ruled 

 the island beyond the ocean. 



Why has Exmoor remained in this con- 

 dition, uncultivated for so many centuries? 

 why docs it still defy agriculture and im- 

 provement? Three causes present them- 

 selves — the nature of the soil, the cost of 

 labour, and the character of the climate. 

 A long winter of eight months, with con- 

 tinuons rains and heavy fogs, is succeeded by 

 a hot, short summer. Though the summer 



