106 RED DEER. 



weather, and the ' harbourer ' has further 

 this to contend against, that, as a rule, he 

 does not see the deer at all. If he can see 

 the deer they can generally see him ; their 

 movements then become uncertain, and they 

 cannot be depended upon. Left to them- 

 selves their habits are partly regular, so that 

 the harbourer endeavours to work unseen. 

 His procedure, in fact, exactly resembles the 

 method of an Indian in the forests of America 

 following the trail of buffalo or deer. Feats 

 of this kind described in books of travel 

 always excite interest and admiration ; but 

 the very same thing is done at home in the 

 woods about Exmoor. 



Every animal as it goes leaves the im- 

 print of its hoofs upon the ground ; the 

 imprint of the deer's hoof is called the slot, 

 and it is by the slot that the stag is 

 tracked to his harbour. By the slot, too, 

 his age is known, the time at which he 

 travelled along the path, and the pace at 

 which he was going — fast or slow. In 



