THE HUNTED STAG. 123 



brought up, the stag is not pursued. He has 

 thus a considerable start, and it has happened 

 that an hour has elapsed before the pack could 

 be put on, and yet the stag has been taken. 

 The tufters are whipped off carefully, for if 

 a single hound should escape and pursue he 

 will deaden the scent by running it, and the 

 pack cannot follow so freely. Until the 

 pack comes there is often some waiting 

 about, but when once they are laid on there 

 is a change. If the scent lies well the pace 

 is soon hot, and the country such as tries all 

 but the experienced. A stag goes straight, 

 and has been known to run twenty-five 

 miles ahead. 



The elevated table-land of Exmoor is 

 grooved in all directions by deep and 

 steep coombes, or valleys. The side of a 

 coombe towards the bottom becomes rocky, 

 and is often strewn with loose red stones, 

 which chink under a horse's hoofs, and slip 

 and slide downwards. Paths are narrow, 

 and nothing but furrows in the stones and 



