268 STAG-HUNTING 



and skill. This is a pleasure, however, which I 

 should advise the stranger on Exmoor to forgo, or 

 he may find himself in some difficulty that might 

 have been avoided had he availed himself of the 

 pilotage of local talent. In any ordinary country 

 you generally find that by following hounds and 

 keeping close to them, you seldom come across a 

 place which is beyond a horse's powers, but you 

 must forget this old theory when you go stag- 

 hunting on Exmoor. 



However keen you may be about fox-hunting, 

 you will do well to spare a week at the end of 

 August or beginning of September to pay the 

 Devon and Somerset a visit. The two sports are 

 so totally different that it would be absurd to 

 compare them, but that stag-hunting is real sport 

 in the true sense of the word, you will be obliged 

 to admit when you have seen a stag found and 

 then fairly hunted to death. 



It is more or less the fashion to hunt with the 

 Devon and Somerset in the autumn, which, of 

 course, means a crowd with little room to watch 

 hounds ; but late in April the fields are generally 

 small, and it is at that time of the year they often 

 have the best sport. 



