138 GUN, RIFLE, AND HOUND. 



days when all the deer used the coverts adjoining 

 the Royal Forest of Exmoor it could generally be 

 relied upon. The case is far different now. The 

 Forest is no longer royal ; sheep, and shepherds' dogs, 

 and, more objectionable than all, tourists, disturb its 

 repose. The tendency of the deer, then, is to take 

 to the great woodlands far from the Forest, where 

 they are not only undisturbed, but can easily reach 

 their staple food, the farmers' crops, among which 

 they make such havoc. I may here say that 

 this is promptly compensated by the Hunt, whose 

 " Deer Damage Fund " pays some hundreds of 

 pounds annually. Every year now deer are reported 

 further and further away from the moor, in districts 

 where they have been unknown during the present 

 century at any rate. It is easy to foresee that " Red 

 Deer Land " will ere long extend from the Severn 

 Sea to Tiverton in the south, and from Barnstaple 

 in the west to Bridgewater in the east. Already 

 deer have been found by the hounds within a few 

 miles of Barnstaple, and taken east of the River 

 Parret. Some seasons back a stag ran from H addon 

 Woods nearly to Tiverton. The huntsman, meeting 

 a yokel, asked him if he had seen the stag. 



" Nay, I hannot," was the answer, " but I zaw 

 a jackass wi' a hurdle on his head down by river." 



He had never seen a stag in his life before, but 

 if he is still living, he has probably seen a good many 

 jackasses with hurdles on their heads since. 



Unfortunately, the country to which the deer are 

 spreading does not lend itself to enjoyable hunting. 



