12 CHASE OF THE WILD RED DEER 



has not been fulfilled ; but nevertheless we owe a 

 deep dept of gratitude to him, not only for the 

 aid he has given to the sport by the preservation 

 of the deer, and by placing his coverts at the 

 disposal of the hunt, but also for the liberal 

 pecuniary contributions made by him when the 

 pack has been maintained by subscription. 



Many a good man and true, and many a gallant 

 steed, then found quarters for the night in the 

 small and pretty town of Dulverton, situated in the 

 heart of the hunting" country, and surrounded by 

 woods which from time immemorial have been the 

 favourite haunts of the deer, Dulverton has long 

 been a spot well-known to every sportsman of the 

 west. I speak of Dulverton with the affection 

 which a man should feel for a place which has 

 been his home for fifty years ; where he has 

 passed the busiest and happiest days of his life ; 

 whence he has issued in the morning to enjoy 

 the exciting pleasures of the chase ; and whither 

 he has returned at even, to indulge in the pleasure 

 of 'fighting his batdes o'er again,' by his own 

 fireside with a trusty friend beside him. 



But I am digressing. I left Sir Thomas Dyke 

 Acland, the second of the name, in the possession 

 of the rangership of Exmoor, and the enjoyment 



