CHASE OF THE WILD RED DEER 17 



After the Fortescue dynasty had ended, the 

 hounds became again a subscription pack, under the 

 direction of the late Stucley Lucas, Esq., of Baron's 

 Down, near Dulverton, who kept them for six years, 

 at the end of which time, from untoward circum- 

 stances, and in consequence of dissatisfaction felt 

 by the subscribers and landowners at the mode of 

 conducting the hunting, arising from causes which it 

 is not necessary to enter into now, the hunting was 

 for a time discontinued, and the hounds were sold in 

 the year 1825 in London. 



A nobler pack of hounds no man ever saw. They 

 had been in the country for years, and had been 

 bred with the utmost care for the express purpose of 

 stag-hunting. 



What the exact origin of the hounds was I am 

 unable to state with accuracy. The bloodhound 

 and old southern hound, however, were beyond 

 doubt amongst the ancestors of the pack, which, 

 when sold (as before mentioned), consisted of about 

 thirty couples. In height the hounds were about 

 twenty-six to twenty-eight inches ; colour generally 

 hare pied, yellow, yellow and white, or badger pied, 

 with long ears, deep muzzles, large throats, and deep 

 chests. In tongue they were perfect, and when 

 hunting in the water, or on half-scent, or baying a 



