CHAPTER V. 



A few words as to the Old Staghounds-Wild Deer Huntin- in Devon 

 and Somerset since the sale of the Old Staghounds in 1825— 

 Destruction of Deer— Revival of Hunting— The different Packs 

 kept since 1825 to the Present Time-Exmoor and the surrounding 

 Country now the chief place of Resort of the Deer. 



Upon the sale of the old staghounds in 1825 by 

 Mr Lucas, the breed of the noble animals which 

 had formed the pack for more than a century 

 ceased to exist in England. For courage, strength, 

 speed, and tongue, they were unrivalled. Like 

 the game they pursued, they never appeared to 

 be putting forth all their powers of speed, and 

 yet few horses could live with them on the open. 

 Their rarest quality, perhaps, was their sagacity 

 in hunting in the water. Every pebble, every 

 overhanging bush or twig which the deer might 

 have touched, was quested as they passed up or 

 down the stream, and the crash with which the 

 scent, if detected, was acknowledged and announced, 

 made the whole country echo again. 



Nor must I forget to notice the staunchness 



