I30 CHASE OF THE WILD RED DEER 



the sport, and first-rate performers across the moor. 



Mr Frederick Knight,* M.P. for Worcestershire, has 



done as much as, if not more than, any man in the 



district of late years to preserve the deer. A part 



of the Brendon property — Scob Hill, above Lyn- 



fnouth — was for many years kept quiet and free 



from sheep, and this was a favourite and secure 



haunt of the deer. In these peaceful glades the 



animals seemed to experience a sense of security 



which made them forget, in some measure, their 



wild habits. They could be approached near enough 



to enable the spectator to observe their daily 



routine and mode of life ; and a beautiful sight it 



was, on a bright, breezy, autumn day, to watch the 



herd, where 



' In copse and fern 

 Twinkled the innumerable ear and tail,' 



the calves playing about their dams, the stags feed- 

 ing quietly, or lazily chewing the cud ; while the 

 safety of the community was entrusted to sentinel 

 hinds, by which, if the intruder ventured too near, 

 the signal of warning was immediately given, and 

 the herd, with stately steps and slow, shifted their 

 quarters, moving up wind, and looking around with 

 care and circumspection as they moved, the master- 



* Sir Frederick Knight, K.C.B,, died 1897.— L. J. B. 



