CHASE OF THE W^LD RED DEER 13; 



clouds rise, and we halt to watch the effects which 



even our inartistic eyes can admire and appreciate. 



In a moment the heather-clothed slopes of Dunkerry, 



on which we stand, are revealed to our view. 



There, on his recently cloud-capped summit, you 



can see standinor out in bold relief the hup^e 



boulders, which form his crown. These are the 



vitrified rocks which in days of yore formed the 



hearth whereon the beacon burned — the beacon 



which proclaimed to the ' gallant squires ' of the 



West the approach of trouble or the advent of 



rejoicing". From that summit the approach of the 



'Invincible Armada' was heralded. On these 



stones were lighted the faggots whose ruddy gleam 



was the signal which called the gentry of North 



Devon to arms. Afar off, on Showlesborough 



Castle and Span Head, the answering beacons 



spread the tidings of war, and the sea-girt hills of 



Wales caught the sign, and the flames 



Waved like a blood-flag in the sky, 

 All flaring and uneven. 



But we must move onward, and below us we 

 gaze on the lovely vale of Porlock, a strip of richly- 

 cultivated land, beyond which the plantations of 

 Selworthy rise green and high, hiding the cliffs 

 against which the angry waters of the Bristo 



