194 CHASE OF THE WILD RED DEER 



and jostles, and struggles for the lead across the 

 open ? 



I have met with many who were sceptical as to 

 the possibility of a wild stag running the same 

 distances and at the same speed as the stall-fed deer. 

 Oats and beans, carefully administered, no doubt 

 form good and hard food for an animal upon whose 

 wind and condition the sport depends. Still, the 

 denizen of the forest, though he may at his own dis- 

 cretion drink his fill, and glut himself with turnips 

 and oak sprouts, grass and mountain ash berries, 

 unaware that he may be called upon at a moment's 

 notice to trust to wind and endurance to save him- 

 self from destruction, has at least the advantage of 

 roaming at large, of travelling from covert to covert 

 and from hill to hill, of following his own instincts in 

 preserving the strength, and fleetness, and all the 

 resources with which he has been endowed by nature ; 

 while the knowledge of the countr)^ through which 

 he passes, of the points at which he may avail him- 

 self of the refreshing bath, and his hope of baffling 

 his pursuers by taking soil, or mixing with the 

 friendly herd, must in a large degree contribute to 

 keep his ' courage to the sticking place ' throughout 

 the chances and dangers, the exertion and excite- 

 ment of the chase. But I will not argue the question 



I 



