CHAPTER V. 



OF TUFTING. 



Next came the tufters 



Tufting through the brake, 



And opened on him staunch and sure, 



And moved him where he couched secure, 



And drove him forward o'er the moor. 



His gallant point to make. — Whyte Melville, 



Tufting is more of a puzzle to the beginner than 

 any of the other pecuHarities of staghunting. " Why 

 should you not draw for a stag like you draw for a 

 fox ? You know he's there, and you have that 

 advantage over the foxhunter." True ; but you 

 draw for a fox and you draw for the stag. The 

 covert may, and probably does, hold other deer. 

 Supposing you had the best of luck, you might get 

 your stag away a few minutes quicker with, say, half 

 the pack after him ; the other half might be split into 

 three or four sections running other deer, who might 

 or might not break covert. The West-country coverts 

 are nearly all in deep, precipitous combes. Rides in 

 the ordinary acceptation of the word there are, 

 as a rule, none ; a few stony, scrambling paths 

 are all that is available. Amateur assistance may 

 stop hounds readily enough in the open, but in any 



