296 THE RED DEER OF EXMOOR. 



border of Somerset and Devon, it needed the 

 constables of two counties to make sure of the arrest 

 of anyone who w'as " wanted," so that it was much 

 frequented by those who desired a secure retreat. 

 It stood, moreover, on the main road — pack-horse 

 track be it understood, there were no metalled roads 

 till after this date — between Barnstaple and Dunster, 

 being a regular halting place for the trains of pack- 

 horses, and it was much used by the free-traders for 

 distributing the smuggled goods which were landed 

 on the rocky coasts between Porlock and Lynmouth, 

 notably at the " Bark House" and below Culbone, 

 where the old path by which the kegs were carried up 

 through the wood can still be traced 



The difficulty and cost of transport of the ore, 

 after a short time, caused a cessation of the mining 

 operations, but Mr. Knight persevered with his 

 agricultural improvements for many years, and on 

 the south side of the country with some small 

 measure of success, but unfortunately utterly out of 

 proportion to the capital expended. At length, 

 however, he became convinced that further expendi- 

 ture would be useless ; the Welshmen and the 

 Irishmen were withdrawn, and, save for the farmers 

 and the few labourers employed on the new farms, 

 the district became as quiet and as uninhabited as 

 before. But in the meantime the red deer had been 

 driven to forsake a large stretch of country ; deer 

 are very conservative in their habits, and they will 

 continue to avoid a particular district for many years 



