298 THE RED DEER OF EXMOOR. 



hounds had been entered to carted deer in the 

 neighbourhood of Bath. He and his eccentric but 

 able huntsman, " Sam," showed excellent sport. 

 In 1852 Mr. Carew of CoUipriest, then master of 

 the Tiverton Foxhounds, assumed the command, 

 only to relinquish it once more to Captain West 

 in 1853. 



These constant changes of Masters, hounds, and 

 huntsmen were naturally very detrimental to the 

 sport of staghunting ; poaching was on the increase, 

 openly and without disguise, and the deer were fast 

 becoming extinct. But the tide of fortune had reached 

 its lowest ebb. Afresh attempt to raise subscriptions 

 met with a somewhat encouraging response — on 

 paper — and Mr. Fenwick, the tenant of Pixton Park, 

 who, having come to the country for shooting, had 

 seen good sport with Captain West, undertook the 

 Mastership. Mr. Fenwack, who subsequently on his 

 marriage with the heiress of Bagborough took the 

 name of Bisset, was one of those rare men to whom 

 difficulties and obstacles, which would daunt other 

 men, serve only as incentives to more vigorous 

 efforts towards that success which they inevitably 

 attain in the long run. It is hard for us in these 

 days of prosperity to realise the difficulties which 

 confronted Mr. Bisset, and w^ere successfully overcome 

 by him. Scarcity of deer, apathy, and in some cases 

 almost hostility, of landowners, and deficiency of 

 money were only three — though an important three 

 — of the difficulties. The last-mentioned difficulty 



