TROUBLOUS TIMES. 303 



was prosperous, the deer were spreading far and 

 wide, and in 1878 it was found necessary to hunt 

 three days a week ; but a bad set-back was to come, 

 for the pack, which had been worked up to a high 

 state of efficiency, developed rabies, and had to be 

 destroyed, after many efforts to stamp out the 

 disease. 



In 1879 a seal was set on the popularity of the 

 hunt and of the Master by the visit in August of 

 H.R.H. the Prince of Wales. 



In the winter another case of rabies occurred, and 

 the hounds were kept separated in ordinary dog 

 kennels for three months during the time they 

 should have been killing hinds, thus enabling the 

 herd still further to increase. In 1880 Mr. Bisset 

 found it necessary to hunt on ninety-four days, and 

 he killed seventy-five deer, a number absolutely 

 unprecedented. 



No man ever made a deeper study of staghunting 

 than did Mr. Bisset, and during the last years of his 

 Mastership there undoubtedly was no man who knew 

 so much as he did, not even Mr. Froude Bellew or 

 Arthur Heal. His knowledo-e of the moor and the 

 probable run of a deer was extraordinary, and in his 

 latter years, when failing health forbade his riding as 

 hard as in former days, his knowledge invariably 

 enabled him to be up at the kill long before many of 

 those who had been riding their utmost during the 

 run. This great capacity impressed visitors mightily, 

 and great would have been his following had he 



