80 A HUNTING CATECHISM 



Q. What are favourite places to stay at for 

 stag-hunting ? 



A. Minehead, Porlock, Lynton (the two latter 

 places are near the Doone Valley, so celebrated 

 through Blackmore's romantic story of " Lorna 

 Doone"), and Dulverton are all within easy reach 

 of most of the meets, while there are several 

 scattered inns and farmhouses, where lodgers 

 are taken in and made very comfortable. 



Q. Is it necessary for a stranger to take his 

 own horses, or can hunters be hired on the spot ? 



A. It is far bettter to hire, as several persons 

 have gone into the business, and let out large 

 numbers of good hunters by the day, or for a 

 longer period as desired. 



Q. Do wild stags give longer runs than carted 

 ones ? 



A. Both often give long runs, but with a 

 carted stag there is none of that indescribable 

 feeling there is in the chase of a wild animal, 

 though there is much to be said in favour of the 

 former when no other hunting can be obtained. 

 It is often a subject of remark, that staghounds 

 after a carted deer do not go with the same dash 

 at first as foxhounds after a fox, but they cover a 

 distance of eight or ten miles in much shorter 

 time than foxhounds do. 



It has also frequently been said that staghounds 

 seem only really to settle down, just at the time 

 when foxhounds would be thought to have had a 

 first-rate run indeed, after some ten miles have 

 been covered, if they have a first-class stag before 

 them. 



Q. Are not the Ward Union a famous pack of 

 staghounds ? 



