344 REMINISCENCES OF A HUNTSMAN. 



fear to say how much, but extending its open undu- 

 lations to such a degree that I christened them " the 

 prairies." We were then to shoot bucks and fawns, 

 which Mr. Drax and myself did till I was really sorry 

 for the indiscriminate slaughter as well as mischief 

 to the stock that such a wild mission occasions, and I 

 ceased to load my rifle. On seeing this Mr. Drax 

 cried out to me, that we had not yet killed as many 

 as last year, therefore to " go on." On this I replied, 

 " Do you forget that you have just thrown into the 

 park an immense extent of additional land ? What is 

 it for, unless you increase the herd?" I think he 

 said something about " buflidoes or kangaroos," but 

 we did not kill many more. 



While Mr. Drax was in Paris, he commissioned me 

 to kill the venison that was wanted, and I took a 

 great deal of trouble not to disturb the park, delighted 

 with the sport, and resolved to take as much care of 

 the herd as if it was my own. Another grand, mistake 

 at Charborough was in the never killing any does ; 

 by this omission the park became filled with rubbish, 

 — with very old does and weak young deer, instead of 

 keeping a large head of valuable male stock. Very 

 old docs injure the male stock much ; past breeding, 

 they never let the bucks be at rest, but prolong the 

 season beyond its usual or useful limits. Tn the 

 economy of parks, neither stag nor buck should, either 

 for ornament or use, be permitted to live after a 

 certain age ; yet I have seen, in Charborough Park, 

 red and fallow deer " gone back " in head so nmch, 

 that all idea of their age was out of the question : 

 all I could say was, that they were very old deer 

 " worsted" from age, which ought to have been killed 

 in previous seasons. I have horns in my hall, of both 



