362 LAYING ON OF A DOG. 



preserving his hold ; and should he receive a fall, will, in 

 all probability, suffer much more than a greyhound, whose 

 elasticity of form is better calculated to endure such 

 shocks. 



Perhaps the greatest advantage possessed by superiority 

 of speed is, that the dog runs less risk of injury ; for so 

 long as the deer has the power of movement, he will not 

 turn round, or attempt to defend himself with his horns, 

 but endeavours to fly from his pursuers until they have 

 fastened on him, and are enabled, by seizing some vital 

 part, to pull him down; whereas a cross-bred dog, who 

 has not sufficient speed for a deer, and succeeds only 

 in running him down by the nose (and that after a long 

 chase), at length finds the deer at bay with his back 

 against some rock ; in this situation no dog can possibly 

 attack a deer with the slightest chance of success. In fact, 

 so skilfully does he use his horns in defence, and with 

 such fury does he rush upon the dogs, that none can get 

 to close quarters with him without the certainty of instant 

 death : in this position, indeed, he could, without difficulty, 

 destroy a whole pack. When running obliquely down a 

 hill (which is a deer's forte) no dog can equal him, parti- 

 cularly if the ground is rough and stony ; and, in such a 

 situation, a dog, without great roughness of feet, is perfectly 

 useless. It is therefore advisable not to let loose a dog at 

 a deer in a lofty situation, as the ground is generally most 

 rugged near the tops of the hills, and the dogs run a great 

 risk of being injured. On the other hand, in low and 

 level grounds, a dog is an overmatch for a deer in speed, 

 and, as the deer generally attempts to make for the high 

 grounds for security, and is a bad runner up hill, the dog 



