THE HART AND HIS NATURE 33 



foil down the water as he liketh best for the main- 

 tenance (extent) of a mile or more ere he come 

 to land, and he shall keep himself from touching 

 any of the brinks or branches but always (keep) 

 in the middle of the water, so that the hounds 

 should not scent of him. And all that doth he 

 for two reasons before said. 



And when he can find no rivers then he draweth 

 to great stanks 1 and meres or to great marshes. 

 And he fleeth then mightily and far from the 

 hounds, that is to say that he hath gone a great way 

 from them, 2 then he will go into the stank, and 

 will soil therein once or twice in all the stank 

 and then he will come out again by the same 

 way that he went in, and then he shall ruse again 

 the same way that he came (the length of) a 

 bow shot or more, and then he shall ruse out 

 of the way, for to stall or squatt to rest him, 

 and that he doeth for he knoweth well that the 

 hounds shall come by the fues into the stank 

 where he was. And when they should find that 

 he has gone no further they will seek him no 

 further, for they will well know that they have 

 been there at other times. 



An hart liveth longest of any beast for he may 



1 Ponds, pools. See Appendix : Stankes. 



2 G. de F., p. 21 : "Et s'il fuit de fort longe aux chiens, 

 c'est à dire que il les ait bien esloinhés." See Appendix : 

 " Forlonge." 



C 



