86 THE NEW FOREST 



by using a hound, there is always a risk of 

 leaving a wounded deer to suffer, or of losing one 

 that, shot perhaps through the heart, has run 

 a hundred yards in covert, and then fallen dead. 

 But if a hound is invariably made use of, such 

 things ought never to occur. 



Our method was generally this. I would 

 meet the keepers of the particular district, each 

 with his hound, armed with smooth-bores, and 

 with specially and very carefully loaded buck- 

 shot cartridges. I myself would be mounted on 

 a pony with a weight such as falconers use, 

 carried in a socket on the saddle and attacked 

 to the bit. When dismounting for a shot, the 

 weight is pulled out of the socket, and the pony 

 can be instantly tethered. For a weapon I used 

 a " Paradox" gun. In one barrel I had a buck- 

 shot cartridge, and in the other a bullet. These 

 guns are as accurate as any rifle up to 150 yards, 

 and I was thus utrinque paratus. If the deer 

 crossed a ride within 30 yards, it was a fair 

 chance for the buckshot barrel whatever pace 

 it was going. But if it came and stood any- 

 where within 150 yards, the bullet in the left 

 barrel had its opportunity. 



Sometimes we drove the covert with a wide 

 line of beaters far apart. When the deer were 

 very numerous and in herds, this was a good 



