STAG-HUNTING. 41.") 



that lie will, when pursued, rouse other deer from 

 their lair, to induce the hounds to run counter, or 

 change ; and his device of taking soil, with nothins: 

 but the nose to be seen above the water : runnino- 

 down a stream, and seeking for a hard and dry 

 road when pressed ; are facts too well established 

 to require comment. But, after all, the subtilty of 

 man in harbouring a deer, and knowing beforehand 

 its age, sex, and size, by the slot and other dis- 

 tinguishing marks which it leaves behind it as it 

 traverses its native forests, is more conspicuously 

 displayed than in any other department of the 

 chase, and is a most satisfactory illustration of 

 " the dominion given to man over every living 

 thing that moveth upon the earth. "" We shall then 

 dismiss this part of our subject with the remark, 

 that although, properly speaking, the diversion of 

 hunting the stag is totally extinct in Great Britain, 

 we can vouch practically for the fact, that there is 

 not a nobler sight in nature than that of a full- 

 headed stag, roused from his lair by hounds, and 

 majestically trotting before them, snuffing the air 

 as he goes, and appearing to care little for his pur- 

 suers, from confidence in his natural powers. That 

 these powers are great, all modern stag-hunters are 

 satisfied of; and those of endurance, when chased, 

 are allegorized in the fable of the Msenalsean stag, 

 the running down of which is said to have occupied 

 Hercules for a year, and was in consequence counted 

 amongst the labours of that hero. That deer are 

 superiorly winded animals, is apparent by the im- 

 mense height they can leap, just before they die 



