2 THE CHASE : STAG-HUNTING. 



hunting establishment in Great Britain, the hreed con- 

 sists of careful crossings of the purest fox-hound blood 

 in the kingdom. With the exception of a more rigid 

 discipline, necessary in organizing an absolute obedience 

 in the field, the treatment of the stag-hound and the 

 fox-hound is the same. The method of capturing and 

 treating the stags, intended for the use of the field 

 during the season, is a novel feature, however, in the 

 annals of the chase, but a most important item in the 

 sport of stag-hunting. The system of taking them 

 depends, of course, mainly, upon local circumstances ; 

 that adopted in Windsor Forest is thus pursued. As 

 soon as a herd of stags is met with, it is given chase to 

 by a mounted party. From the season of the year, 

 (August or September,) the deer, fat and unfit for strong 

 or continued exertion, are soon blown and easily over- 

 taken. The individual to be captured, once fixed upon, 

 the slightest demonstration ensures his rejection by the 

 herd ; he is abandoned and driven away. He now be- 

 comes an easy prey. A burst of a mile or two forces 

 him to take soil. There he is permitted to remain till the 

 keepers with their lassos come up ; the noose is thrown 

 around his antlers ; he is bound and consigned to a 

 cart. Should he bolt from the water during the operation 

 of lassoing, a rough kind of greyhound, trained for the 

 purpose, is slipped at his haunches, who seizes and holds 

 him till he is secured. The stag intended for the field is 

 kept upon dry food, hay, beans and corn, his treatment 

 being as artificial as the purpose for which he is meant. 



