38 HUNTING. 



In the case of stag hunting, as in that of every other sport, 

 it is above all things necessary that they who undertake the 

 management of a pack of hounds should have a general know- 

 ledge of the nature and habits of the animal to be hunted. 



Without this knowledge the most vigorous and sustained 

 efforts will surely end in failure and vexation, because it 

 would be impossible to out- manoeuvre the many stratagems 

 that the Red Deer will invariably adopt for outwitting his 

 pursuers. It is a vexed question, but a wholly unimportant 

 one to all persons except naturalists, whether the Red Deer 

 is a native of the British Islands. But that he is a tolerably old 



Four or five hinds, attended by their antlered 

 lord, cantering up a hillside.' 



and valued friend of na 

 tive sportsmen, historical 

 records of the date of 

 the Norman Conquest 

 clearly establish. More- 

 over, these leave us in 

 no doubt about the 



position of supremacy accorded him by kings, lawmakers, and 

 historians, as well as sportsmen, over all other beasts of the 

 forest. During the four succeeding centuries the heaviest penal- 

 ties were inflicted upon persons who killed or in any way injured 

 a stag which had made good his escape after being hunted by 

 the king or queen. On such an incident occurring, a royal 

 proclamation was posted in all the adjoining hamlets and 



