BEASTS OF THE CHASE. THE STAG 61 



road, and plunges once more into the river with the hounds 

 all around him. The whipper-in and a farmer jump off their 

 horses, scramble from stone to stone until they get on either 

 side of him. He does not apparently notice their approach, 

 his attention is confined to the hounds in front of him. 



In an instant his horns are seized, and his head bent down 

 and back ; while the ever-present Arthur approaches him in 

 front and delivers the coup de grace with the coolness and 

 adroitness of a Listen. ' Whoo whoop ! ' proclaims that life 

 is extinct, and his carcase is dragged by half a dozen of the 

 field to the bank. The slots are cut off, and gracefully 

 presented to two visitors by his lordship. The head is re- 

 moved, the carcase cleaned for the purpose of blooding the 

 hounds, and directions given for the distribution of the veni- 

 son. A splendid head it is, with ' four on top,' to add to the 

 fine collection at Castle Hill. 



After running for two hours and twenty minutes, broken 

 by but few brief intervals for relaxing the strain upon the 

 respiratory organs of our horses, we willingly swell the number 

 of the first detachment bound for home ; and as we jog along 

 the moorland road we feel, as we have often done before, that 

 the ride homeward with sympathetic companions is by no 

 means the least enjoyable part of a day's hunting. 



The conversation naturally turns on the ability of Arthur 

 and the high character of the pack ; and when we learn that by 

 their joint efforts over one hundred deer have been run down 

 in a single season, we are not surprised at the homage paid to 

 the Exford establishment. 



The fact that the country is so well stocked with deer speaks 

 volumes for the tact and liberality displayed by Lord Ebrington 

 and his popular predecessor, Mr. Fenwick Bisset, and certifies 

 to the existence of an excellent understanding between all 

 classes of the community. 



The destructive propensity of the deer must be experienced 

 to be believed. The majority of the farmers on the borders of 

 the moors suffer considerable and vexatious losses. These 



