296 HUNTING PRELIMINARIES. 



very short. We must remember that riding forms only a part 

 of the enjoyment to be derived from any form of hunting 

 with hounds. 



With respect to fox, stag and drag, Captain King-King 

 remarks to me " that although comparisons are odious, it 

 cannot be denied that a good fox-hunt in a good country is 

 the finest form of hunting ; but there are few red-letter days 

 in a season, and in the participation of a perfect run there is 

 a large element of luck. Hunting the wild stag, as done by 

 the Devon and Somerset or Sir John Amory's staghounds, is 

 without doubt the most scientific form of the chase. A man 

 of ordinary intelligence may be an earth-stopper, but a good 

 harbourer must be a born genius, like a huntsman or a poet. 

 The drawbacks to wild-deer hunting are that the country is a 

 rough one, and that the danger of changing deer, or, still 

 worse, of the deer running to herd, is ever present. Happily 

 an old stag is so full of dodges that, like other over-clever 

 folk, he sometimes defeats his own ends by an excess of 

 talent. In hind-hunting, we may sometimes find ourselves 

 running thirty or forty hinds and calves at a moment's notice ! 

 Also, one hind is very much like another ; but no two stags 

 are exactly similar in appearance as regards heads. A slight 

 difference in colour is not uncommon, and will be of help in 

 distinguishing one animal from another. The chase of the 

 carted deer has the advantage that it is only about two to one 

 against having a gallop. The failure occurs when the deer 

 runs the road or won't run at all, in which cases stag-hunting 

 is a humiliating affair. The majority of deer will run well if 

 they are properly managed, and herein lies the science of 

 stag-hunting from the cart. x'\lso, this sport can be carried 

 on in countries where fox-hunting is impossible, from 

 plethora of pheasants, want of coverts, etc." 



Major " Jack " Hanw^ell, who was Master of the Royal 

 Artillery Draghounds, Woolwich, and who was killed in 



