10 STAGHUNTING WITH THE 



After this he will come upon some closing 

 scenes, where the gallant quarry betook himself 

 at last to the only refuge left him, the cooling 

 stream, or the deep salt waters of the Severn 

 sea. On the banks of Badgworthy, beloved of 

 honeymooning couples, he will recognise the 

 boulder beside which a stout forest stag breathed 

 his last, and again on the pebble beach at 

 Porlock Weir he will hear his spurs clinking 

 as he scrambled down to see what manner of 

 head the stag bore that the boat's crew were 

 bringing in with such pride from the waters of 

 the bay, 



Exmoor in its way is a countrv of magnificent 

 distances, that often indeed seem much greater 

 than they really are, bv reason of the Norwegian 

 sort of atmosphere that generally prevails over all 

 the wettest and boggiest expanses, and it is just 

 those distances and the gloomy light that prevent 

 so many a thrilling episode from becoming 

 printed historv. 



Some dav, perhaps, it may become possible 

 to obtain a sun picture of one's dearest friend 

 parting company hurriedly from his horse, the 

 first bound of an antlered monarch of the moor 

 as he leaps in alarm from his lair amongst the 

 tall green ferns, the sweep of ear and stern as 

 the pack drives across the plains of heath, or 

 the expressions on the faces of the field, as they 

 come suddenly and in haste upon soft ground. 



