84 STAGHUNTING WITH THE 



In the hot August days the frequent crossing 

 of the streams gives panting dry-mouthed horses 

 the opportunity for a hasty drink, which to them 

 must be nectar indeed, but it sometimes happens 

 that, not content with a mouthful, horses elect 

 to lie down and roll, regardless of their rider's 

 objections. To ride the best part of twenty 

 miles to a meet, and then to find oneself 

 unceremoniously deposited in the stonv bed of 

 a stream is, to say the least of it, distinctly 

 unsatisfactory, and a horse, moreover, that has 

 once appreciated the pleasures of a roll in a 

 limpid stream is apt to repeat the operation, 

 even in the middle of a run. 



The hunting power of certain hounds in the 

 pack is brought into play by the habit the deer 

 have of running the course of the streams, and 

 many old hounds will cast themselves at a gallop 

 along the bank, questing each likely stone, 

 snuffing at an overhanging bough or bunch of 

 fern, and eventually hitting off the deer's point 

 of departure with a loud and eager note which 

 quickly brings the pack to join in the re-estab- 

 lished chase. 



Other hounds again, running jealous or hunt- 

 ing for themselves alone, will strike the spot where 

 the deer landed dripping from his bath, and will 

 race away mute as mice upon the foil, gaining a 

 long start of their comrades until the huntsman 

 happens to catch a view of their manoeuvre. 



