138 STAGHUNTING WITH THE 



just in time to take shelter from a cold and 

 drenching shower of rain and hail, and hounds 

 were duly kennelled in the farm buildings. 

 Tw^o couple and a half of tufters were first 

 draw^n, but, on consideration, the master had 

 one couple of these returned to kennel, leaving 

 three hounds for Anthony to work with. A 

 move was now made for Mr. Snow's Deer Park, 

 keeping warily to leeward of the fence on 

 South Common, so as to approach the deer up 

 wand, but no sooner had keeper Steer held the 

 gate open for the calvacade to enter, than a 

 herd of some sixteen hinds, with a good stag 

 in attendance, was seen speeding away over 

 the brown expanse to Landcombe. The great 

 black stag was supposed to be in the little 

 combe facing the Doone Valley with three 

 others, but w4ien the tufters entered it, it 

 proved to be empty of deer. Ten deer, in 

 bunches of two and three, could now be seen 

 stealing aw^ay over Badgworthy Hill, making a 

 total of twenty-seven already roused, without a 

 glimpse of the veteran ; a noble herd, maintained 

 and preserved by that best of all supporters 

 of staghunting, Mr. Nicholas Snow. 



The tufters were now laid on the line of 

 the big herd, to see if they would lead up to 

 the famous stag, and they had not been long 

 out of sight amongst the larches in Landcombe 

 before deer began to move in all directions. 



