362 STAGHUNTING WITH THE 



has practically become a dead letter. No doubt 

 heavy stags gave better runs in olden times, 

 and would give better runs to-day if they 

 could have half an hour's respite granted them, 

 in which to make shift to shake off their 

 enemies. That this would not invariably hold 

 good, however, is sometimes seen in the case 

 of heavy old stags, that trust so much to 

 stratagem and so little to speed, that when 

 the tufters are whipped off thev betake them- 

 selves forthwith to the nearest thick covert, 

 and splashing into the first convenient soiling 

 pit, lie there at their ease until the whole 

 body of the pack bursts in upon their retreat, 

 fresh finds them in view, and their case 

 becomes desperate indeed. To give a fox live 

 minutes advantage on a sunburnt plain of 

 heather, so dry and dustv that a carelessly 

 thrown down match would instantly cause a 

 prairie hre, would be to make sure of losing 

 him, but with deer this is not so. 



If modern foxhounds, chosen for their speed 

 and beauty, do not possess perhaps all the 

 nose and hunting power of their forerunners, 

 that led less well mounted fields across the 

 moor, they can at any rate get nearer to their 

 deer, and in that way improve the scent. 

 The pace and endurance of the deer too 

 seems fully equal to the greater demands made 

 on them bv the dash and galloping power of 



