THE CHASE OF THE CARTED DEER. 253 



certain time, which they cannot do in any other kind of 

 hunting, except with the drag — that their find is sure, and a run 

 nearly so — that time to them is vahiable, and, when they give up 

 a day to the chase, they want to be sure of a certain amount of 

 exercise, and not to be sent home without a gallop, after per- 

 haps riding about the country for hours in the vain expectation 

 of a find. This is all very well for those who hunt merely for 

 exercise (yet there are very few in the present day who cannot 

 devote the necessary portion of time to secure that, even with 

 fox-hounds or harriers) ; but, as I have said, one great ingredient 

 towards the pleasure of sport is its uncertainty. Therein the 

 pleasure of real wild sport lies — a pleasure that, however, we are 

 fast eliminating from all that we call sport in England. The 

 great charm of hunting the carted deer, for a great many, lies in 

 the fact that here less damage results from over-riding hounds 

 than in any other kind of chase, that the line is chiefly in the 

 open, that the scent is, as a rule, so good as to enable hounds 

 to keep out of the way, and, in consequence, they can indulge in 

 the pleasure of cutting down their friends, without let or 

 hindrance. Stag-hunting from the cart is, to the real houndsman, 

 the least interesting chase he can pursue, from the fact that it 

 calls for little tact and knowledge on the part of the huntsman 

 beyond that of keeping his hounds in good condition, and 

 riding well up to them, neither does it try the nose and excel- 

 lence of hounds like another chase, from the extraordinary 

 high scent left by deer kept in confinement, and highly fed. 

 On the other hand, on their speed and wind it makes large 

 calls, for if they cannot go the pace, and keep out of the way 

 of the crowd, they are likely to have little chance of ever 

 hunting again. The stamina of the hound, I conceive, is also 

 less tried here than in fox-hunting, for, though the runs are 

 often very long, and they have a considerable distance home, 

 there is seldom more than one run in a day, and they are 

 spared all the fatigue of drawing, as well as going from covert 

 to covert, across heavy fields and in muddy lanes. Neither 



