254 COVERT-SIDE SKETCHES. 



during tlie course of a chase has the stag-hound the thick 

 coverts, gorses, and brambles to encounter, which fall to the 

 lot of the fox-hound. 



One great drawback to this sport is the ease with which 

 such a large animal as the stag is seen, especially in an open 

 country, so that, should a check occur, people who have per- 

 haps been wide of the hounds, who may be puzzling out a 

 scent in some hollow, view him, and ride forward on the line. 

 This may be urged also against the wild deer ; but, it must 

 be remembered, he is found in his home, and knows every 

 inch of the surrounding country, and the skill with which he 

 avails himself of all inequalities of the ground, so as to escape 

 observation, is notorious, so that on an apparently open heath a 

 wild stag is very soon lost to view. Not so the turned-out one ; 

 he is oftener than not released in a spot he has never seen 

 before, the country is strange to him, and his whole course is 

 determined either by the wind, subject to unforeseen interrup- 

 tions, or his keen sense of smell, wliich leads him to seek the 

 nearest water. In fact, he is too often an animal without a 

 purpose, with no point to make for, no home to reach, wander- 

 ing over the country in an aimless manner, and, when tired, if 

 water is not at hand, seeking shelter in an out-house or 

 cart-shed. Another drawback to the sport is the habit deer 

 have of herding with cattle and sheep when hunted ; and so 

 persistent are they at times that all the endeavours of hunts- 

 man and hounds cannot induce them to part with their 

 company ; I need not say that this is the cause of a great 

 annoyance and ill-feeling with farmers where cows or ewes are 

 heavy. Then the habit of running roads and railways is a 

 great drawback, and few chases are now concluded without 

 their giving their followers a taste of either one or the other. 

 To set against these drawbacks are the pace hounds are enabled 

 to go, a certain amount of independence as regards scent, and 

 the certainty of a find, though the run does not always follow, 

 for old, cunning deer will often take to farm buildings at once, 



