138 THE SOUTH DEVON HUNT 



difference in temperament of the joint-masters. Mr. 

 Whidborne, old and orthodox, gasped at the idea of 

 running a deer ; Mr. Studd, young and bursting with 

 keenness, gave the order to " let them go ! " In 

 that, he might be thought to be but making a virtue 

 of necessity, for getting to the heads of hounds on that 

 steep hillside where the bracken grows to a height of 

 over six feet, was an impossibility. But he frankly 

 declared afterwards that any fellow with young blood 

 in his veins would have done as he did. Dan North 

 needed no confirmation of the order. He came from 

 North Devon, and with him the chase of the wild red 

 deer was a natural instinct. 



The stag crossed into Mamhead and set his head to 

 the south, running dead up-wind as far as Luscombe. 

 There he turned, retraced his steps to Mamhead, went 

 on through Rushycombe and across the racecourse 

 to the top of Kiddens, down the valley to Doddis- 

 combsleigh, on to Dunchideock Brake and into 

 Perridge, over the Exeter road below Longdown and 

 right on as far as the Okehampton road, where the 

 hounds were whipped off from the stag dead-beat in 

 an orchard about a mile and a half from Exeter. Time, 

 five and a half hours. I regret to say that the 

 severity of the run caused the death of three horses. 

 Being unable to ride myself from an accident, I was 

 out on wheels and only saw the start. My elder 

 brother, who was mounted, got home at ten o'clock 

 that night. 



Without a doubt, it was a great run ; but it was at 

 once condemned as a most irregular proceeding. 

 Trouble quickly followed. Sir John Duntze wrote 

 that he had lent his hounds to hunt fox and not 

 stag, and that until he had an assurance that such 

 a thing should not happen again they were not to 



