THE NEW TIMES, 1825— 1861. 53 



ridden by a sporting farmer ; Jack Babbage had a 

 bad fall and "cricked his neck," in other words, nearly 

 dislocated it ; and the master, in going up the long 

 hill from Chescombe Water, came down "an awful 

 smash" in the road, and thought himself lucky to 

 escape with a broken collar-bone. 



The season of 1859 opened under gloomy circum- 

 stances. Money was still scarce, and the landowners 

 had not yet been won over ; and it was somewhat 

 under protest that Mr. Bisset consented to keep the 

 hounds on for yet another season, in the hope that 

 matters might improve. It was, however, encouraging 

 on the first day of stag-hunting to see a little herd 

 of seven stags and male deer together in the Forest — 

 a sight unknown since the starting of the new pack in 

 1855. Hitherto, in spite of the care taken of the deer 

 by Mr. Knight of Exmoor and Mr. Snow of Oare, the 

 Dulverton country had furnished most sport ; and 

 indeed it was not till some years later that the now 

 celebrated Horner covers superseded Haddon. The 

 season was a very fair one, and resulted in the capture 

 of thirteen deer, of which eleven were killed, namely, 

 five stags and six hinds. At its close, however, the 

 usual difficulty of funds cropped up, and it was only 

 with much hesitation that Mr. Bisset engaged to keep 



