i88i — 1885. 99 



but not often enough to make it worth while to move 

 the hounds thirty miles from kennels, when there are 

 plenty of deer that should be killed within five miles. 



With this we have to quit the history of the Devon 

 and Somerset staghounds. The outcry against the 

 so-called slaughter of the deer has died out more or 

 less, but even if it be continued it cannot,, with justice 

 to the farmers, be heeded. " Go on, and kill as many 

 deer as you can ; never mind what people say." So 

 Mr. Bisset wrote to Lord Ebrington in January, 1883, 

 and he was by far the best judge on the subject. If 

 he had minded what people said he could never have 

 raised the sport to its present level, for he was as 

 bitterly reviled formerly as he is now bepraised. 



As regards the future, the writer ventures to say that 

 the prospects of stag-hunting on Exmoor are brighter 

 than those of fox-hunting in many parts of England, 

 The numbers of deer preserved are sufficient proof 

 that the most important and genuine supporters of the 

 hunt — the farmers — are satisfied with the new manage- 

 ment. The sport of the last five years, which will 

 compare favourably with that of any other five years, 

 has been good enough to satisfy all but those who are 

 never happy unless they are discontented. 



As to the number of deer in the country, it is im- 



H 2 



