CHAPTER XL 



THE CHASE OF THE HIND. 



The great difference between hind-hunting and stag- 

 hunting Is that any hind from three years old and 

 upwards is a fit hind to be run. Hence there are no 

 such difficulties in the way of harbouring as with stags, 

 there being generally some one living near the covers 

 who can say where there Is the best chance of finding 

 some deer, or better still a single hind. It Is In the 

 winter that the gregarious propensities of deer are 

 really brought home to one, for It Is rare to move less 

 than half-a-dozen or a dozen deer In the course of a 

 day's hind-huntlng. In fact the only deer that can be 

 depended on to be alone are the sick or broken-legged, 

 of which last, owing to wire fences and In some In- 

 stances foul play, there are generally two or three, if 

 not more, killed every year. These poor creatures are 

 always driven away by their brethren, who will have 

 nothing to say to them. Shakespeare's " poor seques- 



