152 Tally ho, 



prettiest scene imaginable. On tlie opposite hill-side 

 were twenty-four couples of splendid hounds, breast- 

 high in the heather, drawing towards me, the stag 

 having been viewed going away towards West 

 Quantocks Head. Then we hunted him through the 

 woods, and far away, the wind blowing freshly from 

 the Bristol Channel ; and I began to feel thoroughly 

 at home and delighted with the beauty of the scenery 

 and the novelty of the sport, catching every now and 

 then ghmpses of Bridgewater Bay, with Cardifi' in the 

 distance ; and the conviction was forced on my mind 

 that, though utterly different from fox-hunting, as 

 pursued in the shires, there is a special charm in hunt- 

 ing the wild deer over these lovely hills and dales. 



But after a check at the foot of a steep hill, the 

 hounds have hit on the scent again, and whilst hesita- 

 ting as to which of the paths I should choose, a fair 

 young girl on a chestnut horse having expressed her 

 opinion that the stag had gone up the stream, I felt 

 1 could not go wrong if I followed such a leader, and 

 again we go away at a rattling pace. The stag made 

 towards the sea, descending one steep hill-side^ mount- 

 ing another steeper still, crossing the vale, aud up the 

 densely-wooded slopes of a cover into which he ran. 

 For awhile the hounds were at fault, for the stag was 

 '^ laid up^^ and some little while elapsed before he 

 was viewed ; but at length the place of his conceal- 

 ment is surrounded with horsemen, and the hounds 

 are drawing up close to his lair. He makes for the 

 shelter of St. Audries, the lovely residence of Sir 

 Alexander Acland Hood, in close proximity to the 

 sea shore. A grander sight to the sportsman than 

 the moment when he cleared the stone wall and ran 



