CHAPTER XII 



RIDING AT STAG-HOUNDS 



I HAVE purposely altered the preposition at 

 the heading of this, because it treats of a 

 method so entirely different from that which I 

 have tried to describe in the preceding chapter. 

 At the risk of rousinof animadversion from an ex- 

 perienced and scientific majority, I am prepared 

 to affirm that there is nearly as much intelligence 

 and knowledge of the animal required to hunt a 

 deer as a fox, but in following the chase of the 

 larger and higher-scented quadruped there are no 

 fixed rules to guide a rider in his course, so that 

 if he allows the hounds to get out of sight he may 

 gallop over any extent of country till dark, and 

 never hear tidinofs of them ap'ain. Therefore it 

 has been said, one should ride to fox-hounds, but 

 at stag-hounds, meaning that with the latter, skill 

 and science are of little avail to retrieve a 

 mistake. 



Deer, both wild and tame, so long as they are 

 fresh, seem perfectly indifferent whether they run 



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