THE RED-DEER OF EXMOOR. 83 



the surface of heather, whortleberries, and rough grass. Lime 

 must then be carried up, and the cost of haulage equals the price 

 of the material. When ploughed and laid down to grass, unless 

 broken up from time to time, the ground will revert and yield 

 nothing but rushes. Acres upon acres may be seen covered with 

 rushes where land has been reclaimed, and has reverted to waste. 



The deer not only lie in the heather, but find abundant shelter 

 in the copses which skirt the coombes. Of late years, owing to 

 the jDrotection afforded them, or rather to the freedom from 

 molestation which they enjoy through the liberal and sportsman- 

 like feeling of the west country farmers, who like to see them 

 hunted legitimately, but not poached, the deer have notably 

 increased in numbers. A. few years ago, if seven or eight were 

 killed in a season it was as much as was expected. Once eleven 

 were killed, and it was thought that such a number would never 

 be reached again ; but in the season of 188L-83 no less than a 

 hundred and one deer were killed, the slot of the hundredth being 

 mounted in silver, and preserved at the huntsman's house. He 

 reckons that there are fifty stags in the district, and some two 

 hundred and fifty deer of all sizes. But, besides these, there 

 must be many more outlying in the broad tract of country they 

 now roam over. 



They are no longer limited to the moors — they roam over a 

 region of which Exmoor forms only a corner, and which is thus 

 described by Mr. Jefferies : — " With a pencil," he says, " draw a 

 line on the map from Bridgewater to near llfracombe, from 

 Ilfracombe down to Exeter, and again from Exeter up to Bridge- 

 water, enclosing a triangle, each side of which on the map would 

 be about fifty miles, but to ride twenty more, on account of the 

 irregular ground. It is not to be supposed that every acre of this 

 region is visited by the deer, but, either while wandering at will, 

 or running before the hounds, it is crossed and recrossed, and 

 marked by their 'slot' or footprints. They have been killed at 

 the very gate of Exeter city, and recently Tiverton has become a 

 pivot of the hunt. 



" This counti-y contains a large part of Somerset and Devon, 

 Exmoor and part of Dartmoor, the Dunkery Hills, and the steep 

 Quantocks, besides numerous minor ranges. 



" The moors of the Exe, the original home of the Deer, are 

 but a corner. There are vast stretches of fertile land in the 



