74 



DEER-STALKING 



and whether he is well or badly mounted, whether in 

 good form or not indeed, whether he comes out or 

 stays at home makes no difference in the result of the 

 day. His pleasure and an intense pleasure it is 

 consists in seeing hounds work and in endeavouring 

 to be with them so as to lose as little as possible of 

 that enjoyment ; but if the fox is killed or run to 

 ground after a burst of twenty-five minutes over the 

 finest part of Leicestershire, it is not owing to his own 

 skill or science the credit rests first with the hounds, 

 and next with the servants of the hunt. 



Some of my readers may think that the matter 

 of ' costs ' should be taken into account in giving 

 judgment, and may consider that if this were done 

 it would tell heavily against the deer-stalker. I hold 

 that cost does not concern the issue which is here 

 raised. But even if it were otherwise, deer-stalking 

 would not suffer by comparison as much as is com- 

 monly supposed. You may enjoy the sport for a rent 

 of any amount from 2,5oo/. down to 2507., the latter 

 on sheep-ground of course. A fancy price is, no doubt, 

 given for certain places with special advantages in no 

 way connected with sport ; but the above is a fail- 

 range, and is not very different from the range of cost 

 in the case of the others. But no true comparison 

 can be made as regards cost. In the case of deer 



