IN DEVON AND SOMERSET 229 



follow the line till he satisfies himself whether it is 

 that of a warrantable deer, and has ascertained 

 whither, if warrantable, he has gone. He will then 

 make it good round the wood the deer has entered, 

 and if the cover be a very large one, will try to cut 

 him off at some path or crossing place, so as to narrow 

 the area within which the huntsman should draw. 

 This requires to be done very carefully, or the deer 

 may be moved. Special attention should also be given 

 to the point at which the deer entered the cover, and 

 a cast made round behind it, as often after going 

 a few steps in, a stag will back it on his foil, and be 

 off elsewhere. These feigned entries, as the French 

 style them, have caused many a blank day, especially 

 where there is no cover fence, and the heather grows 

 right up to the edge of the coppice. 



Harbouring as above described sounds a tolerably 

 simple matter, but the weather may have been very 

 dry or very wet, in either case rendering slotting very 

 difficult ; or something may have moved the stag after 

 he had settled himself, or he may have been restless 

 for some reason. They are always on the move when 

 the rutting season is approaching, and accurate 

 harbouring is then very difficult, though I remember 

 poor Miles doing ' a very clever bit of work under those 



1 October 10, 1881. 



