THE CHASE 



241 



him and the cover, and edging gradually away from 

 him toward what you wish him to avoid, you may get 

 his head in the right direction. Deer have their runs 

 just like hares, and their own pet places for crossing 

 valleys and streams : the latter hardly ever change. 

 It is said that almost every deer roused in that part of 

 the New Forest still passes Rufus' stone the place 

 where the Red King waited for his shot ; but the 

 line of country crossed between the favourite resorts 

 varies a little nearly every year, and in certain seasons 

 many runs will end in a fashion which in another 

 season is quite exceptional. 



Thus in 1885 eleven stags out of twenty-seven 

 were taken on dry land and only four in the sea, while 

 in 1886 thirteen days out of twenty-eight ended on 

 the beach ; on three others the deer were killed close 

 to the sea, and only four stags were killed on dry 

 land. 



The waters of the Bristol Channel are a common 

 resort of deer when hard pressed. I have never 

 heard of the deer taking to the sea except when 

 hunted, yet all the same they know where and how 

 to get down the cliffs, which are quite precipitous in 

 many places ; but a man can always scramble down 

 where the deer have gone, and it is very seldom that 

 the deer fail to get safely to the bottom, though 



R 



