FEROCITY OF THE CATTLE. 187 



able doloure." It is to me very extraordinary that 

 they should be so wild as they are, considering that 

 they are confined in a park of 1,100 acres, where they 

 must often see man, and where they are fed by him in 

 winter ; and I cannot conceive that any kind of wild 

 animals would be, under the circumstances, wilder, 

 while most would be much tamer. They do not, as a 

 rule, willingly encounter man, but rather retreat, some- 

 times in a hurried manner, at his approach ; but if 

 followed up, they often show fight in the manner de- 

 scribed by Culley, and are never thoroughly to be 

 depended upon, even by their keepers, whom they so 

 often see. Many stories are told of their ferocity, and 

 of the hair-breadth escapes and numerous accidents 

 which occurred in the wild hunting of ancient days. 

 I shall confine myself to two or three which have 

 occurred within the last few years, which are, therefore, 

 well authenticated, and in the majority of which the 

 present Lord Tankerville himself took part. 



In one instance, lately, a full-grown steer lay dis- 

 abled, remote from the herd, in a far corner of the park. 

 Great was the sensation ; for the rinderpest was then 

 prevalent. It was supposed that one animal had 

 been seized, and that the herd would fall a victim to 

 its fury. But, happily, that dire scourge never touched 

 Chillingham ; and the ailing steer was afterwards, when 

 slaughtered, found to be suffering from rupture. The 

 keeper, however, and Mr. Hope, ignorant of the cause, 

 went to examine him, and in order to get nearer 

 to him took the hay-cart. They drove it tolerably near 

 to him in front, an enclosed wood being behind him ) 

 and Mr. Hope got out and advanced towards him to 

 examine him more accurately. But this was not to be ; 



