40 THE FORESTS OF ENGLAND. 



knowledge of a pickpocket with the labyrinth of the 

 Seven Dials. 



' He knew each lane, and every alley green, 



Dingle and bushy dell of those wild woods, 

 And every rooky bourne from side to side, — 

 His daily walks and ancient neighbourhood.' 



And he had need of all his knowledge on Easter Monday 

 to keep his sylvans in order, prevent his hounds from being 

 crushed to mincemeat by the feet of the horses and the 

 wheels of the carriages, and rescue the deer from ultimate 

 destruction, or premature capture, from the entanglement 

 of actual lanes of men, women, children, quadrupeds, 

 bipeds, carts, coaches, cars, &c., &c. 



" The animal, on being released from the cart in the 

 ordinary way, usually made its way for the thickest part of 

 the forest, as if conscious that some hundreds of the pur- 

 suers would very soon be unable to thread their way 

 through the intricacies of the ground ; and such was the 

 case. All four-wheeled and all two-wheeled carriages 

 were very soon put hors de combat. ' What shall he have 

 that kills the deer ? ' was a question that in a very few 

 minutes became of personal- interest to very few persons. 

 It was not long before 



' A chosen few alone the sport enjoyed ; ' 



and as the 'chase' increased, a series of accidents was 

 inevitable : some fell from their horses ; many horses fell 

 from their riders ; some were engulphed in mud and mire ; 

 some were knocked 'up,' others were knocked 'down;' and 

 before half-an-hour had elapsed, not a tithe of the original 

 ' field ' were to be seen in the forest. The deer had a 

 trick, which was to some peculiarly annoying, though 

 others thought it capital fun : he would betake himself to 

 one of the herds of his own species grazing in the forest, 

 and then, instead of one quarry, the hounds and hunters 

 had their choice of a score or two which to pursue. Here 

 was perplexity, and that not a little increased by the 

 hallooing of Tom Bounding, the yelping of dogs, the 



