2i8 A YEAR OF SPORT AND NATURAL HISTORY. 



effect a capture. More than once a hunted stag has been known 

 to cross the Severn Sea, and land in safety on the shores of 

 Wales — a safety which no true sportsman would grudge him. 

 When the hunting moon has waxed and waned, when stags have 

 gained their lustiest strength, and the mists of chill October give 

 token that the season of " love and war" is at hand, a six-year-old 

 deer will lead pursuers many a league over the moors, and many 

 good steeds will be sobbing before their riders see the noble quarry 

 brought to bay in the dark pools of Waters' Meet or under the 

 wooded banks of the Barle, or where the swift stream tumbles 

 among giant ferns and grey boulders in Horner Valley. 



