the chase to which he has been used. With a fox all is bustle and excitement (too much so sometimes) to get the hounds on his line. Here it is different, for the stag can be hunted any reasonable length of time after he is gone. Hence, the first thing is to head and stop the tufters; that being done, the huntsman goes for his pack, kennelled perhaps in some outhouse two or three miles away, either bringing them back to where the tufters were stopped, or laying them on the line at some more favourable point, according to his judgment. Arthur Heal, the present huntsman to the Devon and Somerset, gets his hounds on the line much more quickly than was formerly the fashion. With a light deer this, no doubt, gives them a great advantage and a better chance of bringing him to hand, but, as a rule, the result is shorter chases (at least so say the natives) than they had in former days, and old, heavy stags are quickly run up.

In the chase of the stag, hounds run in a very different form and manner than when hunting the fox, and instead of going in a body so that, to use the old familiar term, 'a sheet might cover them,' they almost invariably tail, and there is not that dashing and striving for the lead which gives such zest and excitement to a run with foxhounds. For this, we think, many causes may be assigned, one of the principal ones being that the scent is so much stronger than that of the fox, that the leading hound is seldom off the line, and, in consequence, has not to try and fling for it, as he would in a fox-chase; hence a lead once gained is seldom lost until the hounds are stopped or a regular check ensues. Moreover, a stag, being a bolder animal, runs much straighter than a fox; we do not mean merely from point to point (as we have seen a cunning old stag dodge like a hare), but that he is not so given to slightly divert his course at every trifling obstacle, as a fox, and the foremost hounds do not, in consequence, so often overrun the line, and give those behind them a chance to pick it up and take the lead from them. Any man who has watched foxhounds in chase has seen the leading hounds suddenly drop back, and some of their followers on one side or the other go away with the line at a slight angle to the one previously traversed, without an actual check occurring, where hounds are not overridden; when they are, the whole pack are driven over it and throw up. This is where the fox, from his timid, sensitive nature, has from some cause slightly altered his course, but not the point to which he was making, and occurs very frequently in all runs. With the deer it is not so, at least as far as our experience goes; hence the leading hounds do not so often come back to their fellows. Loss of start or momentary hindrances cannot be made up, and a tail is the result. Perhaps we should better illustrate our meaning by comparing the course of the stag, whether he describes a circle, straight line, or triangle, as resembling the firm lines made on a map by the aid of ruler and compasses. That of the fox, to the same line attempted without their aid, by a shaky and unskilful hand. The influence of this on hounds will be apparent to any sportsman. Another thing, we believe, the difference in scent between deer and fox, the

former probably hanging higher in the air, does not appear to be affected by hounds passing over the line, and those can enjoy it who have not the actual lead, thus rendering them more independent of being in front than with the fox, where, we believe, the foremost rank have the best of it, and knowing this, they are all so emulous for the lead. If it is not so, why cannot foxhounds run when a hound or a couple has stolen away a field or two a-head, or a cur chased the fox? With deer, we believe, it makes very little difference to the pack if a tufter has escaped the vigilance of the whip and gone forward on the line. Dr. Collyns says of the old staghounds, Like all hounds 'I have ever seen hunting deer in this country, they ran almost in a ' line, one after the other, not carrying a head, like foxhounds, but ' each hound apparently revelling in the scent and doing his work 'for himself; not putting faith in his neighbour, but trusting to his own nose, and to that alone.'

We have noticed exactly the same thing with the hounds now used, and, as they are merely foxhounds drafted for over-size (they average twenty-five inches) from the best kennels in England, they, at any rate, cannot be accused of want of dash. Whatever may be the solution, so it is, and a certain amount of interest is lost to the actual chase over the open, as no one can deny that it is more exciting to see hounds racing for the lead than following each other contentedly, like ducks. It must not for a moment, however, be imagined that on this account pace is wanting. You will find that it takes your very best nag all his time to live fairly with the Devon and Somerset over the open. We remember an instance of a gentleman going there from Northamptonshire, who, it was said, at first complained that the hounds did not go fast enough to extend his horses; the fact was, some easy days and short-running deer deceived him. The time came at last when he had the satisfaction of seeing them run right away from him in the open, while his horse had been so well extended that report said he laid down to rest in the heather ere going home, and that his master thought he intended to die; but the horse altered his mind, if such was ever his intention, and recovered. No one who started with the hounds saw the end of that run, as they could not get near enough for the tail hounds to guide them on the line; but several went miles farther than he did.

Checks are of less frequent occurrence with deer than fox, as is natural from the higher scent. When they occur, it is either from the deer having taken soil,' that is, gone to water, where he frequently sinks himself all but the nostrils, roused another deer, and taken possession of his lair, or thrown himself down in gorse or high heather with a bound, as a hare will do, without rousing another deer. Perhaps also he may have gone up or down the water. we are not writing a treatise on the mode of hunting the stag, but merely pointing out to our readers the difference between the chase of the deer and the fox, we shall not enter into a description of the huntsman's duties under either circumstances, but content ourselves with warning them not to hastily consider that all is over and the

As

deer lost. The check, when it does come, will probably be a very long one, but we believe it is Mr. Bissett's diction that a stag should never be given up while there is daylight. Of course, if he has roused a young deer the hounds are stopped as soon as it is discovered, and brought back to the point where it is most probable the stratagem was effected. After a time he is again roused, all the stiffer for his respite, and is then said to be fresh found.' This will sometimes occur once or twice in the course of a run. At water, some very beautiful hunting may occasionally be seen, where it is shallow, the hounds trying every yard of bank and overhanging leaf, or actually giving tongue in the water if the deer is above them. To a man really fond of the work of hounds nothing can be more enjoyable than this part of the chase, though those who only go out to ride may deem it slow. The way we have seen a single hound work a stream is something wonderful. Now, the chase may be over or Sometimes the deer soils merely to refresh himself, and goes on again, so that it is best to be on the alert for a second start. We have known a very smart gallop indeed after a deer had been running the Barle up and down for a long time, eventually killing him some distance away in the Exe. By-the-way, this reminds us of the advice given us by an old stag-hunter, which is well worth remembering, viz., Never go down into the bottoms unless the stag is 'sinking.' It is a maxim that will save your horse considerably. Another taken from the Chase of the Wild Red Deer' is also well worth repeating, which is that, when you see a deer try to ascend a hill perpendicularly, he is 'embost,' 'run up,' or beaten, and is sure to return to water again.

not.

Very different from the death of the fox is that of the stag. Perhaps for half an hour the pack have been viewing him in the river, at one time set up,' at another flying from pool to pool for shelter, and yet he is not beaten enough for the men to go in and cut his throat (for you must know that a stag at bay is a dangerous customer both to hounds and men).

Whyte-Melville says—

'While louder and deeper the challenge resounds,

Till it rings through the coombe in a chorus of hounds,
And the music of death with its echo surrounds,
The King of the West.'

And of all the hound music that ever greeted your ears, there is nothing to equal the chiding of the pack when their stag is set up; he must be cold-souled indeed whose blood does not boil when he hears it. Then if it is succeeded by the smothered growl, that tells he is pulled down quickly, and the huntsman's knife is sharp and sure, well and good. Occasionally-nay, often- the stag takes to the cliffs and goes out to sea, when a boat generally tows him in either to Lynmouth, Porlock, or Minehead, and he is killed

at once.

Now our task is done. We have endeavoured not to write a

description of stag-hunting, but to point out where, in our opinion, it differs from all other kinds of chase; so that our fox-hunting friends. going into the West, and haply expecting to find something like what they have been accustomed to with the fox or with a carted deer, may not come away disappointed.

Stag-hunting is in its incidents, in the way in which it must be carried out, essentially different from fox-hunting. There, short, sharp, and decisive is and should be the motto. With the deer, deep knowledge of woodcraft, great patience, and untiring energy must be brought into play. A day's work is often done before the right animal is unharboured, and then you may kill him in half an hour. But let those inclined to grumble reflect as they look on the mighty antlers, and form large as a pony, when the King of the Forest lies before them, on the science and knowledge of hunting which has been brought into play to kill an old hart who for years has set the woodcraft of the West at defiance, and ranged these wilds most probably unhunted, until, foiled in every shift, he at last yielded, because, through his own cunning, he had lived a life of ease until he was too fat to run. Why, he could have given any fox that ever wore brush twenty-one pounds for cunning. You may have lost your gallop for the day, but, nevertheless, you have seen 'stag-hunting' as much as you will have, when a warrantable deer' succumbs after a gallop of two or three hours. By-the-way, we fancy people are most unreasonable in regard to deer; because they go out to hunt a stag, they think a run must follow perforce. Let us ask them how often are they disappointed with fox or hare? Also, why a wild deer should always be expected to show sport more than any other beast of chase? One advantage stag-hunting certainly has, that of coming at a time of the year when no other hunting, save that of the otter or cub-hunting at an hour so early that few care to turn out for, is to be obtained; for the season now commences on the 12th of August and ends on the 10th of October, when the stags' necks begin to swell: after that, hind-hunting comes in. Manwood, however, says the hart or buck is in season from Midsummer to Holy Rood Day. Besides this, stag-hunting takes its votaries into some of the most beautiful scenery England can produce. Perhaps in a future article we may have more to say on the subject.

N.

A NEW ERA FOR MAN AND BEAST.

If the great American philosopher Benjamin Franklin were now alive, he would marvel indeed at the vast growth attained by the young giant he brought down from the clouds, not a century ago, by the simple agency of a paper kite. Since his day the Titan has put on his seven-league boots, and now, by the united discoveries of Sir Charles Wheatstone and Sir William Fothergill-Cooke, travels

with more speed than the light of the sun to the uttermost parts of the earth.

Then again, on the world of waters, what lives have been saved, what incalculable losses averted, by that eminent but ill-requited physicist, Sir William Snow Harris, whose system of conducting lightning discharges by broad copper-plates is now adopted by the navies of all civilised nations; for which grand discovery, with shame be it spoken, he was awarded the paltry parliamentary grant of only 5,000l. Sir William was a Devonshire man, of whom his country might well be proud; and again following him, as if to disprove the dogma of the stern old moralist, comes another wise man from the West; one who, by his electro-magnetic discoveries, bids fair to rival, if not to eclipse, his eminent predecessors in many respects, but especially in the application of his science to the bodily ailments of man and beast.

Mr. William Grigg of Plymouth has invented a machine which, by its marvellous and successful power over every conceivable disease, acute and chronic, to which flesh is heir, is creating a wide-spread sensation throughout the western land. Hundreds of people suffering for years from rheumatic gout, neuralgia, disease of the heart, spinal weakness, and even paralysis, many of whom had been discharged from the Royal Albert and other hospitals as incurable, have been restored to new life by the all-but-miraculous agency of this machine.

When in action, a general soothing current of electricity searches out every nerve in the human frame, and it is so tempered that a fretful child can be quieted and put to sleep by it in its mother's arms; or, if need be, a paralysed giant can speedily be made conscious of its superhuman power. The purpose of the current, which is very distinct from galvanism, is to remove all obstructions, and thereby to equalise the circulation of the blood, and the moment the equilibrium is established, the patient, no matter what the disease or injury may be, feels his bodily functions strengthened, and is restored to perfect health.

Electro-magnetism is demonstrated by Mr. Grigg to be Nature's handmaid; for not only are drugs and medicines denounced by him, but he boldly asserts that bleeding, mercury, opium, and iodine are dangerous weapons, known to have destroyed thousands of precious lives, and he solemnly warns all not to taste nor touch the accursed things.

But enough of man and his miseries; turn we now to those of our fellow-sufferers, our domestic friends of the brute creation, to horses, hounds, and cattle.

Being ungifted with the power to complain, except in one wellknown instance, their doom hitherto has indeed been a sad one. When struck down by disease, accident, or overwork, balls, drenches, setons, blisters, and fire have been their lot from the days of Homer to the present time. But now every humane heart will rejoice to feel that better times are in store for our useful and long-suffering