200 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE.

would be difficult indeed to find anything noble or enobling
in the following account of a stag hunt quoted by Captain
Brown with deprecation, from the pages of “The Sporting
Magazine.”

A Stag “On Monday Nov. 20, 1820, the royal hounds met

Hunt. at Stoke Common, Bucks, where a remarkably fine
deer was turned out. The field was extremely numerous.
The deer, at starting, showed great sport, taking, at full
speed, through the enclosures, making towards Slough, and
afterwards for Datchet, where he crossed the Thames, and
then took to the right, and again crossed the river. The
deer proceeded up a lane at the back of Eton College, run-
ning with great swiftness into the yard of Mr. Castles, pork
butcher. He boldly proceeded through the house into the
street, with a cur-dog at his heels; and crossing Windsor
Bridge, to the bottom of Thames-street, actually ran up the
Hundred Steps, a steep and winding ascent to the Castle. On
his reaching the top, he made a pause, and then returned into
Thames-street, many of the sportsmen having rode round into
the Castle, with the object of heading him as he came up the
steps. The stag crossed Windsor Bridge again with great
swiftness, and passed down Eton, entered the shop of Mr.
Levy, an orange merchant, making his way in different parts
of the house, till he got into the kitchen, where he remained
some time: a great crowd was collected round the house.
On his leaving the kitchen, he passed through the back way
into gardens. At this time, many hundreds of persons joined
in the chase. This excellent deer, after having performed
these extraordinary feats, and afforded a charming day’s spcrt,
was at last taken in attempting to leap over the high wall
between Eton College and the Fifteen-arch Bridge.” In the
open country and in the olden time a stag hunt was, of
course, a very different thing, though the hunting of so sen-
sitive and so timid an animal as the stag could never be
other than a cruel pastime. Of the speed and endurance of