“Perhaps not, my dear,” said his wife; “but your want of thought will not prevent them from feeling pain and terror; and I must own, I am always surprised when men of humanity join in such barbarous sports.”
“Do you hunt any thing besides deer?” asked Charles.
Mr. Ashley. Yes, my dear, foxes and hares; the former with fox-hounds, and the latter with harriers.
Arthur. Pray, sir, are deer ever wild in this country?
Mr. Ashley. Not the kind that we have in our parks, which are fallow deer; but there is another species, properly called stags, somewhat larger, differing in a few particulars from those that are wild in our forests. I do not mean that every body has a right to take them; for they are accounted the property of the king.
William. I forget, papa, where you told me that fallow deer were first brought from.
Mr. Ashley. It is said, they came originally from Bengal: but they were brought here from Norway by King James the first; and England is now more famous for venison than any other country in the world.
Charles. Is any use made of the skins, pray, sir?
Mr. Ashley. Yes: the skin both of the buck and doe makes the soft thick leather, of which gentlemen’s riding breeches and gloves are made. The horns are very hard and solid, and make excellent handles for knives and other utensils. They likewise contain a salt, called salt of hartshorn, from which is extracted spirit of hartshorn.