th which the Phoenicians bartered;
the plunging, high-spirited little horses, wild with release from the
galleys. But though the Phoenicians certainly came, it is very likely
the horses did not; for Mr. Snell, another authority on Exmoor, thinks
that the ponies are indigenous, like the red deer, and are at least as
old as the first human inhabitants of this north-west corner.

They are small creatures, as active as cats, and at Bampton Fair, where
many hundreds are driven in for the last Thursday in October, and the
narrow streets are packed with them from end to end, there are scenes
of great liveliness and disorder. Dulverton, which is the centre of
Exmoor, used also to have a fair, which consisted mainly of Exmoor
ponies and sheep; but it has passed out of existence by reason of
railways and shops, and the greater facility for commercial exchange of
our era, and the charming cobbled, whitewashed town--which was quite an
important town, remember, when John Ridd's cousin Rachael lived
there--now dozes undisturbed among the brown hills.

The sheep of Exmoor are of a horned variety; we all know what excellent
mutton they make from its praises in "Lorna Doone," and John Fry's
lyrical outburst over the saddle of mutton "six year old, and without a
tooth in mun head," and sure to eat as soft as cream. John Fry was
referring to the custom among the farmers of not killing their sheep
until the teeth begin to go. Their coats are exceedingly thick, and
their wool a very valuable asset to the whole county; it was more
particularly so in the Middle Ages, when cloth-making was the staple
industry of England. There is a woolpack in the coat-of-arms of
Minehead, and the most striking feature of the little mediaeval town of
Dunster is the yarn-market in the centre of the main street.

Wolves were plentiful on Exmoor at that time, and doubtless did much
damage among the sheep; in hard winters, even, they would have come
down into the little villages of Simonsbath and Parracombe, but the
last of them was killed in the reign of Elizabeth. In her reign, also,
wild-pigs could be hunted here, while the existence of such names as
Crane Tor, Lynx Tor, Bear Down, is evidence of an even greater variety
of game in Saxon times than now. Yet there is abundance still, hares
and foxes, badger and otter; the otter, indeed, makes grievous
depredations among the salmon that come up the river to spawn, for,
like a dingo among sheep, he slays p