1 84 LETTERS TO YOUNG SPORTSMEN. 



And, while my game-book is open, I may as well give 

 you my totals for the season, i.e., half of October, three weeks 

 in December and a fortnight of January : 



Grouse 

 Blackcocks 

 Partridges 

 Cock pheasant 

 Woodcocks 

 Snipe . . 



The final item suggests a warning : never shoot a cat in 

 sight of any possible owner or owner's relatives. This 

 island pussy had separated herself from the nearest human 

 habitation by many miles. The rent paid was £100, including 

 the wages of a keeper whose local knowledge was invaluable. 

 Familiar with every likely hollow or patch of rushes, his 

 unerring instinct as a guide through the wilderness almost 

 suggested the presence of Moses in his pedigree. He, with 

 a boy, constituted the staff ; no beaters, and therefore no 

 restraint on shooting in any direction ; half the battle on 

 broken ground where a woodcock flushed by the spaniel 

 may fly anywhere. 



The snipe made very pretty shooting, lying well to a 

 dog, a wise old Irish setter, who knew where to hunt and 

 where not to waste her time and mine, and would retrieve, 

 when told, in a quiet panther-like fashion, without any of 

 the fuss created by her rival, a bouncing Labrador. Two 

 or three days gave bags of over thirty birds ; one day 

 thirty-four ; a mere trifle in comparison to the holocausts 

 obtained on a neighbouring island, where, however, walking 

 in line is necessary ; an island offered on " a lease for as 

 long as you like " at £10 about half a century ago, and now 

 commanding a rent, I believe, of £500. The snipe-shooting 

 there is the best in Britain. 



There were a few hares on my ground, but practically 

 no rabbits ; of the seven killed in the season, two fell victims 

 to a right and left ; the farmer was an infallible snarer, and 

 his land produced some of the finest Highland cattle in 

 the world. In the summer they were to be seen 1 cooling 

 themselves in the Atlantic. Fortunately, he kept no 

 sheep ; their presence is incompatible with the necessary 



