DEER STALKING. 83 



from the way practised in Europe ; but it is 

 much easier to approach them on horseback, 

 especially when crouching behind the horse's 

 neck ; but I am now going to describe a 

 mode of stalking very much used in the in- 

 terior, and by which more deer may be killed 

 than by any other method with which I am 

 acquainted : I believe, also, the description 

 will be novel to most of my readers. It is 

 much better done by bow and arrow, than 

 by rifle or smooth bore, for the shot being 

 generally given about twenty yards off, the 

 arrow is as sure as the gun, makes no noise, 

 and has the advantage of remaining buried 

 in the stag, and, as it were, impeding every 

 motion ; for a stag can neither run nor turn 

 with an arrow in him almost to the feathers, 

 but a ball enters on one side and goes out on 

 the other, and unless it hits a very vital spot, 

 a stag may, and very often does, go a long 

 way before he drops, and in such a case is 

 generally lost. 



A young good-tempered ox is selected as a 

 stalking beast, and though one would think 

 that the treatment his education requires 

 would be enough to spoil the best of tempers, 

 yet it never does ; the ox gets more docile 

 than before, and in the end evidently takes a 



