DEER- DRIVING IN MULL. 57 



tation close to me, by which deer might have 

 skulked into Garrochree, but it was so near to the 

 cultivated ground that they were afraid to try it. 

 Yet, after several times shirking her " beaten path," 

 the hunted deer bounded down this wood within 

 40 yards of the bush where I lay in wait. The 

 shot was so quick as to be almost a snap : she 

 darted forward like the wind. My left barrel was 

 so arrant a snap that I never saw the deer drop. 

 After despatching her with my knife, I found my 

 first ball had passed through her entrails, and 

 the second broken both her hind legs. Had it not 

 been for this last fortunate chance, she might pos- 

 sibly have escaped for the present, although cer- 

 tain to die soon after in the woods. 



Before disturbing Garrochree, we went by the 

 side of Loch Baa to a small lonely oak copse, where 

 a good hart had harboured all summer. My pass 

 was again the low one, and by lying flat I had the 

 benefit of a fine rest for the rifle. No sooner into 

 covert than the pack opened, and in a short time 

 I spied the stag's horns coming out of the wood. 

 It was an enviable chance fair, open, slow, and 

 broadside. It would have been a bungle had he 



