GLENFALLOCH ROES. 165 



space of the forest, he will most probably come 

 home each evening without having fired a shot. 

 Should, however, the country be dotted over with 

 small copses and belts of plantation, without one 

 large wood to shelter them, hunting roe with a 

 foxhound is totally impracticable, and if persevered 

 in, most of the roe- deer will leave the ground alto- 

 gether. When a good, steady hound finds the 

 track of roe, he will stick to it for half a day ; and 

 the quarry, well knowing the futility of seeking 

 concealment in the near coverts, makes for some 

 distant retreat, not to return perhaps for weeks. 

 For such small woods many people prefer beaters, 

 but I have always observed that beaters, after the 

 first few drives, shy the roes more, and make them 

 more wary and cunning, than dogs do. I have 

 also the objection to a noisy troop, that it is a 

 lazy and stupid way of killing game. 



The Glenfalloch coverts were chiefly oak copse, 

 with a sprinkling of larch and fir. None of them 

 being of great extent, and all tolerably open, pleas- 

 anter roe-shooting could not be had. There were 

 no other guns than my son's and. my own, and no 

 other beating aid than one keeper and two re- 



