COL. ANSTRUTHER THOMSON 155 



a pedometer, and said we had walked twenty-three 

 miles. The sun was very hot, and it was about 

 three o'clock in the afternoon. We were obliged 

 to keep the hounds in couples, there were such a lot 

 of dead lambs on the hill. I had my left arm in a 

 sling, having a bony lump on the top of my shoulder, 

 caused by a cropper about a fortnight before. I was 

 lying on the top of the hill with the hounds all round 

 me. I heard a ghillie who was in the glen at the 

 bottom of the hill shout out, " Here's a tod ! Here's 

 a tod ! " I uncoupled the hounds and the fox came 

 up the hill within a hundred yards of me. Away the 

 hounds went, and I said, " Good-bye, old boys, I'll 

 see you again next season ". I did not know where 

 thev would o;o to. I ran over the crest of the hill 

 and down the other side. It was very steep and my 

 legs ran away with me. The heel of my right boot 

 hit me on the inside of my left knee and over I went 

 on to my bad shoulder. It hurt awfully, and I could 

 only lie still and groan. When I got a little better 

 I got out my telescope and saw three shepherds on a 

 hill about two or three miles off, looking east ; they 

 turned round so I saw their backs, and concluded 

 that they saw the hounds beyond them. I got up 

 and limped up the hill and over to the valley where 

 we had started from. After a little while the leading 

 hound appeared. There was little scent and they 

 were only going slowly. I stopped him and waited 

 for the others and got them all together. I then 

 went down to a farm-house where I had left the pony 

 and got back to the kennel. There was nobody 



