WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS 



within his reach. Even the wild partridges and wood-pig- 

 eons, who frequently feed with the poultry, are left unmol- 

 ested by the dogs. The terrier, who is constantly at war- 

 fare with cats and rabbits in a state of nature, leaves those 

 about the house in perfect peace; while the wildest of all 

 wild fowl, the common mallards and sheldrakes, eat corn 

 from the hand of the "hen-wife." 



Though naturally all men are carnivorous, and therefore 

 animals of prey, and inclined by nature to hunt and destroy 

 other creatures, and although I share in this our natural in- 

 stinct to a great extent, I have far more pleasure in seeing 

 these different animals enjoying themselves about me, and 

 in observing their different habits, than I have in hunting 

 down and destroying them. 



