CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO AUTUMN 



IN the same ratio that steam-boats, railways, coaches, 

 and every other kind of conveyance were crowd- 

 ed in the months of July and August with men, dogs, 

 and guns, all travelling northwards, every road is 

 now occupied by travellers to the south; for the cold 

 blasts of the mountain, and the uncertain state of the 

 weather, in the Highlands, drive most of our English 

 sportsmen back again to the more solid comforts of their 

 own homes. Nevertheless, there is, perhaps, more variety 

 of sport, and more objects of interest to the hunter and nat- 

 uralist, to be met with during the autumn and winter 

 months in the northern parts of Scotland than during any 

 other season of the year. And, as for weather, after the 

 first burst of the equinoctial winds and rains, the climate is 

 as good as in any part of Great Britain. The fine clear 

 bracing frosts of the autumn are nowhere to be felt with 

 greater enjoyment than on the mountains. It is not, indeed, 

 quite so desirable to bivouac out sttb Jove frigido in the 

 month of October or November, with no covering but a 

 plaid and a heap of heather, as it is in July or August; still 

 I have done so, and been none the worse for it. 



Some years back I remember sleeping under a rock in 

 the beginning of October with much satisfaction, and no 

 ill consequences to myself. The red deer had just com- 

 menced what is called by the Highlanders roaring, i.e. 

 uttering their loud cries of defiance to rival stags, and of 

 warning to their rival mistresses.There had been seen, and 

 reported to me, a particularly large and fine antlered stag, 

 whose branching honours I wished to transfer from the 

 mountain side to the walls of my own hall. Donald and my- 

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