58 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND. 



hills nearly as high, are all within the confines of 

 this property, the lower lying portions of which 

 abound in fine corries and splendid pasture. The 

 estate, which was cleared in 1841, hardly grows any 

 wood, but quiet and shelter are offered the deer in 

 a sanctuary of some 5,000 acres. Three rifles can 

 go out daily, while just at the end of the season 

 a fourth can join in the sport. No driving is done, 

 and the limit of eighty-five stags is nearly always 

 reached by fair stalking. At the foot of Cairn- 

 Gorm lies Loch Avon, in close proximity to which 

 is the celebrated "shelter stone," in which a dozen 

 men can rest, and here in the days of Highland 

 feuds and cattle lifting many good Highlanders, 

 intent on bloodshed or pillage, passed their nights. 

 For some twenty miles the Avon River, renowned 

 for the clearness of its waters, runs through the 

 forest till it reaches the Lynn of Avon, near the 

 forest lodge, and there each autumn congregate many 

 spawning salmon from the Spey. 



