64 SHOOTING. 



establislunent to another, an advantage which the grouse shooters 

 of former times did not possess — then, a removal to any great dis- 

 tance engrossed nearly half of the shooting season, and was attended 

 with great expense. 



To descant on the noble scenery which a Highland shooting 

 excursion unfolds, is superfluous, as those remarkable localities 

 have been often described in the books for tourists, anglers, &c. j 

 but still, to an intelligent and imaginative grouse-shooter, these 

 mountain passes must be ever new and full of interest. Not one, 

 nor fifty visits can divest them of then- thrilling and engrossing- 

 interest. In many places the sportsman wiU find guides indispen- 

 sable, especially if lie wander among the more northern of the 

 Alpine elevations, such as Ben-?ia-bmrd, Cairngormn, and Ben-mac- 

 did, which raise their snowy peaks nearly four thousand feet above 

 the level of the ocean. An expedition with the gun to any of these 

 parts is quite an adventure, and must be performed on foot, and 

 with an ample supply of provisions, as there are few cottages in 

 those extended and tremendous wildernesses. _ Everytliiiig here is 

 upon a scale of singularly wild and rugged magnificence. The moun- 

 taiu torrents — some of which are almost one continued waterfall, 

 foaming and dashing over ledges of rock, are of the most picturesque 

 and hvely description, and rivet the mind of the spectator by their 

 gloomy grandeur and turbulence. The higher glens are likewise 

 sui'rounded and hemmed iii by frowning rocks and precipices, ; 

 clothed with the natural birch and wild-blowing heather, and so far 

 removed from human ken, and human sympathy, that they are sel- 

 dom visited, save by the red deer and the eagle. Here shooting is 

 both a fatiguing and dangerous amusement ; for if the sportsman 

 be a complete novice to scenes of this kind, the chances are that he 

 wiU tumble over some pointed and half -hidden elevation, and break 

 both his head and his fowling-piece. When less elevated localities 

 are frequented, the shooter will find a small Higiiland pony of some 

 benefit ; though attended with care and trouble, it wiU transport him 

 niore easily over a larger tract of country ; but where a man is of 

 robust health, and has youth on his side, there is noiliing Uke foot \ 

 exercise, it_ keeps liun independent in his movements and rambles, 

 improves his health and spirits, and enables him to enjoy his sport 

 with a gratifying intenseness, unknown to the pampered body, and 

 the luxurious lounger. Exercise on footis one of those things that 

 a man may even be intemperate with, without any permanent in- , 

 jury to his constitution. 



There are considerable ranges of grousing grounds in Wales : 

 the Black mountains which divide the counties of Hereford and 

 Brecknock have some good sporting localities. The country is like 

 the Highlands, wild and rugged, and the sportsman will find some 

 of the liigher elevations laborious to reach. The only method, m 

 many cases, is to follow the rough ;paths of the mountain torrents, 

 which, being dry, afford a kind of ^vinding path to the liighest 

 grounds. The picturesque beauty of the country is beyond all 



