44 RED DEER. 



early spring when the first green leaves 

 came forth, sappy and sweet, and were 

 eagerly nibbled. I cannot look round while 

 picking a way over this grassy and yet 

 ru^sred ground without risk of stumbling, 

 but on pausing a moment the shape of the 

 place is evident. Across a deep valley — a 

 rifle shot distant — rises a steep slope covered 

 with oak. Openings in the oaks are green 

 with brake, and where the fern has not 

 grown the reddish hue of the loose stones is 

 visible. The slope is far higher than the 

 hill on which I stand, and extends right and 

 left, surrounding me. To the left it is all 

 woods ! woods ! woods ! — a valley of woods, 

 interminable oak, under which hundreds 

 of deer might hide. On the right it is 

 heather — thousands of acres of heather — 

 gradually expanding into the mountainous 

 breadth of Dunkery Beacon. 



Xow iu June the heather is dark, yet be- 

 neath the darkness there are faint shades of 

 purple and green ; it looks dry and heated 



