TRACKING DEER BY SLOT. 109 



harbourer's judgment of the age of the stag 

 were it not for one particular. 



One part of the stag's slot never varies in 

 breadth, whether he is walking or galloping at 

 his hardest ; and this is the heel. The points 

 spread ; the heel remains the same size. To 

 understand this, place your hand on the table, 

 palm downwards. The back of the hand 

 across the knuckles represents the heel of the 

 slot and the fingers the points. Whether the 

 fingers are kept close together or spread 

 apart as widely as possible the back of the 

 hand or heel measures the same across. 

 Corresponding to the age and size of the 

 stag is the breadth of his heel, and it is to 

 that part of the slot that the harbourer looks 

 to assure himself that it is a runnable deer. 



The pace at which the stag was travelling 

 is further shown by the depth of the impres- 

 sion. In walking his hoofs sink in but slightly ; 

 in galloping they strike the earth with great 

 force and often enter deeply, slipping for- 

 ward, too, aslant underneath the surface. 



