152 THE HUNTER'S DRESS. 



the prevailing tints of the surrounding forest and back- 

 ground. This must be left mainly to the common 

 sense of the individual, and it must be remembered 

 that game will be liable to see him passing in front 

 of the tree stems, as well as against the general 

 background; for this reason therefore in snow time, 

 a white dress does not do well in the forest, as it is 

 easily seen in crossing the foreground, with dark tree 

 stems rising out of the snow behind. Personally we 

 are inclined to believe that a whole suit of the same 

 material is not a good thing, because it shows out 

 the perfect outline of a man, whereas by having say a 

 grey cap and trousers, and brown coat and vest, or 

 vice versa, it cuts the figure in two when seen a 

 little distance off, and does not therefore produce so 

 distinct an outline of the human form as a self-coloured 

 suit. 



This was the opinion of the late General H. H. Crea- 

 lock, who pointed out this fact very clearly in his 

 work on deer stalking in the Scottish Highlands ; * 

 it seems to be very much a matter of common sense, 

 and though the question may assume greater import- 

 ance on bare plains or upon a mountain side, than in 

 the forest, still no precaution should be neglected in 

 stalking wild game, as success to a great extent depends 

 upon attention to small matters of detail, f 



* Deer Stalking in the Highlands of Scotland, by Lieut.-Gen. Henry 

 H. Crealock, C.B., edited by his brother Major General J. N. Crealock, 

 1892, p. 192. 



-j- For soldiers' uniforms on active service, perhaps we may be per- 

 mitted to observe, that when bodies of troops are acting together, all 

 such contrasts act adversely and have the effect of marking out a line, 

 which would help to direct hostile fire. Thus French infantry always 

 make a clearly defined double line, one for the blue coat, and a second 



