134 O'er Crag and Torrent 



After this things were satisfactory both to 

 myself and the birds, for I killed them clean 

 and well, notwithstanding their wildness ; 

 indeed, when they got up and went down- 

 wind one needed to be almost as quick as 

 greased lightning. Up to lunch-time we had 

 very pretty sport, the chief drawback being, 

 of course, the abominable weather. Scent, 

 however, was good, and in sheltered places 

 the birds lay fairly well, the dogs worked 

 admirably ; the Skipper shot, as usual, like 

 a book. Our bag for the morning was 

 twelve and a half brace of partridges, one 

 land-rail, and a couple of rabbits. After 

 refreshing the inner man, and negotiating 

 the necessary digestive pipe, we made a 

 start again. 



Our beat now lay over a considerable 

 portion of the rough unenclosed land, 

 composed of gorse and heather, with here 

 and there huge boulders their grey 



