86 EEMINISCENCES OF A SPORTSMAN. 



should be master of a pair of legs that never tire, more 

 especially in Scotland where the heather is higher than 

 in the English moors, and frequently a pack of grouse 

 on rising, direct their course across a valley to a neigh- 

 bouring hill, which if the sportsmen follow obliges them 

 to descend and ascend considerable heights, which under 

 a broiling summer in the month of August is no easy 

 task. There are some moors where sportsmen may 

 ride, and others where it would be difficult to do so 

 without the risk of the animal falling from the natural 

 obstacles of the country, such as bogs, morasses, rocky 

 ground, &c. A strong sure-footed pony about fourteen 

 hands high which stands fire well is a real treasure to 

 any sportsman whose physical powers are unequal to the 

 fatigue of walking. I adopted the same system of walk- 

 ing in grouse shooting for the reason I have already 

 stated in partridge shooting — that I had a better com- 

 mand over my dogs, and get more shots when on foot, 

 as you are then enabled to beat swampy parts of the 

 moor, in which the grouse frequently lie during the 

 heat of the day. Some sportsmen prefer the old English 

 spaniel or setter for grouse shooting; the reason as- 

 signed for this preference is that their feet are better 

 protected by the long hair from the ling, which in dry 

 weather cuts acutely. They are also supposed to hunt 

 with more spirit, and better able to go through a hard 

 day's work, but they require more water than jiointers. 

 Some sportsmen are of opinion that they have finer 

 noses than the pointer. In this I cannot agree, more 

 particularly if the latter is well bred. In grouse shoot- 

 ing I always shot with pointers, with the exception of 

 one dog, which was a first cross between a setter and a 

 pointer. She possessed all the good qualities that a 



