280 WANDERINGS AND MEMORIES 



far when, spying ahead, I found numerous small 

 groups of hinds on the hillsides to the north. The 

 dead stag lay on the slope of Corrie-na-Cairn, and 

 putting my glass on its rocky face, I saw a herd of 

 some thirty hinds lying composedly there, with 

 another lot of more than fifty higher up amongst 

 the stony ridges. It was most unlikely that there 

 would not be " a hart of grease " with them at this 

 season, and further search revealed a good nine- 

 pointer lying in the midst of the lower hinds. When 

 we arrived at some sheltering mounds on the lower 

 slopes, the difficulty of getting at this stag was 

 manifest. The wind blew straight down the hill, 

 the line to the north-west was impossible, as the 

 ground was quite open, whilst to the south the main 

 valley of the Tilt was blocked by further herds of 

 deer. There only remained, therefore, the straight 

 uphill advance, rendered difficult enough by the 

 fact that it was necessary to cross two wide marshes 

 of pale yellow grass, which would be within full view 

 of all those watching eyes above. My uncle in- 

 sisted that I should take the stalk, so with some 

 misgivings I commenced a long and difficult crawl 

 of about a quarter of a mile. The first marsh was 

 quite as wet as I expected, and I was soon soaked 

 from head to boots, but on surveying the hinds 

 above I saw they had not moved. A short space of 

 rough, burnt ground then gave some relief and 

 slight cover, and then I entered the second marsh. 

 Over this I went inch by inch, since I was now 

 within 600 yards of the lowest deer, and could not 

 fail to be somewhat noticeable. But it is wonderful 

 what you can do in face of deer if you only go 

 slowly enough and never raise your head, so this 



