286 WANDERINGS AND MEMORIES 



It was a lovely day, the first we had had for weeks, 

 and ascending the Fealar burn I saw herds of deer 

 on both sides of the glen. Both these lots could 

 not fail to see me, and moved upwards to the ridges 

 of the hills, but seemed by no means alarmed, as 

 we kept steadily moving. Presently I sat down 

 and spied them both. That on the right consisted 

 of a big eight-pointer with about eighty hinds, and 

 those on the left, which seemed much shyer, as they 

 always were near the Mar march, were twenty-five 

 hinds, led by a noble-looking stag with a very good 

 head. The horns of this stag were exceptional, so 

 I considered the possibility of stalking him if he 

 would allow me to continue on my route until the 

 hill shut him out from view. Deer were always 

 very shy on this particular ridge, as there was 

 little or no feeding there, so I did not quite expect 

 such good luck as that they would stay in their 

 present position. Yet the stag had such a good 

 head it was worth while having a try, even if I had 

 to follow him for an hour or two and he did not leave 

 our ground. 



Accordingly we resumed our journey in full view 

 of the deer, and continued up the glen for another 

 half a mile, during which the hinds watched me 

 closely all the time, only moving slowly uphill 

 until a rounded shoulder of the hill completely 

 hid them from view. Then I went straight uphill 

 towards the Mar march, until I thought I was about 

 on their level, and cut back straight upward towards 

 the point where I had last viewed them. 



All went well until I began to surmount the 

 rounded shoulder, which was very bare, when I 

 detected some brown spots below and to my left; 



