198 LETTERS TO YOUNG SPORTSMEN. 



attention to some object which looks to you like a deer 

 unless you are certain. If he is good at his job he will 

 probably have spotted with his " bare eye," as he calls it, 

 any beast you have laboriously discovered through your 

 glass. Remember also that he is as familiar with his beat 

 and with every suspicious-looking stone or tussock thereon 

 as you are with your hearthrug or favourite putting green. 



Apart from rifle and glass, there is but little room for 

 advice as to equipment. Please yourself about the colour 

 of your clothes, provided it is neutral and inconspicuous on 

 all sorts of ground. Counsel of perfection, this ; but grey 

 of some kind most nearly answers the purpose. Re- 

 member that, though it may be a fine warm morning 

 outside the sheltered lodge, you may have a long wait in 

 the mist at 3,oooft. It is best to err on the side of warmth. 

 Mackintoshes, luncheon cases, etc., fall under the category 

 of " luggage on the hill," which gives trouble, and should 

 be left behind. Conservatism demands a cover for your 

 rifle, which would be of use were a waterproof one obtain- 

 able, but frowns upon a detachable sling, the comfort of 

 which you will appreciate on a long walk or ride home. A 

 stick, long and strong, and a case to hold ten spare cartridges 

 will be required. The latter, plus lunch and flask, put in 

 your own pocket. Separation from the gillie is not impro- 

 bable, and you may not care about lunching off " straight " 

 liver, toasted on a cleaning-rod, an expedient to which I 

 was once driven about dusk on a December afternoon. You 

 can fill the flask with the modern apology for whisky, or 

 with rum, which is better on a cold day ; but do not drink 

 either, or more water than you can help, till the main 

 business of the day is over. There are certain parts of the 

 Highlands where adders are undesirably plentiful, lying 

 coiled up on dry tussocks in the " flow " ground, where the 

 necessary crawling may result in a bite. A tiny receptacle 

 holding tablets of permanganate of potash, for instant 

 application to the bitten part, takes up but little 

 space, and can be carried in the hollow butt with 

 which most modern rifles are provided. You will probably 

 never require the remedy, but a bite might lay you up 

 for days. 



