DEER-SHOOTING. 279 



and the sportsman has to run or crawl, lie still, 

 advance, or retire without knowing anything about 

 what is going on till the cocked rifle is put into his 

 hands, and he is told to look over the rock or hillock 

 which covers him and fire. I think about that time I 

 should feel inclined to let the stalker shoot too. How 

 can this be called sport ? The only part the stranger 

 takes is firing at a stag who is standing still. Then 

 he goes back to London and says he has been deer- 

 stalking. He would, I dare say, be puzzled to say 

 which way the wind blew the day he shot his stag. No, 

 I maintain this is not true sport, or rather that the only 

 sportsmanlike capability is shown by the gillie. The 

 man who fires the shot could display more of it by 

 making a good score at the " running deer" target at 

 Bisley. If, however, he falls into the hands of a stalker 

 who will explain the object of all his manoeuvres, 

 he may learn much. Having learnt it, let him, if he 

 can afford it, take a forest, and stalk his stag alone, 

 pitting his science against the animal's cunning 

 timidity. He will then learn the delight only to be 

 felt by the sportsman who stands over his dead game 

 and can say, "Alone I did it." Or, if his purse be 

 unequal to the cost involved in this, there are still 

 places in Europe where stalking may be obtained for 

 the asking. Iceland and Norway, but both rarely 

 now, offer reindeer. The mountains of the south of 

 Europe contain various forms of wild goats and 

 sheep, generally miscalled Ibex. Sardinia and Corsica 

 are easily accessible, so are the Pyrenees, though they 

 are nearly shot out. The Sierra Nevada in Spain 



