1 6 Alexander Goodman More. 



I never endured, shaken on the sharp spine of the brute 

 for more than an hour. When we came to the mountain 



we separated, Walter and myself going with Mr. 



and his two dogs, one pointer, and * Grouse/ the same 



setter he had lent us for 's bog ; three guns in ono 



party, two in the other. Walter got the first chance and 

 killed a rabbit ; we then walked on for a long time without 

 doing anything, only observing three Kestrels hovering 



about, until the setter found us a bird which Mr. fired 



into. A little further on we came upon a second, and I 

 began my experience in grouse-shooting by taking him 

 down. From that till lunch (for which we lay down on the 

 top of a hill) we saw nothing more ; but as the day wore 

 on we had better luck, and kept stumbling on the birds 

 pretty fast. ... I think on the whole we shot rather well, 



and were very much complimented by Mr. for our 



style of aim. I might have done better, but I twice lost a 

 shot among a pack, once through being behind, and another 

 time having just been extricated from a bog-hole up to my 

 neck, which was too great a damper to permit my being 

 ready. The second jolt back to the house was very painful, 

 but anything was better than walking after such a long 

 day's work, and by extensive bolstering up with hay I got 

 on pretty well. We were not sorry to get to bed at about 

 n o'clock." 



A fortnight later he enjoyed killing his "first par- 

 tridge/* Another event he mentioned with satisfaction 

 occurred in the course of an afternoon's vigorous " crow- 

 flaking, as Walter persists in calling it" (i.e. rook- 

 shooting). 



" Heard a Curlew whistle as if approaching, and crouch- 

 ing down behind a wall awaited his coming. On he came 

 steadily and unconscious of the ambuscade, until when 

 right over our heads small bore spoke to him : a stumble 

 and sudden change in his flight proclaimed my success; 

 and * he's hit, he'll not get over it, you needn't fire again/ 

 was the cry ; lower and lower he swooped, unable to sus- 

 tain his flight, and then slowly sank into the grass at the 

 farthest extremity of the field. Then the difficulty was to 

 find him, and at first we thought he had been able to run 



