DEER STALKING. 145 



less chasm, and clawing at and clinging to the stony 

 rock closer than ever babe clung to its mother's 

 breast, to have to retrace without the spur of vanity 

 or ambition, but for dear life itself, all the afore- 

 said mauvais pas, none the less objectionable and 

 nasty because the course was downward instead of 

 upward. 



When, after all these hideous experiences which 

 had lasted at intervals for some hours, we had 

 regained the blessed comfort of a few feet of com- 

 paratively level ground, and were there in the act 

 of holding a council of war, whether to attempt a 

 new route or abandon the enterprise altogether, I 

 suddenly saw a sight which turned my thoughts 

 into entirely new channels, and caused me, as leader 

 of the expedition, to decide unhesitatingly in favour 

 of the latter course. Down, far below us on a 

 snow field, three moving objects caught my eye. 

 They were reindeer. Recourse to my glass showed 

 them to be all stags — one of them a very big one, 

 with a splendid head furnished with the countless 



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