58 DAYS OF DEER-STALKING. 



Picts dwelt to the north, but without this previous in- 

 struction, I should be inclined to say, ' Nunc terminus 

 Britannia? patet ; nulla jam ultra gens, nihil nisi fluctus 

 et saxa ;' so utterly desolate seems all around me. I dare 

 say we shall see Galgacus in the course of the day. But 

 pray let us go in ; the breakfast is prepared, and has a 

 most inviting appearance. Your men descried you on the 

 last hill-top with their glasses, and all is ready. I never 

 was more happy to see any one in my life ; for besides 

 other considerations, ' the air bites shrewdly ;' and I am 

 hungry past endurance. What a rascally hill that is at the 

 head of the pass ; my pony slid down it on his hocks, carry- 

 ing forward with him a rattling mass of stones and rubbish, 

 that now forms a talus, which, under ordinary circumstances, 

 ought to have been the work of ages." 



What was dispatched at breakfast we may not say ; it 

 becomes us hot, when in our own cabin, to record how often 

 empty plates were exchanged for full ones, or to say whether 

 the pasty was still a venison pasty, or only a simple unpre- 

 tending dish of earthenware ; let those who have felt the 

 mountain breeze, and all the freshness and salubrity it 

 imparts, form their own conclusions ; and we really can 

 assure them that, all things considered, we are not voracious, 

 that is, not particularly so, on the contrary, we always 

 feel inclined to inculcate the doctrine of abstinence ; but 

 then we cannot very decently do this to our own guests, so 

 you must excuse us for the present. 



" Now, Harry, are you ready ?" 



"In one moment, just let me take another egg: and 

 with your permission I will put this broiled grouse in my 

 pocket, and a roll or two, and so forth. Now, then, for 

 this wonderful work." 



''Do you still hold your intention of taking no rifle ?" 



" For to-day, yes, most decidedly ; I will keep cool, 

 and see the nature of the thing first. That is my firm 

 resolve." 



" Well, I shall have three rifles with me, and you can use 

 mine whenever you feel inclined to do so. I will explain 

 the abstruse science to you, and all the meaning of our 

 operations as clearly as I can, and I hope they will awaken 



