72 DAYS OF DEER-STALKING. 



the cliffs and crags on the eastern side of Klibreck. In the 

 heat and recklessness of pursuit, he fell down a sloping but 

 very steep precipice, and alighted on a narrow shelf formed 

 by a projecting piece of rock in fact, precisely in such a 

 situation as my dogs were in, with the exception, that these 

 could be approached on one side, whereas this poor crea- 

 ture could neither ascend the steep bank from which he 

 tumbled down, nor find any practicable passage by which 

 he could escape from his terrible position. The rocks 

 opposed an insuperable obstruction from above, and the 

 precipice menaced certain death below. There was no 

 escape no means of rescue; the spot could not be ap- 

 proached by man ; and the poor animal, expecting that 

 assistance from his master which it was impossible for him 

 to afford, kept up a continual howling for succour during 

 day and night. He continued to linger in this frightful 

 prison for several days, and the sounds of his voice grew 

 feebler and feebler, until they ended in a sharp kind of 

 whistle, interrupted by vain efforts to break out into a 

 bark. Every kind of project was considered, but no means 

 could be devised to save him, for the ground was of such a 

 nature, that no one could be lowered and pulled up by 

 means of a rope. At length, the faint sounds ceased his 

 flesh was carried away by eagles, and his bones are still 

 whitening on the rock. 



" Now, Lightfoot, you are once more a free agent, and 

 may get forward in the attitude most convenient to you ; 

 and pray talk as much as you please : ' minus via Icedat' 

 We have no chance of seeing deer for some time, all this 

 ground being disturbed." 



" What ! are we to go through that confounded peat-bog 

 again ?" 



" Do not disparage it, for it abounds in grouse ; and you 

 see how useful its black channels proved in concealing us. 

 I think its present state better for a sportsman than its 

 original one ; for, doubtless, it was formerly covered with 

 trees, and the change has been brought about by their fall, 

 and the stagnation of water caused by their trunks and 

 branches obstructing the free drainage of the atmospheric 

 waters, and thus giving rise, as you see, to a marsh : this, 



