114 DAYS OF DEER-STALKING. 



ing animal the eel, accomplished he should be in skilfully 

 squeezing his clothes after this operation, to make all com- 

 fortable. Strong and pliant in the ankle, he should most 

 indubitably be ; since in running swiftly down precipices, 

 picturesquely adorned with sharp-edged, angular vindictive 

 stones, his feet will unadvisedly get into awkward cavities, 

 and curious positions ; thus, if his legs are devoid of the 

 faculty of breaking, so much the better, he has an evident 

 advantage over the fragile man. He should rejoice in 

 wading through torrents, and be able to stand firmly on 

 water- worn stones, unconscious of the action of the current ; 

 or if by fickle fortune the waves should be too powerful for 

 him, when he loses his balance, and goes floating away upon 

 his back (for if he has any tact, or sense of the picturesque, 

 it is presumed he will fall backwards), he should raise his 

 rifle aloft in the air, Marmion fashion, lest his powder should 

 get wet, and his day's sport come suddenly to an end. A 

 few weeks' practice in the Tilt will make him quite au fait 

 at this. We would recommend him to try the thing in a 

 spate, during a refreshing north wind, which is adverse to 

 deer-stalking ; thus no day will be lost pending his educa- 

 tion. To swim he should not be able, because there would 

 be no merit in saving himself by such a paltry subterfuge ; 

 neither should he permit himself to be drowned, because we 

 have an affection for him, and moreover it is very cowardly 

 to die. 



As for sleep, he should be almost a stranger to it, activity 

 being the great requisite ; and if a man gets into the sloth- 

 ful habit of lying a-bed for five or six hours at a time, I 

 should be glad to know what he is fit for in any other 

 situation ? Lest, however, we should be thought too 

 niggardly in this matter, we will allow him to doze occa- 

 sionally from about midnight till half-past three in the 

 morning. Our man is thus properly refreshed, and we 

 retain our character for liberality. 



Steady, very steady, should his hand be, and at times 

 wholly without a pulse. Hyacinthine curls are a very 

 graceful ornament to the head, and accordingly they have 

 been poetically treated of ; but we value not grace in our 

 shooting jacket, and infinitely prefer seeing our man, like 



