228 DAYS OF DEER-STALKING. 



The sport now about to take place, as far as driving 

 went, was very similar to that practised in a deer-drive to 

 Glen Tile ; but in the termination it differed materially ; 

 for instead of running the gauntlet as the deer did at Glen 

 Tilt, and passing freely onward to the heights of Ben-y-gloe, 

 they were, in this instance, to be pressed on to the pine 

 wood, that formed the barrier between the mountain slope 

 and the cultivated strath of the Tay. This wood was held 

 by them a place of refuge ; and when they gained it the 

 sport was understood to be terminated, though a hart or 

 two might occasionally be killed after their entrance into 

 it. These woods are fenced on the moor-side by a stone 

 dike, and behind this dike some of the parties that came 

 from Blair were posted ; so that the little army of deer 

 were thus placed between two fires that is to say, between 

 the rifles of the sportsmen who brought them down from 

 the mountains, and those who opposed their passage into 

 the wood : thus beset, in front and rear, and at their flanks, 

 all their sagacity was called forth ; and their movements 

 being more varied, were by so much the more interesting. 

 The difficult point was, for those who placed themselves 

 in front of the driven deer, to avoid giving them their wind 

 prematurely, which might be managed by keeping at first 

 to the east and west (the wind being south), and drawing 

 towards the centre when time served. 



Let us now see what the hill-men were about. 

 After a lapse of about forty minutes the men had arrived 

 at the stations above mentioned, and the signal was given 

 for starting. There were groups of deer both in Glen Mark 

 and Glen Dirie hinds, calves, and a few harts : very little 

 management was required to get these forward, as they 

 naturally, and readily, went up wind ; which was all that 

 was required of them. So they were urged forward, and 

 driven out of the glens, with shouting and hurling of 

 stones, which bounded down the precipices with repeated 

 echo to the vast depths below. Still, as the men came 

 onward, the deer joined their forces, formed, looked back 

 calmly, and, as usual, scrutinised every part of the ground 

 on their flanks, and on their rear. Tortoise had given up 

 all thoughts of manoeuvring any more for himself and his 



