14 HUTTING SEASON. 



Not a little incredulous, Lord Reay despatched two men 

 to ascertain the truth of the matter. The deer were found 

 imprisoned as related, and were liberated. Donald M'Kay 

 then came to terms with his chief, who very handsomely 

 gave him his little farm rent-free for his life, upon condi- 

 tion that he would not pound his deer for the future. 



It is remarkable for how short a time deer continue in 

 season in the cold climate of the north, owing to the back- 

 ward vegetation, and the causes already alluded to. In 

 warmer climates they come in sooner ; and we are informed 

 by Aristotle that, in Greece, the rutting season commenced 

 in the beginning of August, and terminated about the end 

 of September. 



But, if a long continuance of fine weather, and conse- 

 quent abundance of food, brings on this period at so early 

 a season in warm climates, a SUDDEN PINCH of cold on 

 the bleak hills of the north, singular as it may appear, has 

 also a similar effect ; so that if the nights turn severe and 

 frosty the commencement at of the autumn, the harts are 

 brought forward much earlier than would have been the 

 case had the weather remained temperate and genial. 



About the end of September, and the first week in 

 October, the harts swell in their necks, have a ruff of long 

 wiry hair about them, and are drawn up in their bodies 

 like greyhounds. They now roll restlessly in the peat 

 pools till they become almost black with mire, and feed 

 chiefly on a light coloured moss that grows on the round 

 tops of the hills, so that they do not differ so entirely from 

 the rein-deer in their food as some naturalists have ima- 

 gined. 



In this state of rutting they are rank, and wholly unfit 



