16 DEER STALKED WHILE FIGHTING. 



without danger of giving the alarm. One possibility alone 

 was open to me ; this was to get into the glen to their right, 

 when I should be entirely hidden from their view, and 

 then come up, concealed by the hill, as nearly opposite to 

 them as possible. I was certainly a very considerable dis- 

 tance to the north of them, but my position was so bad 

 that I looked upon my chance as a mere nothing. I lay 

 down, however, flat on my back, amongst the rugged and 

 loose stones of Cairn-marnac, with a rifle in my hand ; 

 Thomas Jamieson, with the other rifles, placed himself 

 behind me in the same uncomfortable position. We had a 

 full view of the deer for some time, so that with their 

 ordinary vigilance they would undoubtedly have seen us ; 

 the stones, however, formed an uneven outline, which was 

 in our favour, and thus we did not absolutely attract their 

 notice. Whilst the stags were fiercely engaged, we worked 

 our way down on our backs, looking askance : when they 

 rested for a space, and sometimes they would do so on 

 their knees, from mere exhaustion, we moved not a limb ; 

 and in this manner we wormed ourselves gradually into 

 the glen, not without certain uncomfortable bruises. Then, 

 being out of sight, we sprang up, and made the best of 

 our way to the point immediately below them ; and moving 

 cautiously up the hill, which was sufficiently steep for our 

 purpose, we came all at once in full view of one of the 

 combatants, who was then alone : he sprang off at full 

 speed, but all too late for his escape, for my ball struck 

 him dead on the spot. His antagonists, I imagine, had 

 been beaten off. I expected to have killed them both. 



A conflict of this savage nature, which happened in one 

 of the Duke of Gordon's forests, was fatal to both of the 



