112 SPORTSMEN BENIGHTED. 



become of him, whether he has been killed, died a 

 natural death, or has changed his ground. There is now 

 also a hart, which has been remarked for many years : he 

 has a very peculiar formation of antlers ; and it is well as- 

 certained that he was shot through the body seven years 

 ago, and is now perfectly recovered. I mention this chiefly 

 to prove, from other evidence than my own, that a deer that 

 has been wounded has ever afterwards his horns deformed.* 



" My story, I fear, has been a tedious one ; but happily 

 for you I must now come to a stop, for all your attention 

 will be required in picking your road, we have some very 

 uncomfortable ground to pass over. Had the moon kept 

 clear we might have made our way tolerably well, but 

 that black cloud has completely mystified us." 



In truth, it had become so impenetrably dark, that it 

 was impossible to distinguish the nature of the moor, 

 whether the foot was to alight upon the top of the moss 

 hag, or sink down in the bog; the burns themselves, 

 which ran silently, were not discernible, no light from 

 the sky being reflected on them. Each man struggled on 

 as best he might; but the hill-men supported Lightfoot 

 with that kind care and hospitable attention, which is the 

 characteristic of every Highlander from the highest to the 

 lowest. 



" Ye mun gang cannily, sir, an dinnaipit yer fut doon 

 rashly, for the bog is deep, it 'il tak ye up to the weem ; 

 mony's the beast that has been lost in it. It was na lang 

 syne Sandy Macgregor, him that drives the cattle, lost 

 his bonny cow, the milk had been takken afore by some 

 inveesible hand, or may- be by the evil eye, and then the 

 * Vide p. 7. Chap. I. on the Nature and Habits of Red Deer. 



