DESPERATE STRUGGLE. 269 



he had small shot only in his gun, and was in such a po- 

 sition, that he could not change the charge without danger 

 of disturbing the stag. He crept, however, so close to 

 him, that when he sprung on his legs, he fell to the shot. 

 Not a little surprised, the poacher threw down his gun, 

 dashed forward, and seized his victim by the hind leg ; 

 but it was no easy matter to hold him. In this struggle 

 the man kept his grip firmly, whilst the deer dragged him 

 at a tearing pace amongst the large stones and birch hags, 

 till he was all over bruises, his legs severely lacerated, and 

 his clothes torn to shreds ; his bonnet and plaid had 

 entirely disappeared. 



He now contrived to get hold of his knife, but it 

 dropped in the struggle ; and as the deer still sustained its 

 vigour, he had much ado to keep hold of the limb even 

 with both his hands. The darkness became deeper as the 

 animal tore and strained forward, through the skirts of a 

 birch wood, and both repeatedly fell together. 



Breaking forth again into the open moor, he found his 

 weight was beginning to tell on the energy of the stag, so 

 that he had power to swing him from side to side, till at 

 length, just as they were re-entering the wood, this deter- 

 mined bull-dog of a fellow fairly laid him on his broadside, 

 and with such force that the crash seemed to stun him. 



Stripped almost naked as the man was, his shirt and 

 kilt torn to tatters, and his hose and brogues nearly gone, 

 he still contrived, by means of his garters and shot belt, 

 to secure the deer, by binding his hind leg to a birch tree. 

 Having accomplished this with great difficulty, he returned 

 for his gun, and thus at length secured his victim. 



If that vast tract of land in the extreme north, desig- 



