328 LYING IN AMBUSH. 



tion to the fatal spot was gained. They had the deer 

 below them, that was certain; but it was necessary to 

 ascertain their precise situation before they were started, 

 and not to lose sight of the points of their horns whilst they 

 were running, otherwise a complete failure might be an- 

 ticipated. For. in such a case they might come out behind 

 the sportsman whilst he was running forward, get his wind, 

 bolt out of the cast, and thus be lost to him for the day ; or 

 they might cross the ground out of distance, or go straight 

 forward out of sight. Success, in short, in such case, 

 would depend upon mere accident ; so the proper tact was 

 observed ; they kept well behind them, and peeped and 

 crawled for some time, till they discovered a hind. She 

 was lying down in the moss, shaking her head, and 

 flapping her ears, as if to keep off the flies. Every now 

 and then she looked up, and gazed about her with expanded 

 nostrils, as if to search for some taint in the air. She 

 was evidently the leader of the parcel, and the harts were 

 sure to wait upon her movements. 



Tortoise, Peter Fraser, and Thomas Jamieson now crept 

 back, and went on a little till they got to some ground, 

 under cover of which they were able to proceed in a more 

 comfortable attitude; they then got on cautiously to the 

 south-west, and after some curious windings, and certain 

 dabblings in bogs and water-courses, they laid themselves 

 down prostrate in the heather, through bunches of which 

 they had a glimpse of the cautious sentinel. Jamieson, 

 who prudently lagged behind, was then motioned to give 

 the signal, which was the exhibition of his shirt by the un- 

 buttoning of his waistcoat, an object discoverable by the 

 glass at a very considerable distance. 



