356 STAG DISCOVERED. 



with a telescope; while the rest of the party followed 

 slowly and silently with the dogs in slips. We had thus 

 proceeded up a rocky glen for some miles, gradually 

 ascending from the sea, when the stalker descried (without 

 the aid of his glass) a stag about a mile off. He im- 

 mediately prostrated himself on the ground, and in a second 

 the whole party lay flat on the heath; for even at that 

 great distance we might have been discovered by the deer. 

 Finlay then returned, crawling along the ground to the 

 spot where we were lying, and directed us to creep back 

 for a short distance until we were out of sight. As yet, 

 the rest of the party had seen nothing of the stag, and 

 although the stalker pointed steadily in the direction in 

 which he was, not one of the party could discover him 

 with the naked eye; but Buskar, who had hitherto 

 followed quietly, now commenced a low whining noise, 

 and, with ears erect, gazed steadily at the spot where the 

 deer was lying. On taking the glass, we were soon 

 satisfied of the correctness of the stalker's vision, for we 

 could distinctly perceive a fine stag lying on the side of 

 the valley to our left, quietly chewing the cud, and 

 looking round in all directions. We immediately retreated, 

 and following our guide, got into the channel of a moun- 

 tain stream, which (though the stag was in a situation 

 that commanded the greater part of the valley) enabled us, 

 from its depth and windings, to approach towards him 

 until we should be screened by some intervening rocks. 



We then left the channel of the stream, and finding 

 that we could proceed no further in that direction without 

 being observed or scented by the deer, whose power of 

 smell is most acute, we turned to the left, and keeping the 



