SPEED AND BOTTOM OF DEERIIOUNDS. 361 



and especially in preserving his hold, though dragged by 

 the deer in a most violent manner. This, however, is but 

 one of the many feats of this fine dog. He was pupped in 

 autumn, 1832, and before he was a year old killed a full- 

 grown hind single-handed. 



The deer was carried to the nearest stream, which was 

 at no great distance, for the purpose of being washed; 

 which ceremony being performed, we sat down to lunch in 

 great spirits with the result of our day's sport ; and having 

 concluded with a bumper to the success of our next chasse, 

 our only remaining duty was to convey our deer to the 

 cave, a distance of two miles, by the nearest way through 

 the moor. The stag weighed upwards of seventeen stone, 

 but our stout Highlanders, by relieving each other alter- 

 nately, carried it this distance in the space of a little more 

 than an hour. We then took boat, and in a couple of 

 hours were again on shore in Colonsay. 



The speed of a deer may be estimated as nearly equal to 

 that of a hare, though in coursing the latter, from its 

 turnings and windings, more speed is probably required 

 than in coursing the former ; but, on the other hand, if a 

 dog is in any degree blown when he reaches a deer, he 

 cannot preserve his hold, nor recover it if it is once lost ; 

 indeed, it is only from his superior speed and bottom that 

 a dog can continue to preserve his hold, and thus by 

 degrees to exhaust the deer, till at length he is enabled to 

 pull him down. 



This great power of endurance is only to be found in a 

 thorough-bred greyhound, of the original sort ; for even 

 though a cross-bred dog might succeed in fastening on a 

 deer, he seldom has the speed or endurance necessary for 



