NATURE AND SPORT IN BRITAIN 



good deal to do with the matter. A miss from an odd 

 brace which got up far behind us, upon the summit of 

 a round hill overlooking a small, lonely mountain trout 

 lake, was the only other item of good or ill luck which 

 fell to my lot before joining my companion at lunch. 

 We met by the side of a bog stream, just above the 

 lake, and discussed our sandwiches. Shooting had 

 been poor ; it was a still, hot, perspiring sort of a 

 day, without the keen air and delicious breeze of 

 yesterday; and our combined efforts — representing 

 five or six miles of hard climbing and the loss of some 

 tissue — had only produced three brace of grouse be- 

 tween us. 



Luncheon over, we took the hill again, and separated, 

 D. going off in a wide curve to the right front, to climb 

 the summit of a stiff mountain, and rejoin me far on 

 the other side. Pat MacManaman and I continued the 

 ascent of the hill we were on, and presently reaching its 

 summit, marched steadily along ; Lawn, now working 

 in place of Rose, ranged keenly ahead of us. If any- 

 where, at this hour of the afternoon, we expected to 

 find two or three packs of grouse among the dry, grassy 

 nooks and hollows upon the brow of this hill. We were 

 not disappointed. Lawn found us a pack within half 

 an hour of getting up from lunch. Eight birds rose, 

 from which I secured an easy first barrel, and then, as 

 the better part of the pack swung downhill to the left, a 

 longish and satisfactory second. Three birds are on to 

 our front, and no great way beyond we light upon them. 

 They get up wildish this time, but I manage to stop 

 one of them with the second barrel. Moving on a few 

 hundred yards, Pat takes the setter a sweep down the 

 side of the hill to recover, if possible, some trace of the 

 bigger half of the pack first flushed. There are some 

 fine horned sheep grazing about the hilltop here, and 



194 



