286 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 



stopped in his career as if he had been shot. The 

 suddenness of his check, and the steady point he stood 

 at, intimated that the birds were immediately beside 

 him ; and while my cousin, who happened to be at a 

 little distance, hurried up, Hennessey observed a splendid 

 pack of fifteen birds stealing off across the bare bog. It 

 was a brood of very unusual number to meet with at this 

 advanced season, when the strongest packs have generally 

 been reduced by gun or vermin. The moor that 

 adjoined the banks on which the grouse were found 

 was a barren, soft surface, without either heath or broken 

 ground to cover our approach ; and when we attempted 

 to close up, the cock took wing, and the pack rose 

 instantly and crossed the flats, continuing their flight 

 over a small hill, until we lost them altogether. 



We were very doubtful whether we should follow 

 them, as the hill was particularly steep and barren, 

 and the ground beyond it, to judge from appearances, 

 as bare as the exposed moorlands the birds had quitted. 

 At this moment of indecision, Hennessey recollected 

 that there was a little valley beneath the brow where 

 the grouse had left our view ; but my kinsman, often 

 as he had been on these hills, had never before been 

 aware of its situation. Hennessey's information 

 determined us to proceed ; we accordingly clambered 

 up the ascent, and when we reached the brow of the 

 height, discovered immediately below one of the 

 sweetest glens I ever looked at, stretching between the 

 basis of the hill we occupied and the higher ridge beyond 

 it. It was an admirable retreat for grouse several 

 rivulets trickled through the hollow, and everywhere 

 it was covered with thick, tall heath, in rich blossom, 

 and the cranberries, of which these birds are particu- 



