FALLOW-DEER AT HOME 31 



timed to take place a little more than a hundred 

 times a minute. Next, a red object appears in 

 the wood below me, and I seize my rifle as I 

 recognise a roe well within shot. It raises its 

 head to listen, and I cover it with the sight, but 

 do not pull the trigger, for the motion has shown 

 me that it has no horns ; and, except in some 

 very young plantation where the trees are being 

 destroyed, I never shoot a doe. 



The hounds are hunting again in wood below 

 me, and a shout or two shows that the beaters 

 are approaching, when I see another deer in 

 the water just where the first one crossed. 

 This time the boat is on the lookout, and from 

 my watch-tower I see him caught and bound 

 before he has got half-way across. He is, how- 

 ever, a reluctant and recalcitrant captive ; for 

 when he has been hauled in on one side of the 

 boat, he jumps out once upon the other before 

 he is fairly secured. He looks a pretty good 

 beast, lighter in colour than the other, but cer- 

 tainly not so large. To-day it seems that the 

 boatmen are to have all the sport, which sur- 

 prises me, as the deer have not been shot at or 

 particularly hard pressed by the hounds. I sup- 

 pose it is the fine day and the unrippled sea 

 which makes them so ready for a bath. How- 

 ever, it is a good opportunity to signal to the 

 boatmen ; the gillies are near, and the hounds 

 will be easily caught, and we can see what we 



