GROUSE 195 



better at an energetic spurt than at prolonged 

 exertion. 



The first part of our beat is up a low hill, 

 mainly grass and rushes, with only a few patches 

 of heather; still, it is worth while to hunt it, 

 as it is on the way, and there is nothing so 

 tiresome as a long walk to the ground. The 

 principal inhabitants are the ubiquitous rabbits, 

 which here and now are a nuisance, and nothing 

 but it. When you see the side of a hill lite- 

 rally alive with them in the late evenings, it is 

 hard to believe that men still living remember 

 the first artificial introduction of the rabbit into 

 Argyleshire, and the prophecies that they would 

 never do in such a wet climate. "Let Rake 

 go ! " and off gallops a strong well-proportioned 

 setter, delighted to have the first turn a dis- 

 tinction he owes rather to his defects than to 

 his merits, as it is now impossible to spoil him. 

 " Is that a very young dog ? " says my com- 

 panion, rather new to the sport and misled by 

 the frantic activity of the debutant. " He is 

 as old as a man," is the reply of the keeper 

 a slight exaggeration, but bordering on the truth, 

 for I can remember Rake almost as an institu- 

 tion. What a hot day that was at Achoish, 

 when, we having toiled all the morning and found 

 no birds, Rake caught the sheep by the leg ! 

 He never was known to do such a thing before 

 or since, and I firmly believe he thought that 



