SPORT IN THE HIGHLANDS 565 



them at a trot down-hill till they were lost in a fold of 

 the ground. The commencement of the evening meal 

 is quite one of the best times to approach sheep, as 

 they are then so engrossed with the early courses 

 that their usual precautions for safety are somewhat 

 relaxed. 



I will not weary the reader with details of this stalk, 

 for to any one but a participator the account of one is 

 very much like the account of another. Suffice it to 

 say that, half an hour later, I was doing an uncomfortable 

 caterpillar-like slither on my back down a steep hill- 

 side towards a V-shaped hollow, into which the sheep 

 had disappeared. 



Descending a smooth slope in this manner is an un- 

 satisfactory way of approaching game, because its slightly 

 convex formation alone conceals the hunter, and, when 

 the quarry does at last come into view, the recognition 

 is liable to be mutual. So it was in this case. A mass 

 of grey backs and curling horns suddenly appeared almost 

 straight below. At the same moment a head was turned 

 in my direction, and at the next the opposite hillside 

 seemed to be alive with flying sheep. There was 

 no time to waste deciding which was the best head, 

 though none of them were very small ; so, following that 

 sound hunter's motto, " When in doubt, shoot the leader," 

 I had the satisfaction of seeing him pitch forward on to 

 his head, to the shot. A very similar reply answered 

 the next, and, as they stood for a second on the crest, 

 yet another received his death-blow, and came galloping 

 straight down the hill, falling dead on the very spot 

 which they had just left. The two best of these heads 

 measured 53 and 48 J in. respectively — very fair heads for 

 karelini, which I fancy do not average so big as the 



