ADVENTURES. 185 



smell, and hearing with which the deer is endowed, he 

 may occasionally be taken bysurprise, the very acuteness 

 of those organs at times serving to betray him into a 

 false feeling of security. Instance the following : A 

 shepherd, in his rambles among the hills, once came 

 upon a deer, taking his morning meal in a snug retreat 

 in the most unfrequented part of the mountain, where 

 doubtless he had many a time fed before without dis- 

 turbance. So utterly regardless of danger was the 

 animal, that the shepherd, removing his shoes, cau- 

 tiously walked in upon him from behind, and struck 

 him a hard blow on the back before his presence was 

 discovered. Had the man but carried something heavier 

 than a light staff, he might have slain or disabled the 

 deer at a blow, and earned for himself a good meal for 

 many a day to come. 



The following is an account of a somewhat similar 

 incident which occurred to the foxhunter himself. 



He was wending his way homewards through the 

 forest, after nightfall, attended only by a faithful hound. 

 His route led him up a very steep " bealloch," or pass, 

 lying between two lofty mountain-summits, and through 

 which the deer were in the habit of going, almost 

 nightly, on their way to a sheltered corrie beyond. 

 When about half-way up, his dog, which was a few 

 yards in advance, suddenly sprang forward with a 

 furious bay at some object hidden in the gloom ahead. 

 In a moment after, down came a large hind, followed 

 closely by the dog, and both rattling past him, tore 

 down the hill at a mad pace, amongst a loud clatter of 

 loosened stones, and were speedily lost to sight and 

 hearing in the depths of the glen below. Gillespie 

 called to his hound, but in vain, and then continued 

 his route, trusting that the truant, wearied out, or 

 losing his game in the darkness, would presently 



