204 FORAYS AMONG SALMON AND DEER. 



impossible without exposure of himself; and the wind 

 prevented his attempting the stalk from any other 

 quarter. Having approached therefore thus near, he 

 lay down with his head just above the bank which con- 

 cealed him, hoping that the beast would presently rise 

 and either feed towards him, or at least alter her posi- 

 tion for the better by moving off to different ground. 

 Undisturbed by his presence, she continued motionless 

 for more than an hour, quietly chewing her cud ; still 

 he patiently waited, but another hour passed slowly 

 away and yet no change ; and now losing all patience, 

 he determined in some way to arouse the creature aud, 

 if possible, drive her into other and better ground. Ac- 

 cordingly, to use his own expression, he struck the earth 

 before him a hard slap with the palm of his hand, still 

 continuing in his lying position ; on seeing this, the 

 hind, as he had anticipated, immediately sprang to her 

 feet, but instead of retreating as he expected her to do, 

 she immediately advanced two or three paces towards 

 him as though puzzled by the strange movement, and 

 inclined to investigate the cause of alarm. He repeated 

 the slap, and again female curiosity got the better of 

 discretion, and once more she advanced, still intently 

 eyeing him. In this manner he drove her on, step by 

 step, repeating the slap again and again, until the 

 animal was fairly within shot. Then, quietly glancing 

 down the barrel which lay on the heather before him, 

 he fired, and as the hind, at length, when it was too 

 late, discovering the nature of the intruder, sprang 

 round to make her escape, his ball entered her neck and 

 she instantly fell dead. She was (of course!) one of the 

 largest beasts he had ever killed. 



It is not often that instinct is thus outwitted ; but I 

 have lately heard of another incident of a similar kind. 

 Some midshipmen belonging to one of Her Majesty's 



