A WINTER CAMPAIGN IN DONANA. 361 



and sniffing alternately. Then he seemed to have made 

 up his mind, turned deliherately, and slowly trotted in mv 

 direction. Jose had managed the business in a masterly 

 way — never showing. Already the stag had reached a long 

 range shot, when from the nearer, opposite, covert dashed 

 five hinds, which came splashing through the water, right 

 between me and the big stag. How persistently those 

 confounded hinds interposed their useless bodies right 

 between the foresight and its mark ! Alread}' the black 

 hart was within thirty yards of the water's edge and the 

 shelter of the forest ; when, for a few moments, I got a 

 clear view of his broadside at rather long range, took 

 a full sight with the 100-yard flap up, and fired. Thud ! 

 went the conical Paradox ball right on the point of his 

 shoulder, and he pitched forward, stone-dead, in the water. 

 It was a pretty shot, well placed, though rather high, 

 breaking the spine close below the withers. Such shots 

 are, of course, instanth' fatal ; but are too risky to tyii for, 

 since they come within an inch or two of a clean miss ! 



There is a degree of mental gratification in occasionally 

 " pulling off " shots of this kind — that is, in killing clean 

 with ball a large animal in full career, and at long distance 

 — that must probably be experienced to be appreciated. 

 And, after all, how much is due to the marvellous precision 

 and power of modern sporting weapons ! This stag carried 

 sixteen points, and his horns measured along the curve 32 

 inches, with a sweep of 28 inches. In weight he probably 

 exceeded any we have shot on the Spanish plains, and his 

 rich velvety pile was conspicuously dark and glossy. 



One other incident, with a moral : towards the end of 

 one campaign an afternoon was devoted to burning the 

 carnzales, or bamboo-brakes, which in places form belts of 

 jungle, extending over several miles, and afford secure 

 harbour for various wild animals, including, occasionally, 

 deer. These places, owing partly to the impervious nature 

 of the covert and partly to the quicksands and quaking 

 bogs with which the jungle is interspersed, cannot be 

 traversed : hence the only effectual means of driving out 

 the game which may lie within their shelter is by fire. 



