114 WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS. [CHAP. xiv. 



and with great precision, up to the place where the deer had 

 dropped, or had concealed himself; appearing too to be acting 

 more for the benefit of his master, and to show the game, than 

 for his own amusement. I have no doubt that a clever Skye 

 terrier would in many cases get the sporlsman a second shot at 

 a wounded deer with more certainty than almost any other kind 

 of dog. Indeed, for this kind of work, a quiet though slow dog- 

 often is of more use than the best deer-hound. I at one time 

 had an English bulldog, who accompanied me constantly in 

 deer-stalking ; he learned to crouch and creep up to the deer 

 with me, never showing himself, and seemingly to understand 

 perfectly what I wished him to do. When necessary I could 

 leave him for hours together, lying alone on the hill, when he 

 would never stir till called by me. If a deer was wounded, he 

 would follow the track with untiring perseverance, distinguishing 

 the scent of the wounded animal, and singling it out from the 

 rest, never making a mistake in this respect ; he would also 

 follow the stag till he brought him to bay, when, with great 

 address in avoiding the horns, he would rush in and seize him 

 either by the throat or the ear, holding on till I came up, or, as 

 he once did, strangling the animal, and then coming back to 

 show me where he had left it. 



In driving some woods one day in Ross-shire, a fine stag broke 

 into a wide opening ; two or three sportsmen were stationed at 

 some distance above me ; as the deer passed, I saw the light puff 

 of smoke, and heard the crack of their rifles as they fired. At 

 every shot the poor animal doubled with the most extraordinary 

 bounds ; he tried to turn back to the cover from which he had 

 been driven, but the shouts of the beaters deterred him, and 

 after stopping for a moment to deliberate, he came back fully 

 determined to cross the opening, in order to gain the shelter of 

 some large woods beyond it. lie was galloping across it, when 

 crack went another rifle, the ball striking with a splash into a 

 small pool of water close to him, this turned him towards me. and 

 down he came in my direction as hard as he could gallop ; he 

 appeared to be coming directly at me: just as he was about a 

 hundred yards from me, a shout from the beaters, who were com- 

 ing in view, turned him again, and he passed me, going venire a 

 terre, with his head up and his horns back over his shoulders, 



