106 VARIETIES OF SHOOTING. 



and running required, but they must be practised at a 

 high rate up hill and down in a half-stooping position 

 as well as erect; and not unfrequently crawling on the 

 ground for a long distance must be adopted, in order to 

 reach a particular spot unseen by the deer. Now, these 

 attitudes are very fatiguing if tried by the novice ; yet unless 

 they are practised, no horns will grace the hall. If the 

 " gillies" or hillmen are to have the whole management, as is 

 indeed most frequently the case, the stalker is a mere 

 machine, and his bodily powers only will be called upon ; but 

 if he attempts to take any of the control upon himself, he must 

 have considerable knowledge of the habits of the deer in 

 order to circumvent them. He must be full of resources to 

 meet wile with wile; and, as there are few more cunning 

 animals than the red deer, his task will not be a very easy 

 one. Indeed, unless he knows every inch of the ground, 

 however well he may be acquainted with the nature of the 

 sport elsewhere, he had better trust to those who do. 



According to Mr. Serope, there are three kinds of stalk- 

 ing practised, but these I think should rather be considered 

 under two heads viz., stalking and driving. He, however, 

 enumerates quiet stalking, quick stalking, and driving; but 

 the second of these is only a variety of driving. It is quite 

 true that in quick stalking the sportsman makes an occa- 

 sional run to get nearer the deer as they pass, but still the 

 essential feature consists in the driving of the deer towards 

 him while he is in concealment. 



QUIET STALKING is thus described by Mr. Serope : 

 Premising that the two stalkers (Mr. Serope and his friend) 

 are respectively alluded to as Tortoise and Lightfoot. The 

 first of these gentlemen, attended by their gillies, has just 

 discovered a hart at some distance, and thus addresses his 

 friend and pupil : 



" A noble fellow he is, Maclaren; I can just see his horns 

 and the point of his shoulders. It is a glorious chance, for, 

 once in the burn, we can get within a hundred yards of him, 

 and that is near enough in all conscience. Here, Lightfoot, 

 look at the fine fellow; pull oif your cap, and rest the glass 

 on the stone." 



" Not the semblance of a deer can I see ; but I'll take your 



