DEER STALKING. 



Ill 



of stalking this animal in quiet style ; let us now see the 

 nature of the second mode adopted. 



DOUBLE-QUICK STALKING and DRIVING are both of them 

 dependent almost entirely upon the gillies, and the stalker 

 himself has little to do with the sport except to keep quiet 

 till the deer are in sight, and then to make a rush to get 

 within shot, if the nature of the ground requires it. This 

 constitutes what Mr. Scrope calls " stalking in double-quick 

 time;" the term driving being by him confined to the case 

 when the hillmen are able, in consequence of the peculiarity 

 of the ground, to drive the deer within shot. In this latter 

 species a large number of men are required, while one or 

 two generally suffice for the former, their knowledge of the 

 habits of the animal enabling them to induce him to take 

 certain passes, without being absolutely forced to do so. 

 This is effected by acting on the senses of smell and sight, 

 which are very keen in the red deer. For instance, by 

 posting the stalkers in a certain pass to leeward of the 

 deer, and then taking a large circuit round them, the 

 hillmen can, by very carefully giving the deer notice 

 either by sight or scent that they are posted in the opposite 

 direction, send them with great precision (when luck attends 

 their efforts) towards the ambush prepared for them. There 

 is, therefore, some difference, no doubt, and practically the 

 two are conducted with details " wide as the poles asunder." 

 In either kind of sport, however, it appears to me that the 

 chief agents are the gillies, and that neither is to be com- 

 pared with the quiet stalking previously described so graphi- 

 cally in the extract given above. Tastes differ, however, 

 and for those who cannot bear the fatigue necessary for the 

 first kind, the second and third are, no doubt, better suited. 



In DEER STALKING of all kinds the heart is the organ 

 aimed at, because, though no larger than the brain, and 

 therefore quite as difficult to hit, yet a shot in many of the 

 adjacent parts is likely, by the aid of the deer-hound, to 

 result in the death of the stag. For instance, a broken leg, 

 arm, or shoulder, or a wound of the lung, will put a stop to 

 the flight of the animal, and the deer-hounds being slipt, 

 soon bring him to bay. On the other hand, if the ball 

 misses the brain, the deer goes away as well as ever, even if 



