A SHOT FROM ERASER'S SHOULDER 27 



was turning back to the wood; so we dashed away 

 again so that he would not get our wind, and 

 succeeded in getting beyond his line of retreat, 

 and eventually got up to 50 or 60 yards from him, 

 and the prize was ours. He turned out to be a 

 magnificent beast, the best head got on Erchless 

 for twenty years, and I christened him the 

 " Emperor of Erchless." The following paragraph 

 from the Inverness Courier describes him: 



A FINE STAG 



" In a season when heads are generally acknowledged to 

 have been much under the average it is remarkable that 

 Dr. Leggatt, the lessee of Erchless Forest, secured the best 

 head shot there for twenty years after an exciting stalk. The 

 horns were very thick, beautifully dark in colour, and sym- 

 metrical. The head narrowly escaped royal honours, there 

 being eleven well-developed points, 3 on top each side with 

 good cups. The stag scaled 16 stone 6 pounds." 



It was nearly dark when we got him, so he had 

 to be left out all night. He weighed 16 stone 

 6 pounds next morning, and we allowed 4 pounds 

 for lying out all night, as I have proved that a 

 stag loses from 4 to 5 pounds under those circum- 

 stances. I have weighed a stag at night, and 

 then dragged him out into the open and left him 

 all night, and then weighed him again next morning 

 and found the loss of weight was 4 pounds. That 

 was a wet night; it would probably lose another 

 pound on a fine night. 



Needless to say, there were great rejoicings in 



