34 ERCHLESS AND FARLEY, 1917 



farther on he fell dead within 15 yards of the brook 

 which is the boundary between Erchless and 

 CorrichaUie. He was a good 8-pointer, weighing 

 15 stone 12 pounds, with a very fine spread, and 

 adorns the walls of Susan's bedroom, and reminds 

 her when she is snug and warm in bed of how cold 

 she was when he fell. By the time the gralloch 

 was performed and we had emptied our flask with 

 a wee dram all round in honour of our fallen foe 

 it was a quarter to 5 ; and though there were deer 

 all round us, as we were seven miles from the car 

 and it was getting colder every minute, we decided 

 to make for home. Scarcely had we started when 

 a loud roar on our right, about a quarter of a mile 

 away, made us all drop flat. Out came the glasses, 

 and there was the mighty monarch we had come 

 after coming down the hill driving his numerous 

 retinue in front of him to lower ground in view of 

 the storm which their instinct surely told them was 

 coming. Leaving Susan and Donald Ross crouch- 

 ing where they were, Fraser and I crept on towards 

 our quarry, as there were numerous knolls and 

 hillocks which made our crawl fairly easy. We 

 got to within 150 yards of the herd, and then, 

 with a mighty roar, our friend came in sight and 

 stood half facing us, offering a favourable chance. 

 I fired, and he fell, and then half-rose and began 

 tearing up the ground with his horns in his fury 

 for a few seconds; and then all was over and 

 the climax of the never-to-be-forgotten day was 



