36 ERCHLESS AND FARLEY, 1917 



we reached Erchless Wood, and even Fraser could 

 hardly find the opening and the path through it. 

 He said that as a rule the Glengowrie party 

 generally brought a lamp up with them when they 

 started, and left it at the edge of the wood, but we 

 had been foolish virgins, and had to grope our way 

 home in the dark. It was 7.30 before we got 

 to the car, and 8.30 before we were back at Balblair. 

 They tried next day to get in the stags, but the 

 ponies got bogged in the snow-drifts and they had 

 to give it up. That was Friday. Saturday the 

 snow was deeper, and it was Monday before they 

 were safely in the larder four days in the snow: 

 cold storage with a vengeance; but the venison 

 did not suffer in the least. It was indeed a 

 wonderful day. I am never likely to have 

 another like it, especially as regards atmospheric 

 conditions. Never have I seen anything like tl: 

 number of deer on the ground, and I suppose the 

 coming storm made them easier to get at. I do 

 not know whether snow always has this effect; 

 thunder, of course, makes them restless, but more 

 wary and difficult to stalk. 



The next day, the 5th, there was 6 inches of 

 snow everywhere and a foot on the tops, with 

 drifts 2 or 3 feet deep in places, and snow-showers 

 in between sunny intervals. There were deer 

 in plenty on the high rocks just outside Farley 

 Wood but nothing very good, and Stone and I had 

 an exciting climb and stalk after a small stag 



