A SMALL STAG IN THE SNOW 37 



with a good little head of 6 points who was lying 

 under the shelter of a big rock. We got to about 

 50 yards from him, but he would not rise, so after 

 waiting about a quarter of an hour I fired, and 

 over and over he rolled, down and down, but 

 luckily came to rest on a heathery ledge and his 

 horns were uninjured. He weighed 11 stone 

 4 pounds. We dragged him down to the bottom 

 of the rocks, and as it was only about 200 yards 

 from the wood, Sandy managed to get the pony 

 to him through the snow. 



The next day, Saturday the 6th, Susan and 

 I were early up at Erchless, all agog to hear 

 whether they had been able to get our beauties 

 in from Glengowrie. Disappointment was our 

 portion, for, as I said before, Fraser and Mackin- 

 tosh had tried, but the ponies got bogged in snow- 

 drifts and they had to turn back. To-day was 

 bright and sunny, but still bitterly cold, and of 

 course the entire country round, hills and valleys 

 alike, were snow-clad, and on the tops the snow 

 was very deep. It was a wonderful sight, and 

 such a heavy fall so early in the season had not 

 been known within memory. Fraser said it was 

 quite impossible to try and get them in to-day, 

 so there was nothing for it but to leave them till 

 Monday, and hope for the best. 



We saw plenty of deer directly we got out of 

 the wood, and decided on a nice 8-pointer which 

 was trying to find food through the snow with 



