NO. 2 NEAR THE DUCK LOCH 89 



(and the pictures show the same thing), the head 

 and the body are almost in a straight line when a 

 stag is roaring, and the horns lie almost down on 

 his back; however, there it is. It must be very 

 difficult to set up a good roarer, and one must take 

 the rough with the smooth, or rather the realistic 

 with the ridiculous. 



We had to get back to the south side of the 

 North Hill for lunch so as to find shelter from the 

 icy blast, leaving John to go for Sandy and the 

 pony; he did not have to go very far before he 

 could signal him, and they soon had our friend 

 on his way to the larder, and John joined us and 

 said there were some beasts feeding to the west 

 of the Duck Loch on the rough ground between 

 the latter and Erchless, about one mile from 

 where we were. Luckily the day had improved 

 a bit, though it was still bitterly cold, and we 

 were soon up and away and got to 300 or 400 yards 

 from where we knew they were lying in the shelter 

 of a small corrie, when suddenly, a few hundred 

 yards to our right, we saw a solitary hind being 

 pursued by an amorous stag. They were coming 

 along at quite a good pace, the hind about 

 100 yards in front of her would-be lord and master, 

 and so intent were they on matters matrimonial 

 that they had not seen us, so we were flat as 

 flounders in a second, and on they came, and their 

 path brought them about 200 yards in front of us, 

 where the stag foolishly paused for a moment, 



