RECONNOITRING THE GROUND. 263 



On one of the shooting-grounds farther up the " nye " 

 (glen) being vacated by its occupant, we left our depot of 

 supplies at Nouboog, and at once took his place for we learnt 

 that he had been but a short time there, and had not much 

 disturbed the deer. 



Our first ramble in the forest was made more with the 

 view of reconnoitring the ground than that of shooting. 

 Although no deer were seen, it was satisfactory to find that 

 their tracks were both numerous and fresh. Next morning, 

 after a long ascent, we found an open grassy hill -top, on 

 which we expected to find deer out feeding, covered with 

 sheep. Twice, however, I let off my rifle once at a musk- 

 deer (here termed "roos"), which was cleanly missed, and 

 again, as we were descending in the evening, when I took a 

 pot-shot at a splendid horned argus-pheasant of the black- 

 breasted kind (here called " rungraol "), which flew away 

 from its perch on a rock, minus a bunch of its beautiful 

 plumage. 



In order to avoid the trouble and delay entailed by the 

 long climb each morning before reaching our ground, arrange- 

 ments were made for sleeping out for a few nights high up 

 in the forest, and that evening we found a snug resting-place 

 under shelter of a big pine-tree in a deep sequestered gorge. 

 The "roaring" of stags was now pretty often heard, but 

 only in the thickest parts of the dense forest, where it was 

 almost impossible to get even a glimpse of the animals that 

 spoke. Nothing was seen except two brown bears, wlm-h 

 were left unmolested, from fear of disturbing the deer, until 

 the third day. 



It was our intention, on the evening of that day, to return 

 to our camp, with a view to again (hanging our ground. In 

 the afternoon, during our descent, we found ourselves on a 

 broad and gently sloping spur, on one side of which was a 

 steep-sloping, fern-covered glade on the other a dense ]>in- 

 wood. Here we found the tracks as fresh as they were 



