46 HUNTING. 



varmint, or he would not push his feet that fur into the land ! ' 

 is the only remark. The slot, however, is deciphered with ease 

 to the south-west corner of the ravine. Off goes the harbourer 

 to his cottage, determined to come again on the following 

 morning, and to pursue the same tactics as he did to-day. To- 

 morrow's dawn finds him on his perch once more, and before 

 5 A.M. he sees the stag with all his rights and ' four on top ' 

 emerge from the same point of the ravine, attended by half a 

 dozen companions of various ages, and renew his depredations 

 in the turnip field. Not content with this, he waits patiently 

 until he has safely harboured the stag in the western slope as 

 before. 



The harbourer returns home quite confident that, if the 

 wood is not disturbed, the stag with his ' rights and four on 

 top ' will be roused when the tufters are put m by Arthur on the 

 next day. 



This description of the harbourer's work may seem some- 

 what trite, as in truth it is ; but, like many other undertakings 

 that are easier of description than execution, it will tax to the 

 utmost the patience and skill of the shrewdest expert. 



We have frequently heard persons, whose knowledge of the 

 sport is very limited, express the opinion that any gamekeeper 

 has sufficient knowledge and powers of observation to harbour 

 a stag. Our experiences of the ability of the majority of game- 

 keepers to discharge the duties of a harbourer certainly do not 

 confirm this opinion. A case in point, still fresh in our 

 memory, occurred some years ago. A gamekeeper asserted that 

 ' he had harboured a stag with three on top ' in a plantation, 

 and that ' he saw him most days.' True enough he had 

 seen the stag enter the plantation on several occasions after 

 feeding, and had marked the spot exactly. The tufters were 

 thrown in, and drew the cover, while everyone was in a 

 state of breathless excitement, in the expectation of hearing 

 ' Romeo ' speak to him. Not a bit of it ! The keeper was 

 interrogated, and stoutly maintained that 'the stag must be 

 there, for he had never seen him come out.' 



