DEER STALKING. 313 



manoeuvring to give them their wind, without being 

 seen : on their doing so at the right place and time, 

 the chance of our getting a shot depends. No 

 quadruped has so acute a sense of smell as a deer. 

 I will back him against a blood- hound. I have 

 heard of a tame deer that was in the habit of going 

 with a shepherd to the hills : whenever it happened 

 that he went without it, the deer would trace him 

 step by step, though he had five or six hours start 

 of it. Observe how the glens converge to a point 

 about half a mile beyond the deer a false move- 

 ment there will be fatal none but experienced for- 

 esters can tell which way the currents pass there 

 the sentinel hinds on the left, prick their ears to 

 listen, and raise their noses to catch the taint in the 

 air they suspect danger the men have given 

 them their wind at the wrong point and now the 

 whole herd are off, they have taken to the plain 

 where they are safe. We must commence another 

 cast. 



SOUTHRON. 



Not for all the deer in the forest. How many 

 miles have we walked, trotted, run, crawled, and 

 swum already ? and how high, as the geographers 

 express it, have we been above the level of the sea ? 

 However, this is glorious sport ! the very possi- 

 bility of obtaining a shot is enough. We will re- 

 sume to-morrow. 



In this manner, or with a miss, or the death of 



