322 SHOOTING. 



is no reflection upon their skill. It is seldom that 

 you fire at a less distance than a hundred yards, 

 and this is as near as you would wish to get. The 

 usual range will be between this and two hundred 

 yards, beyond which, as a general rule, I never 

 think it prndent to fire, lest I should hit the wrong 

 animal, though deer may be killed at a much 

 greater distance. Now the sportsman who has 

 been accustomed to shot guns, is apt to fire with 

 the same sort of aim that he takes at a grouse or 

 any other common game ; thus he invariably fires 

 behind the quarry ; for he does not consider that 

 the ball, having three, four, or perhaps five times 

 the distance to travel that his shot has, will not 

 arrive at its destination nearly so soon ; conse- 

 quently, in a cross shot he must keep his rifle more 

 in advance. The exact degree, as he well knows, 

 will depend upon the pace and remoteness of the 

 object. Deer go much faster than they appear to 

 do, and their pace is not uniform, like the flying of 

 a bird ; but they pitch in running, and this pitch 

 must be calculated upon." 11 



Although the red deer has not 



The dreadful plunge of the concealed tiger ; 



nor charges he like the maimed lion, or elephant, 

 or buffalo at bay : he possesses qualities which 

 render his death as difficult to achieve as that of 

 any of the foregoing quadrupeds ; since to the 

 gracefulness of an antelope, he unites the agility 

 of a chamois the eye of a lynx the nose of a 

 vulture the ear of a hare the vigilance of a 

 bustard the cunning of a fox he can swim like 



