SNOW-BRIDGES. 189 



up the glen, I found, as I expected, that it was by no means 

 so impracticable as the men had reported. For the first 

 mile or so it certainly was very difficult travelling ; but the 

 huge piles of hard snow which blocked the contracted and 

 precipitous gorge up which our way led, were rather an 

 advantage than otherwise, enabling us to cross and recross 

 the torrent by natural bridges formed of them. Higher up, 

 however, the valley became more open, and was pretty free 

 of snow. A more likely country for sport there could not 

 have been, and it did not belie its looks ; for we soon found 

 the fresh tracks, as big as though they had been made by 

 heifers, of a herd which must have fed there that very morn- 

 ing. Matters looked so promising that I sent back a man 

 with directions to have the tents brought on ; for we had only 

 taken with us kit sufficient for passing a night or two under 

 the best kind of protection from the weather we could find. 



We were not long in selecting a snug spot for spend- 

 ing the night under some splendid pine-trees, which were 

 almost impervious to rain. Here we sheltered from a 

 heavy shower, which lasted several hours. Towards evening 

 it cleared up ; so I started with Gamoo and Hatha, intend- 

 ing to prospect the ground on either side of a steep, craggy, 

 and partially pine-clad ridge, that ran up towards the snowy 

 heights far above. 



First we sighted two rinds, which were not worth the 

 risk of disturbing the ground by firing at, even could we 

 have stalked them successfully, or had cared to do so. 

 Three or four fairly large bucks were also made out among 

 the crags on an opposite hill-face, but they were evidently 

 not the big fellows that were " wanted " ; and a deep pre- 

 cipitous-sided valley that lay between us and them, with a 

 roaring linn at the bottom of it, precluded any possibility 

 of our getting near them that evening. We therefore began 

 descending the ridge we had come up, in the hope of find- 

 ing them again at some future time. 



Hardly have we gone a couple of hundred yards when. 



