DEEE- STALKING 



THIS first of British sports can only be enjoyed by the 

 few Highland proprietors who still maintain their forests, 

 and those to whom their permission is extended. Still, 

 if the many keen sportsmen who are panting to try their 

 rifles upon a gallant stag were thoroughly entered at deer- 

 stalking, they might find less cause to regret their priva- 

 tion than they now imagine. In the first place, no sport 

 is more ruled by the weather ; again, one is so dependent 

 on the skill and tact of the stalker, in whose hands, for 

 some time at least, you must be content to act like a 

 mere puppet. And when the deer are driven, a single 

 false move, or the mistaking of a signal by the hill-men 

 employed, may spoil all. In every other kind of shooting 

 the sportsman ought to trust to his own resources and 

 foresight ; but in deer-stalking, unless he has passed his 

 life in the forest, and is thoroughly acquainted with every 

 correi, crag, and knoll, he had much better trust to those 

 who are. Without this knowledge, it is impossible for 

 any one to tell how the wind will blow upon a given 



