ROE -HUNTING. 147 



One of them was only detected by the hounds and roe 

 having run right through his pass during his absence. 

 Although a man should not be so churlish as to refuse 

 joining a party of this kind, yet I could excuse any know- 

 ing roe-hunter for anticipating with greater pleasure and 

 hope of success the day when he should take the field alone. 

 Such a one will always prefer a day with .scarcely a 

 breath of air, high wind being destruction to his sport : 

 first, from the difficulty of hearing the hound ; and, next, 

 from the currents of air which he will be obliged to 

 avoid, lest the roe should wind him. His only com- 

 panion is a very slow and steady hound. Thoroughly 

 acquainted with all the passes, he places himself in that 

 he considers the best, ready to change his position should 

 the baying of the hound seem to indicate that the roe 

 has taken a different direction. If it escapes at the first 

 burst, he is not at all disconcerted, as his tactics now begin. 

 The roe perhaps stretches away into the large pine-forest, 

 and he sees his good hound slowly and surely threading 

 his way through the thick underwood, making the welkin 

 ring. Now is the time for our sportsman to display the 

 strength of his lungs and limbs. Aware that the roe, 



range of buck-shot, especially if the cover is not very thin, which a good 

 haunt of roes seldom is. They are thus almost sure to see and hear you, 

 and steal away unperceived ; but should you succeed in getting the shot, 

 it is pretty certain to be a running one, and you will stand but a poor 

 chance with a rifle at a roe bounding among thick plantations. 

 The great excitement of deer-stalking consists in seeing your game 

 from a distance without being yourself perceived, which affords ample 

 scope for skill and tact in approaching it. 



