PTARMIGAN-SHOOTING. 101 



good shot, and particularly anxious to see and bring 

 down a ptarmigan. 



When we got to the foot of Ben- Voirla, we found that 

 there were two packs on what is called the second top, 

 and were thus saved the trouble of scaling the highest. 

 So, taking two young farmers as guides, we reached the 

 ground after a stiff climb. On ranging one side of the 

 mountain, just as we were turning round to the other, the 

 dogs ran into a small pack, which jerked round an angle 

 and were out of sight in a moment. I knew their flight 

 would probably be a short one, so began to look about 

 with the utmost caution : my friend, quite a novice in 

 this sport, had no idea of finding the game himself, and 

 continued to hunt the dogs with great assiduity. We 

 happened to be pretty near together, when they again 

 " poked up" a ptarmigan. Neither of us thought of 

 each other, or the ordinary rules of shooting, but fired 

 at once, and down came the bird. This was rather un- 

 satisfactory, as the " honour and glory " belonged to 

 neither; however, we determined it should not happen 

 again. I described what places the birds were most 

 likely to haunt, and cautioned against trusting to the 

 dogs, which were quite unaccustomed to such ground; 

 but finding my companion preferred his own plan, I left 

 him, and commenced my slow and wary search. At last 

 I caught sight of a ptarmigan upon the very ridge of the 

 hill, about thirty yards above me. It was in the same 

 crouching attitude before described, and, had I attempted 





