SARDINIA AND ITS WILD SHEEP 27 



impurtuuce to (lri\iiii;' down wind. The ljealur.s kept up 

 ;i discordant din, l)ut the dou's diM most of tlie work. AVc 

 made lour or live drives tlial day; boar or moulion were 

 seen in most of them, but only one or two snap shots were 

 olttaiiu'd, and the result was nil. Tliey say a small })ig 

 passed witliin twenty yards of me without ni}' knowing it. 

 Tile lollowiiiL!' da\' we drove down to the little YilhiQ;c 

 wlicncc most of tliesc men came, and took some likely- 

 looking places on another range. The result was no 

 better. If wc made any sceptical remarks as to an}' drive, 

 we were greeted with, '' Cervi — altro'.'^ (wdth emphasis) 

 '' Anche moujiord — Anche cinghiale — Suro, suro !'' (cre- 

 scendo). This indeed was a formula with wdiich we grew 

 very familiar whih^ we remained in Sardinia, l)ut after this 

 experience, we did not pursue the native form of sj)ort, if 

 such it can be called. Perhaps we were unlucky ; cer- 

 tainlv rnnnv 1)oar are kilh'd in this wav, l)ut 1 l)elieve very 

 few mouHon. This is borne out by the following', wliidi 

 is given by Mr, Tennant as the average annual bag on 

 the Marijuis of Laconi's estate, one of the largest and 

 best-preserved on the island : — MouHon, 5 ; red deer, 10 ; 

 fallow deer, 40; boar, 85; partridges, 500; hares, 150: 

 rabbits, 300; woodcock, IGO ; snipe, 125; duck, 100; 

 (|uail, 50 ; plover, 30 ; Imstards, 5. There arc a few red 

 deer on these ranges, and the Sards would occasionally 

 point out an old moution track in the snow which had 

 been enlarged ]jy the sun, and assert that it was a rc(l deer. 

 1 saw no genuine fresh red deer's tracks myself, l)ut the 

 exceptionally severe weather had, ])erliaps, driven them 

 awa\- from the liiijh ground. Fallow deer must also be 

 sought at a lower level. 



