296 SHOUT STALKS 



bis body ; and when lie feeletli tlic veiiyme work lie 

 runneth to chase and heat himself, in such sorte that 

 nothing remayneth in his l)elly, coming forth by all the 

 conduits and pores that nature hath made in him, and by 

 this means he reneweth his force and healeth himself, 

 casting his haire." That deer do pursue and kill snakes 

 there is confirmation from modern observers. 



Pliny's statement of the swimming powers of these 

 animals is perlia})S the most remarkable part of his account 

 of them. He says: "They pass the seas, swimming by 

 flocks and whole herds, in a long row, each one resting his 

 head upon the jjuttocks of his fellow next before him. And 

 this they do in course, so as the foremost retireth behind 

 to the hindmost by turns, one after another, and this is 

 ordinarily observed Ijy those sailors that pass from Cilicia to 

 Cyprus; and yet in their swimming they descry no land by 

 the eye, but only l^y their smelling have an aim thereat." 



We soon realised the difliculties of our quest, but 

 we persevered, hoping to fluke something. If the 

 sport is a tantalising one, the excitement is pretty 

 constant. As I have no triumph to record, I must 

 describe one or tw^o occasions when 1 only just missed 

 securing it. After a long day, spent in futile search 

 for a stag which Alfred had mortally wounded and 

 lost the night before, we returned to cam]) by separate 

 routes. We knew there were deer in the valley which 1 

 intended to try, for as we had gone up that way in the 

 morning, and were approaching a little opening, we were 

 brought up standing by the smell of deer, pungent and 

 unmistakable — a rampant smell, which caused me instantly 

 to cock my rifle. They were gone— how long since, it was 



