A TANTAUSINC (,)ri:ST 307 



own. was cvoii inoro tr)rtiiro(l tliaii I willi I lie ])aiiis of 

 Tantalus. I will resign some pages 1" liis ])arallcl cx- 

 iMTiciiccs. 1 Ic writes : — 



"We had not l)e(Mi on! dl'cainp an Imiir when B 



(■lf\ ("rl\- ImiiiuI wil li Ills glass a large liiml l_\iiig in t lir 1 liicket 

 of NiHIlllJ,' jiilics oil the o[i|>osite side of llir Nallcv we Were 

 in. After a patient search w ilh the teleseupe, 1 made out 

 two more, restinu', and whiskino- their ears in a ])ateli of 

 thick scruli. At tills time of year it was liighlv improliahle 



J O.I 



that thev would he unaceomimnied l»v a male admirer, so 

 we made for the ridge ahovc them ho})ing to improve our 

 acquaintance with the herd. Softly we crept down to 

 within three huinlivd \-ards of where we had marked 

 them, and waited and watcjied. hut onl\' to disco\-er idti- 

 niatelv that lhe\- had moved on. Mo douht, in s|»ite o[ our 

 care our movements had been heard, for there were tracks 

 of a hig stag and three hinds, with slips and slides on the 

 wet o'roiind. such as deer make when moving faster than 

 their wonte(l pace. We followed their track for a while, 

 in the lioi.c of seeine- them again, under the delusion that 

 thev were simpl(\ unsophisticated beasts i'or whom the 

 smell of man. or the -(.uiid of his steps, couhl lia\t' h'W 

 terrors, but in \ain. and towards aftcrnodu we tried ti'csh 



gromtd. ( Mice while crossing a little gully B who was 



five yards in fioni df me st<']>p<'d and sju-ead oul his hand 

 behind him, a signal that he saw something; 1 came (juickly 

 to his side, just in time to see a great stag disai)pearing 

 throu'di thick trees o\er the ridu'«' thirtv vards in IVont of 

 me. Before mv ritie couM b<' bi'ought to shoulder, he was 

 out of siLi'ht. thoijeh in a nio-i uii'jallani manner he had 

 left Ids hulv and her child hciiind him, at our merc\. 'riie 



