THE ISLAND OF HITTEREN 45 



intended by Nature to harmonize with and shelter in 

 a woodland country, of his natural environment, and 

 drive him perforce to the open hillside, where he can 

 be constantly spied, harassed, and kept on the move, 

 and where, moreover, the finest stag can always be 

 picked out and marked down for slaughter, and you 

 at once establish artificial conditions under which, it 

 seems to me, the deer is bound to degenerate both in 

 quality and size. As an instance of their natural 

 liking for woodland country, the recent importation 

 of red-deer into New Zealand may be mentioned. 

 We are told that they have there at once taken 

 naturally to the woods, and are growing splendid 

 antlers. 



Wood-crawling, then, is the chief characteristic of 

 Hitteren stalking, and if one of the features of true 

 sport is to outwit and slay a wild animal in its natural 

 home, then the stalking of which I write is sport of 

 the truest and most genuine kind. There is also this 

 additional inducement that, in order to be thoroughly 

 enjoyed and made the most of, it should be under- 

 taken alone ; or the sportsman should at all events 

 be master of the stalk, and, the deer once found, far 

 or near, approach and shoot on his own responsibility, 

 and not, like an obedient dog, crawl, ignorant of the 

 science of the stalk, and the why and the wherefore 

 of its details, at the heels of a professional native. 

 Better far to bungle a few stalks and crawls on your 

 own account, and learn, by wholesome experience and 

 a far-in-the-distance vanishing royal, to appreciate 

 and overcome the practical difficulties of the sport, 

 than to be brought, automaton-like, within easy shot 

 by a paid expert. Success in the former case is ten 

 times sweeter when it comes. 



