THE ISLAND OF HITTEREN 53 



stags belling round me in answering chorus. It was 

 only after the most careful manoeuvring that I got 

 a shot at dusk at the only one I saw, who had come 

 round to get our wind. He happened to be a 

 peculiarly light- coloured and very heavy stag ; other- 

 wise I could not have seen to shoot and kill him as I 

 did. The natives are accustomed to kill their deer 

 either in the latter days of August, when the long 

 northern evenings give good opportunity of open 

 stalking, or in the rutting season, when stags can be 

 heard. They hold a theory that it is useless to stalk 

 for a fortnight or so in September, when the days 

 have shortened, and the stags have not commenced in 

 love and war to roam, but, rather, spend the daytime 

 lying in the thickest woods. 



This brings me to an important variety of Hitteren 

 sport, namely, deer-driving, which we practise mostly 

 in September. 



' This is not sport,' I think I hear someone say. 

 My answer is : ' Try it, and see.' By deer-driving 

 I do not mean sending a yelling horde of men to try 

 to drive the deer like so many sheep. As a matter of 

 fact, deer cannot be driven like sheep except with an 

 army of men, and at the risk of completely ruining 

 your ground. c Deer-moving ' is a term that would 

 better express my meaning. Five or six men are 

 required to go quietly through a mile or so of wooded 

 hill and glen. They should all be experienced sports- 

 men, with some knowledge of the ground and the 

 habits of the deer. The human voice should not be 

 heard. A low whistle or a tap of a tree is the best 

 method of communication, in order that the men may 

 keep their distance and line. The direction and 

 strength of the wind and the nature of the ground 



