338 RENTS OF DEER FORESTS 



he gave the excise-men the sHp. When the Enghsh 

 began to take deer-forests the poachers began to be 

 dealt with severely, and now the poor English squires 

 are supplanted by the millionaires from London, 

 Manchester, America, etc., men who cannot possibly 

 be called sportsmen, as compared with the poachers of 

 old; and the Highlands now teem with head-stalkers 

 and watchers, who have to do all the brain-work for 

 these imaginary sportsmen. Viewed from a sports- 

 man's standpoint, the picture is a sad one, but, all the 

 same, it appears to be a paying concern, and the 

 country, generally speaking, benefits more or less by 

 the liberal expenditure which nowadays obtains all 

 over the Highlands. 



Before the days of railroads good forests were to be 

 got for a mere song ; now, however, they realize 

 fabulous rents, fetching at least a hundred per cent, 

 more than formerly, though they are frequently but 

 one-third of the size they were then. Indeed, I 

 myself know of shootings which are divided into three 

 parts, each one of which is let for some thousands of 

 pounds, which formerly only realized a hundred pounds 

 for the entire forest. 



