388 STALKING FROM HIGH GROUND 



deer as high as possible, as they never look up unless 

 they are watching deer above them, or their attention 

 is attracted from their watching by an eagle, fox, hare, 

 etc., overhead. When I was at Paat, I secured ten 

 stags in ten shots, including three 'rights and lefts,' 

 by means of stalking from the very top of the hills and 

 crawlinof down amongst the loose stones and rocks ; 

 and although, had but one stone rolled away from its 

 place, even ever so small a one, every deer would have 

 been off, not to be seen again that day, and the stalk 

 therefore have been spoiled, I managed, by dint of 

 serpentining on my back, and feeling the loose stones 

 with my hands and heels, to slide down quietly, and 

 so obtained five stags one day, three another, and two 

 on a third, the time on the latter day being much 

 wasted by reason of my constantly tumbling into the 

 snow-wreaths and holes, whence John Mathewson had 

 to pull me out. It was also the day on which I 

 witnessed the fight between the two eagles, so that 

 with one thing and the other I was fortunate in getting 

 two good beasts. Bad as the stalking on that hill was, 

 the wind blew so hard on Riochan, that I was able to 

 get two stags by trusting to the scent being blown 

 over the deer, and so was actually enabled to get them 

 down- wind. It was rather a rash thing to try, but it 

 had been attempted several times with success in that 

 large open corrie, and in other forests also, such as 

 Rhidoroch, I have got stags by going straight down- 

 wind on them. Under such circumstances it is neces- 

 sary to get above the deer as high as feasible, and 

 only by such means is it possible to get within range 

 of them when the wind is blowing straight for them. 

 Very often, however, it happens that the wind is 



