n6 SPORT AND TRAVEL 



quick succession, but missed him with both. Hastily 

 pushing in another cartridge, I drew in a long breath and 

 prepared for as steady a shot as I was capable of, for I 

 saw it would be my last, as the hinds were already 

 almost hidden amongst some juniper scrub, and the 

 stag was quite close to the same cover. But just as I 

 got my sight on him, he halted, and half turned towards 

 me. At that very moment I pulled the trigger, and 

 as my ears caught the welcome thud of the bullet, I 

 saw the great stag come bounding down the mountain- 

 side, and knew instinctively that it was the last head- 

 long death-rush of an animal shot through the heart. 

 He soon came down with a crash, and after rolling 

 over twice lay still amongst the rocks and stones on 

 the steep hillside. 



Joyously, yet fearfully, I clambered up to where 

 he lay, for I thought that his great branching antlers 

 could not possibly have survived that headlong fall 

 amongst the rocks and stones, without having sus- 

 tained some irreparable damage ; and I could hardly 

 believe my eyes when I found that excepting that the 

 point of one of the tines had been slightly damaged 

 the beautiful head was still perfect. How can I de- 

 scribe my delight as I gazed upon the symmetrical 

 branching antlers of the first stag that had ever fallen 

 to my rifle ? I had not, it is true, secured a maral 

 head of the largest dimensions known, but still I had 

 won a trophy well worth all the toil and disappoint- 

 ment it had cost me. The chief charm of this head to 



