224 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXIV. 



would allow him ; and as it was tolerably hard, he 

 got on pretty quickly till my charge of shot put an 

 end to his journey. 



The report of the gun started two fine stags, who 

 had been feeding along the course of a small open 

 rill which ran into the river just above where we 

 were ; and I was astonished to see the power with 

 which these two great animals galloped up the hill, 

 although they sank deep at every stride. When 

 half way up, they halted to look at us, and stood 

 beautifully defined on the white snow ; they then 

 trotted quietly oflf till we lost sight of them over the 

 summit of the hill. Donald in the mean time had 

 carefully concealed the otter under the snow (mark- 

 ing the place by a small pyramid of stones), as I 

 intended to have him skinned on our return home. 



The lakes and the still pools being frozen, we 

 saw several herons standing in their usual and cha- 

 racteristic attitude, waiting patiently in some shallow 

 running water for any unwary trout that might pass 

 within reach of their unerring bills ; and here and 

 there a heron who appeared to have made his morning 

 meal was standing, as quietly and as unsubstantial- 

 looking as his own shadow, perched on one foot on 

 a stone in the middle of the stream. A golden-eye 

 or two were diving earnestly and quickly in the 

 quieter parts of the river, taking wing only on my 



