PREFACE. 



been initiated in it will attempt to deny. The beautiful 

 motions of the deer, his picturesque and noble appearance, 

 his sagacity, and the skilful generalship which can alone 

 ensure success in the pursuit of him, keep the mind in a 

 constant state of pleasurable excitement. 



Those arts which are the most successful for killing the 

 stag will apply to almost all other wild quadrupeds of the 

 nobler sort ; and a correct acquaintance with them might 

 possibly be the means of saving many an adventurer's life, 

 whose actual sustenance, and that of his companions, 

 depended on his skill in hunting. In exploring unknown 

 regions for the advancement of science, or cast, as men may 

 be, on a desolate shore, how necessary, how indispensable, 

 is a knowledge of the huntsman's craft for the actual 

 preservation of existence ! And yet, in such travels as I 

 have read, I have never seen this craft fully explained, the 

 adventurer having been under the guidance of the natives, 

 and for the most part a novice in the business. 



In my narrative of deer-stalking I have not, except in 

 one instance, noted my best success far from it. My 

 aim has been to confine myself to such events as I thought 

 best calculated to illustrate a diversion, which all sports- 

 men, who have the means in their power, are now pursuing 

 with unabating ardour. 



