DEER PULLED DOWN. 277 



inch having been taken off the front of his fore-leg, so that 

 the bone was visible, and a piece of burnt heather had 

 passed quite through his foot. 



Nothing could exceed the determined courage displayed 

 by both dogs, particularly by Buskar, throughout the chase, 

 and especially in preserving his hold, though dragged by 

 the deer in a most violent manner. This, however, is but 

 one of the many feats of this fine dog. He was pupped in 

 autumn, 1832, and, before he was a year old, killed a full- 

 grown hind single-handed. 



The deer was carried to the nearest stream, which was at 

 no great distance, for the purpose of being washed ; 

 which ceremony, being performed, we sat down to lunch in 

 great spirits with the result of our day's sport ; and having 

 concluded with a bumper to the success of our next chase, 

 our only remaining duty was to convey our deer to the 

 cave, a distance of two miles, by the nearest way through 

 the moor. The stag weighed upwards of seventeen stone, 

 but our stout Highlanders, by relieving each other alter- 

 nately, carried it this distance in the space of little more 

 than an hour. We then took boat, and in a couple of hours 

 were again on shore in Colonsay. 



The speed of a deer may be estimated as nearly equal to 

 that of a hare, though in coursing the latter, from its turn- 

 ings and windings, more speed is probably required than in 

 coursing the former ; but, on the other hand, if a dog is in 

 any degree blown when he reaches a deer, he cannot pre- 

 serve his hold, nor recover it if it is once lost ; indeed, 

 it is only from his superior speed and bottom that a dog 

 can continue to preserve his hold, and thus by degrees to 

 exhaust the deer, till at length he is enabled to pull him 

 down. 



This great power of endurance is only to be found in a 

 thorough-bred greyhound ; for even though a cross-bred 

 dog might succeed in fastening on a deer, he seldom has 

 the speed or endurance necessary for preserving his hold ; 

 and should he receive a fall, will, in all probability, suffer 

 much more than a greyhound, whose elasticity of form is 

 better calculated to endure such shocks. 



Perhaps the greatest advantage possessed by superiority 



