THE PRACTICE OF DEER-STALKING 135 



must be^approached. Well, the stalkers begin their 

 descent, they must keep as close as possible together, 

 moving inch by inch with eyes fixed on the deer, and 

 especially on those whose heads are turned upwards, 

 if lying down ; stopping whenever a feeding stag 

 raises his head, or a recumbent one 'looks on the 

 alert.' The 'gentleman ' clothed in a suit of Lovat 

 mixture, and conscious that its colour perfectly 

 harmonises with the verdure of the corrie down which 

 he is crawling, rejoices that he (or his valet) had the 

 forethought to make that particular selection when he 

 dressed in the morning. But presently he finds him- 

 self among the grey stones at the bottom. Here 

 crawling is not so pleasant. Instead of the recum- 

 bent position and easy slide down a soft velvetty 

 and comparatively dry turf, he finds himself on his 

 hands and knees, crawling on sharp stones and 

 endeavouring to avoid the pain of contact by a 

 series of short jumps, or perhaps saving his knees at 

 the expense of his hands, and showing a good deal 

 too much of that part of his person which in the 

 previous part of his adventure was more favourably 

 situated. Now he regrets the Lovat mixture, and 

 would fain have worn that other suit of grey and 

 white check, which, being new and smart, was re- 

 served for a picnic with the ladies on an off day. 



