34 DEER-STALKING. 



our wind, and, much puzzled, turned round and looked 

 behind us, when brilliant flashes of fire proceeding 

 from the sky-line of the hill greeted our eyes. Bring- 

 ing the glasses to bear, we found they came from the 

 stalking party, who, having followed the deer up the 

 hill, had sat down and taken a spy at the disturbed 

 herd, and having seen enough, were sitting still with 

 their glasses over their shoulders, and the sun's 

 rays, passing directly through the telescope, caused 

 the brilliant coruscations we beheld, and which had 

 scared the deer so much. 



Having found deer, simply put yourself in your 

 stalker's hands ; for without a most intimate acquaint- 

 ance with the ground a knowledge which is only 

 acquired by being on it daily for many months, if not 

 years it is almost impossible to manage the stalk alone. 

 After some experience you may have the satisfaction 

 of doing the last two or three hundred yards, and even 

 in that short distance you often blunder and have to 

 retreat and crawl back again and make a fresh start; 

 perhaps compelled to do this twice or thrice, and so lose 

 much valuable time ; whereas, if it had been left to 

 the stalker, he would, from his better knowledge of the 

 ground, have gone straight in without a halt. A few 

 minutes often makes all the difference between an easy 

 shot and a difficult one, or perhaps no shot at all. In 

 crawling or creeping up-hill or on level ground, always 

 advance head first; but in going down-hill in any 

 position let your feet go first. In a very flat creep, 

 punt yourself along with the elbows, and be careful to 

 keep the legs flat, for somehow or other the feet have a 



