50 .DEER-STALKING. 



a half-rush, half-push make a furious effort to avenge 

 himself. 



Only once have I seen a wounded deer actually charge. 

 He was hit high up in the back (as it afterwards turned 

 out, the spine was " chipped " but not broken), and 

 running up to give the coup de grace, I plunged up to 

 my hips in some soft ground when about fifteen yards 

 off. Turning to extricate myself, a yell from the stalker 

 warned me only just in time to put in a snap shot ; he 

 had regained his legs, and was coming full tilt for his 

 destroyer, and he fell with his nose almost touching me. 



As to the use of dogs, some prefer deer-hounds, 

 some collies, and others again prohibit their use alto- 

 gether. The deer-hound is certainly a far more 

 beautiful dog to look at than the collie he is fiercer 

 of aspect, and there is a something in the great long 

 head, the wide-opening jaws, far-seeing eyes, and 

 lengthy, wiry body that seems in harmony with the 

 wildness of the scenery and the sport. To see a good 

 dog slipped at a deer is indeed a sight to remember. 

 To watch him overtake and place himself alongside of a 

 galloping stag, and then to see him seize the foreleg ; roll 

 the stag over ; shift his hold in a moment and fix his 

 teeth in the throat, and kill quickly, is indeed a fine 

 spectacle. Young deer-hounds are very apt to be rash, 

 and having brought the deer to bay, will go in and try 

 to pull it down and kill for themselves ; in this manner 

 many a good hound has met his death, for if the 

 hound be not very fast, before the quarry be brought 

 to bay, he will usually have reached water, and taken 

 up his position in a torrent, with his hind quarters 



