THE MANAGEMENT OF DEER FORESTS 81 



the attraction of ' clean ' ground, the numbers of these 

 must have also diminished ; so that it is probable there 

 were in the northern parts of Scotland, at the period 

 of which I am speaking, fewer red deer than there 

 are at present, or than there had been in former 

 times. 



The process of re-clearing some of these sheep 

 walks, and the formation of fresh deer forests, began 

 about twenty or thirty years later. The causes which 

 led to these operations are not so easy to determine as 

 they are in the clearances of the present day, or those 

 within the last twenty years. A newly developed 

 taste for sport may have had a good deal to do with 

 it ; the invention, though then in its infancy, of steam 

 engines as a propelling power by sea and land no 

 doubt lessened the difficulties of locomotion, and 

 afforded to enthusiastic sportsmen opportunities which 

 had never before occurred of visiting the Highlands, 

 making themselves acquainted with its romantic 

 scenery, now so familiar to tourists, with its natural 

 history and its resources from the point of view of 

 a sportsman. It is a curious fact, and may seem 

 incredible to many who observe the 'craze' for 

 shooting which is found among the youth of the 

 present day, that at the beginning of this century it 

 was not always thought ' good form ' for an owner of 



G 



