H2 DEER-STALKING 



inaccessible, and rarely trod by any but the most 

 enterprising deer-stalker. Such solitudes, abounding 

 in high deep corries where the sweet * natural grasses ' 

 (as they are called somewhat inconsequently by 

 shepherds) are found, were frequented by stags some- 

 times singly, more often in pairs or three together who 

 seemed to prefer their own society to that of the herd. 

 These were mostly old deer, and of course among 

 them were some of the best, as well as some of the 

 very worst heads in the district. These cunning old 

 fellows frequented the same favourite hills year 

 after year, until killed by someone possessing the 

 nominal though rarely exercised right of shooting 

 over them, and who hearing of a ' terrible big stag ' 

 in such and such a corrie, determined to brave 

 the discomforts of sleeping in a shepherd's hut they 

 were huts in those days and to become the envied 

 owner of such a grand trophy. Those who have 

 successfully pursued this branch of the science of 

 deer-stalking among the highest and wildest of hills, 

 with the odds far more in favour of the deer than is 

 the case in a forest, will agree with me that its 

 pleasures are unequalled by any other form of sport. 



But the difficulty first of finding a single stag 

 in such a vast tract of country, and then of getting 

 within shot of him, when large numbers of sheep 



