144 DEER-STALKING 



described above would be adopted if the west end of 

 this beat marched with a neighbouring forest. Why, 

 therefore, should such a course be followed even when 

 there is little chance of the owner of the forest losing 

 the deer altogether ? 



The proper way of proceeding in the case I have 

 imagined is to begin with the west corrie. You, of 

 course, clear that and send any deer which may be 

 on it off the ground, but they won't disturb you for 

 the rest of the day. If you have luck and get a stag, 

 then it may be proper to get hold of the ridge and 

 make for the farthest or east corrie, leaving the 

 middle of your beat untouched. In that case the 

 deer disturbed in the east end may move on to the 

 ground where no one has been, or at worst go as far 

 as the corrie where you got the stag in the morning ; 

 and in this way the beat will not be left absolutely 

 empty of deer. To the objection that the course 

 suggested would involve a lot of walking, my answer 

 is that it would seem to be so on paper , but it is not 

 so in reality. There are, of course, exceptions, but 

 as a rule walking on a ridge such as is here imagined 

 is not only easy, but the distances from the top of one 

 corrie to the top of another are often surprisingly 

 short. They spread out like a fan, the handle repre- 

 senting the top of the corrie, which unlike the fan is 



