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CHAPTER XXXVI. 



DEER-DRIVING IN THE PINE FORESTS. 



My First Stag. 



By a rush-girt glade in the heart of the finales, or 

 pine-region, stands the lonely shooting-lodge of La Maris- 

 milla. The sombre forests which surround it are a chief 

 stronghold of the Spanish red deer, which find shelter in 

 the abundant underwood and rich pasturage in the grassy 

 dells. The wild pig prefers the more isolated thickets which 

 lie towards the outskirts of the forest. 



The system generally adopted for shooting the forest- 

 deer is " driving." The sylvan geography of these great 

 areas of pines, devoid to a stranger of landmark, point, or 

 path, is intimately known to the foresters, who mentally 

 map out the whole into sections for the purpose of the batida, 

 or drive. The exact boundaries of each section vary, of 

 course, from day to day in accordance with the wind ; for 

 the red deer is gifted with a fine sense of smell, and in- 

 stantly detects the human presence when " betwixt the 

 wind and his nobility." Perhaps the readiest means of 

 conveying an idea of this sport of forest-driving will be to 

 relate the vicissitudes that befell the writer before succeed- 

 ing in bagging his first stag. 



My first puesto, or post, was in the face of a sand-ridge 

 clad with tall pines, and there were, I think, three guns on 

 my right, four on the left. All these, even my nearest neigh- 

 bours (200 yards away), were of course invisible amidst the 

 broken ground and masses of brushwood which intervened ; 

 and their positions were only approximately indicated by 



