90 RECREATIONS OF A NATURALIST 



Our thoughts on leaving home were of deer, 

 but as yet no chance had offered for a stalk. We 

 had seen a few hinds and small stags, but none 

 worth attention, and it looked as if the rifle was to 

 be carried home without a shot being fired. We 

 had decided to go right over the hill and return 

 home by another route, and cautiously commenced 

 the descent. This was necessary for two reasons. 

 First, in order not to disturb any deer that might 

 be lying below us, and, secondly, because the great 

 round boulders over which we had to pass were 

 extremely slippery with their caps of snow. It was 

 well we paused to reconnoitre, for about a hundred 

 yards below us on the far side of a huge boulder 

 lay a stag. Only the tops of his antlers were 

 visible from our position, and we judged him to be 

 a stag of ten. He could not see us from where he 

 lay, and the wind was right. Here, then, late in 

 the afternoon, was the chance for which we had 

 been looking all day. Cautiously the downhill 

 stalk was commenced, and for a short distance all 

 went well. Suddenly, to our dismay, we found 

 ourselves in a cul-de-sac. Huge boulders rose in 

 front and on both sides of us. It was impossible 

 to advance another yard, and there was nothing for 

 it but to retrace our steps, make a slight detour to 

 the left, and again advance. The danger was that 

 this ddtour might just clear the rock behind which 

 the stag was lying, and that he would then see us. 

 Whether this is what happened, whether he 

 winded us, or heard the occasional clatter of the 

 big loose stones over which we had to crawl cannot 



