THE DEER TRIBE 247 
Tue Rep Derr. 
Mr. J. G. Millais, author of “ British Deer and their Horns” and other works, himself a 
first-rate sportsman in many parts of the world, compares the style of shooting red deer in 
vogue forty or fifty years ago with that obtaining in the Highlands at the present day. “A 
stalker in Black Mount, Argyllshire,” he says, “told me of a typical day’s sport in which he 
took part some forty years ago. Fox Maule and Sir Edwin Landseer were the two rifles (they 
frequently stalked in pairs at that time), and, on the side of Clashven, Peter Robertson, the 
head forester, brought them within eighty yards of two exceptionally fine stags Maule fired and 
missed, as did also Sir Edwin as the stags moved away; then, on a signal from Robertson, 
Peter McColl, the gillie, slipped the hounds — 
the two best ever owned by the late Marquis of 
Breadalbane, and whose portraits are still pre- 
served in the famous picture of ‘ The Deer 
Drive ’— and away they went in hot pursuit 
of the deer. An end-on chase now ensued, 
the line taken being due east down the great 
glen towards Loch Dochart, and at last the 
stalkers were brought to a standstill, being 
fairly exhausted both in wind and limb. At 
this moment, however, four dark spots, like 
small rocks, standing out at the point of a 
little promontory in the lake, attracted their 
attention, and, on drawing nearer, they saw, to 
their surprise, each of the big stags being 
held at bay by a gallant hound. A couple of 
shots then settled the business, and so ended 
what was then considered a grand day’s sport. 
No doubt it was most exciting to see the 
struggle of bone and sinew between two such 
noble quadrupeds, but it was not rifle-shooting. 
To-day the gallant but disturbing deer-hound 
has given place to the cunning and obedient 
collie, and the success of the stalker depends, 
for the most part, on the accuracy of his rifle 
and his skill in using it.” 
Here are a couple of sketches of modern 
“Phote by HW’. P. Dando} 
AN ASIATIC WAPITI stalking taken from Mr. Millais’ own diary: —- 
All the races of the wapiti are casily recognisable by the large fourth - Wednesday ’ October 4th. — Started for 
tine of the antlers and the short tail the big corrie with McColl, and saw nothing 
. till we got to the Eagle Hill. On this were 
three stags and about twenty hinds, the property of a magnificent fellow carrying one of the 
best heads I have ever seen on Black Mount. For some time McColl thought he was just 
a bit too good to shoot, for the very best in this forest are generally left for stock purposes. 
Finding, however, that he was not Royal [a twelve-pointer], my companion agreed to a shot — 
that is, if he got within shooting distance, which was not too likely, the Eagle Hill being 
one of those queer places where back eddies are carried down from almost every ‘airt’ from 
which the wind is blowing. Luck is apparently entirely my way this week, so far at any rate. 
The big stag was very ‘kittle,’ frequently roaring and keeping his hinds moving before him 
along the hillside, in the direction of another corrie running at right angles, the entrance to 
which, if reached, would checkmate us. A quick, stiff climb, and a dashing piece of stalking 
on the part of McColl, brought us in front of the herd only just in time, for I had hardly got 
