THE RED DEER 
is the kind of sport few men care to indulge in, for the discomforts were 
many, and the feeling of remorse in shooting several fine animals which 
were lost at the critical moment, caused fearful regrets. The most 
remarkable grey seal, perhaps the largest ever seen in the British 
Islands, and which I reckoned to be nearly eleven feet long, was lost 
owing to the stupidity and cowardice of a drunken boatman who 
smashed it on the head as it lay dying on the open sea, instead of hooking 
it with the seal -gaff. It was an awful moment, and one that always 
haunts me. 
A typical week’s sport in the Hebrides was once given to me by my good 
friend, George Henderson, who in 1897 rented the forest and lands of 
South Harris, and as it affords some idea of the kind of sport that may be 
obtained there, I shall endeavour to narrate it. 
It being somewhat dangerous to enter the harbour at Rodel, our little 
steamer faced about and ran us into the harbour of Tarbert, from whence 
we had a rough drive of twenty-five miles in pouring rain and a gale of wind 
over the Harris hills to Rodel Lodge, situated at the southern extremity 
of the island. The next day it was reported that the sea -trout and salmon 
were running, so we all fished, and I got one salmon 6| lb. and twelve 
nice sea -trout weighing 9 lb. Returning at 4 p.m. I got a trap and drove 
seven miles to Borve, where the stalker’s house is situated, and there spent 
the night. 
About 9 a.m. McLeay, the stalker, and I ascended the hill, and almost 
at once spied a good eleven -pointer, of course well known to the stalker 
as was every other shootable stag in the forest. We had only a short circuit 
to gain the wind and come in from above him, and it was not long before 
we were crouched behind a large rock within eighty yards of the stag, who 
was unconsciously feeding below us. 
It so happened that this was the first day on which I ever used my dear 
old Mannlicher rifle, a trusty friend that gave me yeoman service for 
twenty -five years afterwards and, until the invention of the recent cordite 
rifle, perhaps the best weapon in the world for all-round sport. With it had 
come two different types of bullet, one solid and the other rachet-split. As 
the latter seemed to be the most suitable to use on deer I inserted a clip of 
these into the magazine and essayed my first shot. I was lying on a couch 
of moss and perfectly still when the rifle went off, yet the stag only started 
slowly and ran a few yards and stood again looking about. I fired again, 
and distinctly saw two flecks of dirt fly up in different places below the stag, 
97 
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