XXII 
THE DEER 
219 
gap which formed the watershed, and the source of 
the burn that we had adopted for our route. We 
were now above the deer, and instead of being in 
our front, they were upon our left. They were still 
lying down, and nothing more was visible. Under 
these circumstances it was necessary to cross the 
ridge and see what might be in view upon the 
other side of the hill. We accordingly drew back, 
and then followed the horse-shoe shape of the ridge, 
until we arrived upon the same slope on which 
the deer were lying. We arrived at a broken 
portion of the ridge, where 1 large rocks were 
scattered over the surface ; ascending to the sky¬ 
line, we had a clear view of the other side, as we 
were now just above the hinds, which were not in 
sight, but about 300 yards upon our left. 
Almost at the same moment, Sandy and myself, 
without uttering a word, knelt slowly down. There 
was a pair of antlers and a portion of a head about 
200 yards below us on our right. The stag was 
lying down in very deep heather. 
The wind was wrong; but as we were high 
above him, we remained unobserved. There were 
no means of stalking that stag, as there was 
absolutely nothing except the heather to cover us. 
I whispered to Sandy to remain where he was, 
while I would endeavour to crawl cautiously through 
the heather. The face of the hill was so steep that 
crawling head-foremost was impossible, and I was 
obliged to wriggle upon my side and back, feet- 
foremost. By degrees I made progress, and I 
