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THE DEER 
225 
should be taken to shoot low, as near the brisket 
as possible, to attain the shoulder. I made a 
mistake when shooting quickly from an uncomfort¬ 
able position, and did not make a sufficient 
allowance for the downhill shot. 
Reminiscences of the Highlands would make a 
volume, and I cannot afford space for any lengthened 
descriptions of the red-deer of Scotland, which are 
well known to so many who have had, perhaps, 
greater experience than myself; but the great 
numbers of deer, and the facilities for acquiring a 
knowledge of their habits, offer a more than 
ordinary advantage, and yield information that 
would be difficult to obtain elsewhere. 
Although I do not class deer-driving with the 
far nobler and more exciting sport of stalking, the 
driving is most instructive in affording a knowledge 
of the habits of the animal. The deer will always 
travel against the wind, which affords notice of an 
enemy. 
Certain winds will be in favour of particular 
drives, and it would be absurd to attempt a drive 
unless the wind were favourable. 
There was no forest where deer-driving was 
better organised than at Athole, in the last Duke’s 
lifetime. Through his great kindness I had much 
practical experience for some years upon those well- 
remembered hills. If the wind was fair, the valley 
of Glen Tilt was the favourite position for the rifles. 
The so-called “ boxes ” were shallow pits built up 
with rocks and sods of turf to resemble natural 
VOL. 11 
Q 
