232 
WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WA YS 
CHAP. 
Grace the late Duke of Athole, and he was good 
enough to consent to a trial. The arguments had 
interested the ladies of the party, and it was 
arranged that I might select any two of the deer¬ 
hounds, and hunt down a fresh stag, run it to bay, 
and kill it with a knife. To myself the affair 
appeared exceedingly simple, as I had been ac¬ 
customed to this kind of hunting for many years 
on the mountains of Ceylon, but others disbelieved 
that the two hounds would bring a fresh deer to 
bay, as they had always been accustomed to follow 
animals that were wounded. 
By the advice of the head forester, Sandy 
Macarra (MacCarra), I chose my old friend Oscar, 
and another hound, whose name I have forgotten. 
We were a large party, and we met at Forest 
Lodge, about io miles from the Castle, in the 
middle of Glen Tilt. There are few glens in the 
Highlands more picturesque. The road from Blair 
Castle passes through lovely woods bordering the 
impetuous stream ; this rushes wildly through con¬ 
tracted passes, hemmed in by opposing rocks ; 
sometimes it is girt by stony cliffs half concealed 
by lichens; other portions of the face combine 
every shade of colouring in vivid tints. The 
mountain ash, with clusters of scarlet berries, over¬ 
hangs the rocks in rich profusion of both fruit and 
foliage, until at length the open glen is reached, 
beyond the limit of the woods. 
This is a well-known resort of tourists, and 
nothing can exceed the wild beauty of the scene, 
