172 AMID THE HIGH HILLS 
wet through in my efforts to keep flat and out 
of sight. 
The weather continued thoroughly unsatis- 
factory. It was impossible to spy, and for the 
following hour we saw nothing. About the end 
of that time it cleared up a little, and we spied 
about a mile off a large herd of deer, between 
200 and 300, and amongst them what appeared 
to be some very fine stags. We had to make a 
long detour, and then, by walking and crawling 
along the side of a burn, we succeeded in getting 
within what we thought must be a very short 
distance of some of the stags, judging from the 
sound of their roaring. We crawled up the bank 
of the burn, and found ourselves within about 200 
yards of one end of the herd, where there was a 
fine 10-pointer continually on the move, rounding 
up the hinds. Macdougall said he thought we 
could get in much nearer by going back into the 
burn and crawling further up it. This we did, 
and then, after crawling a little way up the side 
of the hill, we got to within 100 yards of the 
10-pointer. Almost immediately after I had got 
the rifle into my hands the stag, which had been 
perpetually on the move, stood for a moment 
broadside on, giving me a splendid chance. I 
