82 
British Deer and their Horns 
hardly begun to scrutinise their respective merits when four of them lying on the flank 
nearest to us rose and commenced feeding in our direction. Grant now urged immediate 
action, fearing that any movement would carry them out of shot ; but while he was talking 
I saw through my glass the antlers of one particular stag that I felt at once must be mine if 
life was any longer to be worth a thought. He was lying in the middle of the herd with 
head and neck only visible above the long grass, and occasionally shaking his head or flick¬ 
ing impatiently at his flanks when the midges became troublesome. And how nobly he 
carried that head of his ! how dignified his attitude even when at rest ! Here was Royalty, 
if you please, a Royalty impossible to overlook even amongst all the fine heads presented by 
other members of the herd. Grant was as enthusiastic as myself, and thought a stalk was 
HIDDEN AWAY BEHIND SOME PEAT HAG, HE PASSES MOST OF THE DAY 
quite possible, for a line of broken ground ran round the ridge on the summit of the corrie 
down to within eighty yards of the herd. Our first manoeuvre then was to advance cautiously 
along the Altahourn side of the crest to a point immediately above the stags, whence we 
could readily descend ; but on arriving there an unforeseen obstacle presented itself in the 
shape of a group of scattered hinds, which had been feeding in a small gully unseen from our 
starting-place. If we took the downward course, these, we saw, would have a full view of 
our movements for the first hundred yards or so, and although the wind was in our favour, 
still we could hardly hope to avoid a disturbance which might put an end at once to our day’s 
sport. However, our minds had to be made up at once, for every moment might take the 
stags farther away from the spot where we had hoped to get our shot. Using, therefore, the 
utmost caution, and taking advantage of every big stone, grassy knoll, etc., we slid down the 
hill, watching at the same time the movement of every hind, and whenever one of them 
raised her head and gazed about her, we lay perfectly still, wishing in our hearts she had 
never seen the light of this world. The first fifty yards afforded us here and there a little 
cover in the shape of loose stones ; then we suddenly plumped into a big spring which formed 
