194 
WILD NORWAY. 
up and down a steep shale-slope that covered the base 
of higher crags; and spying them with the glass at 
four hundred yards, I made out three very good bucks 
(one in velvet), besides one enormous old bull carrying 
a grand head (see p. 6), and another heavy beast, pure 
white all over , but with inferior horn. 
Once, during those two hours, we had all but “ cut 
them out.” While the deer crossed a broad ridge, by a 
short cut and hardish running, we commanded the 
whole herd at little more than two hundred yards as 
they crowded through a narrow rock-pass. The forest of 
horns, all jammed together, was a fine sight—we could 
hear antler rattle on antler, and even the curious 
“clacking” of the hoofs. This was a golden opportu¬ 
nity for the meat-hunter, with his 1000-yard repeater. 
But no separate shot was possible : and the big bull 
was covered quite three-deep. 
It was now two o’clock. The deer had ceased to “ feed 
at a run,” and for half-an-hour, preparatory to their 
siesta, grazed leisurely on shale. I state this as I was 
watching them keenly with a powerful glass, and after¬ 
wards satisfied myself that there was not a vestige of 
vegetable-growth on that pile of dark detritus. 
At 2.30 several deer laid down on a grassy shelf 
above the shale, but below the higher crags above. 
The big bull, with his snow-white friend always in close 
attendance—the two were always lethargic and last— 
mounched slowly about the shale for some time longer, 
and then, moving our way, lay down among some 
nearer rocks. 
We crept forward with extreme care till we lay 
within three hundred yards of the two. I saw clearly 
