DEERSTALKING. 
219 
at regular intervals, and a perceptible chill crept over 
the face of nature. In this way only were we warned 
that night was approaching, or had for a short interval 
interrupted the seemingly life-long day. 
To-day, a group of fine reindeer were seen nibbling 
on a level plain near to the mountains, and the 
prospect of fresh meat for dinner stimulated the sports¬ 
men to the utmost. Our last joint of meat had gone 
through the various phases of cooking, known only to 
thrifty housewives at home. Judiciously carved, the 
second day it was warmed up again ; and on subsequent 
occasions it appeared as a stew, as a grill, and finally the 
bones, in true sailor fashion, appeared in a “ makeshift;" 
but with a good appetite for sauce, and a glass of sound 
champagne, it furnished a meal not to be despised. 
Meat, in these high latitudes, appears to suffer less 
from exposure to air than at home. All this time the 
deer are browsing on such scant herbage as they can 
pick up, and we prepare to stalk them after the High¬ 
land custom. Creeping into a water-worn chasm, which 
has all the appearance of having been scoured out by 
the drainage from the distant hills, we endeavour to get 
within shot; but the wily deer seem to regard the water- 
worn gully with aversion. Finding the scheme hope¬ 
less we return, to concert measures for some more cer¬ 
tain means of getting within reach. Yesterday we 
