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Coursing Deer.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Coursing Deer.
Though I am by no means of opinion that running red-deer
with the rough deer hound is so exciting or so satisfactory a sport
as stalking the noble animal, and attacking him in his fastnesses
with the aid only of a rifle, I have sometimes seen runs with the
deer-hounds which fully answered all my expectations. It much
oftener happens, however, that after the first start nothing more
is seen of dogs or deer until they are found at bay in some rocky
burn or stream, the whole run having taken place out of sight of
the sportsman. Moreover, the dogs run a great risk of being
disabled and injured either by the stag or by the sharp and rugged
rocks and stones over which they take their headlong course.
The deer-hound is so noble and handsome an animal, that, independently of his actual and marketable value, he is invariably a
pet and favourite of his master, so that any accident which
happens to him is the more regretted. With good management
the experienced stalker can generally secure his dogs from running at young deer or hinds unfit to be killed. Indeed, many
deer-hounds have a wonderful instinct in singling out the biggest
head of horns in a herd of deer, and in sticking to this one, regardless of the rest of the herd. It will often happen, however,
that the dogs set off after some hind or young stag, who leads
both them and you away a long chace, unsatisfactory both in its
commencement and termination, disturbing the ground and taking
up twice as much time as would be required to kill the fine old
ten-antlered stag, whose head you covet for your lobby, and
whose haunches you wish to send to your English friend, to
show him what size a mountain-fed stag will grow to. A large
heavy hart is also much sooner blown and brought to bay than a
younger and lighter deer.
The breed of deer-hounds, which had nearly become extinct,
or at any rate was very rare a few years ago, has now become
comparatively plentiful in all the Highland districts, owing to
the increased extent of the preserved forests and the trouble
taken by different proprietors and renters of mountain shootings,
who have collected and bred this noble race of dogs, regardless
of expense and difficulties. The prices given for a well-bred
and tried dog of this kind are so large, that it repays the cost and
trouble of rearing him. Fifty guineas is not an unusual price
for a first-rate dog, while from twenty to thirty are frequently
given for a tolerable one.
My object, however, in commencing this Chapter was not to
enter into a disquisition concerning greyhounds, but to describe
some of their performances, which have fallen under my own
observation, and which I noted down at the time.
September 22nd, 18-.-Started this morning at daybreak
with Donald and Malcolm Mohr, as he is called (Anglice, Malcolm the Great, or big Malcolm), who had brought his two
deer-hounds, Bran and Oscar, to show me how they could kill a
stag. Malcolm himself is as fine a looking " lad" (of thirty-five
years old, however) as ever stepped on the heather ; a head and
shoulders taller than Donald, who, for this reason, and I believe
for no other, affects to treat his capabilities as a deerstalker with
considerable contempt, always ending any description of a sporting feat of Malcolm's with the qualification, " 'Twas no that bad
for so long-legged a chiel as you."
The dogs were perfect. Bran, an immense but beautifully
made dog, of a light colour, with black eyes and muzzle ; his
ears of a dark brown, soft and silky as a lady's hand, the rest of
his coat being wiry and harsh, though not exactly rough and
shaggy like his comrade Oscar, who was long-haired and of a
darker brindle colour, with sharp long muzzle, but the same soft
ears as Bran, which, by-the-by, is a distinctive mark of high
( breeding in these dogs. Malcolm Mohr and I took no guns
with us ; but Donald, as usual, had his old " dooble barrel," as
he calls it, an ancient flint-and-steel affair ; the barrels by Manton, and therefore excellent when you could get them off, which
the stock and locks, apparently the workmanship of a Highland
carpenter and blacksmith, generally prevented me from doing,
the triggers being inaccessible to any ordinary forefinger, and
the stock about half the length of any other gun-stock that ever
came in my way. Donald, however, was in the habit of relating
great feats which he had performed amongst red-deer with this
gun, and he always coddled it up with great care from wet or
damp, either when laid up in ordinary at home or when carried
by himself over mountain and glen. On the present occasion he
had a very snuffy and dirty-looking cotton handkerchief tied over
the muzzle, and a footless stocking knotted over the locks, to
keep out the morning mists.
Our path for some time was along the course of the river,
where the great yellow trout were plainly to be seen in the perfectly clear water, waiting for the insects as they fell off the
weeping branches of the birch-trees which overhung the still
pools, as if admiring their own elegance in the water, where
every leaf was as plainly reflected as it would have been in the
costliest mirror; and as we made our way up the hillside the
autumnal air felt fine, fresh, and exhilarating.
On coming out of the scattered wood which clothed the glen
on each side of the stream, we saw a fine roebuck feeding in a
grassy spot a few hundred yards out of the wood. I and Donald
also were much tempted to run the dogs at him, as he was so far
from cover ; but as Malcolm voted against it, I yielded, though
Donald was obliged to take sundry pinches of snuff before he
quietly acquiesced in my determination to leave the buck unmolested. As we edged off from him in order that the dogs might
not see him and be tempted by his starting off to break away from
us, the buck lifted his head, and Bran's quick eye immediately
caught sight of him ; and the dog stood immoveable, with his
ears erect, and one forefoot raised from the ground. The sensible creature, however, instead of straining at his leash, looked
up inquiringly at his master, asking him plainly, " Am I to
chase that beauty?" Oscar, who was trotting quietly behind
D0nald5 who held him, but seeing that Bran had game in view by
his manner of gazing, and following the direction of his eyes, also
saw the buck. Not being so well broken as Bran, he no sooner
saw the buck than he sprang forward, pulling the old keeper
down on the flat of his back. Luckily, Donald had the strap
twisted round his arm, or the dog would have escaped after the
deer. As it was, Donald managed to hold him, and having got
up, rubbed his back, and vented his ill-humour in numberless
Gaelic imprecations against the dog for upsetting him, and
against Malcolm, " the muckle fule," as he called him, for
laughing at his mishap, he got under way again. In the meantime the roe had disappeared down some hollow of the ground,
and we proceeded on our way.
After leaving the woods, we traversed a long range of broken
ground, where we had but small chance of seeing the deer,
though their tracks were tolerably fresh here and there; our
object was to find the animals in certain places more adapted for
the running of the dogs than the ground we were then passing.
We therefore did not examine two favourite but rugged and steep
corries, where deer were generally found.
Our forbearance was rewarded, for on coming to a point overlooking a long and wide stretch of hillside, through the centre
of which ran a winding but not very rapid burn, we immediately
distinguished nine deer still feeding, though the morning was
somewhat advanced ; they were scattered about a green spot at
the head of the burn, and feeding on the coarse grass and rushes
which grew about the springs and marsh that fed the main stream.
They could not have been better placed, and after a short consultation-which, however, lasted longer than it need have done,
owing to Donald's determined and customary opposition to every
proposal made by his tall rival-we turned back behind the
shoulder of the hill, in order to get into a hollow of the ground
which would enable us to reach the course of the burn : for, this
done, our task was comparatively easy.
As the water, owing to the dry weather, was but shallow, and
the little wind which there was, was blowing right down the
stream, by keeping its course we hoped to reach the deer unobserved. Before starting, I took a good look at them through
my glass, and saw that the herd consisted wholly of hinds, except
one tolerably handsome stag. The dogs instinctively perceived
that we had found game, and changed their careless and slouching trot for an eager and quick walk ; every now and then they
looked with pricked-up ears, and an inquiring glance at Malcolm's face, as if to ask him where the deer were, and how soon
they would be seen.
Malcolm proposed to me that Donald should get up to a
height of the hill, from whence he. could see for a long distarce
on the other side, in case the deer crossed the top, and went to
bay in any of the burns that were within his view, and after a
slight demur, rather at the proposer than at the proposal, Donald
started off, with his " dooble barrel " still carefully swaddled up
under his arm.
Malcolm and I proceeded carefully, though with great ease,
till we got into the burn ; I led Oscar, while Bran was under his
guidance-we waded and scrambled with no great difficulty, exeepting that now and then Oscar was a little annoyed at not being
close to his master, as both dogs seemed perfectly aware of what
was going on, and in momentary expectation of seeing the deer.
Never was ground more favourable: till we were within four
hundred yards of the deer, we had scarcely occasion to stoop our
heads. Having come at length to rather a difficult pass, Malcolm asked me to look up carefully, that we might know exactly
where the deer were, while he held the dogs. Raising my head
gradually, I looked through a tuft of rushes, and saw first the
horns of the stag, and then the heads of five of the hinds ; they
had lain down in the long heather, near the spot they had been
feeding on. But where were the remainder of the herd ? I
looked for two or three minutes in vain, keeping my head perfectly motionless. Presently, however, the rest of the deer appeared from amongst some broken ground, a hundred yards
higher up the hill than the others. Having looked anxiously
round them, they all dropped quietly down to rest, with the exception of one lanky-looking hind, who stood motionless on a
small hillock, with her eyes and ears turned with great attention
in the direction of Donald's place of ambuscade : she evidently
had some kind of suspicion of danger from that quarter, though
she had not yet quite made up her mind as to the reality of it.
I lowered myself as gradually as possible, and looked back at
Malcolm. He was kneeling on one knee with a dog held in
each hand, the dogs themselves were a perfect picture, as they
stood, with the most intense expression of anxiety, watching my
movements, and snuffing the air in the direction in which I had
been looking; the wind was too light, however, for them as yet
to scent the deer. As they stood motionless, and scarcely draw
ing their breath, I could plainly see their hearts beating with
anxiety and eagerness ; I explained the position of the deer to
Malcolm, and we immediately agreed that no time was to be lost,
lest they should take alarm at Donald, whose whereabouts the
hind seemed strongly to suspect.
We had a difficult task in advancing the next fifty yards with
the dogs. The sensible animals, however, crouched when we
did, and were wonderfully little in the way considering the
nature of the ground which we had to pass. The old hind's ears
were visible, but no more of her, as we crept along ; she appeared
to be still intently watching in the same direction as before.
Having crawled over a small height, we got into a hollow place,
and then proceeded to put the dogs' collars and straps in a state
to enable us to slip them at a moment's warning. Both Bran
and Oscar stood motionless, and almost seemed to turn their
necks in order to assist us in the operation.
We then advanced with great care and silence, on our hands
and knees, for a couple of hundred yards along a cut in the
ground that took us away from the burn. Every thing had
favoured us, the deer's attention had been taken off by Donald,
and the ground had been the easiest I ever stalked a deer in.
We were now within about a hundred yards of them, and could
get no nearer unobserved ; so patting the dogs, and whispering a
word of encouragement to them, we led them in front of us, and
rising up in full view of the deer, pointed towards them. We
had no need, however, to show their game to the noble hounds,
for the deer starting up as soon as they saw us, were at once
caught sight cf by both Bran and Oscar. Away went the deer,
those which were the farthest off waited for their comrades to
join them, and then all took the hill in a compact body, and the
dops with an impatient whine darted off the instant they were
released from their collars.
The deer ran in a sloping direction up the hill, apparently
not exerting themselves very much, but in reality getting over
the ground at a very quick pace ; the two dogs ran neck and
neck, not exactly straight at the deer, but almost parallel, sloping a little, however, towards them, and gaining slowly, but still
perceptibly, on their game. This lasted for half a mile or so,
when the dogs had gained so much, that they were within forty
yards of the deer. Nearer and nearer they approached, the hinds
running in a close body, the stag now and then lagging behind
a few yards, and then, with a great effort joining them again,
his greater weight and fat beginning to tell on his wind. Malcolm danced and shouted with eagerness: for my own part I
went along at a quiet trot, in order not to lose sight of the run
in case they turned up the hill and got over the height.
Presently the dogs seemed to be in the midst of the deer; and
the next moment we saw the stag coming straight down the hill
with tremendous strides, and the dogs ten yards behind him-
Bran rather the first; his thinner coat telling in his favour. As
for the hinds, they dispersed for a moment, then collected again,
and went off up the hill; being intent on the stag, I saw nothing
more of them ; they probably did not halt till they had crossed the
the hill and the river too.
Down came the stag at a pace and with bounds that seemed
likely to smash his legs every moment. Luckily for the dogs the
ground was (as it had been all along) most favourable. I lost
view of all three as they got into the course of a burn, which
joined the one we had come up. The dogs were then at his
haunches, but unable to get hold. Bran's point of attack was
always at the shoulder, or foreleg, while Oscar had a habit of
biting at the hind-leg above the hock, frequently cutting through
the flesh and tendons in a most extraordinary manner, and tum
bling the deer over very quickly. He had, however, not yet got
a fair chance at his present chace. Once in the burn, I knew
that neither dog could do much, excepting to bring the stag to
bay. I ran as hard I could towards them, and soon saw the
deer rattling down the stream, with stones and water flying about
him in all directions. The dogs were still keeping up as well as
they could in the narrow and rough path the stag had chosen,
and sometimes springing at him, but unable to get a hold.
Malcolm and myself were in great dread that they would be injured or killed. When within fifty yards of us, both dogs were
thrown down, after making an ineffectual attempt at holding the
deer, who broke away, and, getting a little ahead of his pursuers,
came to bay under a rock in a pool of the burn which reached to
his knees. The dogs had recovered themselves almost immediately, and, crouching in the water, bayed furiously at the stag,
who, with his back to the rock, presented only his armed front to
them. Knowing their business well, from having gained experience in many hard-fought battles, they did not risk their lives
by rushing at his horns, but contented themselves by keeping
him there, while they now and then looked round at Malcolm, as
if to ask for his assistance. " Down, good dogs, down," he said,
when, seeing us approach, they seemed inclined to rush in.
The deer now and then appeared anxious to break off, but
Avhenever he attempted to move, the hound nearest the direction
towards which he turned sprung in front of him, baying and
preventing his leaving the spot.
Not seeing Donald and his gun, we consulted together as to
what was to be done, and at last Malcolm determined, by cautiously attacking the deer from above with his stick, to make him
turn from the dogs, and give them a chance of fixing on him
without risk from his horns ; if they succeeded, I was to run in,
and act as circumstances permitted, and, if possible, to help the
dogs by stabbing the deer in the throat. As soon as Malcolm
had commenced his part of the business, by going round the
deer, I called off the dogs in order that they should not be
trampled down by the first rush of the poor beast. They came
quite willingly, evidently placing entire confidence in our manner
of attack. Malcolm got just above the stag, and then flinging
his heavy stick at his legs, and shouting loudly, frightened him
so that he rushed out of the pool, passing close to me.
u Now, then, good dogs, at him ; and the next moment the
stag was tumbled over, with both hounds fixed on him-Bran at
his shoulder and Oscar at his throat. I easily managed my part
of the affair, and put an end to the poor animal's pain with my
hunting-knife. " Well done, Sir, well done," said Malcolm ;
u that was quickly finished."-" Deed, ay," said Donald, who
just then came up, panting like a walruss. " No that bad either ;"
this being the utmost praise that he ever bestowed on any one.
The hounds, as soon as they saw that the stag was quite dead,
left him, and, lying quietly down, began to lick the bruises and
cuts they had received in the run ; luckily there were none of
any consequence. Every now and then one of the dogs would
get up, and, going up to the deer, examine him all over, as if to
satisfy himself that there was no life remaining. We examined
the dogs' limbs to see that there was no serious strain or cut, and
then, after rubbing the flirt and blood off their skins, set to work
to open the deer, and dispose of the body, ready to be carried off
the next day. This done we sat down, talked over the run, and
consulted as to our proceedings for the rest of the day ; and as it
was still early, we agreed to try some more ground, in the con
trary direction to that in which the hinds had gone, and, if kept
out late, to sleep at a shepherd's house some distance up in the
hills.
We searched many a corrie and glen in vain, till towards evening, Donald, who had been examining the rushy ground that
fringed the sides of a considerable mountain stream, in hopes of
seeing some deer at feed, suddenly shut up the telescope, and as
he deliberately wiped the glasses, and placed it in its case, said,
without looking up, " I'm seeing a fine stag down yonder, Sir."
Then having taken a long pinch of snuff, added, " He is just
the beast that the shepherd up there was telling me of last
Sabbath "-Sunday being the day on which Donald invariably
heard all the hill news.
The evening was coming on, so having no time to lose, and a
considerable retrograde movement to make before we could approach the stag with any hope of success, off we set at once, and
we had a quick and difficult march of it for nearly half an hour
before we got into the burn, up the course of which we proposed
to keep, as it led straight to the deer. The banks, however, were
not so high as those of the former stream, and the water ran over
loose round stones, which made our task much more difficult.
We were within five hundred yards, and had got over the worst
of our ground, when, on looking up, we saw the deer trotting
deliberately but steadily up the hill away from us, evidently
having been moved by some suspicion of danger, though we were
positive he had not seen or scented us. " See to that; the brute
is clean gone," said Donald ; and, indeed, clean gone he was for
that evening, as just then we lost sight of his antlers as he got
over the crest of the hill. On taking the glass, and examining
the whole country round, I soon saw the object of his alarm in
the person of the very shepherd whose house we were making
for. The man was passing at some distance on his way homewards, quite unconscious of our presence or the mischief he had
done, as he trudged along towards us with his plaid over his
shoulder, and his two colley dogs trotting slowly at his heels.
" Oh, but we'll give him a bonny fleg for spoiling our sport the
night," said Malcolm. Accordingly Donald and he concealed
themselves in the burn, one above and the other below the point
at which the shepherd appeared likely to cross it, while I remained hid in a hollow of the moss, a quiet spectator of their
attack on the poor fellow's nerves.
The shepherd had just put his foot in the burn, when Malcolm
shouted at the top of his voice, " Willie Young, Willie Young,"
this being the man's name. He stopped short, and with a frightened look at seeing no one, was going on his way again, when
Donald took up the chorus, u Willie Young, Willie Young."
" Wha 's you?" said the shepherd, turning towards Donald.
" Willie Young, Willie Young," then shouted Malcolm, and at
his voice the unhappy proprietor of the name wheeled round as
on a pivot. I could not refrain from joining in the persecution,
and Willie Young was kept for ten minutes, turning from side to
side, on hearing his name called by his unseen tormentors, till he
got so terribly frightened that I thought it as well to show myself,
or I firmly believe the man would have gone mad. I never saw
a poor fellow more relieved in my life than he was on seeing that
his persecutors were mere flesh and blood like himself, and not
spirits of the air or flood as he had imagined. Having laughed
at him for his fright, and appeased his somewhat reasonable
anger, we found out from him that this stag was constantly about
the same place, and had got so accustomed to seeing the shepherd
pass to and fro, that he invariably returned to the same glen within
a few hours.
It was getting late, so we postponed attacking him till the next
morning. The shepherd also told us that although the stag had
not particularly fine antlers, that he was one of the heaviest and
largest deer that had been in that part of the country for some
years. He knew him by his large track, and also by his colour,
which was peculiarly light. We accompanied Willie Young
home to his domicile ; and having taken our frugal supper of
porridge and milk, followed, however, by some whisky-and-water of no mean flavour and strength, which Mr. Young
informed us in confidence had been made by some " lads down
the glen yonder," we retired to our sleeping-places. For my
own part, I took up my quarters in the building dignified by the
name of barn, where, rolled in my plaid, and burrowed in the
straw, I slept free from the ten thousand nightly visitants called
fleas, which would have eaten me up in Willie Young's house,
where, on a former occasion, I had discovered that they rivalled
the celebrated plague of Egypt in number and power of tormenting. My two attendants, Donald and Malcolm, slept somewhere
near me, as I heard them talking till a very late hour, probably
consulting about their plans of attack for the next day.
Before the sun was above the heathery brae which was to the
east of us, I looked out and saw the opposite mountain tops
already lighted up, and illuminated in the most beautiful and
fanciful manner-the glare catching the projecting peaks and
angles, and throwing the other parts of the rocks and heights into
the deepest shade. Donald was sitting on a stone, rubbing his
eyes and his gunlocks alternately with his ancient " pocket napkin," as he called it. Malcolm and the shepherd were leaning
against the corner of the house chattering Gaelic, while the rather
pretty wife of the latter, bare-headed and barelegged, was coming over from the cow-byre with a tin pail of fresh and frothing
milk. " I hope your honour slept weel; I '11 be taking your
breakfast ben the house directly," said pretty Mrs. Young. The
two hounds were yawning and stretching themselves in front of
the door, and received me with a joyful though rough welcome,
Bran putting his front paws on my shoulders, and Oscar almost
knocking me down by running and rubbing against my legs. The
shepherd's two colley-dogs were standing down at the burn side
with their tails between their legs, barking and howling at their
unusual four-legged visitors, who occasionally looked, first at the
eolleys and then at me, as much as to say, " Shall we punish their
impertinence, or not ? " One word of encouragement would
have sent the two hounds full chace after the yelping curs.
Breakfast done, we started to look for the stag. The shepherd
went with us, anxious to see the sport, and we were glad of his
assistance in finding the deer, as he was so well acquainted with
the animal's haunts. On our way he told us that he had no
doubt we should at once find him, but that the dogs would have
hard work to kill him, as he was an old cunning fellow, and was
supposed to be the same stag who had killed the greyhound of
Rory beg, the fox-hunter, last year, in a corrie at some distance
off. The dog having got after the deer (as Eory said, by
accident /), and being close alongside of him, was killed dead on
the spot by a single blow of his antler ; the stag having struck
him without stopping, simply turning his head and striking him
as he ran alongside. We examined the glen where we had seen
the deer, but without success ; no mark of him was to be seen.
The shepherd, however, told us to wait till about nine o'clock ;
it was nearly that hour now, and he would probably be seen
coming in to lie down for the day, on the slope of the hill above
the burn. We accordingly lay down quietly in a concealed
place, and, as he had predicted, we presently saw the magnificent
fellow appear on the top of the hill, where he halted for full ten minutes, looking carefully over the glen in order to see that it was
free from any enemy. The morning sun shining on his bright
hide, made him look of even a lighter and brighter colour than
he really was. His horns, though not exactly of first-rate size,
loomed large and wide, as seen in clear relief between us and the
sky. After standing some time, looking like the solitary spirit
of the mountain, he seemed to have made up his mind that all
was right and safe, and he walked slowly and deliberately halfway clown the hill, and after stopping again to reconnoitre for a
short time, he dropped at once down into the heather. I watched
him for a few minutes through the glass, as he lay motionless,
excepting that now and then he turned his horn down to scratch
a fly off his side, or shook his ears when the gnats were particularly troublesome about his head.
We saw that he had taken up too wary and commanding a
position to admit of our approaching him with the dogs; so
after some consultation, and, as usual, much opposition from
Donald, we adopted my plan of driving him, taking the chanoe
of his leaving the glen at his usual pass, where Malcolm and I
were to hold the dogs. The shepherd was to move him ; and
Donald was to be placed with his gun in a burn over the hill, to
which we judged he would probably run, and go to bay, when
pressed by the hounds. Donald, having loaded his gun with an
immense charge of slugs in one barrel and a ball in the other,
started off. The shepherd took a long circuit to get below the
deer, while Malcolm and I took up our post in a capital hidingplace near the line by which the game had entered the glen.
There was not a breath of wind blowing from any direction,
everything was as calm as it could possibly be, so that although
we had no fear of being scented by the stag, we had to take the
extremest care not to make the least noise in going to our place
of ambuscade. 'We held the dogs in our handkerchiefs as the
quickest way of slipping them. The stag was easily seen with
out much risk of his observing us, as we looked through a crevice
in the rocks.
After waiting an anxious half hour or more, we saw the deer
suddenly spring up, and, after standing at gaze for a moment,
trot up the hill, but not exactly in our direction. He came to a
flat spot, and then halted again, and looked earnestly down into
the glen. The shepherd was now in full view, and the deer
having looked at him fixedly for a minute, seemed to recognise
an old and harmless acquaintance; and then turning, trotted
deliberately, at no great pace, straight towards us. We heard
every step he took as he trotted up the hard hillside ; now and
then he crossed a sloping piece of loose gravel which rattled as
his hard hoofs struck the stones, and at one time he had to
pick his way through a wet splashy piece of marsh, which he
did deliberately and slowly, occasionally looking round at the
shepherd below him. At this time we could not move or lift
our heads for fear of being seen, but had to wait till the deer had
passed the rocks amongst which we were concealed, that we
might let slip the hounds at a distance of about thirty or forty
yards. The deer was now close to us, not more than ten yards
off, but we did not want to let the dogs go for fear of turning
him back again into the valley from which he had come, where
the ground was not nearly so favourable for the dogs as thes^pe
on the other side of us. We heard him tramp past us as he
trotted slowly along on the other side of the rocks behind which
we were concealed. The next moment he had cleared the rocky
ground, and was in full view about thirty yards from us, on a
wide expanse of good heather-ground. The dogs saw him too,
and getting to our feet, we slipped them.
With one affrighted glance behind him, away went the stag,
at first along the top of the slope, as if anxious to keep above
the dogs ; but finding himself hard pressed, he turned his head
down the hill, and the race began. Down they went, the dogs
close on the stag. Now and then they tried to spring on him,
but his strength and quickness always enabled hirn either to
shake them oif or to elude them ; indeed after running for some
distance he seemed rather to gain on the dogs than to lose ground.
Finding this, they seemed more intent upon trying to tire him
out than to seize him, and galloped along, keeping somewhat
above him, as if to drive him into the burn, where he would
come to bay. The stag tried again to ascend the slope, but
could not manage it; his wind began to fail, and he turned
straight down, gaining a little on the dogs. Crossing some
rather wet ground they were again up to him, and he only
escaped being pulled down by his great strength, which enabled
him to shake off the hounds more than once. It was clear that
his object was now to gain the burn. All three were evidently
beginning to fail, as the chace had already lasted some time.
Malcolm and I had now reached the burn also, having made
for it in a straight line as soon as the dogs were slipped, As
luck would have it, deer and hounds all passed us down the
stream, the dogs panting, and the deer with his tongue hanging
out and blowing like a porpoise. He soon came to bay, and the
dogs were glad to get a rest, and lying down in the water, opposite his head, they alternately bayed at him, and rolled in the
stream to cool themselves. We came up, and the deer immediately broke his bay, and rushing over the dogs, trampled
them under foot, and striking Oscar a sharp blow (which luckily
only grazed him) with his antler, took down the stream again.
We looked round for Donald, and presently saw him crouched
on a rock immediately above the stream, and about two hundred
yards below us. The dogs recovered quickly, and were again
close on the stag. He stopped two or three times for a few
moments, turning fiercely on the hounds, and at last came to bay
in a determined style, under the very rock where Donald was
concealed. The next moment we saw the deer stagger and fall
in the water, and immediately heard the report of Donald's gun.
Before the stag could recover, both hounds were on him, worrying at his throat like bulldogs, and after one or two efforts to
rise, the poor animal's head sank into the pool, which was soon
red with the Vlood that bubbled up from his mouth and nostrils.
Donald had shot him just behind the heart with his single ball,
which had cut the large blood-vessels.
" Puir brute, puir brute, it 's just a sorrow to see him," said
Malcolm : and, now that the excitement of the chace was over,
I also would have given much to have been able to bring the
gallant animal to life again. We got him out of the water, and ;
were soon joined by Willie Young, who sighed more than once,
and took a vast pinch of snuff out of Donald's box, half sorry to
see his old acquaintance, the white stag, as he called him, lying
dead and bloody on the heather.
As Oscar had got a rather awkward, though not very deep
cut, and Bran seemed rather the worse for his bruises, I left
Donald and the shepherd to attend to the removal of the deer,
and walked straight for home with Malcolm and the two dogs,
who had both of them done their duty so well.
Of the different runs which I have seen with deer, these two
were certainly the best, both as regards our having the game
almost constantly in view, and as to our being well up at the
conclusion of each chace.
I certainly have not had much experience in running with
greyhounds; but those who have, speak with raptures of
this way of killing them. For my own part, I prefer my rifle,
with a good dog. A high bred, English, smooth greyhound,
sometimes kills red-deer well and cleverly, having the advantage in wind and speed over the rough dogs, and also possessing
the most dashing courage when in pursuit of game. They want
weight, however, to enable them to pull down so large an animal as a stag ; though I have seen a small greyhound tumble
over a deer, and kill it very quickly, by catching the animal
under the shoulder, when in full speed, which at once upset him,
and then flying at the throat, he soon finished the business.
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