|
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 chase, 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 22, 18—.—Started
this morning at daybreak with Donald and Malcolm Mohr, as he is called (Anglicè,
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 deer-stalker 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 Man-ton, 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 fore-finger, 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 hill-side 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 immovable, with his
ears erect, and one fore-foot 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 Donald, who held him,
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 weigh 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
hill-side, 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 distance 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 " doable 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, excepting 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 drawing 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. Everything 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 of 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 dogs 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 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 tumbling the deer over very quickly. He had,
however, not yet got a fair chance at his present chase. Once in the burn,
I knew that neither dog could do much, excepting to bring the stag to bay
I ran as hard as 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 whenever he attempted to move, the
hound nearest the direction towards which he turned sprang 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.
"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; "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 dirt 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 contrary
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 tailing 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, "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 bare-legged, was coming over from the cow-byre with a tin pail of
fresh and frothing milk. "I hope your honour slept weel; I'll 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 colleys 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 chase 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 Rory 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 half-way down 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 chance 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 hiding-place 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 without 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 hill-side; 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 the slope 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 him either to shake them off 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 chase 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 blood 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 chase 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 chase.
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.
 |
