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SPORT. 
 
* ..* 
 
 SPORT. 
 
 By W. BROMLEY-DAVENPORT, 
 
 Late M.P. for North Warwickshire. 
 
 FOX-HUNTING. 
 SALMON-FISHING, 
 
 COVERT-SHOOTING. 
 DEER-STALKING. 
 
 With Twenty-one Full-Page and Twenty-four smaller Illustrations by 
 Lieut. -General HENRY HOPE CREALOCKE, C.B. 
 
 From " THE TIMES." 
 
 "We have read the late Mr. Bromley-Davenport's book on ' Sport ' with mingled pleasure and 
 regret. We are sorry to think that we shall have nothing more from a man who might certainly have 
 made himself a reputation as a writer. A better ' all-round ' sportsman never lived, and a brighter 
 volume has seldom been written on sporting subjects. Everywhere we recognise genuine literary 
 talent a light touch ; vividly picturesque descriptions the gift cf describing everyday incidents 
 dramatically, with a humorous insight into the natures both of men and beasts. There is a racy 
 freshness in every page, and the practical knowledge brought to the work is unimpeachable. If 
 Mr. Davenport ever loses the temper which never failed him in the mcst trying circumstances in 
 the field or on the river, it is when he is exposing the absurdities of the Cockney scribes who 
 denounce sports of which they are ludicrously igmrant ; or when his wrath is stirred by politicians 
 legislating to set classes by the ears. For himself, he was a country gentleman of the best type, 
 
 the poetry, t' ? pathos, or the humour of wild animal life. Thus nothing can be more inspiriting 
 than the noble group of Highland stags on the frontispiece, voluptu'usly sniffing the fresh breeze 
 on their native hills, with far-gazing eyes and distended nostrils. Nothing can be more pathetic 
 than the magnificently-antlered reindeer stag, towards the end of the volume, limping painfully 
 over the snowfield in the wake of his companions, as he carries away the deadly bullet in his 
 vitals. There is a similar contrast between the strong, swift, smocth-furred fox going away at a 
 gallop, on the title-page, to the tally-ho, and the same animal, jaded and breathless, dragging his 
 irn'd-bespattered brush in the 'shadow of death.' But General Crealocke's hounds hares, 
 pheasants, &c , are all equally good ; and perhaps the m st spirited and original of all are his 
 salmon, seen through the transparent medium of their native element." 
 
 THE ORIGINAL EDITION CAN ALSO BE HAD, 
 
 In a handsome Crown 4to Volume, 2is. 
 
SPORT 
 
 FOX-HUNTING 
 SALMON-FISHING 
 
 CO VER T-S HOOTING 
 DEER-STALKING 
 
 BY 
 
 W. BROMLEY-DAVENPORT 
 
 " Late M. P. for North Warwickshire 
 
 ILLUSTRATED EV 
 
 LT.-GENERAL HENRY HOPE CREALOCKE, C.B., C.M.G, 
 
 NEW EDITION. 
 
 LONDON: CHAPMAN AND HALL, LIMITED 
 
 1886 
 
RICHARIJ CLAY AND SONS, 
 
 BREAD STREET HILL, LONDON, E.G. 
 
 And at Bungay, SnJJolk, 
 
PREFACE TO NEW EDITION. 
 
 THE success which has followed the publication of 
 the two first editions of " Sport " encourages the 
 hope that a new and less costly edition will be even 
 more widely read and appreciated. The book may 
 be regarded as a defence and justification of the 
 amusements of an English country gentleman, an 
 exposition of the ignorance and misstatements of 
 many who have treated the same subject without 
 knowledge or experience, and a condemnation of 
 some few who have written with the direct intention 
 of throwing discredit upon those "Sports" in which 
 the English people have always excelled, and which 
 are still in some degree open to all who care to 
 enjoy them. If the Author has succeeded in proving 
 that these "Sports" are each in its different way 
 deservedly popular not necessarily cruel nor in any 
 want of legislative interference the main object 
 with which he wrote has been attained. 
 
 DECEMBER 14, 1885. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 IN publishing the following descriptions of the 
 various forms of " Sport" some apology or ex 
 planation may be necessary for the last of the series 
 " Deer-stalking"- the concluding sentences of which 
 were written only a few days before the author's 
 sudden death. It has, therefore, not had the 
 advantage of his personal revision and correction, and 
 may be, to some extent, deficient in the finished style 
 and neatness of expression which were characteristics 
 of his writings. My grateful thanks are due to 
 General Crealocke for his kindness in undertaking 
 the illustration of the book a work which he 
 began out of regard for an old friend, and which 
 he has completed as a tribute to. his memory. 
 
 AUGUSTA BROMLEY DAVENPORT. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 TAGE 
 
 FOX-IIUNTING 
 
 SALMON-FISHING 57 
 
 COVERT-SHOOTING I0 5 
 
 DEER-STALKING 
 
 BRYCE'S BILL . l6r 
 
 CHAPTER I. THE REAL l6 5 
 
 CHAPTER II. THE ARTIFICIAL 201 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 ILLUSTRATED TITLE Frontispiece-. 
 
 "TALLY IIoI" Vignette (Title-page] 
 
 FoX-lIUNTING \\[ 
 
 A GOOD Fox 4 
 
 FORWARD ! FORWARD AWAY ! 5 
 
 A F.TjRNiNG SCENT 7 
 
 TAKIM; TIM: OXER IN His STRIDE 9 
 
 RIDGE AND FURROW AND UP HILL 13 
 
 " He puts his horse at it in a steady hand canter " 17 
 
 GOING AT THE BROOK 21 
 
 COME TO GRIEF 24 
 
 FLYING THE BROOK 25 
 
 THE SHADOW OF DEATH 28 
 
 A FINAL CRASH OF "HOUND CLAMOUR" 30 
 
 WORRY ! WORRY ! WORRY ! 3 2 
 
 SALMON-FISHING 55 
 
 A NORWEGIAN HOUSE 6o 
 
 HEAD OF A SALMON 66 
 
 HE COMES AT ME, AND MISSES THE FLY 72 
 
 " My line taut and my rod bent to a delicious curve " 73 
 
 SULKING * 7 6 
 
 " With rod high held and panting lungs, I blunder along the stony and 
 
 uneven bank" .,..,/'- Si 
 
xiv LIST OF ILLUSTRA TIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 TOWING THE VANQUISHED HULL INTO PORT 88 
 
 OLE'S FINISHING STROKE 90 
 
 " The rod springs straight again, and the fly dangles useless in the air " . . 97 
 
 COVERT-SHOOTING 103 
 
 A ROCKETER 136 
 
 ROCKETERS 138 
 
 AN ACTIVE PEDESTRIAN 140 
 
 CAUTION 141 
 
 CONFIDENCE . 142 
 
 CONFIDENCE MISPLACED ' 142 
 
 " TEARING THEM DOWN " 143 
 
 A FEATHERED LUMP 145 
 
 RETRIEVED 146 
 
 DEER-STALKING 159 
 
 HE IS VERY, VERY SfCK . , 184 
 
 "HAN FALDER" 194 
 
 THE MEET UP THE GLEN 214 
 
 CLUBFOOT is FOUND 222 
 
 DONALD RECONNOITRES 229 
 
 A DWARF FOREST OF HORNS APPEARS 231 
 
 AN OLD STALKER WAITING FOR His DINNER WHILE DONALD 
 
 PERFORMS THE LAST RITES ON CLUBFOOT 239 
 
 ARCHIE PULLS DOWN THE ROYAL 241 
 
SPORT. 
 
 FOX-HUNTING. 
 
 PERHAPS no greater anomaly no more palpable 
 anachronism exists than fox-hunting in England. Yet 
 it has been called, and is, the " national sport." Why ? 
 Population increases ; the island is filling up fast. 
 The limited area unoccupied by human dwellings, 
 machineries, and locomotive facilities of all kinds is 
 still, in spite of bad seasons, as a rule fertile enough 
 to supply some considerable proportion of the 
 increasing wants of the nation. Every acre worth 
 cultivating, let waste land reclaimers say what they 
 will, is cultivated ; and impoverished landlords and 
 tenants alike are less than ever able to bear the losses 
 inflicted by broken fences, unhinged gates, and over- 
 
 B 
 
2 SPORT. 
 
 ridden wheat, which are the result of the inroads of 
 constantly increasing multitudes of ignorant riders 
 unable to distinguish seeds from squitch or turnips 
 from tares, and which have already caused the masters 
 of several packs of hounds to discontinue the public 
 advertisement of their meets. Why, then, is fox- 
 hunting, which is generally regarded as the rich 
 man's or country squire's (by no means synonymous 
 terms) amusement, still the popular sport of the 
 nation ? 
 
 The reason is to be found, first, in the manly pre- 
 dilection inherent to our Anglo-Saxon nature for a sport 
 into which the element of danger conspicuously enters ; 
 and, secondly, in that it is essentially a democratic 
 sport, wherein the favourite socialistic ideal, " The 
 greatest happiness for the greatest number," is in 
 some sort realised. The red coat and not it alone, 
 but the top-boot, or any outward and visible sign of a 
 fox-hunter covers a multitude of sins. The law of 
 trespass is abolished for the day. The lands of the 
 most exclusive aristocrat are open to the public, 
 
FOX-HUNTING. 3 
 
 whether mounted or pedestrian ; and the latter 
 have for some years past shown a keenness for and 
 appreciation of the sport which, though it sometimes 
 does not conduce to its advancement or consummation, 
 is not only remarkable, but also a healthy sign of its 
 continuance in the future. 
 
 But the fact is that fox-hunting from the cream 
 of the cream of sportsmen described by " Nimrod," 
 to the humbler class immortalised by " Jorrocks " 
 spreads a vast amount of pleasure, satisfaction with 
 self, and goodwill towards others over a wide surface 
 of humanity. All classes enjoy it. The "good man 
 across country," proud of his skill prouder still of 
 his reputation, and anxious, sometimes too anxious, to 
 retain it perhaps derives the keenest enjoyment of 
 all, so long as all goes well ; but this important proviso 
 shows that his position is not so secure, as regards 
 happiness, as that of his humbler, less ambitious, or 
 less proficient brethren. A slight accident, a bad 
 start, a sudden turn of the hounds especially if in 
 favour of some distinguished rival on the other flank 
 
 13 2 
 
4 SPORT. 
 
 will send him home with a bitterness of soul 
 unknown to and incapable of realisation by those 
 whose hopes are centred on a lesser pinnacle of fame 
 or bliss, with whom to be absolutely first is not a sine 
 qua 11011 for the enjoyment of a run. 
 
 A GOOD FOX. 
 
 But supposing all does go well. There is a burning 
 scent, " a good fox," a good country ; he is on a 
 good horse, and has got a good start ; then for the 
 next twenty or thirty minutes (Elysium on earth 
 can scarcely ever last longer) he absorbs as much 
 

 , 
 
 ..'. 
 
 7 
 ' 
 
 i \ * i 
 
 
FOX-HUNTING. 7 
 
 happiness into his mental and physical organisation 
 as human nature is capable of containing at one time. 
 Such a man, so launched on his career, is difficult to 
 catch, impossible to lead, and not very safe to follow ; 
 but I will try to do the latter for a page or two on 
 
 A BURNING SCENT. 
 
 paper. He is riding on the left or right of the 
 hounds (say the left for present purposes), about 
 parallel with their centre, or a little in rear of them, 
 if they run evenly and do not tail, and about fifty 
 yards wide of them. The fields are chiefly grass, 
 and of good size. The hounds are " racing," heads 
 
8 SPORT. 
 
 up and sterns down, with very little cry or music- 
 indicative of a scent rarely bequeathed by modern 
 foxes. The fences are, as a rule, strong, but not high 
 the " stake and bound" of the grazing countries; 
 but ever and anon a low but strong rail on the 
 nearer, or the glimmer of a post on the further 
 side, makes our friend communicate silently and mys- 
 teriously with his horse a fine-shouldered, strong- 
 quartered animal, almost, if not quite, thoroughbred 
 as he approaches the obstacle, on the necessity of 
 extra care or increased exertion. It is, as the rider 
 knows, an "oxer," i.e. a strongly-laid fence, a wide 
 ditch, and at an interval of about three or four feet 
 from the former a strong single oak rail secured 
 between stout oak posts. Better for him if the ditch 
 is on the nearer and this rail on the further side, 
 as, if his horse jumps short, his descending impetus 
 will probably break it, provided it is not very 
 strong and new, in which case a calamity will 
 probably occur ; but a collision with such a rail on 
 the nearer side may lead to risky complications of 
 
, 
 
 :.\ 
 
FOX-HUNTING. n 
 
 horse and rider in the wide ditch and fence above 
 alluded to 
 
 Our friend, however, has an electric or telephonic 
 system of intercourse with his horse (no whip or spur, 
 mind you) which secures him from such disasters, and 
 he sails onwards smoothly his gallant horse taking 
 the fences in his stride and now, the crowd being 
 long ago disposed of, and his course truly laid for two 
 or three fields ahead, he has leisure to inspect his 
 company. Right and left of him (no true sportsman 
 ever looks back) are some half-a-dozen good men and 
 true going their own line ; those on the right perhaps 
 two hundred yards wide of him, as none but a tailor 
 will ride the line of the hounds, and they on their side 
 allow the same lateral space or interval that he does 
 on his. Those on his left are nearer to him, and so 
 far have done their devoir gallantly in the front with 
 himself; but this cannot last. His is the post of 
 advantage as well as of honour, and a slight turn to 
 the right occurring simultaneously with the apparition 
 of a strong " bullfinch," or grown-up unpleached thorn 
 
12 SPORT. 
 
 fence, black as Erebus, with only one weak place 
 possible to bore through, which is luckily just in his 
 line, turns these left hand competitors into humble 
 followers, for at the pace hounds are going they 
 cannot regain their parallel positions. As time 
 goes on, similar accidents occur to the riders on 
 the right, and these, with a fall or two and a refusal, 
 reduce the front line to two men only, our friend 
 on the left and one rival on the right. A ploughed 
 field, followed by a grass one, ridge-and-furrow 
 and uphill, makes our friend take a pull at his 
 horse, for the ridges are " against " or across him ; 
 they are high and old-fashioned, and covered with 
 molehills, while the furrows are very deep and 
 "sticky," causing even our skilled friend to roll 
 about rather like a ship at sea, and less practised 
 riders to broach-to altogether. As he labours 
 across this trying ground, " hugging the wind," so 
 to speak, as closely as he can, keeping the sails 
 of his equine craft just full and no more with a 
 tight hold of his head, his anxious eye earnestly 
 

FOX-HUNTING. 15 
 
 scans the sky line, where looms out an obstacle, 
 the most formidable yet encountered a strong 
 staken-bound fence leaning towards him, which he 
 instinctively knows to be garnished on the other 
 side with a very wide ditch, whether or not further 
 provided with an ox-rail beyond that, he cannot 
 tell. What he sees is enough considering the 
 ground he has just traversed, and that he must go 
 at the fence uphill to make him wish himself safe 
 over. However, with a sense of relief, he sees a 
 gleam of daylight in it, which he at first half hopes 
 is a gap, but which turns out to be a good stiff bit 
 of timber nailed between two ash trees. It is 
 strong and high, but lower than the fence ; the 
 " take off" is good, and there is apparently no 
 width of ditch beyond. So, thanking his stars or 
 favourite saint that " timber " is his horse's special 
 accomplishment, he " goes for it." It don't improve 
 on acquaintance. Now is the time for hands. 
 Often oh, how often ! have hands saved the 
 head or the neck ! and fortunately his are faultless. 
 
16 SPORT. 
 
 Without hurry, just restraining his impatience (he 
 has the eagerness of youth), yet leaving him much 
 to himself, he puts his horse at it in a steady hand 
 canter, dropping his hand at the instant the sensible 
 beast takes off to an inch in the right place, and 
 he is safe over without even a rap. 
 
 A glorious sea of grass is now before him, 
 
 Quocunque adspicias, nihil est nisi gramen et aer ! 
 
 A smooth and gradual slope with comparatively 
 small fences leads down to the conventional line of 
 willows which foreshadows the inevitable brook, 
 without which neither in fact nor story can a good 
 run with hounds occur. Now it is that our hero 
 shows himself a consummate master of his art. 
 The ploughed and ridge-and-furrow fields, above 
 alluded to, followed by the extra exertion of the 
 timber jump at the top of the hill, have rather 
 taken the " puff" out of his gallant young horse, 
 and besides, from the same causes the hounds by 
 this time have eot rather the better of him. In 
 
.U/**A^ 
 
 JIM ,Y 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 1^ 
 
FOX-HUNTING. 19 
 
 short, they are a good field ahead of him, and going 
 as fast as ever. This would the eager and excitable 
 novice ay, not only he, but some who ought to 
 know better think the right time to recover the 
 lost ground, and " put the steam on " down the hill. 
 O fool ! Does the engine-driver " put the steam on " 
 at the top of Shap Fell ? He shuts it off saves it : 
 the incline does the work for him without it. Our 
 friend does the same ; pulls his horse together, and 
 for some distance goes no faster than the natural 
 stride of his horse takes him down the hill. Conse- 
 quently the lungs, with nothing to do, refill with air 
 and the horse is himself again ; whereas, if he had 
 been hurried just at that moment, he would have 
 " gone to pieces " in two fields. Half a mile or so 
 further on, having by increase of pace and careful 
 observation of the leading hounds, resulting in 
 judicious nicks, recovered his position on the flank 
 of the pack, he finds himself approaching the brook. 
 He may know it to be a big place, or be ignorant 
 of its proportions ; but, in either case, his tactics 
 
 C 2 
 
20 SPORT. 
 
 are the same. He picks out a spot where no broken 
 banks appear, and the grass is visible on the other 
 side, and where, if any, there may be a stunted bush 
 or two on his side of it ; there he knows the bank 
 is sound, for there is nothing more depressing than 
 what may happen, though mounted on the best water 
 jumper in your stable, to find yourself and him, 
 through the breaking down of a treacherous under- 
 mined bank in the very act of jumping the brook 
 subsiding quietly into the water. The bush at least 
 secures him from such a fate. About one hundred 
 yards from the place he " steadies " his horse almost 
 to a hand canter till within half a dozen strides of 
 the brook, when he sits down in his saddle, and lets 
 him go at it full speed. The gallant beast knows 
 what this means, and also by cocking his ears, 
 snatching at the bridle, and snorting impatiently, 
 shows his master that he is aware of what is before 
 him. Through the combination of his own accurate 
 judgment and his master's fine handling, he takes 
 off exactly at the right distance, describes an 
 

 
 
 It 
 
 pa ^ 
 
 1 1 
 
 o " 
 O .2 
 
 ' 
 
 \ 
 
 
 M 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 ' 
 
 / 
 
FOX-HUNTING. 23 
 
 entrancing parabola in the air, communicating to his 
 rider as near an approach to the sensation of flying 
 as mortal man can experience, and lands with a foot 
 to spare on the other side of the most dreaded 
 and historically disastrous impediment in the whole 
 country a good eighteen feet of open water. 
 
 And now, perhaps, our friend realises the full 
 measure of his condensed happiness, not unmixed 
 with selfishness ; as perhaps he would own, while he 
 gallops along the flat meadow, not forgetting to pat 
 his horse, especially as he hears a faint " swish " from 
 the water, already one hundred yards in his rear ; 
 the result, as he knows, of the total immersion of 
 his nearest follower, which, as he also knows, will 
 probably bar the way to many more, for a " brook 
 with a man in it " is a frightful example, an ob- 
 jectionable and fear-inspiring spectacle to men and 
 horses alike, and there is not a bridge for miles. 
 As for proffering assistance, I fear it never enters 
 his head. He don't know who it is, and mortal 
 and imminent peril on the part of a dear friend 
 
SPORT. 
 
 would alone induce him to forego the advantage of 
 his present position, and he knows there are plenty 
 behind too glad of the opportunity, as occasionally 
 with soldiers in a battle, of retiring from the fray 
 
 COME TO GRI-EF. 
 
 in aid of a disabled comrade. So he sails on in 
 glory, the hounds running, if anything, straighter 
 and faster than ever. That very morning, per- 
 chance, he was full of care, worried by letters from 
 lawyers and stewards, duns, announcements of farms 
 
n ' ^<r"--f 
 
 
 
 ^$$1 
 
 i p 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 
FOX-HUNTING. 27 
 
 thrown upon his hands; and, if an M.P., of a 
 certain contest at the coming election. Where are 
 all these now ? Ask of the winds ! They are 
 vanished. His whole system is steeped in delight; 
 there is not space in it for the absorption of an- 
 other sensation. Talk of opium ? of hashish ? they 
 cannot supply such voluptuous enhancement as a 
 run like this ! 
 
 " Taking stock " again of his company, he is 
 rather glad to see (for he is not an utterly selfish 
 fellow) that the man on the right has also got 
 safely over the big brook, and is going well ; but 
 there is absolutely no one else in sight. It is clear 
 that unless a "check" of some duration occurs, 
 or the scent should die away, or the fox should 
 deviate from his hitherto straight course, these two 
 cannot be overtaken, or even approached. No such 
 calamity for in this case it would be a calamity 
 takes place ; and the hounds, now evincing that 
 peculiar savage eagerness which denotes the vin- 
 dictive mood known as " running for blood," hold 
 
28 
 
 SPORT. 
 
 on their way across a splendid grass country for 
 some two miles further with undiminished speed. 
 Then an excited rustic is seen waving his hat as 
 he runs to open a gate for our friend on the left 
 
 THE SHADOW OF DEATH. 
 
 exclaiming, as the latter gallops through with 
 hurried but sincere thanks, " He's close afore 'em : 
 they'll have him soon ! " And sure enough, a field 
 or two further the sight of a dark brown object 
 slowly toiling up a long pasture-field by the side 
 
v 
 
 II 
 
 c 
 
 rt 
 
 /"W- ' f ' 
 
 * 
 
 , ' ', 
 ', i 
 
 ;\ x 
 
FOX-HUNTING. 31 
 
 of a high straggling thorn fence causes our now 
 beaming rider to rise in his stirrups and shout, for 
 the information and encouragement of his companion 
 on the right, " Yonder he goes ! " The hounds, 
 though apparently too intent on their work to 
 notice this ejaculation, seem nevertheless to some- 
 what appreciate its import, for their leaders appear 
 to press forward with a panting, bloodshot im- 
 patience ominous of the end. Yet a few more fields, 
 and over the crown of the hill the dark brown 
 object is to be seen in slow rolling progression close 
 before them. And now " from scent to view," with 
 a final crash of hound-clamour followed by dead 
 silence, as fox and hounds together involve them- 
 selves in a confused entangled ball or heap in the 
 middle of a splendid pasture only two fields from 
 the wood which had been the fox's point from the 
 first ; and many a violated henroost and widowed 
 gander is avenged ! 
 
 Our friend is off his horse in an instant, and leaving 
 him with outstretched legs and quivering tail (no fear 
 
32 SPORT. 
 
 of his running away he had been jumping the last 
 few fences rather " short"), is soon occupied in laying 
 about the hounds' backs with his whip gently and 
 judiciously (it don't do for a stranger to be too 
 
 energetic or disciplinarian on these rare occasions), 
 and with the help of his friend, who arrives only an 
 instant later, and acts with similar promptitude and 
 judgment, succeeds in clearing a small ring round the 
 dead fox. " Whoohoop ! " they both shout alternately, 
 
FOX-HUNTING. 33 
 
 but rather breathlessly, as Ravager and Ruthless 
 make occasional recaptures of the fox, requiring 
 strong coercive measures before they yield posses- 
 sion. " Who has a knife ? " They can hardly hear 
 themselves speak ; and a fumbling in the pocket, 
 rather than the voice, conveys the inquiry. Our 
 friend has ; and placing his foot on the fox's neck 
 contrives to cut off the brush pretty artistically. 
 He hands it to his companion, and wisely deciding 
 to make no post-mortem surgical efforts on the head, 
 holds the stiff corpse aloft for one moment only 
 the hounds are bounding and snapping, and the 
 situation is getting serious and hurls it with a 
 final " Whoohoop ! " and " Tear him ! " which latter 
 exhortation is instantly and literally followed, among 
 the now absolutely uncontrollable canine mob. And 
 now both, rather happy to find themselves unbitten, 
 form themselves on the spot, and deservedly, into a 
 small Mutual Admiration Society, for they are the 
 sole survivors out of perhaps three hundred people, 
 and ecstatically compare notes on this long-to-be- 
 
 D 
 
34 SPORT. 
 
 remembered run. Meanwhile the huntsman first, and 
 the rest of the field by degrees and at long- intervals, 
 come straggling up from remote bridges and roads. 
 It has not been a run favourable to the " point rider," 
 who sometimes arrives at the " point " before the 
 fox himself, for it has been quite straight, measuring 
 on the map six miles from point to point, and the 
 time, from the " holloa away " to the kill, exactly 
 thirty minutes. 
 
 And here, leaving our two friends to receive the 
 congratulations (not all of them quite sincere) of an 
 admiring and envious field, and to apologise to the 
 huntsman for the hurried obsequies of the fox, whereby 
 his brush and head the latter still contended foi 
 by some of the more insatiable hounds, and a half- 
 gnawed pad or two are by this time the only 
 evidence of his past existence, I will leave the record 
 of deeds of high renown, and, having shown the 
 extreme of delight attainable by the first-class men 
 or senior wranglers of fox-hunting, proceed to de- 
 monstrate how happiness likewise attends those 
 
FOX-HUNTING. 35 
 
 who don't go in for honours who are only too 
 happy with a " pass," and what endless sources 
 of joy the hunting-field supplies to all classes of 
 riders. In short, to paraphrase a line of Pope, to 
 
 See some strange comfort every sort supply. 
 
 From the very first I will go to the very last ; 
 and among these, strange to say, the very hardest 
 riding often occurs. When I have found myself, as 
 I often have and as may happen through com- 
 binations of circumstances to the best of us among 
 the very last in a gallop, I have observed a touching 
 spectacle. Men, miles in the rear, seeing nothing 
 of the hounds, caring nothing for the hounds, riding 
 possibly in an exactly opposite direction to the hounds, 
 yet with firm determination in their faces, racing at 
 the fences, crossing each other, jostling and cramming 
 in gateways and gaps. These men, I say, are enjoy- 
 ing themselves after their manner, as thoroughly as 
 the front rank. These men neither give nor take 
 
 D 2 
 
36 SPORT. 
 
 quarter, but ride over and are ridden over with equal 
 complacency, without a hound in sight or apparent 
 cause for their violent exertions and daring enterprises. 
 For though the post of honour may be in front, the 
 post of danger is in the meUe of the rear. Honour 
 to the brave, then, here as in the front. Here, as 
 in the front, there is perfect equality. Here, also, as 
 everywhere in the field, there are the self-assertion, 
 independence, communistic contempt for private 
 property, and complete freedom of action, which 
 constitute the main charm of the sport. No questions 
 of precedence here; every man is free to ride where 
 he likes. The chimney sweep can go before the 
 duke, and very often does so. Here, as in the front, 
 precedence at a fence, gap, or gate is settled on the 
 lines of the 
 
 Good old plan, 
 
 That he should take who has the power, 
 And he should keep who can. 
 
 The late Mr. Surtees, whose "Jorrocks," "Sponge," 
 
FOX-HUNTING. 37 
 
 and t Facey Romford " are immortal characters, 
 used to say that the tail of a run, where he himself 
 almost always rode, was the place for sport ; that, in 
 addition to the ludicrous incidents there occurring 
 so frequently for his entertainment, human nature 
 could be studied with the greatest advantage from 
 that position. And indeed he was right, for there 
 is more to study from. And with what varieties. 
 The half hard, the wholly soft, the turbulent, the 
 quiescent, the practical, the geographical and the 
 political or digestion-seeking rider, these men are to 
 be studied from the rear, because few of them are 
 ever seen in front ; and nevertheless they return to 
 their homes justified fully as much in their own 
 opinion as he who has in point of fact, and un- 
 doubtedly, " had the best of it " all through the run. 
 This merciful arrangement or dispensation makes 
 every rider contented and happy in his own way. 
 
 Among these is to be found the " hard " rider who 
 devotes his attention entirely to fences, and never 
 looks at the hounds at all. Consequently, he never 
 
38 SPORT. 
 
 sees a run, but is quite satisfied if he jumps a certain 
 number of large fences, and gets a corresponding 
 average of falls in the day. The late Lord Alvanley 
 seeing one of these gentlemen riding furiously at a 
 fence not in the direction of the hounds, shouted to 
 him " Hi ! hi ! " and when the surprised and somewhat 
 indignant sportsman stopped his horse, and turned to 
 know what was the matter, pointed to another part of 
 the fence and added calmly, " There's a much bigger 
 place here ! " This man, too, thoroughly enjoys him- 
 self, gets plenty of exercise, and at the same time 
 provides good means of livelihood for the local surgeon. 
 Then there is the violent rider, who would be annoyed 
 if he knew that he was generally called the " Squirter," 
 who gallops, but doesn't jump ; though from his 
 severely cut order of clothing, general horsiness of 
 appearance, and energetic behaviour in the saddle, 
 he is apt to impose on those who don't know how 
 quiescent and harmless the first fence will immediately 
 render him. His favourite field of operations is a 
 muddy lane, where he gallops past with squared 
 
FOX-HUNTING. 39 
 
 elbows and defiant aspect, scattering more mud behind 
 him than any one horse and man ever before projected 
 or cast back upon an astonished and angered public. 
 Through the gate, if any, at the end he crams his way, 
 regardless alike of such expressions as " Take care ! " 
 " Where are you coming to ? " an absurd question, 
 decidedly, the object being evident and also very 
 properly disregarding and treating with utter contempt 
 the man (always to be found in a gateway) who says 
 <4 There is no hurry ! " a gratuitous falsehood, as his 
 own conduct sufficiently proves. In the open field 
 beyond he rushes like a whirlwind past any one who 
 may be in front, and, so long as gates or only small 
 gaps are in his line, pursues a triumphant course. 
 But he has no root, and in time of temptation is apt 
 to fall away : that is, the moment a fence of the 
 slightest magnitude presents itself. Then he fades 
 away disappears, and is no more seen ; yet he, like 
 the ephemera, has had his day, though a short one, and 
 returns to his well-earned rest contented and happy. 
 Then there is a character for whom I have always 
 
40 SPORT. 
 
 had a sincere respect and sympathy the "hard 
 funker." Than he no man has a more cruel lot. 
 He is the victim of a reputation. On some occasion 
 his horse ran away with him, or some combination 
 of circumstances occurred, resulting in his " going " 
 brilliantly in a run, or being carried safely over some 
 impossible place which, though he subsequently, like 
 Mr. Winkle in his duel, had presence of mind enough 
 to speak of and treat as nothing out of the way, 
 and to have jumped which was to him an ordinary 
 occurrence, he could not in any unguarded moment 
 contemplate, allude to, or even think of without 
 shuddering. By nature nervous and timid weak- 
 nesses reacted upon as a sort of antidote by a love 
 of notoriety and a secret craving for admiration and 
 applause this heavy calamity had occurred to him, 
 from which he could never shake himself free. 
 
 The burden of an honour 
 Unto which he was not born, 
 
 clung to him wheresoever he went. Greatness was 
 
FOX-HUNTING. 41 
 
 thrust upon him. He must ride ; it was expected 
 from him. Noblesse oblige ! he hates it, but he must 
 do it. It embitters his life, but he dare not sacrifice 
 the reputation. The eyes of Europe are upon him, 
 as he thinks ; and so, though in mortal fear during 
 the most part of every hunting day, he endures it. 
 He suffers, and is strong. Each day requires from 
 him some feat of daring for the edification of the 
 field ; and he does it, usually executing it in sight of 
 the whole field, when hounds are running slowly, 
 charging some big fence, which there is no real 
 necessity for jumping, at full speed, and shutting his 
 eyes as he goes over. The county analyst, if called 
 upon to examine the contents of the various flasks 
 carried by the field, would pronounce this gentleman's 
 sherry or brandy to be less diluted with water than 
 any one else's. Honour to him ! If you feel no fear, 
 what credit to ride boldly ? But if you really " funk," 
 and ride boldly, this is to be brave indeed. 
 
 Then among the more passive class of riders 
 comes the man who goes in entirely for " a sporting 
 
42 SPORT. 
 
 get-up," especially for a faultless boot, which is 
 generally regarded as a sure indication of riding 
 power. The old Sir Richard Button, when asked, 
 during his mastership of the Quorn Hounds, whether 
 So-and-so, recently arrived from the country, could 
 ride, replied : " I don't know I have not seen him 
 go ; but I should think he could, for he hangs a good 
 boot." To arrive, however, at this rarely attained 
 perfection of sporting exterior, I grieve to say that 
 an almost total absence of calf is indispensable ; but 
 with this physical advantage in his favour, if he can 
 otherwise " dress up to it," very little more is re- 
 quired from him. He expends all his energies on 
 his " get-up," and when he is " got-up " he is done 
 and exhausted for the day, and is seldom seen out 
 of a trot or a lane. Then there is the man " who 
 can tell you all about it." He will describe the whole 
 run, with fervent and florid descriptions of this 
 awkward fence, or that wide brook, not positively 
 asserting, but leaving you to infer, that he was in the 
 front rank all the way ; but somehow no one else will 
 
FOX-HUNTING. 43 
 
 have ever seen him in any part of the run. This 
 rider is gifted with a vivid imagination and vast 
 powers of invention, and, as a rule, never leaves the 
 road. Then there is the politician who button-holes 
 you at every possible opportunity on the subject of 
 the Affirmation Bill, extracting from you probably, as 
 your attention is most likely not intent on this matter 
 just then, some " oaths " not required by the statute. 
 Then there is, finally, the honest man who comes out, 
 without disguise or pretence, solely for the benefit 
 of his digestion ; who never intends to jump, and 
 never does jump. 
 
 All these varied classes are happy, and not a few 
 of them go home under the firm impression that 
 they have distinguished themselves ; and some even 
 comfort themselves with the reflection that they have 
 " cut down " certain persons, who are probably quite 
 unaware of this operation having been performed 
 upon them, or may possibly be of opinion that they 
 themselves have performed it on the very individuals 
 who are thus rejoicing in this reversed belief. 
 
44 SPORT. 
 
 With all this there is throughout these varied 
 classes of riders, although occasional bickerings may 
 arise, a general tone of good humour and tolerance 
 rarely to be found in other congregations of mankind. 
 Landlords and tenant farmers whose natural re- 
 lation to each other has recently been described by 
 political agitators (with their usual accuracy) as one 
 of mutual coldness, distrust, and antagonism here 
 meet with smiling countenances and jovial greetings, 
 and the only question of " tenant right " here is the 
 right of the tenant to ride over his landlord, or of 
 the landlord to take a similar liberty with his tenant. 
 Rivals in business, opponents in politics, debtors 
 and creditors all by common consent seem to wipe 
 off old scores, and, for the day at least, to be at peace 
 and charity with their neighbours. 
 
 One man only may perhaps be sometimes excluded 
 from the benefits arising out of this approximation 
 to the millennium, and he, to whom I have not yet 
 alluded, is the most important of all the master. 
 No position, except perhaps a member of Par- 
 
FOX-HUNTING. 45 
 
 liament's, entails so much hard work, accompanied 
 with so little thanks, as that of a master of fox-hounds. 
 A " fierce light," inseparable from his semi-regality, 
 beats on him ; his every act is scrutinised and dis- 
 cussed by eyes and tongues ever ready to mark and 
 proclaim what is done amiss. Very difficult is it 
 for him to do right. There are many people to 
 please, and often what pleases one offends another. 
 Anything going wrong, any small annoyance, arriving 
 too late at the meet, getting a bad start, drawing 
 away from, and not towards, the grumbler's home 
 (and grumblers, like the poor, must always be among 
 us) all these things are apt to be somehow visited 
 on the unhappy master. 
 
 Upon the King ! let us our lives our souls, 
 Our debts, . . . our sins, lay on the King ! 
 
 Then there is the anxiety for his hounds' safety 
 among wild riders and kicking three-year olds. 
 He knows each hound, and has a special affection 
 for some, which makes him in gateways or narrow 
 
46 SPORT. 
 
 passes, as they thread their way among the horses 
 feet, shudder to his inmost core. Sir Richard Button 
 was once overheard, when arriving at the meet, 
 putting the following questions to his second-horse 
 man : " Many people out ? " "A great many, Sir 
 Richard." "Ugh! Is Colonel F. out?" "Yes, 
 Sir Richard." "Ugh, ugh! Is Mr. B. out?" 
 " Yes, Sir Richard." Ugh, ugh, ugh ! Then 
 couple up ' Valiant ' and ' Dauntless/ and send them 
 both home in the brougham ! " 
 
 This same master in my hearing called aside at 
 one of his meets a gentleman, who was supposed 
 by him to be not very particular as to how near he 
 rode to the hounds, and, pointing out one particular 
 hound, said : " Please kindly take notice of that 
 hound. He is the most valuable animal in the 
 pack, and I would not have him ridden over for 
 anything." The gentleman promptly and courteously 
 replied : " I would do anything to oblige you, Sir 
 Richard ; but I have a shocking bad memory for 
 hounds, and Irn afraid he will have to take his 
 
FOX-HUNTING. 47 
 
 chance with the rest!" All these things are agon- 
 ising to a master, and other anxieties perplex him. 
 He knows how much of his sport depends on the 
 good will of the tenant farmers, and he sees with 
 pain rails needlessly broken, crops needlessly ridden 
 over, gates unhinged or left open, perhaps fronting 
 a road along which the liberated cattle or horses 
 may stray for miles, giving their angry proprietors 
 possibly days of trouble to recover them. Second- 
 horsemen too are often careless in this respect. 
 But I must here remark as to the tenant farmers, 
 that, as a rule, their tolerance is beyond all praise, 
 especially when, as unfortunately is the case in 
 many countries, the mischievous trespassers above 
 alluded to have no connection with the county 
 or hunt, do not subscribe to the hounds, or 
 spend a shilling directly or indirectly in the 
 neighbourhood. 
 
 Time was when the oats, the straw, and the hay 
 were bought and consumed by the stranger in the 
 land, who thus brought some advantage to the 
 
43 SPORT. 
 
 farmer, and in other matters to the small trader. 
 But now he arrives by train and so departs 
 leaving broken fences and damaged crops as the 
 only trace of his visit. These are the evils which 
 may lead to the decadence of fox-hunting. But 
 Mr. Oakeley, master of the Atherstone, an especially 
 and deservedly popular man, it is true, had a mag- 
 nificent proof of an opposite conclusion the other 
 day, when over a thousand tenant farmers, on the 
 bare rumour of the hounds being given up, got up, 
 and signed in a few days, a testimonial or memorial 
 to beg him to continue them, and pledging themselves 
 to do all they could to promote the sport in every 
 way. This is the bright side of a " master's " life. 
 
 But not to all is it given to bask in such sunshine. 
 Earnest labour is required to attain this or any other 
 success. And the following rules, I believe, always 
 guided Mr. Oakeley's conduct as a master : 
 
 1. To buy his horses as much as possible from the 
 farmers themselves not from dealers. 
 
 2. To buy his forage in the country. 
 
FOX-HUNTING. 49 
 
 3. To keep stallions for use of farmers at a low fee, 
 and to give prizes for young horses bred in the dis- 
 trict. (In both these objects many are of opinion that 
 the master ought to be helped by the State, as nothing 
 \vould encourage the breeding of horses so much, or 
 at such small cost.) 
 
 4. To give prizes, and create rivalry as to the 
 " walked " puppies, by asking the farmers over to 
 see them when they return to headquarters, and 
 giving them luncheon. 
 
 5. To draw all coverts in their turn, and not to cut 
 up any particular portion unduly because it may be a 
 better country with more favourite coverts. 
 
 Lastly. To get farmers to act for themselves as 
 much as possible in the management of poultry 
 claims, c., which they will then have a pride in 
 keeping low. And above all, ever to recognise and 
 acknowledge that tenant farmers have, to say the least, 
 an equal voice with the landowners as to the general 
 management of the hunting. 
 
 But I have done. I have shown, I hope, that, on 
 
 E 
 
50 SPORT. 
 
 the whole, fox-hunting brings happiness to all the 
 fox, when killed or hard run excepted but I cannot 
 go into the larger question of humanitarian sentiment ; 
 he is often not killed ; and till he is, leads a jovial life, 
 feasting on the best, and thief, villain, and murderer 
 as he is, protected even by the ruthless gamekeeper. 
 In return for this his day of atonement must come. 
 But for the sport, he would not have existed ; and 
 when he dies gallantly in the open, as in the run above 
 depicted, his sufferings are short. I myself like not 
 the last scene of some hunts, when, his limbs having 
 failed him, the poor fox is driven to depend on the 
 resources of his vulpine brain alone. Often have I 
 turned aside, declining to witness the little stratagems 
 of his then piteous cunning ; nay, more, I confess, 
 when I alone have come across the hiding-place of a 
 " beaten fox," and he has, so to speak, confided his 
 secret to me with his upturned and indescribably 
 appealing eye, it has been sacred with me ; I have 
 retired softly, and rejoiced with huge joy when the 
 huntsman at last called away his baffled pack. 
 
FOX-H UN TING. 5 1 
 
 Altogether, I maintain that, with such exceptions, 
 at small cost of animal suffering, great enjoyment is 
 compassed by all. There are miseries of course even 
 out hunting ; there are rainy days, bad scenting days, 
 and inconvenient mounts. The celebrated Jem Mason, 
 a splendid rider and quaint compounder of expressions, 
 used to say that the height of human misery was to be 
 out hunting on a " ewe-necked horse, galloping over a 
 molehilly field, down hill, with bad shoulders, a snaffle 
 bridle, one foot out of the stirrup, and a fly in your 
 eye." But he dealt in figurative extremes. He replied 
 to some one who asked him as to the nature of a big- 
 looking fence in front : " Certain death on this side, 
 my lord, and eternal misery on the other ! " Such 
 sorrows as these are not much to balance against the 
 weight of happiness in the other scale. So I myself in 
 my old age still preserve the follies of my youth, and 
 counsel others to do the same. " Laugh and be fat/ 
 says some modern advertisement. " Hunt and be 
 happy," say I still. But who shall pierce the veil of 
 the future ? As with the individual, so I think it is 
 
 E 2 
 
52 SPORT. 
 
 with nations. They, too, when they grow old should 
 preserve, or at least, not too remorselessly extinguish, 
 their follies. I fear lest in grasping at the shadow of 
 national perfection we only attain the reality of a 
 saturnalia of prigs an apotheosis of claptrap. Legis- 
 lation has performed such queer antics lately that the 
 angels must be beginning to weep. And ugly visions 
 sometimes haunt me of a time coming, which shall be 
 a good time to no man, at least to no Englishman, 
 when an impossible standard of pseudo-philanthropy 
 and humanitarian morality shall be attempted ; when 
 the butcher shall lie down with the lamb, the alderman 
 with the turtle, and the oyster shall not be eaten 
 without anaesthetics ; when nature itself shall be under 
 the eye of the police, and detectives watch the stoat's 
 pursuit of the rabbit and keep guard over spiders' 
 webs ; when all property (and not in land alone, my 
 advanced friend !) save that of Hardware magnates, 
 who have made a monopoly and called it peace, 
 shall be confiscated as an "unearned increment" to 
 the State ; when we have by legislative enactment 
 
FOX-HUNTING. 53 
 
 forbidden the prevention and sanctioned the admission 
 of loathsome diseases, and anti-fox-hunting may be as 
 loud a cry as anti-vaccination ; when there is a Par- 
 liament on College Green ; when the " languishing 
 nobleman " of Dartmoor is free, and repossessed of 
 his broad acres, which, in his case alone, because they 
 so clearly belong to some one else, shall escape con- 
 fiscation ; when, as a final climax to our national 
 madness, we have employed science to dig a hole 
 under the sea, and, by connecting us with the Con- 
 tinent, deprive us of the grand advantage which nature 
 has given us, and which has conferred on us centuries 
 of envied stability, while thrones were rocking and 
 constitutions sinking all around us ; when, having 
 already passed laws not only to prohibit our children 
 being educated with the knowledge and fear of God 
 before their eyes, but even to forbid His very name 
 to be mentioned in our schools, we deliberately and 
 scornfully abandon our ancient religion and admit 
 proclaimed infidelity and public blasphemy to the 
 sanction, recognition, and approval of Parliament ; 
 
54 SPORT. 
 
 then indeed we need not wonder if we lose not only 
 our national sports, but our national existence ; and 
 if Divine Providence, giving practical effect to the 
 old quotation, 
 
 Quos Deus vult perdere priiis dementat, 
 
 allows England, after passing through the phases of 
 insanity which she has already begun to display, to 
 be blotted out from the nations of the world. 
 
SALMON-FISHING. 
 
 IT is the unknown which constitutes the main charm 
 and delight of every adult human creature's life from 
 very childhood ; which life from the beginning to 
 the end is, I maintain, one continued gamble. Un- 
 certainty is the salt of existence. I once emptied 
 a large fish-pond, which, from my youth up, I had 
 held in supreme veneration and angled in with awe, 
 lest some of the monsters with which it was supposed 
 to abound, especially one ferocious and gigantic pike, 
 which a six-foot gamekeeper gravely asserted to be 
 as big as himself, and to have consumed endless 
 broods of young ducks, should encounter me un- 
 awares, and the result was a great haul of small 
 and medium sized fish of all kinds, a few obese 
 fat-headed carp, and the conspicuous absence of 
 the monster pike. 
 
58 SPORT. 
 
 I refilled the pond but never fished in it again ; 
 I knew what was in it, and also what was not in 
 it. Its mystery, and with it its glory, had departed. 
 So it is with shooting I hate to know how many 
 pheasants there are in a wood, how many coveys 
 in a partridge beat, how many birds in a covey. 
 So it is, of course, with everything else in life. 
 Whatever is reduced to a certainty ceases to charm, 
 and, but for the element of risk or chance uncer- 
 tainty in short not only every sport or amusement, 
 but even every operation and transaction of this 
 world, would be tame and irksome. If we fore- 
 knew the result we would seldom do anything, 
 and would eventually be reduced to the condition 
 of the bald, toothless, toeless, timid, sedentary, and 
 incombative " man of the future " foreshadowed re- 
 cently by a very advanced writer. How few would 
 even marry a wife if the recesses of her mind were 
 previously laid as bare as my fish-pond ! And how 
 few women would accept a husband under similar 
 circumstances ! So that the elimination of the 
 
SALMON-FISHING. 59 
 
 element of uncertainty would perhaps lead to uni- 
 versal celibacy. Still possessing it however, and 
 far from any approximation to this latter result, let 
 me sing the praises of that sport which ranks next 
 to fox-hunting in its utter absence of certainty 
 the prince and king of all the angling domain 
 salmon-fishing. Delightful in itself, this regal sport 
 conducts its worshippers into the grandest and wildest 
 scenes of nature, to one of which I will at once 
 ask my reader to accompany me. 
 
 \Ye will imagine that it is the middle of June, and 
 that London has be<nm to be as intolerable as it 
 
 o 
 
 usually becomes at that season, and that he is willing 
 to fly with me across the sea and to settle down for a 
 space in a Norwegian valley, and, surrounded by 
 scenery unsurpassed in its abrupt wildness by any- 
 thing to be seen even in that wildest of wild countries, 
 survey salmon-fishing from an Anglo- Norwegian 
 sportsman's point of view. Having with more or 
 less discomfort safely run the gauntlet of that most 
 uncertain and restless of oceans, the North Sea, we 
 
6o 
 
 SPORT. 
 
 
 A NORWEGIAN HOUSE. 
 
 land at the head of the Romsdal Fjord, and after 
 about an hour's carriole drive are deposited, stunned 
 
SA LMON-FISHING. 61 
 
 and bewildered by the eccentricities which stupendous 
 and impossible Nature has erected all around us, at 
 the door of a clean, pine-built, white-painted house, 
 in the midst of what looks like the happy valley of 
 Rasselas ; surrounded by bright green meadows, 
 \valled in by frowning impracticable precipices 2,000 
 feet high at their lowest elevation, and over 4,000 at 
 their highest, at the top of which, opposite the 
 windows to the south-west, even as exclusive mortals 
 garnish their walls with broken bottles, so Nature 
 appears to have wished to throw difficulties in the 
 way of some gigantic trespasser by placing a fearful 
 chevaux-de-frise of strange, sharp, jagged, uncouth 
 and fantastic peaks, which baffle all description in 
 their dreamy grotesqueness. These are called by 
 the natives " Troll tinderne," i.e. " witch peaks/' or 
 " sorcerers 7 seats." A stone dropped from the top 
 would touch nothing for 1,500 feet, and thence to 
 the bottom would lose but little velocity, so near the 
 perpendicular is the rest of the descent. Below the 
 steepest portion is a long stony slope having the 
 
62 
 
 appearance of a landslip, formed by some of the 
 broken and pulverised ddbris of many a colossal crag, 
 whose granite foundations Time having besieged 
 ever since the Flood, has at length succeeded in 
 undermining, and which has then toppled over with a 
 report like a salvo of 10,000 8o-pounders, filling the 
 valley here two miles wide with a cloud of fine 
 dust resembling thick smoke, and yet, after scattering 
 huge splinters far and wide, has still retained sufficient 
 of its original and gigantic self to roll quietly through 
 the dwarf birch and sycamore wood at the bottom, 
 crushing flat and obliterating trees thick as a man's 
 body in girth, and leaving a gravel walk behind it 
 broad as a turnpike road, till it subsides into some 
 sequestered hollow, where, surrounded by trees no 
 taller than itself, it will reclothe itself with moss and 
 grow grey again for another 4,000 years or so. The 
 prevailing opinion among the peasants is that this 
 wall being very narrow, and its other side equally 
 precipitous, some day or other the whole precipice 
 will fall bodily into the valley ; and in this theory they 
 
SALMON-FISHING. 63 
 
 are strengthened by the fact, or tradition, that at a 
 certain time during the winter the moon can be seen 
 to shine through an orifice situated half-way up its 
 face, undiscernible save when lighted up in this 
 manner. This is a pretty belief, and I am sorry that 
 my telescope, with which I have narrowly scanned 
 every cranny, does not confirm it. The fact is 
 possible all the same ; but the convulsion of nature 
 which they anticipate does not follow as a matter of 
 course, and in my opinion the " trolls " will sit un- 
 disturbed on their uncomfortable seats till some 
 general crash occurs, which will convolve other 
 valleys than this, and higher peaks than theirs. 
 
 However 
 
 Mountains have fallen, 
 Leaving a gap in the clouds, 
 
 and it is possible that this accident may occur. I 
 only hope that I may be non-resident at my Norway 
 home when it does. Here and there in nooks and 
 crannies rest large patches of drift-snow which, when 
 loosened and released by the summer heat, fall down 
 
64 SPORT. 
 
 the sides in grand thunderous cascades, bringing with 
 them rocks and stones, with occasional fatal results to 
 the cattle and sheep feeding in apparent security in 
 the woods below. Opposite the Troll tinderne on 
 the north-eastern side of the valley the Romsdal Horn 
 rears its untrodden head. It falls so sheer and smooth 
 towards the river that it affords no resting-place for 
 the snow, consequently no avalanches fall on this 
 side ; but occasionally, as from the Troll tinderne, a 
 huge rock is dislodged by time and weather ; and 
 sometimes I have seen one of these come down from 
 the very top, and marked its progress by the slight 
 puffs of smoke which long before the report reaches 
 the ear are plainly to be seen, as in its successive 
 leaps it comes in contact with the mountain side ; and 
 the length of time which elapses between the first 
 reverberation that makes one look up when the solid 
 mass takes its first spring from the summit, and the 
 last grape-shot clatter of its fragments at the foot of 
 the Horn, gives me some idea of the terrific pro- 
 oortions of this wonderful rock. Sometimes I can 
 
SA LMON-F1SHING. 65 
 
 hardly help, as I look up at its awful sides, giving it 
 personal identity and the attributes of life regarding 
 it with a sort of terror, and with a humble desire 
 somehow to propitiate it, as a merciful giant who 
 respects and pities my minute life, and disdains to 
 put his foot upon me or crush me with one of his 
 granite thunderbolts. 
 
 o 
 
 In my youth I tried to gain its summit, where 
 tradition says there is a lake on which floats a golden 
 bowl. I failed miserably ; but have no doubt that 
 with proper appliances, which I had not, some skilled 
 Alpine climber would succeed. One such, alas ! came 
 out some two years ago with such appliances, and 
 the strong resolve of youth and abounding strength, 
 steadfastly purposed to solve the mystery. He only 
 attained the deeper mystery of death ; not in the 
 attempt, but drowned deplorably by the upsetting of 
 a boat which he had engaged to cross the Fjord 
 (being unwilling, in his eager haste to reach the scene 
 of his proposed adventure, to wait even a day for 
 the regular steamer which would have conveyed him 
 
 F 
 
66 SPORT. 
 
 safely) close to the shore at the very mouth of the 
 " Rauma" river. It is this river Rauma out of which 
 I want my reader to catch a salmon, or see me catch 
 one. It flows down the middle of the valley, not as 
 
 
 HEAD OF A SALMON. 
 
 Scotch rivers, London or Dublin porter-hued, but 
 clear, bright, and translucent as crystal. 
 
 Here, amid such scenes, with this glorious stream 
 rushing tumultuously in a sort of semicircle round 
 me, thus giving me some half-a-dozen salmon 
 pools, each within about 200 yards from the house, 
 
SALMON-FISHING. 67 
 
 have I provided myself with a dwelling and an 
 estate partly for sake of the sport, and partly 
 to have another string to my bow some refuge 
 even in republican Norway from the possible legis- 
 lation of constitutional England, where inability to 
 pay the heavy bill for " unearned increment," which 
 has in my case been running for some 900 years, 
 may cause my family estates to be handed over to 
 somebody else. It is too late to-night we will 
 fish to-morrow we are tired. The wooden walls 
 and floors of the house still heave and sway with 
 recollections of the German Ocean. We will sleep 
 the sleep of Tories and the just. 
 
 " Klokken Fern i morgen, Ole ! " " Five o'clock 
 to-morrow morning, Ole ! " was my last instruction 
 to my faithful boatman and gaffer yesterday evening, 
 and, sure enough, as I jump up instinctively a 
 quarter of an hour before the appointed time, I see 
 him outside my window busying himself with my 
 
 2 
 
68 SPORT. 
 
 rod, while my reel gives out short periodical sounds 
 like the call of a corn-crake, as he passes the line 
 through each successive ring. One glance at the 
 sky is enough clear blue and cloudless, fresh and 
 cool, but no wind a slight mist hangs half-way up 
 the Troll tinderne ; below it all is clear, though 
 heavily laden with moisture, and in dark contrast 
 with the bright sun above, which is already, and 
 has been for some hours, playing among the top- 
 most peaks, and gladdening the stony-hearted rocks 
 themselves. 
 
 Brief oh, brief is the process of adornment and 
 ablution in the india-rubber bath, for my soul is 
 very eager for the fray ; and the day will evidently 
 be a hot one, rendering it impossible to fish after 
 nine o'clock, when the sun will be on the river. 
 A hot cup of coffee made as Norwegians can 
 make it and we can't and a scrap of biscuit 
 occupies about one minute of time in consump- 
 tion, and the next I am striding away towards 
 "Aarnehoe," my upper and best pool, brushing 
 
SALMON-FISHING. 69 
 
 away the heavy dew from the grass and dwarf 
 juniper bushes, and drinking in life and health 
 from every inspiration of the fresh morning air. 
 My little boat tosses like a nutshell among the 
 high waves of the turbulent stream as it is swept 
 across to the other side of the river, where a ro- 
 mantic glade conducts me to the wooden bridge, two 
 planks wide, which crosses a divergent stream and 
 leads me to the now almost dreaded pool. A keen 
 salmon-fisher will understand me and forgive me if 
 I fail to do justice to the impressions, the hopes, 
 and the fears of the hour. The field of battle is 
 before me, white and tumultuous at the head, 
 smooth and black in the middle, full of surging 
 babbles, like the ebullitions of millions of soda- 
 water bottles from the bottom, clear, swift, and 
 transparent at the tail. 
 
 In spite of the roar of the foss in my ears, I 
 am under the impression of perfect stillness and 
 silence in the objects round me, so wild, solitary, 
 and secluded is the spot ; no habitation or trace of 
 
70 SPORT. 
 
 man, save my boatman's presence, desecrates the 
 scene. My eyes are fixed with a sort of fascina- 
 tion on the water, whose swift but calmly flowing 
 surface remains unruffled, unbroken as yet by the 
 dorsal fin of any scaly giant, and gives no evidence 
 of the life it contains. It is the Unknown ! and as 
 Ole unmoors the boat I confess that a feeling of 
 trepidation seizes me a feeling difficult to define 
 of anticipated pleasure mingled with respect for the 
 power and strength of the unseen and unknown 
 antagonist with whom I am about to grapple, and 
 making me entertain no boastful confidence in the 
 result of the struggle which will forthwith com- 
 mence between us. But all is prepared. Ole, 
 smiling and expectant, holds the boat, which 
 dances a little in the swell, steady for me to enter ; 
 and, with his cheerful but invariable platitude : 
 " Nu skal ve har store fisken " (" Now we will 
 have a big fish "), takes his place and rows me up 
 under the very breakers of the foss. A few short 
 preliminary throws give me the requisite length of 
 
SALMON-FISHING. ?I 
 
 line to reach the smooth black water, full of sub- 
 merged eddies, beyond the influence of the force of 
 the torrent, and I begin ; once twice thrice does 
 the fly perform its allotted circuit and return to me 
 unmolested ; but the fourth time, just as I am in 
 the act of withdrawing it from the water for another 
 cast, the bowels of the deep are agitated, and, 
 preceded by a wave impelled and displaced by 
 his own bulk, flounders heavily and half out of 
 the water a mighty salmon. Broad was he, 
 and long to boot, if I may trust an eye not 
 unaccustomed to such apparitions ; his white and 
 silvery side betokening his recent arrival from the 
 German Ocean, the slightly roseate hues of his 
 back and shoulders giving unfailing evidence, if 
 corroborative evidence were wanting, after one 
 glimpse of that spade-like tail, of a " salmo salar " 
 of no common weight and dimensions. My heart 
 I confess it leaped up to my very mouth but 
 he has missed the fly, and an anxious palpitating 
 five minutes which I always reluctantly allow 
 
72 SPORT. 
 
 must elapse before I try him again. They are 
 gone, and in trembling hope with exactly the same 
 length of line, and the boat exactly in the same 
 place, Ole having fixed the spot to an inch by 
 some mysterious landmarks on the shore I com- 
 mence my second trial. Flounce i There he is ! 
 
 HE COMliS AT ME, AND MISSES THE FLY. 
 
 not so demonstrative this time a boil in the water 
 and a slight plash, as the back fin cuts the surface, 
 that's all ; but something tells me this is the true 
 attack.' A slight, but sharp turn of the wrist cer- 
 tifies the fact, and brings oh, moment of delight ! 
 my line taut and my rod bent to a delicious curve. 
 

SALMON-FISHING. 75 
 
 Habet ! he has it ! Now, Ole ! steadily and 
 slowly to the shore ! He is quite quiet as yet, and 
 has scarcely discovered the singular nature and pro- 
 perties of the insect he has appropriated, but swims 
 quietly round and round in short circles, wondering 
 no doubt, but so far unalarmed. I am only too 
 thankful for the momentary respite, and treat him 
 with the most respectful gentleness, but a growing 
 though scarcely perceptible increase of the strain 
 on my rod bends it gradually lower, and lower until 
 the reel begins to give out its first slow music. 
 My fingers are on the line to give it the slight 
 resistance of friction, but the speed increases too 
 rapidly for me to bear them there long, and I 
 withdraw them just in time to save their being 
 cut to the bone in the tremendous rush which 
 follows. Whizz-z-z ! up the pool he goes ! the line 
 scattering the spray from the surface in a small 
 fountain, like the cut-water of a Thames steamer. 
 And now a thousand fears assail me should there 
 be one defective strand in my casting-line, one 
 
7 6 
 
 SPORT 
 
 SULKING. 
 
 doubtful or rotten portion of my head-line should 
 anything kink or foul, should the hook itself (as 
 
SALMON-FISHING. 77 
 
 sometimes happens) be a bad one farewell, oh, 
 
 giant of the deep, for ever ! Absit omen ! all is 
 
 well as yet, that rush is over. He has a terrible 
 
 length of my line out, but he is in a safe part of 
 
 the pool and rather disposed to come back to me, 
 
 which gives me the opportunity, which I seize 
 
 eagerly, of reeling up my line. The good-tempered, 
 
 reasonable monster ! But steady ! there is a limit 
 
 to his concessions. No further will he obey the 
 
 rod's gentle dictation. Two rebellious opiniative 
 
 kicks nearly jerk my arms out of the shoulder 
 
 joints, and then down he goes to the bottom. 
 
 Deep in the middle of the pool he lies, obdurate, 
 
 immovable as a stone. There must he not remain ! 
 
 That savage strength must not be husbanded. I 
 
 re-enter the boat, and am gently rowed towards 
 
 him, reeling up as I advance. He approves not 
 
 this, as I expected. He is away again into the 
 
 very midst of the white water, till I think he means 
 
 to ascend the foss itself hesitates irresolute there 
 
 a moment, then back again down the middle of the 
 
SPORT. 
 
 stream like a telegraphic message. " Row ashore, 
 Ole! Row for life! for now he means mischief!" 
 Once in the swift water at the tail of the pool he 
 will try not only my reel, but my own wind and 
 condition to boot ; for down he must go now, 
 weighed he but a poor five pounds ; once out of 
 this pool and there is nothing to stop him for 
 300 yards. We near the shore, and I spring into 
 the shallow water and prance and bound after him 
 with extravagant action, blinding myself with the 
 spray which I dash around me. Ah ! well I 
 know and much I fear this rapid ! The deep water 
 being on the other side of the river, the fish in- 
 variably descend there, and from the wide space 
 intervening, too deep for man to wade in, too 
 shallow for fish to swim in, and too rough for 
 boat to live in, the perturbed fisherman must always 
 find an awful length of line between him and his 
 fish, which, however, he can in no way diminish 
 till he arrives considerably lower down, where the 
 river is narrower. Many a gallant fish has by 
 
SALMON-FISHING. 79 
 
 combination of strength and wile escaped me here. 
 Many a time has my heart stood still to find that 
 my line and reel have suddenly done the same 
 what means it ? In the strength of that mighty 
 torrent can mortal fish rest ? Surely, but he must 
 have found a shelter somewhere ? Some rock behind 
 which to lie protected from the current ! I must 
 try and move him ! Try and move the world ! 
 A rock is indeed there and the line is round it, 
 glued to it immovably by weight of water. It is 
 drowned. But he, the fish ! seaward may he now 
 swim half a league away, or at the bottom of the 
 next pool may be rubbing some favourite fly against 
 the stones. Nay but see ! the line runs out still, 
 with jerks and lifelike signs. Hurrah ! we have not 
 lost him yet. Oh, dreamer, ever hoping to the last, 
 no more life there than in a galvanised corpse 
 whose spasmodic actions the line is imitating ! It 
 is bellying deep in the stream, quivering and 
 jerking, slacking and pulling as the current dictates, 
 creating-movements which, through the glamour of 
 
8o SPORT. 
 
 a heated imagination, seem as the struggles of a 
 mighty fish. 
 
 That fish, that fly, and perhaps that casting-line 
 shall that fisherman never see again ? Such doom 
 and such a result may the gods now avert ! My 
 plungings and prancings have brought me to the 
 foot of my wooden bridge made very high on 
 purpose to avoid the perils above described (and 
 for the same purpose I keep well behind or up- 
 stream of my fish) which I hurry over with long 
 strides, and many an anxious glance at my ninety or 
 100 yards of line waving and tossing through the 
 angry breakers encompassed by a hundred dangers. 
 With rod high held and panting lungs I spring 
 from the bridge, and blunder as I best may along 
 the stony and uneven bank for another 100 
 yards with unabated speed. I am saved ! Safe 
 floats the line in the deep but still rapid and stormy 
 water beyond the extremest breaker, and here, for- 
 tunately for me, my antagonist slackens his speed, 
 having felt the influence of a back-water which 
 

 
SALMON-FISHING. 83 
 
 guides him rather back to me, and I advance in 
 a more rational manner, and in short sobs again 
 the breath of life ; but one aching arm must still 
 sustain the rod on high while the other reels 
 up as for very existence. Forward, brave Ole ! 
 and have the next boat ready in case the self- 
 wiilecl monster continues his reckless course, 
 which he most surely will; for, lo ! in one fiery 
 whizz out goes all the line which that tired 
 right hand had so laboriously reclaimed from the 
 deep, and down, proudly sailing mid-stream, my 
 temporary tyrant recommences his hitherto all 
 triumphant progress. I follow as I best may, 
 but now, having gained the refuge of the boat, 
 a few strokes of Ole's vigorous boat-compelling 
 oars recover me the line I had lost, and land 
 me on the opposite bank, where, with open water 
 before me for some distance, I begin for the 
 first time to realise the possibility of victory. 
 However 
 
 /Much hath been done, but more remains to do, 
 
 G 2 
 
84 SPORT. 
 
 but of a less active, more pDnderous, painstaking, 
 patience-trying description. The long deep stream 
 of Langhole is before me in which he will hang- 
 does hang, will sulk does sulk, and has to be 
 roused by stones cast in above, below, and around 
 him. As yet, I have never seen him since his 
 first rise, but Ole, who has climbed the bank above 
 me, and from thence can see far into the clear bright 
 water, informs me that he gets an occasional glimpse 
 of him, and that he is " meget meget store," or 
 very very big. My heart worn and weary as it 
 is with the alternations of hope and fear re-flutters 
 at this intelligence, for I know that Ole is usually 
 a fish-decrier or weight-dimtnisher. All down the 
 length of Langhole, 250 yards by the tale, does 
 he sullenly bore, now and then taking alarming 
 excursions far away to the opposite shore, oftener 
 burying himself deep in the deepest water close 
 at my feet ; but at length he resolves on more 
 active operations, and, stimulated by the rapid 
 stream at the tail of Langhole, takes advantage 
 
SALMON-FISHING. 85 
 
 thereof and goes down bodily to the next pool, 
 Tofte. I have no objection to this, even if I 
 had a voice in the matter ; I have - a flat smooth 
 meadow to race over, the stream has no hidden 
 rocky dangers, so, like swift Camilla, I scour the 
 plain till the deeper and quieter recesses of Tofte 
 afford an asylum fcr the fish and breathing time 
 to myself. Here, I hope, but hope in vain, to 
 decide the combat ; occasionally I contrive to gain 
 the advantage of a short line, but the instant he 
 perceives the water shoaling away he bores in- 
 dignant, and spurns the shallow. The engagement 
 has now lasted more than an hour, and my 
 shoulders are beginning to ache, and yet no 
 symptoms of submission on the part of my adver- 
 sary ; on the contrary, he suddenly reassumes the 
 offensive, and with a rush which imparts such rotatory 
 motion to my reel as to render the handle not 
 only intangible but actually invisible, he forsakes 
 the delights of Tofte, and continues his course down 
 the river. I must take to the boat again (I have 
 
86 SPORT. 
 
 one on every pool) and follow, like a harpooner 
 towed by a whale. The river widens below Tofte, 
 and a short swift shallow leads to the next pool, 
 Langholmen, or Long Island. I have a momentary 
 doubt whether to land on the island or on the opposite 
 side where there is a deeper but swifter pool, towards 
 which the fish is evidently making. I decide at once, 
 but decide wrong -which is better, however, than 
 not deciding at all and I land on Langholmen, into 
 whose calm flowing water I had fondly hoped that 
 incipient fatigue would have enticed my fish, and 
 find him far over in the opposite pool with an irre- 
 concilable length of line doubtfully connecting us. 
 It is an awful moment! If he goes up stream now> 
 I am lost that is to say, my fish is which in my 
 present frame of mind is the same thing ; no line or 
 hook would ever stand the strain of that weight of 
 water. But, no, mighty as he is, he is mortal, and but 
 a fish after all, and even his giant strength is failing 
 him, and inch by inch and foot by foot he drops 
 down the stream, and as he does so the reel gradually 
 
;f|Uy.~^s? 
 
 m 
 
 fff +* -- --,-' <> ...V'l/',' 
 
 w;f SA 
 
 4s'i 
 
 ' S^ 
 
 -;,- -^r^'r-- i\r-y,m! i 
 
 Sf ? 
 
 
 
SALMON-FISHING. 89 
 
 gains on him, till at the tail of Langhclmen I have 
 the delight of getting, for the first time since he rose, 
 a fair sight of his broad and shining bulk, as he lies 
 drifting sulkily and indolently down the clear shallows. 
 I exult with the savage joy which the gladiator may 
 have felt when he perceived for the first time the 
 growing weakness of his antagonist, and I set no 
 bounds to my estimate of his size. Fifty pounds at 
 least ! I proclaim loudly to Die, is the very minimum 
 of the weight I give him. Ole smiles and shakes 
 his head detractingly. The phlegmatic, unsympa- 
 thetic, realistic wretch ! On I go, however, wading 
 knee-deep over the glancing shingle. The lowest 
 pool, and my last hope before impassable rapids, 
 Lserneset, is before me, and after wading waist-deep 
 across the continent stream at the end of the island 
 I gain the commanding bank and compel my now 
 amenable monster into the deep, still water, out of 
 the influence of the current. And now, feebler and 
 feebler grow his rushes, shorter and shorter grows 
 the line, till mysterious whirlpools agitate the calm 
 
SPORT. 
 
 surface, and at last, with a heavy, weary plunge, 
 upheaves the spent giant, and passive, helpless, huge, 
 * lies floating many a rood/ 
 
 Still even now his vis inertia is formidable, and 
 
 OLE'S FINISHING STROKE. 
 
 much caution and skill have to be exercised in towing 
 that vanquished hull into port, lest with one awkward 
 heavy roll, or one feeble flop of that broad, spreading 
 tail, he may tear away hook or hold, and so rob me 
 
SALMON-FISHING. 91 
 
 at last of my hardly-earned victory. No such heart- 
 breaking disaster awaits me. Ole, creeping and 
 crouching like a deer-stalker, extends the fatal gaff, 
 buries it deep in the broad side, and drags him, for 
 he is, in very sooth, too heavy to lift, unwilling and 
 gasping to the shore, where, crushing flat the long 
 grass, he flops and flounders till a merciful thwack 
 on the head from the miniature policeman's staff, 
 which I always carry for this purpose, renders him 
 alike oblivious and insensible to past suffering or 
 present indignity. And now I may calmly survey 
 his vast proportions and speculate on the possibility 
 of his proving too much for my weighing machine, 
 which only gives information up to fifty pounds. 
 To a reasonable-sized fish I can always assign an 
 approximate weight, but this one takes me out of 
 the bounds of my calculation, and being as sanguine 
 as Ole is the reverse, I anxiously watch the deflection 
 of the index as Ole, by exercising his utmost 
 strength, raises him by a hook through his under 
 jaw from the ground, with a wild sort of hope still 
 
92 SPORT. 
 
 possessing me (foolish though I inwardly feel it to 
 be) that the machine won't weigh him. 
 
 Forty-five anyhow he must be ! Yes, he is ! no, he 
 ain't! Alas! after a few oscillations it settles finally 
 at forty-three pounds, with which decision I must 
 rest content, and I am content. I give way to 
 senseless manifestations of extravagant joy, and even 
 Ole relaxes. Early as it is, it is not too early for 
 a Norwegian to drink spirits, and I serve him out 
 a stiff dram of whisky on the spot, which he tosses 
 down raw without winking, while I dilute mine from 
 the river for this ceremony, on such occasions, must 
 never be neglected. " Now, Ole, shoulder the prey 
 as you best can, and home to breakfast ; " for now, 
 behold, from behind the giant shoulder of the Horn 
 bursts forth the mighty sun himself! illuminating the 
 very depths of the river, sucking up the moisture 
 from the glittering grass, and drying the tears of 
 the blue bells and the dog violets, and calling into 
 life the myriads whose threescore years and ten are to 
 be compressed into the next twelve hours. Yet how 
 
SALMON- FISHING. 9 3 
 
 they rejoice ! Their songs of praise and enjoyment 
 positively din in my ears as I walk home, rejoicing, too, 
 after my Anglo-Saxon manner, at having killed some- 
 thing fighting, the battle over again in extravagantly 
 bad Norse to Ole, who patiently toils on under the 
 double burden of the big fish and my illiterate garrulity. 
 In short I am thoroughly happy self-satisfied and at 
 peace with all mankind. I have succeeded, and suc- 
 cess usually brings happiness ; everything looks bright 
 around me, and I thankfully compare my lot with that 
 of certain pallid, flaccid beings, whom my mind's eye 
 presents to me stewing in London, and gasping in 
 midsummer torment in the House of Commons. A 
 breakfast of Homeric proportions (my friend and I 
 once ate a seven-pound grilse and left nothing even 
 for a dog) follows this morning performance. Will my 
 reader be content to rest after it, smoke a pipe, bask 
 in the sun (he won't stand that long, for the Norway 
 sun is like the kitchen fire of the gods), and possibly 
 after Norwegian custom, take a mid-day nap ? 
 
94 SPORT. 
 
 Five o'clock P.M. we have eaten the best portion 
 of a Norwegian sheep, not much bigger than a good 
 hare, for our dinner, and the lower water awaits us. 
 Here the valley is wider the pools larger and less 
 violent. It is here that I have always wished to 
 hook the real monster of the river the sixty or 
 seventy-pounder of tradition as I can follow him 
 to the sea if he don't yield sooner, which from the 
 upper water I can't, because impossible rapids divide 
 my upper arid lower water , and if I had not killed 
 this morning's fish where I did I should have lost 
 him, as it was the last pool above the rapids. We 
 take ship again in Nedre Fiva, a splendid pool, 
 about a mile from my house, subject only to the 
 objection which old Sir Hyde Parker, one of the 
 early inventors of Norway fishing, used to bring 
 against the whole country : " Too much water and 
 too few fish ! " I have great faith in myself to-day, 
 and feel that great things are still in store for me. 
 I recommence operations, and with some success, 
 for I land a twelve and a sixteen pounder in a very 
 
SALMON-FISHING. 95 
 
 short space of time ; after which, towards the tail 
 of this great pool, I hook something very heavy 
 and strong, which runs out my line in one rush 
 almost to the last turn of the reel before Ole can 
 get way on the boat to follow him, and then springs 
 out of the water a full yard high ; this feat being 
 performed some 120 yards off me, and the fish looking 
 even at that distance enormous. I have no doubt 
 that I have at last got fast to my ideal monster 
 the seventy-pounder of my dreams. Even the 
 apathetic Ole grunts loudly his " Gud bevarr ! " of 
 astonishment. I will spare the reader all the details 
 of the struggle which ensues, and take him at once 
 to the final scene, some two miles down below where 
 1 hooked him, and which has taken me about three 
 hours to reach a still back-water, into which I have 
 with extraordinary luck contrived to guide him, dead- 
 beat. No question now about his size. We see him 
 plainly close to us, a very porpoise. I can see that 
 Ole is demoralised and unnerved at the sight of 
 him. He had twice told me, during our long fight 
 
96 SPORT 
 
 with him, that the forty-three pounder of this morning 
 was " like a small piece of this one " the largest 
 salmon he had ever seen in his fifty years' experience ; 
 and to my horror I see him, after utterly neglecting 
 one or two splendid chances, making hurried and 
 feeble pokes at him with the gaff with the only 
 effect of frightening him by splashing the water 
 about his nose. In a fever of agony I bring him 
 once again within easy reach of the gaff, and regard 
 him as my own. He is mine now ! he must be ! 
 " Now's your time, Ole can't miss him ! now 
 now!" lie does though! and in one instant a 
 deadly sickness comes over me. as the rod springs 
 straight again, and the fly dangles useless in the 
 air. The hold has broken ! Still the fish is so 
 beat that he lies there yet' on his side. He knows 
 not he is free ! " Quick, gaff him as he lies. Quick ! 
 do you hear ? You can have him still ! " Oh, for 
 a Scotch gillie ! Alas for the Norwegian immovable 
 nature ! Ole looks up at me with lack-lustre eyes 
 turns an enormous quid in his cheek, and does 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 H 
 
SALMON-FISHING. 99 
 
 nothing. I cast down the useless rod, and dashing at 
 him wrest the gaff from his hand, but it is too late. 
 The huge fins begin to move gently, like a steamer's 
 first motion of her paddles, and he disappears slowly 
 into the deep ! Yes yes, he is gone ! For a moment 
 I glare at Ole with a bitter hatred. I should like to 
 slay him where he stands, but have no weapon 
 handy, and also doubt how far Norwegian law 
 would justify the proceeding, great as is the pro- 
 vocation. But the fit passes, and a sorrow too deep 
 for words gains possession of me, and I throw away 
 the gaff and sit down, gazing in blank despair at 
 the water. Is it possible ? Is it not a hideous 
 nightmare ? But two minutes ago blessed beyond 
 the lot of angling man on the topmost pinnacle 
 of angling fame ! The practical possessor of the 
 largest salmon ever taken with a rod ! And now, 
 deeper than ever plummet sounded, in the depths 
 of dejection ! Tears might relieve me ; but my 
 sorrow is too great, and I am doubtful how Ole 
 might take it. I look at him again. The same 
 
 n 2 
 
ioo SPORT. 
 
 utterly blank face, save a projection of unusual size 
 in his cheek, which makes me conjecture that an 
 additional quid has been secretly thrust in to supple- 
 ment the one already in possession. He has said 
 not a word since the catastrophe, but abundant 
 expectoration testifies to the deep and tumultuous 
 workings of his soul. I bear in mind that I am a 
 man and a Christian, and I mutely offer him my 
 flask. But, no ; with a delicacy which does him 
 honour, and touches me to the heart, he declines 
 it ; and with a deep sigh and in scarcely audible 
 accents repeating " The largest salmon I ever saw 
 in my life ! " picks up my rod and prepares to depart. 
 Why am I not a Stoic, and treat this incident with 
 contempt ? Yes ; but why am I human ? Do what 
 I will, the vision is still before my eyes. I hear 
 the " never, never " can the chance recur again ! 
 Shut my eyes, stop my ears as I will, it is the 
 same. If I had only known his actual weight! 
 Had he but consented to be weighed and returned 
 into the stream ! How gladly would I now make 
 
SALMON-FISHING. 101 
 
 that bargain with him ! But the opportunity of 
 even that compromise is past. It's intolerable. I 
 don't believe the Stoics ever existed ; if they did 
 they must have suffered more than even I do in 
 bottling up their miseries. They did feel ; they 
 must have felt why pretend they didn't ? Zeno 
 was a humbug ! Anyhow, none of the sect ever 
 lost a salmon like that ! What ! " A small sorrow ? 
 Only a fish!" Ah, try it yourself! An old lady, 
 inconsolable for the loss of her dog, was once referred 
 for example of resignation to a mother who had lost 
 her child, and she replied, " Oh, yes ! but children are 
 not dogs!" And I, in some sort, understand her. 
 So, in silent gloom I follow Ole homewards. 
 
 Not darkness, nor twilight, but the solemn yellow 
 hues of northern midnight gather over the scene ; 
 black and forbidding frown the precipices on either 
 side, save where on the top of the awful Horn 
 inaccessible as happiness far, far beyond the reach 
 of mortal footstep, still glows, like sacred fire, the 
 sleepless sun ! Hoarser murmurs seem to arise from 
 
io2 SPORT. 
 
 the depths of the foss like the groans of imprisoned 
 demons to which a slight but increasing wind 
 stealing up the valley from the sea adds its melan- 
 choly note. My mind, already deeply depressed, 
 yields helplessly to the influence of the hour and 
 sinks to zero at once ; and despondency the hated 
 spirit descends from her " foggy cloud " and is my 
 inseparable companion all the way home. 
 
COVERT-SHOOTING. 
 
 No subject has of modern days given birth to more 
 ignorant writers than shooting, so much so that to 
 write with any real knowledge or understanding of 
 it seems out of place and disrespectful to the public. 
 Besides this, I feel the full difficulty of the task. 
 How, out of such a sow's ear, can I make a silk 
 purse ? how kindle enthusiasm about it ? how invest 
 with romance the mere taking away the lives of 
 great numbers of defenceless animals ? Marwood 
 or Calcraft would have produced a more interesting 
 paper, for their victims were human. The subject 
 too, is not a popular one just now, and the special 
 branch of it to which I intend to direct the reader's 
 attention is the object of bitter public hostility- 
 why, I could never quite make out, but the fact is 
 
io6 SPORT. 
 
 so ; arid I myself shall be exposed to some animad- 
 version, I doubt not, for venturing to say a word 
 in defence or excuse of it. Admitting, however, 
 its unromantic, tame, and utterly artificial character 
 in the abstract, it is nevertheless in practice a sport, 
 and one in which scientific arrangement and skill 
 are requisite to insure success, although, unlike 
 fox-hunting or salmon-fishing, it is capable, as 
 regards its raw material, of being reduced to a 
 certainty. 
 
 A friend of mine whose pheasants had bred badly, 
 but who was nevertheless anxious to show sport to 
 the guests whom he had previously invited to shoot, 
 purchased 500 live pheasants in London and turned 
 them down in his coverts. They happened to be 
 nearly all cocks, which are usually sold cheaper than 
 hens, and on one of his guests remarking on the 
 singular preponderance of the male bird, the host, 
 being a man of readiness and resource, promptly 
 replied, " Yes ; it's a great cock year" But these 
 birds flew well, and looked just as wild as if they 
 
COVERT-SHOOTING. 107 
 
 had been conscientiously bred on the estate. To 
 him and his keepers there was no romance ; they 
 knew that when 400 had been killed exactly 100 
 remained, representing so much outlay unaccounted 
 for, or capital bearing no interest save such sport 
 as could be derived from missing, or, alas ! wound- 
 ing a certain percentage of them. But from his 
 guests these things were hidden. They, in their 
 ignorance, were happy, as Othello says he would 
 have been, however vile the inconstancy and 
 incontinence of Desdemona 
 
 " So he had nothing known," 
 
 They knew not, and there was nothing in the flight 
 of the birds to tell them, that most of the tallest 
 " rocketers " had come straight from Leadenhall 
 Market. But the proper production of the 
 rocketer is a matter of arrangement and manage- 
 ment knowledge and study of the ground and 
 placing of the guns. It is only by the hated 
 
io3 SPORT. 
 
 " battue " system, the unpopularity of which is, I 
 believe, principally derived from its French name, that 
 this conversion of the tame bird into the wild, this 
 creation of that most delectable of all shots to those 
 who know how to handle a gun, and the most 
 impossible to those who don't, the rocketer, can 
 be effected. The rocketer is the reverse of the 
 poet he is not born, he is made. The gun cannot 
 drive him, he must be driven to the gun. To do 
 this there must be men to drive, and it is merely 
 the combination and due arrangement of men to 
 drive, game to be driven, and guns to shoot it, 
 that constitute the battue of such evil repute and 
 the subject of such violent execration among those 
 who never saw one, and don't know what it means. 
 Here is an example of cockney censure on the 
 thing as he, according to his cockney lights, 
 assumes it to be done, combined with cockney 
 advice as to how it should be done, which, in spite 
 of its Wonderland English, terse and concentrated 
 ignorance, soaring bathos, attempted sublime and 
 
COVERT-SHOOTING. 109 
 
 realised ridiculous, is copied verbatim from a 
 leading article in a leading London journal only 
 some two or three years ago, After denouncing 
 the effeminacy of the modern pheasant shooter, 
 this sporting instructor to the multitude says : 
 " Sportsmen of tougher calibre, and more capable 
 of exertion, unnerved by misty weather (sic), will 
 seek out the * rocketer ' for themselves, and will 
 decline to try their skill upon him when he is 
 driven past them, ducking, calling, and chattering, 
 and as helpless as a young duckling making its 
 way to the water." These are feats which no one 
 ever saw* the rocketer perform. But on another 
 occasion my risibility was likewise gladdened to its 
 inmost core by a fierce reprobation, possibly by the 
 same hand, of the cruelty of "partridge driving," 
 which process was described as hemming the 
 unhappy birds with multitudinous beaters into the 
 corner of a field, there to be " butchered ' in a mass 
 without skill on the part of the shooters or chance 
 of escape for the game ; winding up with a 
 
I io SPORT. 
 
 savage denunciation of those tyrannical landowners 
 who not only did not permit their tenants to kill 
 the ground game on their farms, but even forced 
 them, under heavy penalties, to preserve their eggs. 
 In the instructive passage above given, however, 
 the impossible is pointed out as the legitimate aim of 
 the manly shooter. But alone manly or unmanly - 
 he may as well try for the lost tribes as the rocketer, 
 which I may at once define as a bird flying fast and 
 high in the air towards the shooter. His only chance 
 would be a pheasant that flusters up at his feet and 
 flies straight and low away from him : a tame and 
 stupid shot even if he kills him dead, which he 
 probably will not do unless he "plasters " him, but will 
 have to run after him and massacre him, winged, on 
 the ground. Much in the same strain, though not 
 so grossly ignorant, is the advice to the partridge- 
 shooter to range the stubbles with his pointer, and 
 kill his birds in the good old-fashioned style, not 
 walk them up or drive them with beaters out of 
 turnips, the main difficulty of following such advice 
 
CO VER T-SHOO TING. 1 1 1 
 
 being that there are no stubbles to range over which 
 would shelter a lark. 
 
 Happy the man, no doubt, who lived in those days 
 when the hand-reaped stubble was knee-deep, and the 
 pointer beat the field for him with mathematical 
 precision. He could go out any fine afternoon, ac- 
 companied only by a keeper with a bag, and return 
 in a couple of hours with eight or ten brace of 
 partridges and an appetite ; or he could with the 
 same personal attendance, and in the same space of 
 time, substituting only a steady spaniel for the pointer, 
 bring home three or four brace of wild pheasants, and 
 perhaps a rabbit or two flushed and driven from 
 shaggy hedgerows as broad as lanes. But for us no 
 such joy remains. The stubbles are close shaven as 
 a monk's pate. The pointer's occupation is gone, and 
 to the spaniel, the straight, narrow, knife-like ridges 
 of economical modern fences afford no opportunities 
 for research or discovery. We must make a business 
 of our sport, and systematically organise the day's 
 proceedings. We can do no good alone. We must 
 
112 SPORT. 
 
 have two or three shooters at least ; beaters must be 
 told off to walk the bare stubbles where the gun is 
 a useless encumbrance, and the birds must be 
 manoeuvred into the turnips or potatoes, when a line 
 must be formed, and the game walked up by or driven 
 to the dogless sportsmen. And if the latter is done, 
 as often is done, and as must be done when birds get 
 wild why not ? Quid vetat ? Why should large 
 circulations so furiously rage, and comic papers and 
 " penny dreadfuls " imagine a vain thing in the shape 
 of descriptions and illustrations of fat young men 
 seated in arm-chairs at the end of a field or covert, 
 with pots of beer by their sides, languidly shooting 
 at pheasants and partridges feeding on the ground ? 
 Making every allowance for the humour and paradox 
 of the pencil, these critics and caricaturists are either 
 grossly ignorant themselves, or, as is most probable, 
 feel obliged to pander to the ignorance of others, by 
 the dissemination of a fallacy, first promulgated by 
 jealousy and the class hatred of ultra-democratic 
 political agitation. Let the critic or caricaturist, keen 
 
CO VER T-SHOO TING. i \ 3 
 
 sportsman, or even athlete as he may be, try con- 
 clusions with one of these obese young men in either 
 shooting or walking ; let him try to hit one of these 
 tame pheasants, theoretically feeding at his feet, but 
 practically swinging over the tall tree tops with the 
 wind, and see how many feathers he can eliminate 
 from his tail for no other hurt w r ill he probably 
 inflict. Yet the obese young man kills him dead ; 
 and will likewise walk the critic speechless and 
 inanimate over stubble, moor, or alp. The "dandies" 
 of old used sometimes to give people these surprises, 
 and even the " Masher " of this period may do so 
 again. 
 
 It may not be quite safe to count too confidently on 
 the effeminacy of " Childe Chappie." Such a one I 
 can remember in my youth. Pale, slim, delicate, 
 and even cadaverous in appearance, with the voice 
 of a woman ; the gentlest, shyest, and most unassuming 
 manners, and an almost irritating lisp, he one night 
 accompanied some roystering companions to one of 
 the not over-respectable night-haunts of the period 
 
 I 
 
114 SfORT. 
 
 some "shades " or " finish," such as the well-known 
 Lord Waterford used to delight in frequenting and 
 there became the butt of a huge, bruiser-looking fellow, 
 who resented his white tie and ultra-aristocratic ap- 
 pearance. He bore the giant's rude banter and coarse 
 raillery with consummate good-humour for some 
 time, till at last something was said or done 
 which went beyond his power of endurance, when he 
 walked up to the burly ruffian, and in his sweet, 
 womanly tones said, to the astonishment of all 
 present : " Look here, sir, if you behave like this, 
 I'm afraid I shall have to beat you." "Beat me!' 1 
 roared the pugilist, and he filled the vaulted den 
 with derisive laughter, in which all but a few who 
 knew, or suspected they knew, who the diaphanous 
 looking young man was, loudly joined. " Yes," with still 
 lower and gentler tones, and a more decided lisp, 
 replied the latter, " becase you've inthulted me. ' 
 And now, as the matter began to look grave, by- 
 standers on both sides interfered, and tried to settle 
 the quarrel ; some telling the young " swell " not to 
 
CO VER T-SHOO TING. 1 1 5 
 
 be foolish. " Take care, Captain," said one, who 
 partially recognised him, and knew he was not quite 
 what he seemed ; " it's the Birmingham Bone- 
 Crusher ! '' But the young dandy would hear of no 
 compromise or interference. He had been " inthulted" 
 he again said, and, unless the "gentleman " apologised, 
 he should " beat him*' After the manner of those 
 times a " ring" was at once formed, seconds appointed, 
 and the ill-matched pair, amidst wonder and laughter, 
 began to " strip " for a regular fight, which was to be 
 conducted under the accustomed and strict rules of 
 the P.R. The brawny pugilist was first in the ring, 
 nude to the waist ; his enormous limbs and body 
 looking perhaps too enormous, too full of beef and 
 beer, no doubt, for an encounter with a worthier 
 antagonist ; but against such a one as now stood 
 before him none doubted the result. Calmly and 
 deliberately, as he did everything, the dandy " peeled " 
 to the skin, and as he drew the finely-embroidered 
 dress-shirt over his head, one who was present told 
 me the " Bone-Crusher " suddenly gave a start, and 
 
 I 2 
 
u6 SPORT. 
 
 changed countenance, turning with a puzzled and 
 almost alarmed expression to his second, as he saw 
 all around the slender body of his opponent the 
 similitude of a large serpent, tattooed with most 
 artistic skill in varied colours on his white skin, with 
 its many convolutions ending in the flat head skilfully 
 depicted as biting into his heart, or half-buried in his 
 breast. The " Crusher's " friends afterwards confided 
 to my informant that the spectacle seemed to " double 
 him up." What manner of man was this ? Young 
 as he was, though not so young as he seemed, the 
 " dandy " had been in many and strange lands, where 
 he had experienced many and strange vicissitudes, 
 and this was a somewhat startling memorial of one 
 of them. Anyhow, if it did not make the giant forget 
 his "swashing blows," they fell harmless on his lithe 
 opponent, who, being a perfect master of the art of 
 self-defence, twisted about and evaded them as if 
 endowed with the sinuous tortuosity of the reptile 
 emblazoned on him, till at last, substituting attack for 
 defence, he dealt the exhausted giant such a blow 
 
COVERT-SHOOTING. 117 
 
 from one of his long, slight, but wiry arms as made 
 him utterly oblivious to the call of " Time." This 
 was the long-remembered deed of a dandy of the 
 period, and this digression is to warn the loud censors 
 of to-day against the under-estimation of his scorned 
 representative, the modern " Masher," the derided 
 " Chappie." 
 
 To return to the theme, I protest against the in- 
 discriminate abuse of the battue. It is the result 
 of our civilisation, as we are pleased to term it. 
 Besides the difficulties above alluded to, in the way of 
 pursuing the sport after the manner of our fathers, 
 recent legislation has placed many more obstacles in 
 the path of such pursuit. No longer, after the 
 passing of the Rabbits and Hares Bill, can we say, 
 if I may be allowed to paraphrase and desecrate with 
 so vile a pun Pope's earliest lines : 
 
 " Happy the man whose only care 
 
 A few paternal acres bound, 
 Content to shoot his native hare 
 On his own ground." 
 
u 8 SPORT. 
 
 The hare is no longer his to shoot, and the ground 
 itself, we are being taught to believe, is no longer his 
 own either. No legislation has ever been so mis- 
 chievous and so useless as the above Act. It is bad 
 for landlord and tenant alike. Bad for the landlord, 
 as it takes away from him one of the inducements, 
 small though it may seem, to reside on his estate, and 
 from this very cause it has depreciated the value of 
 his land, just at a time, too, when land was sufficiently 
 depreciated already. 
 
 I was myself informed by one of the chief auc- 
 tioneers and land salesmen in London, that this cause 
 more than the bad seasons, had made land unsaleable, 
 because, after the dangerous principle which the Act 
 established that no contracts between man and man 
 should hold good by law on this subject, purchasers 
 feared the extension of the principle to other matters. 
 He added that one of the main objects and ambitions 
 of those who had made fortunes in trade used to be 
 to buy a landed estate, with all the concomitant 
 sporting amenities which to many of them formed 
 
CO VER T-SHOO TING, 1 1 g 
 
 its principal attraction. Suddenly all this was changed. 
 A privilege, which by long-established custom belonged 
 to the landlord, was transferred to the tenant by Act 
 of Parliament, with the malicious provision that no 
 special agreement to the contrary, no matter how 
 heavily the landlord may be prepared to pay for it, 
 or may have actually paid for it already in the shape 
 of low rents, should be binding on the tenant. So 
 when the capitalist saw this thing done, and also saw 
 what was done in Ireland in regard to the land itself, 
 he put his purse back in his pocket, saying, " No ! 
 if what I buy is not to be my own, if Government 
 is to step in and prevent me from deriving either rent 
 or amusement from the land which I have fairly bought 
 and paid for, I will put my money somewhere else 
 where, besides the advantage of receiving double the 
 interest for it, if I like to give it away to another 
 person, I can do so myself, and not have the operation 
 performed for me by Parliament." 
 
 It is bad for the tenant, as it encourages him or his 
 son to neglect the real work of the farm, and to loaf 
 
120 SPORT. 
 
 about with a gun which he is apt to leave about loaded 
 in odd corners inside the house, till his youngest 
 brother, Jack, who combines a playful disposition with 
 a keen sense of humour, finds it and cannot resist the 
 performance of the time-honoured jest of full cocking 
 it, pointing it at the head of his little sister, pulling the 
 trigger, and scattering her brains against the wall. 
 Anyhow, no one has been bold enough to assert that 
 this Act has benefited or could ever benefit the tenant. 
 It has, as was possibly intended, injured the landlord, 
 and created a bad feeling here and there, no doubt, 
 between him and his tenant, as was possibly, for 
 political reasons, also intended ; but that it has ever 
 done, or ever can do, good to either class is, as is now 
 well known, an impossibility. 
 
 The Farmers' Alliance, a political organisation in 
 which real farmers are not represented at all the 
 three points of whose charter seem to be, i, farms rent 
 free ; 2, landlord to do the repairs ; 3, tenant to have 
 the shooting may possibly approve of it, but only on 
 account of the political and actual injury which it may 
 
COVERT-SHOOTING. 121 
 
 inflict upon the landlords. The proposed sentimental 
 pigeon-shooting legislation, too, happily thrown out in 
 the Lords, was not only foolish but injurious. It would 
 have interfered with a certain amount of trade and a 
 certain amount of food supply, for the pigeon, like the 
 fox, pheasant, and many other animals, would not exist 
 but for the sport he affords; and to "'Any"- who 
 owns no broad acres, nor is asked to battues he 
 affords the only possible recreation with the gun. Of 
 the heart-rending stories of half-plucked, maimed, and 
 blinded birds put into traps at the low public-house 
 matches which "'Any" frequents, only a small per- 
 centage need be swallowed as truth and that not 
 
 o 
 
 without salt. But, even if comparatively true, is it 
 only at pigeon matches that such barbarous rascalities 
 occur ? Look behind the scenes, magnates of the 
 turf! What caused the "Flying Potboy's" swelled 
 back sinew the day before the Derby ? and what took 
 away Sigismunda's appetite and gave her that dull 
 glazed eye on the morning of the Oaks ? Is any 
 notice taken of such atrocities ? Does Parliament in 
 
122 SPORT. 
 
 consequence pass an Act to close that hot-bed of 
 immorality, Tattersall's betting-rooms, and declare all 
 horse-racing 1 illegal ? 
 
 Once more to my theme. Battue shooting and 
 grouse and partridge driving are as a rule the only 
 modes by which game can be satisfactorily killed in 
 England in these days. Space will not admit of my 
 dealing with more than the first of these three, one 
 word only I will say for the two latter. They are not 
 only productive of the prettiest and most difficult shots, 
 but they tend positively to increase the stock on moor 
 or stubble. When shooting over dogs or walking up 
 birds in line, the young birds get killed, the old ones, 
 especially the cocks, escape, a very bad result for the 
 prospects of next year's breeding ; whereas, when 
 driven, these jealous and pugnacious old reprobates 
 lead the way, and are the first killed, to the great 
 advantage of moor or manor. 
 
 Now, of battues there are two kinds, the object 
 being the same in each, but in the execution they are 
 widely different, all depending on the knowledge and 
 
CO VER T-SHO O TING . 123 
 
 so to speak, generalship of the organiser or manager, 
 be he proprietor or keeper ; and, indeed, many of the 
 qualities of a good general are requisite for the due 
 carrying out of a successful battue. One plan of 
 operation must be decided on and adhered to. No 
 detail must be neglected : one " stop " forgotten, or 
 one gun misplaced, will sometimes entirely spoil the 
 day's proceedings. Besides, there are two kinds of 
 hosts the one who knows his business, limits the 
 number of his guns according to the capacities of his 
 coverts, and selects these guests with care, wishing to 
 give them an enjoyable day's shooting, and also to 
 have his game properly killed. The other, who is not 
 a sportsman, asks twice as many guns as his coverts 
 will hold, and asks them indiscriminately " doing the 
 civil" all round, without regard to their shooting 
 qualifications with the result of spoiling what might 
 have been a good day's sport, a great deal of game 
 wounded and lost, some of it so " plastered " as to be 
 useless, and perhaps one of the party returning home 
 minus an eye. And, indeed, at such an incongruous 
 
124 SPORT. 
 
 gathering, comprising, perhaps, youths from college, 
 Oxford dons, professors, and a foreign count or so, 
 there is sure to be danger. Out of a large country- 
 house party, when all are asked to shoot, some will 
 know their own incapacity and decline, but others, 
 especially the professors, will scorn the idea of any 
 disability, and accept with glee the unaccustomed 
 chance. 
 
 I once asked one of these guests of doubtful sporting 
 character whether he cared to shoot. " Oh, yes," he 
 replied with avidity. " I'm a wretched bad shot, but 
 I'm very fond of shooting" With a heavy heart for 
 I had not the nerve to tell him what I ought to have 
 told him at once to stay at home I took the field 
 with him, and I believe it was some years before that 
 beat recovered the desolation which he dealt around 
 him. There happened to be a good many hares on it, 
 and he shot at all he saw, irrespective of distance. I 
 never saw him kill one, but he hit a great many, as he 
 himself with conscious pride informed me. I placed 
 this wretch at the end of a covert, where, being myself 
 
COVERT-SHOOTING. 125 
 
 with the beaters, I heard him blazing away freely ; 
 and when I came up to him I looked round the open 
 field in which he was standing, and seeing no sign of 
 the slain turned an inquiring glance towards him. 
 " Oh, yes !" he eagerly answered, " I've killed a lot of 
 them. But it's very odd, they all went on ; but they'll 
 find them in the next field. Look here ! and here ! 
 fancy going on after that ! " he cried, as he gathered 
 up a handful of fur from the grass and held ic up in 
 triumph. I said nothing, but silence is eloquent 
 sometimes ; I was overwhelmed with horror. For 
 myself, if I wound a hare and do not recover it, I am 
 wretched all that day. And here he was, calm and 
 even exultant, either unaware of the hideous cruelty 
 he had been committing, or else utterly callous to the 
 sufferings he had inflicted. It was revolting. This 
 monster, against whose name in the game book I put 
 the blackest of marks, was otherwise a kindly-disposed 
 and apparently civilise d being, sane and reasonable in 
 behaviour except out shooting, where he never ought 
 to be allowed to go, and where, I maintain, no one 
 
126 SPORT. 
 
 should be allowed to go till he has passed an examina- 
 tion not competitive, but which should exclude all 
 who fail to reach a certain standard, or until he can 
 hit a mechanical rabbit or " running hare " in the head 
 and shoulders, instead of the tail and hind legs. 
 
 In such a party, too, will probably be found the 
 " plasterer," who prides himself on quick shooting, and 
 in cutting down the birds before they get well on the 
 wing a valuable accomplishment when walking after 
 wild partridges in the open, but most objectionable 
 when applied to the pheasant, whether in or outside a 
 covert. The plasterer, whose plastering often arises 
 from jealousy, will plaster i.e. blow the pheasant into 
 a pulp the moment he rises above the trees of a low 
 larch plantation, when walking in line with the beaters, 
 rather than let the forward guns, for whose safety he 
 shows small regard, have the fine rocketer which 
 the same pheasant would have become by the time he 
 reached them had his life been then spared. It should 
 be a fixed rule in covert-shooting that the guns inside 
 should only shoot at ground game, and at such 
 
CO VER T-SHOO TING. \ 27 
 
 pheasants as go back over their heads, leaving the 
 low-flying pheasants in front of them to be dealt with 
 by the guns outside. This rule is invariable at pro- 
 perly-conducted shootings, and, if made universal, 
 would greatly increase sport and save many lives and 
 eyes. And, while on the subject of danger, I will add 
 these golden rules, which, though they may not insure 
 safety because " accidents will happen " from glance 
 shots or other contingencies, even at the best-regulated 
 shootings will, if observed strictly, minimise the 
 danger 
 
 1. Regard the gun as what it is an enemy to life ; 
 carry it loaded or unloaded, with the muzzle vertical 
 to earth or sky. 
 
 2. When loading, after inserting the cartridges, 
 close the breech by raising the butt of the gun, not 
 the barrel. 
 
 3. In covert, with guns or stops forward, never 
 shoot at a low pheasant, woodcock, or any bird. 
 
 4. Never shoot long shots at ground game. 
 
 5. Never shoot ground game on the sky line, or on 
 
128 COVERT-SHOOTING. 
 
 the brow of any hilly or undulating ground in a 
 covert. 
 
 6. Never " follow on " to any bird or beast crossing 
 the line or level of any human being or domestic 
 animal. 
 
 It is no excuse to say, as I have heard men say 
 when remonstrated with for " following on," " Oh, I 
 was not going to shoot till it had passed you." While 
 aiming at bird or beast he cannot tell when he may 
 shoot. His eye is on the object to be killed, and he 
 cannot see two things at once. He may "pull" at 
 any moment. He must both aim and shoot in front 
 of, or behind him ; when the object gets near the line 
 of shooters or beaters he should " recover " his gun 
 and not put it up again till the game has passed it. 
 This rule is to be specially observed in grouse or 
 partridge driving. 
 
 I wonder to find myself now writing with unim- 
 paired sight and uncrippled limbs after assisting at 
 some of the battues of my youth. At the recollection 
 of one of these I even now shudder. The party 
 
COVERT-SHOOTING. 129 
 
 consisted principally of the host, a statesman of some 
 distinction, and his sons and sons-in-law. Rules there 
 were none, all seemed to go where they liked. The 
 guns were like the flaming swords at the gate of Eden, 
 and pointed every way ; three or four shots went at 
 every pheasant as soon as he got a yard from the 
 ground, the numerous family firing indiscriminately, 
 and apparently, like French soldiers or young recruits 
 when excited, from the hip. At one point all the 
 game seemed to be going back, and on my calling the 
 keeper's attention to this, he said, "Yes, I'm most 
 afear'd Mr Edmund has got a-talking." Mr. Edmund 
 was the youngest son, who had gone forward with a 
 college companion to a point where hares were ex- 
 pected to cross. I knew him well, a sharp youth, 
 with very advanced views, and as he never did any- 
 thing else but talk, this result did not surprise me ; but 
 even I was unprepared for what I saw when we came 
 up to him. He and the college friend were standing 
 about thirty yards apart, with their guns laid aside 
 against trees, carrying on an animated argument in 
 
 K 
 

 130 SPORT. 
 
 loud tones and with profuse gesticulation on the 
 question of the nature and attributes of the Trinity, 
 which discussion, whatever convincing result it might 
 have had on either of their minds, had effectually 
 turned all the hares, for which reason, unmindful of 
 the cause, they had abandoned their guns. A merci- 
 ful Providence guarded the party ; though death with 
 levelled dart stalked beside us all day, no one fell 
 The host, who especially bore a charmed life, used 
 to vanish occasionally, only to reappear suddenly at 
 unexpected places in front of the line and in the 
 direction of the hottest fire. He never spoke or gave 
 a warning signal of his whereabouts, but crept about 
 silently, like a red Indian ; and I myself, if I had not 
 even then observed the " sky line " rule as to ground 
 game above mentioned, should inevitably have slain 
 him on our way home on a little eminence on a gravel 
 walk in his own garden. He, however, did not err 
 from ignorance ; he knew his own risk, but was so 
 impervious to fear that he seemed to be a fatalist : 
 " Never mind me" he used to say, when even one of 
 
CO VER T-SHOO TING. 1 3 1 
 
 his reckless and excitable offspring, for whom he had 
 posted himself as a target at intervals all day, had 
 been almost shocked and sobered by having fired at 
 his parent's gaiter in mistake for a hare on one of 
 these sudden appearances in front of the line, and was 
 only indebted to his own want of skill for escape from 
 possible parricide. " Never mind me, I can take care 
 of myself" (the cleverest men have their delusions) ; 
 " but don't shoot each other ! " Then he would 
 disappear again, make one of his mysterious flank 
 marches, and calmly court death in some other 
 locality. 
 
 Dangerous as these excitable youths were, I have 
 seen others more dangerous. Their excitability 
 was natural, the result of too active and mercurial 
 a temperament, and the danger arising out of it, 
 though grave enough, was not quite so formidable 
 as that caused by the artificially produced excitement 
 of habitual over-indulgence in stimulants. One 
 young man who had contracted this fatal habit, 
 and consequently was haunted on occasions by 
 
 K 2 
 
i 3 2 SPORT. 
 
 visions of black beetles and crawling reptiles, who 
 once was heard to say, as he pushed back his 
 chair after a breakfast consisting of a peach, a 
 bottle of champagne, and a glass of brandy, " There, 
 I haven't eaten a heartier breakfast than that for 
 a long time," had been shooting at a neighbour's 
 of a host of mine, who recounted this story of his 
 doings. This young man while out shooting, and 
 being, as he himself described it, " awfully jumpy ' 
 that morning, happened to be about thirty yards 
 from a hollow lane along which a beater was pro- 
 ceeding carrying three or four hares on his back. 
 They wobbled about as he walked, and the jumpy 
 youth, catching sight of their movements just above 
 the fence, instantly fired a snap shot, with the 
 effect of putting several pellets into the unhappy 
 beater's back. Fortunately, however, such deplor- 
 able examples are rare. 
 
 The "jealous shot" above alluded to, is, even 
 if he be not a plasterer, an objectionable character, 
 whether you meet him at such a party as I have 
 
CO VER T-SHO O TING. 1 33 
 
 described or in better-conducted field-days, where, 
 as he often shoots well, he may be also found. 
 His object all day seems to be less to enjoy him- 
 self than to spoil the enjoyment of others, and he 
 will always prefer his neighbour's bird to his own. 
 Without being at all sui profusus, he is alieni appetens. 
 He is ravenous for the best place, and often unsatisfied 
 when he has got it. He often keeps a score of 
 what he kills, which usually amounts to two-thirds 
 of the whole bag, generously leaving the remainder 
 to be divided among the other four or five guns. 
 He is, in short, a conceited and selfish animal out 
 shooting, and is not always asked a second time, 
 yet in private life sometimes he is not a bad 
 fellow. 
 
 But we will imagine a scientifically-organised and 
 faultless shoot, with none of the above drawbacks, 
 but with six good guns and coverts full of game, 
 a kindly and courteous host, a fine morning in the 
 latter half of November, a slight frost having now 
 (ten A.M.) given way to a bright sun and gentle 
 
r34 SPORT. 
 
 westerly breeze. We proceed to the first covert, a 
 small clump in the park in sight of the windows 
 of the mansion which is not necessarily of the 
 "fine old Elizabethan type." Hazel slips stuck 
 in the ground about eighty or a hundred yards from 
 the covert, with a small piece of paper in a cleft at 
 the top, mark the several positions of the four forward 
 guns, whom the host now numbers off to occupy, 
 taking the other with himself to walk in line with 
 the beaters. For a time not a sound save the gentle 
 tapping of the beaters' sticks is heard ; there is no 
 shouting, no " Hi, cock ! " or wild yelling, which is 
 deemed so indispensable at uncultivated battues. 
 The host will not allow such barbarous customs (for 
 be it known, as he well knows, that the more noise 
 the less sport ; that shouting, instead of driving game 
 forward, especially as regards ground game, drives 
 it back). Then a shot or two, followed by several 
 more from the inside guns, who are now warmly 
 engaged with the rabbits, then the first pheasant 
 an old cock is seen by the forward guns sailing 
 
CO VER T-SHOO TING. \ 35 
 
 silently along just over the tree tops towards them. 
 His outspread wings do not move, he had attained 
 his requisite elevation and impetus when he rose 
 before the beaters to clear the trees at the further 
 end of the clump. He is lowering now, and ap- 
 parently thinking of a descent to earth just outside 
 the covert, but catching sight of the guns forward 
 he re-agitates his wings and ascends again, as though 
 not fancying a too close proximity to these four 
 suspicious little groups of beings. These groups 
 (of three persons each, i.e., the shooter, loader, and 
 cartridge carrier) on their part are watching him 
 anxiously. Whom will he come to ? Whom will he 
 honour with the responsibility of properly and 
 becomingly taking away his already doomed life ? 
 "first of that fatal day" to his tribe. Has he an 
 inkling of his fate ? It seems so, for he soars 
 higher and higher; but high indeed must he go to 
 be safe from guns like these, and tall as he is when 
 he rockets over the right centre, number two fires, 
 and catching him exactly at the right angle he 
 
136 SPORT. 
 
 collapses. His wings clap to as if by machinery, 
 like those of a mechanical bird when he has finished 
 his song outside a musical snuff-box. A very small 
 bunch of feathers floats lightly in the blue sky 
 
 A ROCKETER. 
 
 where late he flew ; he " leaves his life midway in 
 air," and his body falls with a heavy thud just behind 
 his favoured executioner, who, being the youngest 
 of the party, with a certain interest in the host's 
 family which made him very nervous when this 
 
ROCKETERS. 
 
COVERT-SHOOTING. 139 
 
 first "gallery shot" came to his share, knowing 
 perhaps who was watching at the window not with- 
 out an opera-glass felt great relief and satisfaction 
 in his fall. 
 
 It is a great thing to kill your first shot properly, 
 for knocking down your game and killing it are two 
 very different matters. There should be no flustering 
 or spinning in the air, or easily inclined descents, 
 followed by, oh, horror ! active pedestrianism on the 
 ground. Too many feathers left in the air indicate 
 too great proximity to his tail ; they should be few 
 and small, struck from the head, neck, and breast 
 only. So should the " rocketer " fall ; as straight to 
 earth as the velocity of his previous flight or the 
 force of the wind will allow, and, falling, never move 
 so much as a feather. This done with your first 
 pheasant gives you confidence ; you have " got the 
 range ; " you know that nothing is wrong with di- 
 gestion or sight, and you feel that for that day you 
 are sure to do your duty. Then follow a few more 
 birds equally distributed among the four professionals, 
 
140 
 
 SPORT. 
 
 and disposed of with equal science. Then a few 
 hares come cantering out midway between the guns> 
 offering fair broadside shots, and are rolled over 
 stone dead by well-laid, forward-aimed guns ; no 
 
 AN ACTIVE PEDESTRIAN. 
 
 piteous screams or erect heads as they drag their 
 broken hind legs after them, no coursing by retrievers, 
 as would occur when a "muff" is " behind the gun/' 
 They turn head over heels and never move again. 
 
CO VER T-S HOOTING . 
 
 141 
 
 And now the pheasants come quicker, and the firing 
 becomes fast and furious, till behind each gun lie many 
 little feathered lumps of varied hues on the smooth 
 turf. Now and then, though very rarely, in the 
 
 
 CAUTION. 
 
 hurry and heat of the action, even these professors 
 shoot a little behind a bird, and he carries on sorely 
 wounded, but is usually marked down and gathered 
 by watchful keepers, who stand with retrievers far 
 behind the guns. Sometimes, too, though still more 
 
142 SPORT. 
 
 rarely, the very best professor among them, with an 
 
 CONFIDENCE. 
 
 almost world-wide reputation, will "clean miss" an 
 easy shot, for the man who never misses has yet to 
 
 CONFIDENCE MISPLACED. 
 
 be born. And now many of the pheasants will no 
 
CO VER T-S HOOTING. 
 
 longer face the forward 
 guns, and curl back over 
 the beaters' heads only to 
 meet their doom from the 
 two guns who are now 
 standing back in the covert. 
 As the beaters close in a 
 semicircle at the end of 
 the clump, the laggard 
 birds only rise just at the 
 fence, and give lower, 
 nearer, and less interest- 
 ing chances. These seem 
 the easiest shots of all 
 but they are not so ; no- 
 thing, I don't know why, 
 is more difficult than a 
 low broadside shot at a 
 pheasant, perhaps because 
 he looks so common-place, 
 obvious, and easy, and 
 
 
 TEARING THEM DOWN." 
 
144 SPORT. 
 
 perhaps because the shooter has to look all round 
 him to see that no stray keeper or retriever is in the 
 way before he fires. 
 
 But there are very few of these, and now all is over 
 with this prolific " clump," as it is called ; but it is 
 really a little oval -shaped wood of some four to six 
 acres. The host and his companion emerge from it, 
 hopes his friends have had good sport, pays a well- 
 placed compliment or two to those whom he has 
 especially observed " tearing them down," as he says, 
 "out of the skies." The keepers and beaters collect 
 the slain, and they all hurry on to the next covert. 
 Fear not, reader ! I will not repeat the dose. 
 Although " Ex uno disce omnes " by no means 
 applies to shooting for it has many varieties space, 
 if not humanity, forbids my following the party 
 further. Enough to say that, as was inevitable with 
 fine weather, plenty of game, good management, and 
 first-class guns, the head keeper at the end of the 
 day, with a face radiant with satisfaction, hands a 
 card to the host, who enumerates large totals to his 
 
CO VER T-SHOO TING. 145 
 
 gratified guests. The result is that the keeper is 
 pleased ; his birds, so long carefully tended, have been 
 " clean killed ; " nothing is so mortifying to him as to 
 see them missed or wounded. " Shoot, sir, shoot!" 
 said a keeper once to me who was generally known, 
 from the character of his language, as " the Blas- 
 
 phemer," when I was walking with the beaters in a 
 covert and sparing the pheasants that went forward. 
 I told him that I left them for the guns outside. 
 " But they can't hit 'em !" he cried in agony. " Over, 
 forward ! There there again ! look at that ! " he 
 yelled, with a numerous escort of unnameable ex- 
 pletives as four barrels were again discharged outside 
 
 L 
 
1 4 6 
 
 SPORT. 
 
 without result, " what's the use of driving pheasants 
 to the like of them ?" " them " being two gentlemen 
 of ancient family and of social distinction in the 
 
 RETRIEVED. 
 
 neighbourhood (for the Blasphemer was no respecter 
 of persons), and these observations not having been 
 delivered sotto voce, my host, I remember, was not 
 pleased. 
 
COVERT-SHOOTING. 147 
 
 On this occasion the host is pleased, for the totals 
 are even more than he expected, and if these amounted 
 to even four figures, what harm ? who is injured by it ? 
 Not the tenant-farmers, many of whom are out beat- 
 ing or looking on with smiling faces, and taking as 
 much pride and interest as the host himself in the 
 successful proceedings, and who, with half the neigh- 
 bourhood round, receive handsome presents of game, 
 and what else can it hurt but the proprietor's own 
 pocket ? for these battues are costly. Still, if he 
 likes to spend his money thus, employing as he does 
 a great number of persons, what harm ? 
 
 Why, 1 repeat, should the Camberwcll Daily 
 Calumniator wax so wroth as it records these totals ? 
 And if, after a wide distribution of gifts, the surplus 
 be sold, what harm again ? There is a large demand 
 for game. The rich merchants and manufacturers, 
 whose smart villas fringe the adjacent town, im- 
 peratively require it for their dinner parties. They 
 have no manors of their own to supply it ; they must 
 buy it, and if landed proprietors won't sell it, so 
 
 L 2 
 
I 4 8 SPORT. 
 
 much the better for Allan -a- dale, who can thus 
 monopolise and command the market. Instead of a 
 crime, I hold it to be a duty in the game-preserving 
 landowner to sell a certain portion of his game, for 
 the double purpose of supplying a recognised want 
 and of underselling the poacher. 
 
 Why is there a sympathy with the poacher ? for there 
 is, especially among some borough magistrates. First, 
 because he is the general game supplier of the district ; 
 secondly, because a sort of romance is attached to 
 him. The poacher of theory and penny literature is 
 a young, manly, athletic agricultural labourer, who 
 cannot control the sporting tastes which are so deeply 
 implanted in his Anglo-Saxon nature, and who, with 
 gun or wire, occasionally goes out to bring home a 
 pheasant or hare to a sick wife or starving family. 
 The real, practical poacher is the idle, dirty, drunken 
 blackguard of the town, who will never work, who, if he 
 has not already kicked his wife to death, neglects or 
 forsakes her, and, in company with no less than twelve 
 (with fewer he dare not go out), and often thirty or 
 
COVERT-SHOOTING. 149 
 
 forty similar characters, sallies forth at night with long 
 nets and scours the country round, breaking fences, 
 leaving gates open, harassing the farmer in many ways, 
 and when game fails, helping himself to poultry or 
 anything else that is not his. He is as a rule a 
 wretched coward, and the whole gang will run if met 
 by anything like half its number ; but if, with a 
 sufficient number of his gallant associates, he meets 
 an unhappy keeper alone, he will half-murder him ; 
 and he has the consoling reflection that if he wholly 
 does so, he has sympathisers in high places, and 
 will probably escape the extreme penalty of the law, 
 because his victim is only a gamekeeper, whereas if 
 the gamekeeper kills him he is sure to be hanged. 
 These large gangs only exist through the non- 
 enforcement of the law, arising out of the above- 
 mentioned sympathy with the poacher. They can be 
 and are suppressed wherever the Night- Poaching Act 
 is rigidly enforced. For this reason chiefly in Liverpool 
 there is not, I believe, a single poacher. The 
 authorities order the police to stop his spoils coming 
 
ISO SPORT. 
 
 into market, so he cannot carry on his trade. But 
 in many towns he can walk in with his gang, loaded with 
 game in broad daylight. No one says a word, and 
 the police dare not interfere for fear of a snub from 
 the Bench. Which is right, Liverpool or the other 
 towns ? One must be wrong, and I do not think it is 
 Liverpool. It seems to me that any town will be the 
 better for relief from a population of hereditary idlers, 
 even if they are not also drunkards and thieves, of 
 which the poaching community largely consists. 
 
 I return to our host and his party. It must not 
 be supposed that there are no intermediate stages 
 between the perfection of his battue and the family 
 scramble I have tried to depict further back ; this 
 host was a model in every respect, and chiefly for that 
 reason all went well at his battues. He knew his 
 business ; every detail was arranged beforehand ; 
 everyone knew his place. His temper was perfect; 
 there was no noise, confusion, or rating of keepers, 
 as sometimes occurs to the detriment of everybody's 
 pleasure. Even the large crowds, amounting to 
 
COVERT-SHOOTING. 151 
 
 hundreds, who often assembled to see the shooting, 
 seemed to be influenced by the atmosphere of rule, 
 method, and orderly behaviour which prevailed 
 around ; and, indeed, as a rule, the conduct of these 
 large assemblies at " big shoots " in the manufacturing 
 and mining districts is beyond all praise. To a 
 nervous man it may be trying to have an enormous 
 gallery behind him, commenting, he feels sure, even if 
 he does not hear them, as he probably will, on each 
 shot ; but these comments are made as decently as 
 possible, and with a kindly regard to the shooter's 
 feelings. " Oh, it was a very difficult shot ! " when he 
 missed, and "Well done !" when he killed, is often 
 the line of criticism. 
 
 I did once hear of a nervous young man at one 
 of these popular shootings whose lot did not fall in 
 pleasant places. It was in a mining district, and a 
 small "tail" of miners attached itself to each gun at 
 the commencement of the beat, the number increasing 
 and growing out of the bowels of the earth as the day 
 proceeded ; each " tail " betting freely with the next 
 
152 SPORT. 
 
 " tail " on each shot, and backing their particular gun to 
 have the largest number when the game was counted 
 at the end of each beat. The young man in question 
 was not shooting well, and after two or three egregious 
 misses a Herculean miner came up to him, and gently 
 but firmly informed him that he, the miner, had 
 backed him, had already lost a good deal of money, 
 and that if he did not improve his shooting, " he had 
 a moind " to give him a " hoiding." Here was a con- 
 tingency totally unexpected. This was adding the 
 " element of uncertainty " before mentioned as so 
 desirable, in a very unpleasant shape, and with a 
 vengeance. But I never heard how it ended. It is 
 anyhow difficult to conceive that the intimation could 
 have encouraged the nervous youth, or improved his 
 shooting. 
 
 On another occasion a noble lord, a distinguished 
 cavalry officer, and an awful martinet, had a large 
 shooting party, when, in spite of endless loudly-given 
 orders, marchings, and counter-marchings of beaters, 
 everything seemed to go wrong, pheasants included. 
 
COVERT-SHOOTING. 153 
 
 So at the end of a covert in which little had been 
 found, and that little not properly " brought to the 
 gun," the head keeper was summoned, and, all 
 resplendent in green and gold as he was, advanced 
 with abject mien, faltering some trembling excuses to 
 his now almost rabid master, who, cutting these 
 sternly short, asked : "Shall we find more in the next 
 covert?' 1 <f I hope so, my lord." "Hope, sir!" 
 roared the peer, with terrific emphasis on the verb. 
 " Do you think I give you ^"100 a year to hope'? 
 Now, go and beat that wood this way, and I'll post 
 the guns." "Your lordship means this wood?" said 
 the terrified functionary, pointing to another. " No, 
 I don't." " But, my lord " expostulated the man, 
 now more alarmed than ever. " Not a word, sir ; obey 
 orders ! " Irresolute, and evidently much perplexed, 
 the wretched man marched off with his army and beat 
 the wood, in which there was absolutely nothing. 
 Terrible then to see was the wrath of the baffled 
 so dier, till the miserable keeper, seeing he was about 
 to be dismissed on the spot, cried out in heart-rending 
 
154 SPORT. 
 
 accents : " It's not your wood, my lord. It belongs to 
 Lord W." (his neighbour) ; " and he shot it last 
 Friday ! " All the keepers and beaters knew this, 
 yet not one had dared to gainsay Achilles in his ire. 
 
 Another host, who combined a highly religious 
 temperament with an uncontrollable temper, on 
 something going wrong with the beat, burst into 
 paroxysms of fury with his keeper, to whom he 
 used most unparliamentary language. A minute or 
 two afterwards, having cooled down again, he called 
 the man up to him, and asked in subdued and 
 penitent accents, " What did I call you just now, 
 Smith ? " " Well, sir," Smith replied, not without 
 a tone of pardonable soreness, " you called me a 
 d_d infernal fool!" "Did I, Smith, did I really? 
 I'm very sorry. Oh ! to think that one Christian 
 man should use such language as that to another ! 
 Heaven forgive me ! But," he shouted in stentorian 
 tones, as his rage suddenly returned, " it's God's 
 truth all the same ! " 
 
 Such incidents don't improve a day's sport, and 
 
CO VER T-SHOO TING. 1 5 5 
 
 happily they are rare, but their record has unduly 
 lengthened this paper. Let me conclude by giving 
 a word of advice to all neophytes in shooting. 
 Shooting is cruel ; so are many other things in this 
 world. Don't make it more cruel than necessary. 
 Shoot humanely. How ? First of all learn to 
 shoot. Practise at projected plates, bottles, glass- 
 balls, turnips, or any inanimate thing that moves, 
 before you shoot at living creatures. And then, I 
 implore you, shoot before, not at the latter, unless 
 sitting. Never mind if you miss, don't wound. 
 By shooting before the object (and you will soon 
 learn how much or how little before it you ought to 
 aim), you will, when you hit it, kill it dead, and so 
 spare suffering to the animal and your own feelings, 
 if you have any. Don't shoot very long shots at 
 any game ; and never, pray never ! at hares going 
 straight away from you, unless very close to you, 
 and you can aim at the back of their heads. 
 Broadside, if you shoot well before them, you can 
 kill them dead a good way off, but going straight 
 
156 SPORT. 
 
 away you are certain only to wound them. The 
 " monster " described earlier, when I asked him why 
 he shot at a hare eighty or 100 yards off, 
 seeing there was no possibility of killing it, replied : 
 " Oh, I don't know that. A chance pellet might 
 enter the eye and so penetrate the brain and cause 
 death " (this was his ghastly idea of humour) ; 
 " besides, I wanted to try these new guns ! " 
 Avoid, humane reader, any such cold-blooded ex- 
 periments, and when there is much doubt, give the 
 poor animal the benefit of it, and forbear to press 
 the torture-dealing trigger. 
 
 And you, critics on shooting and censors of 
 country gentlemen's habits, try to be charitable, nor, 
 because you cannot understand it, think a sport 
 common and unclean, and condemn a class with 
 which you are totally unacquainted. We all have 
 our faults, and the battue giver and frequenter 
 have no claim to infallibility, being human like 
 yourselves. But, as a rule, they will be found, if 
 a Royal Commission was appointed to examine 
 
COVERT-SHOOTING. 157 
 
 the details of their discharge of the every-day duties 
 of life, to compare favourably with any other 
 section of mankind. 
 
 I have spoken my mind freely and without fear 
 on an unpopular subject, of which I have taken 
 the especially unpopular side. Battues are against 
 the " spirit of the age," it is said ; so, again, it 
 is said, is the private ownership of land ; so, it 
 rnay be urged in the future, is the private owner- 
 ship of a watch. Alter our laws if you will. Let 
 all possession of property be illegal, and curtail its 
 rights to the limits of the clothing we have on 
 our backs. Annul all contracts, forbid buying and 
 selling, abolish trade. Take from those who have 
 and give to those who have not, but at least 
 let all who have be tarred with the same brush ; 
 and until our laws be so altered, cease from the 
 hypocrisy and spite which attacks not only the 
 worldly possessions but even the amusements of 
 one class alone. 
 

DEER-STALKING 
 
 BRYCE'S BILL 
 
 I HAVE alluded, in my remarks on covert shoot- 
 ing, to the spiteful character of the recently 
 passed " Ground Game " or " Hares and Rabbits 
 Act," which was known before it passed, and has 
 proved since its passing, to be of no real benefit 
 whatever to tenant farmers, although very injurious 
 in the interests of landowners. But that Act had 
 at all events the pretence of being introduced in 
 the interest of the tenant farmers, and anyhow there 
 was a clear motive political though it was on 
 the part of Government in passing it, viz., the 
 placing the tenant farmer under an obligation to 
 the Government by their gift to him of certain 
 
 M 
 
1 62 SPORT 
 
 rights and privileges which had by almost im- 
 memorial custom belonged to his landlord. But 
 now a strange Bill with a strange title is presented 
 to Parliament, called the " Access to Mountains 
 Bill," but which might with more accuracy of de- 
 finition have been termed the *' Destruction to 
 Deer-stalking," " Ebullition of Envy," " Indulgence 
 of Ill-nature," "Irritation of Owners," or "Spoiling 
 of Sport " Bill, which has no pretence, or outward 
 visible sign of benefit to anybody, not even a 
 possible political end to serve ; but is simply an 
 open and undisguised attempt to injure Highland 
 proprietors, and so reduce the value of their estates 
 as to make them almost worthless. For who 
 would hire a deer forest or a grouse moor if 
 he were liable at any time, at the conclusion of a 
 long stalk perhaps, to see the hideous apparition 
 of " 'Any " in appalling checks on the sky-line 
 in full view of the deer ? Or on a windy day 
 with the grouse rather wild, to see the same estim- 
 able being, with more or less kindred spirits, 
 
DEER-STALKING. 163 
 
 whooping and holloaing across the sheltered flat 
 on to which the luckless sportsman had driven the 
 bulk of his birds, expecting there to " make up 
 his bag " in the afternoon, and where now he sees 
 them wheeling off in affrighted packs from the 
 unaccustomed sights and discordant sounds ? And 
 what redress has he ? Says the Bill : " In case 
 of any action of interdict, etc., etc., founded on 
 alleged trespass, it shall be a sufficient defence 
 that the lands referred to were uncultivated moun- 
 tain or moor lands, and that the respondent 
 rntered thereon only for the purposes of recrea- 
 tion, or of scientific or artistic study." So "'Any," 
 when challenged as to his business on the sky-line 
 of the deer forest, has only to pull out an old 
 betting-book, which for the nonce he turns into a 
 sketch-book, and proudly proclaim himself to be a 
 " Hartis ; " and when questioned on his proceed- 
 ings on the grouse moor, he replies that he's " a 
 recreating of himself." True he is not allowed 
 to carry a gun, and a " blooming shame " that 
 
 M 2 
 
1 64 SPORT. 
 
 is, but he'll take care that no one else shall do 
 so to any effect. The law allows him to go where 
 he likes for the purposes of scientific study. His 
 special study just now is ornithology, and he is 
 here seeking knowledge of the habits, and especially 
 the flight, of grouse ; or, of course, if these resources 
 fail, geology will furnish him with endless " de- 
 fences," so that eventually, after resorting to the 
 weak and futile expedient of bribing this particular 
 " 'Arry " to go away and pursue his scientific re- 
 searches, or study art elsewhere, with the only 
 effect of multiplying the artistic or scientific breed 
 to an alarming extent in that district, the wretched 
 proprietor or lessee will have to give up, the one 
 his profit, the other his pleasure, at the bidding 
 of the senseless sentimentality of fanatical socialims, 
 and at the sacrifice of hundreds of honest thousands 
 of pounds sterling which Scotland now annually 
 receives from English sporting enterprise. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE REAL. 
 
 THERE are two distinct kinds of deer-stalking, 
 the real and the artificial. The first, and of course 
 the most delectable, to be enjoyed, alas ! only by 
 the young, the strong, the active. The second, more 
 or less available to men of all ages short of de- 
 crepitude, but, at its best, only the poor parody of 
 the first. By the real, I mean the pursuit of 
 the perfectly wild animal on its own primaeval 
 and ancestral ground, as yet unannexed and un- 
 appropriated in any shape or way by man ; where, 
 therefore, no permission can be asked, granted or 
 refused ; where the wild illimitable expanse is free 
 to all, human or animal, and the first come is 
 the first served. These portions of the earth's 
 
1 66 SPORT. 
 
 surface, nature's own commons, are becoming more 
 and more circumscribed and curtailed by increasing 
 population, and especially by the restless locomo- 
 tive energy of the Anglo-Saxon in conjunction with 
 his incurable addiction to sport. The demand is 
 greater than the supply. Norway is used up already, 
 India, America, and even Africa are all more or 
 less dwindling in their big-game-producing powers ; 
 greater and greater must be the sacrifices, further 
 and further afield the wanderings of those who 
 would find really at home and unsophisticated 
 the wild animal of the forest and hill. But even 
 amidst the crowded deserts of population and 
 civilisation in this over-cultivated earth such a 
 peaceful oasis is still here and there to be found. 
 When you have found it, and above all, have found 
 yourself at that delightful period of life which com- 
 bines all the activity of youth with the stamina of 
 sturdy manhood, alone or with one companion in 
 possession of it ; when you breathe the free pure 
 air which for perhaps hundreds of miles has never 
 
DEER-STALKING. 167 
 
 entered human lungs, and which seems to fill 
 you with the concentrated strength of a dozen 
 giants ; when all the beasts of the forest are 
 yours, and you have the cattle on a thousand 
 hills to pick and choose from, at the mercy of 
 your double-barrelled rifle ; when you feel and 
 here is the chief charm of the situation that the 
 whole responsibility of your success, personal safety, 
 and life even depends upon yourself alone then 
 you will have realised one of the highest orders 
 of physical enjoyment known among men. Except 
 in a very limited degree it has never been my 
 lot to taste this superlative of life, but I will give, 
 if the reader will bear with me, one or two 
 examples of my brief experience. 
 
 Very many years ago, long before " 'Any " had 
 extended his rambles as far as Norway, I found 
 myself, with two natives of the district, on one of 
 the wildest and most unfrequented fjelds of that 
 wild and stern country. I had gone there that 
 day to try to gain the summit of a precipitous 
 
168 SPORT. 
 
 mountain or crag supposed to be inaccessible to 
 man, and which, so far as I was concerned, proved 
 and remained so. After climbing walls of rock- 
 creeping and sidling along narrow ledges over- 
 hanging dizzy precipices, so narrow in places that 
 part of the sole of the shoe was outside the rock 
 or overlapping the precipice, encouraged to the 
 passage of these mauvais pas by the confident 
 statement of one of my guides that a few steps 
 further, round the next corner, the ledge would be 
 found wider, and leading to a spot whence the 
 summit could be easily attained ; I sustained the 
 blood-curdling disappointment of finding, when the 
 next corner was reached at last, that the ledge, 
 instead of widening, absolutely disappeared and 
 became absorbed in the sheer precipitous horrors 
 of the mountain side, necessitating a retrograde 
 movement of the most gruesome description a 
 twisting round on the axis of the heels or toes. 
 I don't know which is the most agonising, whether 
 to turn your face to the rock wall or to the fathom- 
 
DEER-STALKING. 169 
 
 less chasm, and clawing at and clinging to the stony 
 rock closer than ever babe clung to its mother's 
 breast, to have to retrace without the spur of vanity 
 or ambition, but for dear life itself, all the afore- 
 said mauvais pas, none the less objectionable and 
 nasty because the course was downward instead of 
 upward. 
 
 When, after all these hideous experiences which 
 had lasted at intervals for some hours, we had 
 regained the blessed comfort of a few feet of com- 
 paratively level ground, and were there in the act 
 of holding a council of war, whether to attempt a 
 new route or abandon the enterprise altogether, I 
 suddenly saw a sight which turned my thoughts 
 into entirely new channels, and caused me, as leader 
 of the expedition, to decide unhesitatingly in favour 
 of the latter course. Down, far below us on a 
 snow-field, three moving objects caught my eye. 
 They were reindeer. Recourse to my glass showed 
 them to be all stags one of them a very big one, 
 with a splendid head furnished with the countless 
 
170 SPORT. 
 
 points with which nature has so lavishly adorned 
 the palmated horns of these ungraceful, but venison- 
 furnishing animals. All my sporting instincts were 
 roused, and not these alone, but also my grosser 
 natural appetite for fat flesh, to which my larder 
 had long been a stranger, became powerfully ex- 
 cited, as I gloated through my telescope on his 
 deep broad side and round haunches ; two inches 
 of fat, no less, I prophesy, will cover these, and, 
 looking upwards again at the black, horrid, and 
 inhospitable rock, have no difficulty in at once 
 resigning the fame and honour of the possibly suc- 
 cessful ascent in favour of the mess of pottage 
 suddenly and unexpectedly tempting me below. 
 
 Barren honour the possible reward of imminent 
 risk of life is over my head. But I am some- 
 what weary of wooing that rugged, frowning face 
 which ever seems to repel me, and of battling, 
 like Lucifer on a cloud, against being forced back- 
 ward over the few inches' width of its stony wrinkles, 
 on which I depend for security from a fall into 
 
DEER-STALKING. ill 
 
 unfathomable space. Beneath my feet is sweet 
 sunny life and all its enjoyments. Between it and 
 the shadow of death above me, who should hesitate ? 
 I satisfy my conscience by despatching" my two 
 natives to ascertain whether the new route proposed 
 is practicable, while I remain watching the deer. 
 Not long are they absent ; one of them is an old 
 hunter, and his heart has warmed at the sight of 
 the game, and they report that not for TOO dollars 
 22 ios., and their ideal of inexhaustible wealth- 
 would they attempt it ! and so, employer and 
 employed equally relieved, we seek a lower level 
 and regain the spot where we had left our super- 
 fluous clothing and, alas ! my only weapon, a small 
 rook or rabbit ride, which for its lightness I took 
 with me, never dreaming of deer, which were hardly 
 ever seen in that region, but for the purpose of 
 killing ptarmigan when sitting in confiding tameness 
 or stupidity on the stones. I am sorely troubled. 
 Am I justified in trying for the big stag with such 
 a boy's weapon ? I commune with the old hunter. 
 
172 SPORT. 
 
 who shakes his head, but I remember that small 
 as is the bullet there is a heavy charge of powder 
 behind it, and up to eighty or ninety yards it will 
 shoot to an inch, so, like David, I make myself 
 ready for battle. 
 
 The deer are still below us, lying in the middle 
 of the snowficld in the position of a triangle a 
 formation favourable to keeping a sharp look-out 
 and utterly unapproachable. I have no difficulty 
 in gaining the shelter of some rocks which fringe 
 the snow within about 600 yards of them, but not 
 a yard further can I advance. I must wait their 
 pleasure. So, the wind being all right, and the 
 rocks forming a complete screen, I post one 
 man as sentinel or vedette, and with the other 
 overhaul our slender stock of provisions. It is 
 scantier than I thought. There is one fair- 
 scarcely square meal for each of us, but only 
 one. Human habitations are a long way off. 
 But it is now mid-day. We are all very hungry, 
 having breakfasted about 3 A.M., so we recklessly 
 
DEER-STALKING. 173 
 
 resolve not to make two bites at our cherry, and 
 calling in our outpost, we silently consume our 
 supply, reserving only a crust or a biscuit each for 
 some extreme contingency I remarking with a 
 sanguine glee that we would sup on the fry of 
 the big stag, from which anticipation the ex-hunter 
 gravely dissents. That stag, he solemnly asseverates, 
 was not born to die by such a toy as my pea- 
 rifle ! But, he sardonically adds, I might try. I 
 might get a shot, which would amuse me, and not 
 hurt the stag ; and that we should have time after- 
 wards to get down to a sector or mountain dairy, 
 if not home to supper. 
 
 After keeping us waiting and watching several 
 irksome hours, the deer moved at last, getting up 
 and stretching themselves, and finally trotting down 
 the slope of the snow to the lower fringe of rocks 
 opposite us, where they disappeared over the ridge. 
 " Good feeding ground below," whispered the old 
 hunter, who now began really to warm with excite- 
 ment ; and we hurry on over the snow with rapid 
 
174 SPORT. 
 
 strides. Arrived at the lower ledge of rocks, extreme 
 
 caution is of course necessary, as we cannot tell how 
 
 short a distance they may have run down before 
 
 stopping, and they may be close to us. Armed 
 
 with my toy, I go first, avoiding every loose stone 
 
 as if it were a red-hot iron, and raising my head 
 
 by slow inches over each successive ridge ; at last 
 
 my outspread hand, extended backwards, warns my 
 
 followers that I have them in sight. I remain 
 
 motionless, but taking in at a glance, and with 
 
 rapid intuition, all the surroundings. Then I lower' 
 
 my head as gradually as I had raised it and beckon 
 
 up the old hunter, show him the deer, and indicate 
 
 by a motion of the hand the course I mean to 
 
 pursue. He, after grave contemplation, and testing 
 
 the wind by tearing out recklessly a few of his 
 
 scanty hairs, assents to my plan, and after retiring 
 
 a short distance we make a flank march, which, 
 
 avoiding an exposed plain in our front, brings us 
 
 to a lower cluster of rocks towards which the 
 
 deer had seemed to be feeding. It is rather close 
 
DEER-STALKING. 175 
 
 shaving as regards the wind, and more of the old 
 hunter's hair is sacrificed quite unnecessarily, for 
 some of the dry grass or reindeer moss will do 
 just as well, but he seems to prefer to denude himself 
 in this fashion. 
 
 All, however, is safe so far. The stags have 
 reached apparently the good feeding-ground men- 
 tioned by my old prophet, whom, by the way, I 
 have called old, not because he was so, but because 
 I then, in the plenitude and arrogance of my 
 youth, so deemed him he was about forty-five ; 
 they are quite quiet, and, for reindeer, unsuspicious, 
 and inclined to remain there, which rather vexes 
 me, for they are too far off for a safe shot even 
 w r ith a worthier instrument than mine. Time, how- 
 ever, will not admit 'of my waiting, so, leaving my 
 men under cover of the rocks, I commence a 
 somewhat risky stalk. Stalking among stones, un- 
 less the ground is much broken, is a more difficult 
 and irksome matter than stalking on moss, peat 
 or grass ; and here, unfortunately, I have an ugly 
 
i;6 SPORT. 
 
 bare flat of about 100 yards to cross before I can 
 " get in " at them, i.e. gain ground from whence 
 I have a fair chance of a quiet shot at a sporting 
 distance. Crawling on such ground is both difficult 
 and painful ; loose stones roll and make a noise, 
 fast ones tear the clothes and abrade the skin. The 
 only plan is to make oneself as short as possible, 
 and creep along in a humpbacked, doubled-up posi- 
 tion at such times as the deer are feeding or looking 
 the other way, and prepared, if one of them should 
 "catch" you, i.e. happen to turn his head your 
 way while you are moving, instantly to become a 
 stone. In such a case don't move, or even wink. 
 The deer will try and stare you into motion again, 
 but you must continue to be a stone, and try to 
 stare him back into the belief that you are one, 
 and that when he saw you move he was the victim 
 of an optical delusion. When he has satisfied 
 himself of this, as he /will do if you keep quite 
 still, he will begin to feed again, and you can 
 alter your form, which you will find a great relief, 
 
DEER- S TA LKING. \ 77 
 
 for there is nothing 1 more fatiguing than petrifaction 
 of this kind. When he next looks at you, he 
 won't find out the difference in your shape provided 
 only you anticipate the turn of his head, and are 
 not too late in becoming stone again. With clothes 
 of the right colour I have sat or lain in the open 
 within twenty yards of deer in this way for some 
 minutes, undetected. I have several of these anxious 
 and muscle-trying dissimulations to go through 
 during this irksome trial. The big stag seems to 
 have no care for himself, and hardly ever takes 
 the trouble to look up from his feeding, but his 
 younger and smaller friends one especially how 
 I hated him ! were constantly turning suspicious 
 glances in my direction before I at last gained the 
 longed-for shelter of some rocky broken ground, 
 whence if I could only reach it, I felt sure of a 
 good chance. 
 
 After the luxury of " taking the kink out of 
 my back," by changing the prone veluti pecora 
 attitude for that natural to dignified man, I 
 
 N 
 
178 SPORT. 
 
 reconnoitre on the other side of the rocks, and to 
 my delight find that I can advance to within fifty 
 or sixty yards of the deer without even a stoop ; 
 so, silently cocking my " child's gun " as the old 
 hunter contemptuously termed it, I take up my 
 position, place my cap and handkerchief on a 
 convenient rock, and resting it on these, wait with 
 my heart thumping at my ribs with such vehemence 
 that I fear the deer may hear it, till the big 
 stag, who has his haunches to- me at present, shall 
 turn and give me a broadside shot. He will not 
 do so for a long time, and when at last he does 
 turn and the sight of my rifle is steady just 
 behind his shoulder, the small stag, my old enemy, 
 moves up and plants himself exactly in the way. 
 This occurs again and again ; in vain does the big 
 brother move to and fro, offering the most tempting 
 chances ; whenever he does so, so surely does this 
 provoking imp interpose his worthless carcase, till 
 I am almost inclined to shoot him out of revenge. 
 At last, however, I get a clear aim at the big, 
 
DEER-STALKING. 179 
 
 broadside not more than fifty yards distant, and 
 full of confidence I pull the trigger. 
 
 A start, and a swerve on the part of the stag, 
 follow the report, and after standing still for a 
 few seconds, making one regret that my " toy " 
 has no second barrel, away all three go at a fast 
 gallop. Is it possible I can have missed ? Common 
 sense says, no ! At that distance, and with such 
 a target, impossible ! But even with my glass, 
 although he is certainly the last of the three as 
 they canter up the snow brae above us, I can 
 detect no sign of wound or weakness. My men 
 join me now, and on the old hunter's face is un- 
 mistakably the " I told you so " expression, not 
 only that, but even a look of contempt, and surely 
 enough he gives it words. 
 
 " You have missed him," he says. 
 
 " Wait a minute," I retort scornfully and con- 
 fidently, but with all confidence fast waning from 
 my heart, "keep your eye on him up the hill!" 
 Mine are both on him through my "binocular," 
 
 N 2 
 
180 SPORT. 
 
 but a sort of gloomy conviction is just stealing 
 on me that after all some touch of " stag fever " 
 must have possessed me, and that I really had 
 missed him ; when a huge reaction of hope and 
 joy welled up within me as I saw him lag behind 
 the others up the hill, slower and slower grow his 
 steps, till the others stop and wait for him. When 
 he overtakes them they start again, but he cannot 
 follow far. He lies down on the snow. I turn a 
 triumphant glance on the old prophet of evil, whose 
 face, though less self-confident, has not lost its old 
 pessimist expression. The two young stags seem 
 puzzled, but they loyally detail themselves on vedette 
 duty while their chief rests. He himself, wounded 
 as he evidently is, keeps a sharp look-out down 
 the slope in our direction, and the old hunter, 
 while admitting that I have not missed, tells me 
 we have no chance of getting him. 
 
 " They may stay there to-night," he growled, it 
 was getting dusk, " but they'll be miles away in 
 the morning." 
 
DEER-STALKING. 181 
 
 " Then I'll go at them at once," I reply, whereat 
 he shakes his head more gravely than ever. 
 
 " No chance to-night," he says. " You can't reach 
 him where he is, and we've no time to wait, no 
 food ; we had better get down to a stctcr before 
 dusk, many bad places to cross." 
 
 This is true, but I signify to him that I must 
 try for him again notwithstanding ; he reluctantly 
 assents, gloomily reverting to the " no food " fact, 
 and darkly alluding to two hunters once lost and 
 starved to death on the fjeld under similar cir- 
 cumstances. We start, however, and after a con- 
 siderable detour reach a point where, in contradiction 
 to the old hunter's opinion, I thought I should 
 get within range of him, but to my great dis- 
 appointment, I find not only that the distance is 
 too far for a shot, but that he has got up again 
 and is slowly following his companions higher up 
 the mountain side. 
 
 And now a very serious consultation takes place, 
 with grave division of opinion. The old hunter 
 
i82 SPORT. 
 
 strongly urging our immediate retreat, pointing out 
 the danger of remaining out all night, the risk of 
 finding ourselves enveloped in mist at daybreak, 
 the impossibility, in his view, of coming up again 
 with the stag ; which he declares can only be slightly 
 wounded, or he would not have got up again after 
 he had once lain down, and playing finally his trump 
 card of " no food." I, on the other hand, ridicule 
 the " danger " argument. The night is not cold, 
 and it is short ; we have each a plaid or blanket ; 
 as to mist, I have a compass. The stag, I assert 
 with solemn adjurations, is mortally wounded, and 
 it would be cruelty, as well as folly, to leave him 
 on the hill ; as to " no food," there is the stag 
 himself, whose liver we would certainly fry for 
 an early breakfast to-morrow. But the old hunter 
 will not agree, and he reinforces his past arguments 
 by pointing out what had till then escaped my 
 observation, certain disquieting indications in the 
 weather. My other native, by name " Ole," an 
 old and devoted adherent of mine, will do just 
 
DEER-STALKING. 183 
 
 as "Bromley" no courtesy titles or prefixes in 
 Norway pleases, but his opinion is with the old 
 prophet's he is for home. 
 
 Thus out-voted and unable to face the responsi- 
 bility should evil befall either of them, even if none 
 did me, I silently bow my head and give the signal 
 to descend. We have actually proceeded some 
 distance on our downward course when, in one of 
 my many lingering looks behind, I see something 
 on the sky-line which makes me stop suddenly, 
 pull out my glass and level it in the direction where 
 we last saw the deer. Yes ! I was not deceived ! 
 I distinctly see the horns of the big stag on the 
 sky-line not moving forwards, but undulating ^ip 
 and down. A cry of savage joy escapes me, for 
 I well know what this means, and I sternly inform 
 my companions that they may do as they like, but 
 that I shall remain where I am, or seek such 
 shelter as I can find till daylight, when I will go 
 and put an end to the sufferings of the poor beast, 
 who was dying above us. The old hunter also looks 
 
'84 SPORT. 
 
 through my glass, and his ferocity exceeding mine 
 rather shocks me, as he exclaims with a truculence 
 
 HE IS VERY, VERY SICK. 
 
 which I cannot describe, " Han er meget, meget 
 syg Bromley er ret" " He is very, very sick 
 Bromley is right." With his newly-born belief that we 
 
DEER-STALKING. 185 
 
 shall get the deer, his nervous anxiety about weather, 
 mist, and food has quite vanished, and he cheerfully 
 sets to work to select a camp for the night. 
 
 Before long, he informs me that he has found a 
 splendid " night-quarter " for me, and takes me to 
 a large boulder rock with a hole under it, into 
 which, by close imitation of the movements of a 
 snake, I can contrive to crawl, and where, lying 
 on my back, the end of my nose just touches the 
 roof. There is an uncomfortable affinity to sepul- 
 ture in this, but as it has now, alas ! begun to rain 
 outside, I must not be particular. My men tear 
 up heavy mats of dwarf juniper and reindeer moss, 
 with which they almost totally cover themselves, 
 and we sleep or doze as best we can. It is but 
 a very few hours ; very slowly, though, do they 
 pass. At last, however, they do pass. 
 
 " Night wane?, the mists around the mountain curled 
 Melt into morn, and light awakes the world.' 
 
 With the earliest dawn we emerge from our graves, 
 
1 86 SPORT. 
 
 with appropriate corpse-like complexions, and shiver- 
 ing with cold. Vain thoughts of hot coffee fruit- 
 lessly agitate our minds as we peer despairingly 
 into the thick blanket of mist, which verifies the 
 old kill-joy's overnight prediction, and which, break - 
 fastless, save the slender crust preserved from yes- 
 terday's reckless mid-day meal, we must wait the 
 chance of the sun's power to dispel. 
 
 It is weary work. The fog being too dense 
 for us to venture far from the ground we know, 
 for there are ugly precipices about us, we stamp 
 backwards and forwards to warm ourselves, and, 
 in default of food, smoke many pipes, till at last 
 more genial prognostications from the old prophet 
 cheer us. He sees signs, he says, of the almost 
 immediate lifting of the fog, and in a few minutes, 
 as if by magic, its whole chilly burden is removed, 
 and we are almost dazzled by the clear brilliancy 
 of the morning. My glass is out in an instant, 
 and I sweep the spot where J had last seen the 
 stag, but he is no longer there, nor can I make 
 
DEER-STALKING. 187 
 
 him out elsewhere ; so we start at once for a 
 better view from the realms above. We have a 
 severe climb, attended by an incident which might 
 have spared the reader of these pages some trouble. 
 \Ye have to go some distance round to avoid a 
 very steep snowfield, the labour of climbing which 
 would hav^ been very heavy, even if we were 
 sure of its safe condition, which we are not. \\\- 
 ascend on the left of it, which is better going, al- 
 though our true course is on the right. Towards 
 the top of it cliffs of rocks overhanging it, and ex- 
 tending for some distance to our left, make it 
 necessary for us to cross the snow to gain the 
 now easier ascent to our right. The angle of the 
 slope is rather severe, but the snow is of the right 
 consistency soft enough to allow us to dig steps 
 with our feet and so long as we proceed cautiously 
 in this manner there is no danger ; but when we 
 near the other side I grow very impatient at the 
 slowness of our progress, and disregarding, in the 
 impetuosity of my youth, the old hunter's grave 
 
188 SPORT. 
 
 warnings, I rush forwards, like Gladstone's trade 
 prosperity, with " leaps and bounds." For a time, 
 like him, I succeed admirably, and am a long way 
 ahead of my dull-sailing consorts, when suddenly I 
 come upon one of the dangers against which the 
 " old man " had so often warned me a place where 
 only a thin covering of snow concealed a surface of 
 hard smooth ice the frozen overflow of some 
 hidden spring or water-course. In an instant my 
 feet fly from under me, and, falling heavily on my 
 left side, I hear a cry of alarm from my two com- 
 panions as I begin to slide down the slope. I 
 know what that means, and also what to do. I 
 turn on my back, and dig my elbows and heels 
 into the snow, but it is too hard just here for such 
 a drag or break to act sufficiently ; and, gradually 
 at first, but with fast increasing velocity as soon as 
 the first frantic efforts to stop myself have failed, I 
 plunge downwards till all steerage power is gone, 
 almost all breath is gone all will is gone and I 
 am a mere fortuitous atom shooting over the 
 
DEER-STALKING. 189 
 
 snow surface at the sole mercy of the law of 
 
 gravitation. 
 
 Reader, were you ever face to face with death, 
 and that too of an awful and violent nature ? It 
 looks horrible on paper, but it is not so bad. The 
 moment all power of self-control was gone I re- 
 membered that at the bottom of this snow slide 
 was a hideous precipice, over which, unless some 
 miracle intervened, I should be projected in a few 
 seconds. I have heard tell that persons in some- 
 what similar positions have had the whole of their 
 past lives presented to them by an instantaneous 
 process of mental photography. Nothing of the 
 kind occurred to me. I am not aware that I was 
 even frightened. I don't say this boastfully. On 
 occasion I can "funk" as freely as anybody. Prob- 
 ably there was no time for it ; but I repeat that 
 I, knowing this ghastly gulf to be then below me, 
 and that I was travelling towards it with the speed 
 of a meteor, somehow felt small, if any, anxiety 
 as to the result. I had had some narrow escapes 
 
190 SPORT. 
 
 in my life and whether I believed in my " star," 
 or disbelieved in the precipice, or had suddenly 
 become a fatalist, or my faculties had been be- 
 numbed and paralysed by horror, I cannot say. 
 But the fact remains that though in my mind 
 or what remained of it during this cannon-shot 
 trajectory of the body there might be wonder or 
 curiosity as to how it would all end, there was no 
 fear, no regret, no thought of " England, home, 
 and beauty," no farewell to life, even as I actually 
 shot over the brink ; and instead of being dashed 
 to pieces, rolled over and over, finally subsiding, 
 half smothered by the miniature avalanche which 
 accompanied me, after falling about eight or ten 
 feet on to an almost flat ledge about thirty or forty 
 feet broad, invisible from above, and immediately 
 overhanging a precipice of something like 1,000 
 feet sheer fall. 
 
 Not till I had extricated myself from the snow- 
 bed in which I was almost buried, and shaken 
 myself well together again, ascertained that no 
 
DEER-S TALKING. 1 9 1 
 
 bones were broken, and looked, hot and out of 
 breath as I was, with an icy shiver in my very 
 marrow at the awful void below me, when also 
 out of invisible depths arose angry mutterings and 
 deep-mouthed thunderings the result of displace- 
 ments caused by the concussion of myself and 
 attendant avalanche on the ledge do I recognise 
 the fact that u very ancient family has just had 
 a narrow escape of total extinction in its direct 
 male line. Turning from these serious reflections 
 to immediate action, I, after sending back a re- 
 assuring holloa, " Alt ret ! " (" all-right "), in reply 
 to kind and anxious inquiries conveyed in stentorian 
 yells from above, commence the Sisyphus business 
 of regaining the altitude from which I had rolled 
 down ; and a long business it is. I stick to the 
 rocks, for 1 dare not trust myself again on the 
 snow, and it takes me nearly an hour to recover 
 the ground lost in less than half a minute. My 
 natives come three parts of the way down to meet 
 me, and are profuse and energetic in unmistakably 
 
192 SPORT. 
 
 sincere congratulations on my escape ; though the 
 old hunter, who professes to know every inch of 
 the ground, and does know most of it, declares 
 that he knew of the ledge before, but had feared 
 for my safety even from that height of fall, con- 
 sidering the pace I was travelling. 
 
 No. time, however, is to be lost. There is a 
 gaunt look in his face and a craving depression 
 in my own interior which commands immediate 
 search for our still somewhat apocryphal breakfast 
 on deer's fry. I anxiously examine the " toy," 
 which, fortunately, was in charge of the old hunter 
 when I made my " terrific descent," which, if it 
 could only have been transferred to the Aquarium, 
 would have made the fortune of that establishment, 
 to the ruin of Zazel or Leotard, and, after taking 
 the precaution of recapping it, I resume stalking 
 operations. 
 
 Not more than half an hour's hard work from 
 the latitude of my slip gains us a position whence 
 a good view is attained of the ground on some 
 
DEER-STALKING 193 
 
 portion of which I feel sure the stag is to be 
 found, and to my great joy we discover him on 
 the edge of a snowfield about 300 yards above us. 
 He is lying down, but not dead, as I half-expected 
 to find him, and, most favourable sign of all, for 
 us, deserted by his escort. Still, as I cannot tell 
 how far he may be incapacitated from the use of 
 his locomotive powers, and as there is nothing so 
 watchful poor brute ! as a wounded deer, extreme 
 caution is necessary to "get in" at him. The 
 ground, however, is favourable, and I contrive to 
 get within 100 yards of him, when I unfortunately 
 dislodge a loose stone, which clatters with horrid 
 disturbance of the stillness down the steep below 
 me, when he rises and walks languidly across the 
 snow, turning his head towards me. Ah me ! I 
 can see the sort of piteous look now, as if con- 
 scious of my presence and purpose. The distance 
 is full far for the " toy," as he passes about 130 
 yards off, but he offers a fair broadside shot, in 
 full relief against the white background, and I am 
 
 o 
 
194 
 
 SPORT. 
 
 too eager to refuse it, though the old hunter begs 
 me to wait ; and, taking a full sight behind the 
 shoulder he is far above me I fire, and plainly 
 
 r-./' 
 
 K] 
 
 ' HAN FALDER." 
 
 hear the crack of the bullet against his side. He 
 seems to take no notice of this, beyond quietly 
 moving on again, without even a start or swerve. 
 
DEER-STALKING. 195 
 
 I am puzzled and vexed. " Load quick," whispers 
 the old hunter, and I hurriedly do so ; but as 
 I am in the act of ramming down the bullet it 
 was long before the days of the blessed breech- 
 loader he the old hunter utterly abandoning the 
 " sotto voce" of the hills, shouts aloud, "Han 
 falder ! " "He falls!" which, indeed, looking up 
 from my task I see him doing, tumbling forward 
 on his knees, and breaking, alas ! one of his splendid 
 horns the while and is off full-speed over the 
 snow, up-hill and steep as it is ; and, old as he is, 
 he has reached the stag, and, with butcherous and 
 uneducated violence, has cut a great hole in his 
 throat, through which he pulls and completely severs 
 the windpipe, before I, young as I am, can get 
 up to him with my reloaded weapon. He is a 
 grand beast, the dimensions of his feet alone, the 
 deep impressions of which in moss and snow had 
 so filled me with awe during yesterday's stalk, 
 testify to his unusual size and weight, and I count 
 no less than forty-seven points on his horns. 
 
 O 2 
 
196 SPORT. 
 
 And now a strange alteration takes place in the 
 usually grave, reserved, and reverend demeanour 
 of the old hunter. After surveying the stag for 
 some moments with a curious expression, a com- 
 pound of wonder and admiration, on his face, he 
 snatches my little rifle from me, looks it all over, 
 then again at the stag, weighs it in his hand, and, 
 finally, after a rapid file-firing ejaculation of the 
 word " Nej, nej, nej, nej, nej," he bursts into loud 
 and boisterous laughter, waves his greasy old cap 
 in the air, his thin locks waving in the wind, 
 slaps me violently on the back, pointing to the 
 stag and my despised " child's gun " alternately, 
 and finally executes a series of peclal contortions 
 which I believe he intended to be understood 
 as a dance. When my astonishment at this utter 
 metamorphosis has subsided, I produce my knife, 
 and make Ole, who now arrives breathless and in 
 a state of equal, though less demonstrative, glee, 
 help to shift the stag's quarters upwards, bleed 
 him scientifically, and slide him easily down to 
 
DEER-STALKING. 197 
 
 where an ice-cold stream issues from the snow- 
 field. The old hunter now commences, and I 
 superintend the gralloch> while Ole casts about for 
 any moss or juniper roots which may possibly be 
 found dry enough to burn. This is at last suffi- 
 ciently collected, and slices of the liver, skewered 
 on a stick, are presented to the very first flames 
 which we succeed in producing. Very difficult 
 indeed do we find it to wait till they are even 
 " underdone." The " savoury smell " is too ex- 
 asperating to our pinched and neglected interiors, 
 as each morsel crackles and sputters on the spit. 
 Talk of self-denial ! Here we did exercise it with 
 a vengeance, for, horrible as it may be to say it, I 
 was quite prepared- and if I had been alone should 
 possibly have done so to have "gone in" for the 
 very first slice of liver blood-raw. Let any one who 
 turns with disgust from this confession first try the 
 experiment of living for thirty consecutive hours, with 
 a considerable amount of hard work in the keenest 
 mountain air without food, before they condemn me. 
 
193 SPORT. 
 
 I will not follow Homer's example and describe 
 our feast ; enough to say that craving nature was 
 appeased without bread, salt, vegetable, or condi- 
 ment of any kind, and that after a draught of 
 deliciously iced water my brandy flask had been 
 exhausted long ago we drag the stag into a 
 hollow between two upright rocks, and pile huge 
 stones on his carcase to preserve it from the 
 powerful and ravenous " glutton," who will wind 
 and hunt up to him for miles, tying my white 
 pocket handkerchief on his horn, the only portion 
 of him left protruding, to keep off equally intru- 
 sive and destructive birds of prey from his head 
 and eyes. 
 
 There we leave him alone in his glory " to be 
 called for " to-morrow, when the old hunter will 
 arrange for a couple of ponies to be waiting at 
 the nearest point practicable for cavalry, to receive 
 him, piecemeal, alas ! for, even with the two or 
 three sturdy auxiliaries whom he proposes to take 
 with him, he will be unable to convey him over 
 
DEER-STALKING. 199 
 
 such ground as a whole. Then we commence our 
 descent towards the comparative civilization of a 
 sccter, where the prospect of a draught of fresh 
 milk fires our imagination, not without some minor 
 adventures, of which one, perhaps, may, from its 
 grotesqueness, be worth recording. 
 
 The old hunter, crawling first over an awkward 
 ridge of rock, which, he says, will save us a long 
 detour to avoid one of the many precipices between 
 us and the brushwood-covered mountain-side below, 
 suddenly utters a cry of alarm, rage, or pain, and 
 rushes back as fast as his all-fours formation will 
 allow, snatching and tearing at his hair and buffet- 
 ing his face, yelling out, " Tilbage ! tilbage ! slem 
 fluge ! slem fluge!" ''Go back! go back! bad flies! 
 bad flies I " We, then, who had at first thought 
 him seized with a sudden madness, on seeing 
 the cause some enormous wasps clinging to his 
 hair and clothes retired precipitately, and when 
 with our help he had killed or rid himself of these 
 angry assailants he explained that just in the 
 
200 SPORT. 
 
 middle of the narrow rocky face which formed 
 our only practicable path, and which could only 
 be traversed in a crawling position, was a large 
 wasps' or hornets' nest. He was severely stung 
 already, and we, after vainly searching for a safe 
 passage past this formidable and unexpected obstacle, 
 actually have to turn back and retrace our steps, 
 for an hour's climb up the hill again, to out- 
 flank a steep cliff and arrive at a longer but 
 easier and safer descent. Then, having at last 
 reached the shaggy brushwood with many jeers 
 from " Ole " at the old hunter, for being turned 
 so far out of his course, as he puts it, with scath- 
 ing and somewhat unjust irony, "by a fly," we 
 realize our draught of milk, and I finally reach 
 home late in the evening, tired but triumphant. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE ARTIFICIAL. 
 
 Now I hope no one will suppose that, in de- 
 scribing this second branch of my subject the 
 stalking of what are, practically, preserved deer 
 on private property as the "poor parody" of the 
 first I mean that it is, so far as actual and legiti- 
 mate stalking goes, at all easier than the first in 
 its accomplishment ; for though in my own ex- 
 perience I have never found much difference between 
 the two, I believe that, if anything, the second is 
 the more difficult. These deer, being more con- 
 stantly disturbed than they are likely to be in 
 localities more remote from human habitations, 
 being perhaps almost daily accustomed to see men 
 and to hear shots, have their watchful faculties 
 
202 SPORT. 
 
 kept more alert by constant training, and are con- 
 sequently perhaps more difficult to approach than 
 those who possibly are only stalked once or twice 
 in a season, if at all. One difference, however, I 
 have observed ; if you miss or frighten a deer in 
 the wild country, there is no finding him in the 
 next corrie, as you often may do on " preserved " 
 ground ; he will make a ten-mile point or so, and 
 you will probably not see him again that day. 
 What I mean is that the whole thing is a make- 
 believe and a sham. You may be to all appearance 
 on a wild hill-top, surrounded by nature not yet 
 ' clothed by man, in her original and naked beauty, 
 and you may compare yourself, in the exuberant 
 arrogance of your sporting imagination, to the 
 savage hunter of the desert, but, as I say, it is 
 all a sham. 
 
 Nature, it is true, is left nude, but only because 
 she is not worth dressing, and instead of a desert 
 you are really in a reserved seat in a stall or private 
 box, at your sporting opera, as much so as if you 
 
DEER-STALKING. 203 
 
 were occupying one of the posts of honour at a 
 " corner " in a battue. Here, as there, protection 
 hedges you round, and not only that, but hedges 
 round with still more exclusive barriers the splendid 
 Royal, whom you have vainly pursued all day, and 
 regard as the ne plus ultra of animated wildness. 
 Your host draws round him a cordon of privacy, 
 or he would not be here ; he even, perhaps, feeds 
 him in the winter, though this is now, I believe, 
 admitted to be a mistake, unless you are prepared 
 always to continue such "rate in aid"; for deer, 
 like their human fellows, become demoralised and 
 pauperised by this system, and will in future years, 
 whenever the least pinch occurs, always look to 
 you for help, and never attempt to help themselves ; 
 so that practically you both of you 
 
 " Feed on one vain patron and enjoy 
 Th' extensive blessing of his luxury." 
 
 He- 
 
 " Feasts the animal he dooms his feast, 
 And, till he ends the being, makes it blest.' 5 
 
204 SPORT. 
 
 And you, his favoured guest, are appointed and 
 requested by him to " end his being," Let us 
 hope that you will do this in such accomplished 
 fashion that he, to continue the quotation 
 
 " Sees no more the stroke, or feels the pain, 
 Than favoured man by touch ethereal slain." 
 
 At any rate, for the present at least, there is no 
 one to do it but yourself, no human form dare 
 venture on that sacred ground or come between 
 the wind and your nobility, or what is much more 
 important, the sensitive olfactory organs of your 
 quarry. This, in itself, detracts from the wildness 
 of the sport. 
 
 Then again you are " cribbed and confined " by 
 the " march ; " beyond a certain point you dare not 
 pursue your quarry lest you drive him on to the 
 ground of some watchful neighbour, and often, oh, 
 how often ! for the very same reason, your host is 
 very sorry, but he dare not send you into the forest 
 
DEER-S TALKING. 2O 5 
 
 at all with the wind where it is; or even, if the 
 forest is your own, you yourself have to remain 
 at home for the same reason. All this takes away 
 from the "romance of the thing-"; all this, too, is 
 the self-created obstacle to general sport caused 
 by indulgence in the luxury of unneighbourly 
 jealousy. It is the same feeling which prompts 
 a game preserver to u work his outsides." It is 
 pitiable, but perhaps natural. It is a mistake, too, 
 for if men were all generous in such matters and 
 worked their ground fairly, they would all have 
 much better sport ; but human nature varying as it 
 does, one mean and selfish rogue amid a whole 
 fraternity of generous men would reap all the ad- 
 vantage and contribute nothing to the general 
 good. So we go on, in true Christian fashion 
 spiting ourselves and spoiling our own sport for 
 fear of benefiting our neighbour. 
 
 But who shall tell, besides this difficulty, the 
 countless pitfalls which surround the young and 
 inexperienced deer-stalker ? 
 
206 SPORT. 
 
 " Alas, unconscious of his doom, 
 The youthful victim climbs ! " 
 
 A friend of mine who ripened into a grand 
 deer-stalker and sportsman, in his very earliest 
 years went, full of ardour, to the castle of a Scotch 
 grandee, the lord of many glens and corries, to 
 visit whom and to be free of whose forest had 
 been the dream of his life. There, after a night 
 sleepless from excitement and full of the visions 
 of the stag-glories of the morrow, he chanced, as 
 he passed through some room or passage on his 
 way to breakfast on the eventful morning, to over- 
 hear his host's voice in the next room, and though 
 not according to his wont some fascination induced 
 him to stop and listen, and this is the appalling 
 dialogue which he heard. 
 
 The Duke. " Donald ! young Lord (himself) 
 will go on the hill to-day." 
 
 Donald. " Yes, your Grace." 
 
 The Duke. " Where will you take him ? " 
 
DEER-STALKING. 207 
 
 Donald. Well, your Grace, is he to kill a stag 
 or have a shot, or only see deer, or just go for 
 a wa-a-lk ? " 
 
 Long and terrible was the pause, and painfully 
 excited the interest of the listener, before, in grave 
 measured tones, the evidently well-weighed and 
 thought-out decision reached his ear, " Well, Donald, 
 you may just take him a walk!" I never heard, 
 or forget, the sequel possibly there was none. The 
 story always ended there, and being one of extreme 
 antiquity perhaps is not altogether to be depended 
 on, but if true this young man was, at least, fore- 
 warned of his doom, and easily learned the tricks 
 of the deer-stalking trade, of which many old and 
 young remain long, and perhaps for ever, ignorant. 
 
 What an adamantine, unrelenting heart must he 
 have who issues such an edict ! and of what pitiless 
 and vile materials must his be composed who 
 executes it ! How can he walk all day beside a 
 young bright being, who in his innocence confides 
 to him all his sanguine hopes and aspirations, not 
 
2oS SPORT. 
 
 one of which he knows can possibly be realised ; 
 who trusts him implicitly, who does his bidding, no 
 matter what, without doubt or hesitation, who 
 follows him like a dog, and, as Scrope describes it, 
 "lies down to hand like a pointer"? How can he 
 watch him panting up the steep brae, or straining 
 his eyes to see the deer, which, if seen at all 
 he is never destined to approach ! Cruel as all 
 this sounds, it has existed, and so long as selfish- 
 ness and duplicity remain among men and when 
 will they depart ? it will exist 
 
 One safeguard, and that only against a repeti- 
 tion of the offence, has the hapless guest in such 
 cases, never revisit the proprietor, and pay the 
 stalker by results. " No stag, no tip/' is a good 
 rule. But if you miss ? some may say, how hard 
 to mulct the stalker for your own want of skill ; 
 " No shot, no tip," would be fairer? No! I'll 
 tell you why. I was once taken for a " walk " by 
 a stalker, but not being quite such a fool as he 
 thought me though there was plenty of margin, 
 
DEER-STALKING. 209 
 
 I detected his treachery at once, and at once 
 came to an understanding with him. " There," I 
 said, " are the deer." The lazy hound had been 
 lying on his back "spying" them and some others 
 miles off for hours. I had selected my stag long 
 ago, and seeing the day slipping away, I had at 
 last roused him up to try for him, when he started 
 on a course which was obviously the wrong one. 
 " Here, you see, is the wind. If you go that way 
 you will not 'get in,' you will have a dangerous 
 wind and exposed ground to cross. If you go this 
 way you will have a good wind and shelter all 
 the way up to the final stalk, and as I believe your 
 employer wishes me to get a stag, whatever you 
 may do, I mean to go this way, and if you don't 
 mean to help me, say so, and I shall either try 
 them alone or go straight home." 
 
 Then he altered his tone completely, but I 
 marked and afterwards remembered a vindictive 
 look in his eye. " Of course that seemed the best 
 way, but the wind blew quite differently below," 
 
 p 
 
210 SPORT. 
 
 &c., &c., "however, he would try it." The wind 
 did not blow differently below ; without the least 
 difficulty we got in and crawled up to a mossy 
 knoll not fifty yards below which I knew the stag 
 was feeding. Then before I could stop him or 
 quite get up to his side he was crawling first- 
 he raised his head over the top of the knoll, and 
 after a good look bobbed it suddenly down, and 
 beckoning me up handed me the rifle, making 
 gestures with the other hand signifying that the 
 stag was immediately below. " Noo's your time," 
 he whispered, as I silently cocked the rifle and 
 slowly raised my head above the knoll. Horror! 
 There was the stag in the middle of half a dozen 
 deer galloping down the hill as hard as he could 
 go. I sprang to my feet with, I fear, an expletive 
 which I can't reproduce here, and his haunches being 
 well towards me I let fly a snap shot at the back 
 of his neck as he was disappearing over the next 
 ridge, and though the distance was well under 
 eighty yards, of course I missed him. Never can 
 
DEER-STALKING. 2 ; i 
 
 I forget the expression of affected surprise, mingled 
 with gratified animosity and triumphant low cunning 
 which burned with an evil gleam on the usually 
 blank face of the traitor as he almost chuckled 
 out, " Well, you haf missed him, but he was ferry 
 near ! " 
 
 It is almost incredible, but I kept my temper. 
 I did not strike him, or even call him one of 
 the wicked names which crowded in such tumultuous 
 numbers to my lips. I was quite quiet, and only 
 said, " How clumsily you did that ; you might easily 
 have frightened him without showing yourself up to 
 me as you did. Please show me the nearest way 
 home ! " Not one other word did I utter, except 
 to request the villain to keep silent, when he, with 
 floods of lies, called upon his Maker his Maker ! 
 to witness that he . had not put the deer off, 
 that my cap was the wrong colour, that I had 
 coughed, that they had got the wind which he had 
 warned me was queer thereabouts, that I had fired 
 too quick, that I should have fired sooner, that 
 
 r 2 
 
212 SPORT. 
 
 he had been thirty years on the hill and that 
 such a thing had never happened before, that he 
 would, even with his large family, have given i 
 out of his own pocket for me to have got that 
 stag, till the genius of Ananias himself, or even 
 the Government front bench answering questions 
 about Gordon, would have paled before the perennial 
 flow of his exuberant falsehoods. Sternly silent 
 all the way home I trudged, and next day, never 
 to return, left that ill-omened glen and its unfee'd 
 stalker, whom, on the " no shot, no tip " principle, 
 I should have had to pay. 
 
 But, meliora cananms, few, thank Heaven, are 
 even as this man. I will start, if the reader will 
 consent to embody himself in me, and not object 
 to be put forward or back, as the case may be 
 let me hope for his sake it will be forward, to 
 the age of thirty or thereabouts, on a serene morn- 
 ing in the middle of September, from a real High- 
 land lodge, a small but very solidly-built square 
 edifice, flanked by round towers with extinguisher 
 
'/s' - X -f 
 
 -'~"J^'^ 
 
 -I -',,' 
 
 * 
 
 ' 
 
 ' , ' ^p': '/^> 
 
 Hi\ 
 
 - 
 
 ^,r ; 
 1 '- 
 
DEER-STALKING. 215 
 
 tops, an imitation of the old Scotch castle so much 
 affected by the last and some of the present generation 
 of Highland proprietors, for a day's stalking on the 
 best ground of a celebrated forest. 
 
 I eat the breakfast of health and good con- 
 science, giving the preference to porridge and milk 
 over tea and coffee, fried eggs and hashed venison 
 over finnon haddocks and ham, winding up with a 
 glass of the splendid water, with, perhaps, a slight 
 dash of iron in it, which wells up close above the 
 house, and then jump into the dog-cart and drive 
 up the glen to the place appointed, where Donald 
 and Archie are sitting in the heather above the 
 road, spying, of course, the face of the hill opposite 
 with an interest which, considering we are not 
 going on that side at all to-day, seems a waste of 
 research. On the roadside, too, is a long-limbed 
 laddie with a couple of ponies duly caparisoned 
 with deer-saddles, from whence hang infinite straps. 
 At the age, dear reader, which we have both 
 agreed shall be ours during this day's stalk, and 
 
216 SPORT. 
 
 as we are both of us in fair condition, I shall 
 probably decline on your account and my own the 
 offer now made me of a mount on one of these, 
 and when my rifle, luncheon-bag, and waterproof 
 overcoat have been transferred from the vehicle to 
 the hands and shoulders of my now smiling and 
 assiduous attendants, I join Donald, and commence 
 the ascent of the hill along a skilfully engineered 
 path, the steep zigzags of which we can trace far 
 above us. 
 
 Later in life we shall not be so proud or so 
 humane, and the poor pony will have to pant up 
 with some twelve stone extra on his back. A 
 deer-saddle is not an easy-chair, and where the 
 path is at all steep it is rather harder work to hang 
 on it than to walk ; but when mid-life is past, if 
 you still affect the hill, you will not despise it, 
 Although, as I said, in fair condition, I am not 
 quite willing to go Donald's pace up the hill. Slowly 
 and easily as his long legs seem to move, they get 
 somehow over the ground in a fashion which, in a 
 
DEER-STALKING. 217 
 
 certain degree, keeps me " extended," and I want 
 to be quite fresh for the ample work which I know 
 awaits me when we reach the " tops." So, being 
 a little too proud to ask him to stop, I now and 
 then affect an interest in the view which I really 
 do not feel, and spare my legs and lungs without 
 wound to my feelings, although in my heart I have 
 a shrewd conviction that he is not taken in by this 
 very old manoeuvre. There is something very irritat- 
 ing in seeing your companion calmly striding on, 
 with not even a dew of perspiration on his brow, 
 and hardly a heave of his chest, when you are 
 raining with it and panting audibly ; and a friend 
 of mine, a statesman of distinction and middle age, 
 told me that on one occasion he felt this so strongly 
 that he positively conceived a bitter hatred towards 
 the young gillie who, poor fellow, was going as 
 slow as he could to accommodate him and vainly 
 racked his brains in search of some one physical 
 feat which he could challenge his young tormentor 
 to perform in which he my friend would have a 
 
218 SPORT. 
 
 fair chance of victory. At last the brilliant idea 
 occurred to him that he would take him up to 
 London, and there dare him to cross Piccadilly a 
 dozen times in the very height of the season. 
 " At about the second crossing," he concluded with 
 a malignant smile, " he would probably be killed." 
 However, about half way up, where the ascent 
 is at its very steepest, Donald stops of his own 
 accord, and both he and Archie proceed with 
 solemn gravity to slice a few shreds from what 
 looks like a short stick of liquorice, but which 
 purports to be tobacco. After rolling these in the 
 palms of their hands, they insert them into black 
 clay pipes which, after a sharp contest with the 
 wind and a lucifer match, they succeed in lighting, 
 producing however, as neither of the pipes will 
 draw properly, a very inadequate amount of smoke, 
 in spite of most violent suction ; but nevertheless 
 they both appear to derive great comfort and 
 gratification from their exertions, and recommence 
 the climb with renewed vigour. Why, by the way, 
 
DEER-S TALKING . 219 
 
 does a Highlander's pipe never draw ? and why 
 does he always light it just before going up a 
 steep hill ? 
 
 At last, after several of my fraudulent admira- 
 tions of distant scenery, we reach the top, or such 
 an elevation as gives us command of a wide extent 
 of deer- frequented territory, and our sticks being 
 stuck in the ground, and our glasses unslung, we 
 settle down to a deliberate spy. I am very 
 anxious to find the deer for myself, and eagerly 
 sweep the plains far and wide with a glass which 
 I have high Bond Street authority for esteeming 
 as the best ever made ; but whether Donald's is 
 still better, or from his knowing better where to 
 look for them, or from his own superior keenness 
 of vision, his telescope first remains steady on 
 one spot, and he informs me, after some previous 
 low mutterings to Archie, that he " has them." 
 Guided by him, I make out some small red-brown 
 specks against a distant hill-side, but whether they 
 are stags or hinds, good as my glass is, I cannot 
 
220 SPORT. 
 
 make out. Donald, however, says they are mostly 
 stags, and that there are some " shootable beasts " 
 among them " whatever," and after long scrutiny 
 and more dissertations in Gaelic with Archie, which 
 makes me feel rather jealous and " out of it," 
 he shuts up his glass, and with a long expira- 
 tion, something between a sigh and a grunt, which 
 always proceeds from him when his mind is made 
 up, rises and says, " We will just be getting a bit 
 nearer to them, sir." Keeping under the sky-line, 
 we make a long semi-circular march along the 
 " tops " till we reach a more favourable post of 
 observation. Here I have no difficulty in making 
 them out, and in verifying Donald's assertion that 
 there are some " shootable beasts " among them. 
 There are, indeed ! and only too many ; some with 
 such grand heads and deep girths that the very 
 sight of them even from that distance through 
 my glass causes my heart to beat quicker. 
 
 A sudden perturbation now possesses Donald, 
 several times monosyllables in the unknown tongue 
 
, 
 
 : 
 
 -'v-.-.- N . > - : -.V s ?: 'i y^ 
 
 \V-^N 
 
 v : 
 
 ;./f ' ^ 
 
 :- = \ ^ 
 
DEER-S TA LKING. 223 
 
 escape him, to all appearance involuntarily, in alternate 
 tones of surprise, doubt, incredulity, astonishment, 
 and finally of awe-stricken certainty. Then, after 
 some unintelligible confidences to Archie, he turns 
 to me, and in deep, reverential tones, a sort of con- 
 versational " dim religious light," he almost falters 
 out Highlander as he is and unaccustomed to 
 bad grammar the illiterate exclamation, " It's him!" 
 " Who ? " " What ? " I inquire more with my 
 eyes than my tongue, for I am utterly at a 
 loss for the cause of this sudden change from 
 his usual calmness. "It's ' Clubfoot ' himself!" he 
 tremulously replies. 
 
 And then a sudden fierce joy, not without a 
 sharp pang of anxiety, nearly akin to fear, seized 
 on my heart, some such feeling as might have 
 been experienced by some subordinate or second- 
 class commander in one of the old campaigns at 
 suddenly discovering that the force opposed to 
 him was led by Napoleon himself. For " Club- 
 foot," so called from a peculiar formation disclosed 
 
224 SPOR7\ 
 
 by the impress of his feet, was, I knew, an historical 
 stag, of unknown age, of whom tradition alternately 
 reported that he was both supernatural and 
 invulnerable ; the hitherto unexplained survivor 
 of many supposedly deadly wounds inflicted by 
 sportsmen whom I recognised and acknowledged 
 as infinitely my superiors in the craft. And here 
 was I, face to face with him and all his long 
 antecedents of history and mystery ! He is a 
 mythology in himself. Seldom has he been re- 
 vealed to mortal ken ; yet to me, to-day, he is 
 present in the flesh ; to me to-day has fallen the 
 lot of an encounter which shall either swell the 
 ample roll of his previous victories over sporting 
 man, or raise me at one spring to an elevation 
 of sporting glory far beyond my ambition's wildest 
 dreams or my own self-conscious deserts. I must 
 not quail I do not. I accept the position, and, 
 outwardly at all events, calm, I address myself to 
 the comprehension of how Donald, who now like- 
 wise seems to have mastered his emotion, proposes 
 
DEER-STALKING. 225 
 
 to conduct the stalk. Having pointed him out to 
 me still with bated breath and deferential tone as 
 one who speaks of a superior being he explains 
 that, " only for that beastly hind " indicating some 
 half a dozen of these watchful pests on the hill- 
 side opposite to that on which the stags are feeding 
 we could easily " get in " down a burn below us. 
 
 Having reconnoitred as far as we dared in this 
 direction and waited in vain some time for the 
 chance of these obstructors moving, we sadly re- 
 linquish the hope of gaining the longed-for shelter 
 of the burn which would have led us in below them, 
 and turn back for a weary march round the hill 
 to come in above them, " A much more ticklish 
 job!" as Donald remarks with his usual pride 
 when he produces what he considers a real English 
 expression ; and indeed, when the march round is 
 accomplished, so it proves. 
 
 The stags are lying down, just on the top of a 
 ridge below us, separated from the higher ridge 
 from which we are now spying them by a wide, 
 
 Q 
 
226 SPORT. 
 
 flat, mossy and marshy expanse, in which save a 
 few peat bogs, there is hardly any shelter ; and 
 devoutly does Donald pray that they may rise 
 and feed over the ridge, for, as he says, we shall 
 have to " cra-a-1 " nearly all the way if they remain 
 where they are, adding, "It is far to cra-a-1 ! " 
 It is indeed, as I presently discover. " Clubfoot," 
 however, is not among them, and after waiting 
 some time in the hope of their either moving 
 down to him or his moving up to them, Donald 
 decides to send Archie back again to try to move 
 the rest of the deer up towards those in sight of us. 
 Meanwhile we descend the slope below us, partly 
 protected by natural trenches and rifts in the peat 
 bog, till we reach the edge of the flat exposed 
 ground above mentioned. There, after long cogita- 
 tion, Donald informs me that we must "just cra-a-1 " 
 till we can get under the shelter of some rather 
 more uneven ground, which he shows me at what 
 appears to me an awful distance off, considering 
 the mode of progression we are forced to adopt; 
 
DEER-STALKING. 227 
 
 where he says we shall have a much better chance, 
 whether Archie succeeds in moving the deer up- 
 wards or not. Rather less resigned than despondent, 
 for I hate a long crawl, I follow Donald's lead, 
 with close imitation of his movements, first on 
 all fours and then down flat, as though the primeval 
 curse of the serpent had descended on me " Upon 
 thy belly shalt thou go " ! I worm myself along 
 through wet moss and black peat slime, hugging 
 and affectionately muzzling into the bosom of 
 mother earth, filthy as it is just here, and drawing 
 myself forward by the roots of heather or tufts of 
 coarse grass, without daring to bend a limb save 
 horizontally, for a distance which seems to be miles, 
 but is really only a few hundred yards ; now and 
 then stopping and remaining immovable in obedi- 
 ence to the warning of Donald's back-turned hand. 
 For I place implicit confidence in him and will 
 not attempt to raise my head an inch to see what 
 is going on, this being one of the exceptions to 
 the -proverb, " Two heads are better than one." 
 
 Q ? 
 
228 SPORT. 
 
 On one of these occasions, however, I can't help 
 seeing the cause of the cessation of our slow pro- 
 gress ; the head of a hind appears from above a 
 low mossy knoll on our right, followed, to my 
 horror, by her whole body, looking so dreadfully 
 big and near that I consider our detection certain, 
 as indeed it would have been had she advanced 
 but a few more steps. As it is, she stops on the 
 top of the knoll, looking beyond and over us, and 
 after a long and careful scrutiny of the safe dis- 
 tance, apparently disregarding the dangerous fore- 
 ground, she calmly turns her head, scratches her 
 ear with her hind foot, and walks out of sight again. 
 Then after Donald has slowly raised himself a foot 
 or so, and as slowly subsided, his long limbs re- 
 commence their mysterious gliding motion, and I 
 follow like a tender to his engine. 
 
 At last oh, how long it was ! we reach the 
 more uneven ground, and can actually assume a 
 sitting posture, a blessed relief, and Donald lays 
 down my rifle against the bank and whispers his 
 
DEER-S TA LK1NG. 
 
 229 
 
 request that I shall stop there " for a whilie." He 
 wishes to reconnoitre alone. I assent, as I do to 
 
 DONALD RECONNOITRES. 
 
 everything he proposes. It may be humiliating 
 and I rather feel that it is so to abnegate all 
 
230 SPORT, 
 
 one's rights and independent action in this way; to 
 become a dummy, a machine, a mere component 
 part of General Donald's attacking force, a piece 
 of artillery to be kept in rear or hidden, and only 
 to be used when he chooses to call me into action. 
 I feel ' all this, but the stake is so large ; I am 
 playing for " Clubfoot," and I dare not take the 
 game out of Donald's hands, knowing as I do how 
 skilfully he plays it ; otherwise in an ordinary stalk 
 I require to see the cards a good deal more plainly 
 than I am doing here. So he departs, and is absent 
 about twenty minutes, while I, with the aid of a 
 silent match, indulge in a pipe. 
 
 On his return, which he accomplishes so noise- 
 lessly that he is within three yards of me before 
 I hear him, he informs me that there are some 
 very fine stags below that we could "get in" at, 
 but that "Clubfoot" is not among them. He how- 
 ever is, no doubt, below the ridge, out of sight, 
 and when Archie, who he can tell by the move- 
 ments of the lowest deer has already commenced 
 
DEER-S TALKING. 
 
 231 
 
 operations, shows himself a little more, he will 
 move up to us. Anyhow, we must now be going ; 
 so, taking up the rifle, he brings my heart into 
 my mouth by drawing it half out of its cover 
 and then as soon as we emerge from my shelter 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 mim 
 
 A DWARF FOREST OF HORNS APPEARS. 
 
 we assume the all-fours' formation and half crawl, 
 half slide down a gentle slope for some distance, 
 till a dwarf forest of horns appears, as though 
 stuck in the ground, in our front. 
 
 After some consideration, and looking well all 
 
232 SPORT. 
 
 round him, Donald inclines a little to his right and 
 reaches a very siight undulation, in which we are 
 rather better concealed, and with a gentle forward 
 beckon of his finger summons me to his side, and 
 oh, moment of anxious delight ! hands me the 
 rifle, for which I clear away a sort of embrasure 
 out of the coarse grass and moss before me, and 
 with eyes intently fixed on the tips of the horns 
 which are less than 100 yards away from me, I 
 await my chance. " Tak time when they rise, sir," 
 whispers Donald, with his mouth close to my ear ; 
 " don't fire till I show him." I nod assent and 
 then we wait, and wait ; often do we gently and 
 imperceptibly shift the pressure of our bodies from 
 one side to the other to gain relief from the crampy 
 sensation which a long continuance in the attitude 
 of prone recumbency is apt to create, and we are 
 just beginning to wonder whether Archie has made 
 a mistake, when at last the long-expected move 
 occurs ; head after head, broadside after broadside 
 stand revealed. They are all looking down the 
 
DEER-STALKING. 233 
 
 hill-side, evidently watching the disturbed deer below, 
 all but one a grand stag with a royal head, who 
 is standing and looking towards us a most tempting 
 three-quarters' broadside shot, not eighty yards off. 
 "Shall I take him?" I whisper to Donald, with 
 the sight of my rifle steady on the right place. 
 " Well," he slowly replies, with the tail of his eye, 
 as I feel sure, anxiously, searching for the appear- 
 ance of "Clubfoot" on the scene, "that's a splendid 
 stag ! " As the last word leaves his lips my finger 
 presses the trigger, and, with a start and a bound, 
 he gallops frantically past us up the hill. Of the 
 rest of the herd, some scamper along the ridge, 
 apparently in doubt whether to go up or down ; 
 some stand still, and while I am hurriedly asking 
 Donald as to the effect of my shot, he interrupts 
 me with the excited exclamation, " Quick, sir, 
 quick ! the other barrel ! There he is ! That's 
 ' Clubfoot ' ! " and sure enough, in all his broadside 
 bulk and wide-spread dignity of horn, easily dis- 
 tinguishable, exalted above his fellows, this preter- 
 
234 SPORT. 
 
 natural hero passes before me on the edge of the 
 ridge at a steady trot, giving me an easy chance 
 within the 100 yards. I fire, but miss, of course 
 who can prevail against enchantment ? " Load 
 quickly, sir ! " says Donald in a frenzy of excite- 
 ment, and with his aid two cartridges are soon in 
 the rifle, which he then snatches from my hand. 
 " This way ! we must run for it, but we'll have 
 another chance yet ! " and we do run ! first along 
 the ridge to the left, keeping just above it, " Club- 
 foot" having run below it. Then Donald suddenly 
 halts and plunges back at me. " Tur-r-n back ! this 
 way ! this way ! " and darts down the brae in a 
 slanting direction to the right. I follow as I best 
 can, a rough descent enough, sliding, not to say 
 tumbling, down the heather, jumping over ugly 
 chasms, progressing at full speed over ground difficult 
 at ordinary times to traverse at a walk of course, 
 it is all or most of it down hill still I can hardly 
 understand my own activity and fleetness. The 
 wings of Mercury seem attached to my feet, and 
 
DEER-STALKING. 235 
 
 I fly over the ground as one does in a dream. 
 My blood is up now, and I thoroughly understand 
 Donald's tactics, for I can see the deer travelling 
 below us on our left, cleverly headed back by 
 Archie from crossing to the opposite side of the 
 corrie, and I see the point Donald is making for 
 a knoll below us which will command the spot 
 where the foremost deer have already crossed a 
 small burn, and where, consequently, " Clubfoot," 
 who is well in the rear, is sure to cross to. 
 
 Panting, I reach the knoll and throw myself 
 down on the soft moss beside the rifle which 
 Donald has already placed ready for me, with the 
 barrel protruding down the steep hill-side. " Tak 
 time Tak time, sir ! " he exhorts. " That's not 
 him ! " he almost shrieks, as I seem about to shoot 
 at one of the minor deer, but I am only judging 
 the distance by the sight of the rifle on the beasts 
 as they pass. " He's last but one ! " No fear ! 
 I know him well and although a galloping shot 
 at about 180 yards is not quite so easy as one 
 
236 SPORT. 
 
 trotting at under 100, under which circumstances 
 I had just missed him, I have a sort of bloodthirsty 
 confidence in myself this time, and as he comes by 
 at last, lolloping along through the burn at an easy 
 canter with his great broadside full to me, I fire 
 and miss again ! " Behind and over him ! " mutters 
 Donald in a tone of despair but I heed him not ; 
 I knew it, he had just dipped downwards going 
 into the burn as I pulled, and I take the sight just 
 before his shoulder and fire the second barrel as 
 he mounts the bank out of it, and when he appears 
 as galloping deer will do sometimes to be 
 almost standing still. " That's in him ! " shouts 
 Donald in a very different tone ; another stride and 
 he reels half backwards. " He's down ! " follows 
 as a comparative, and when the next moment I 
 see the renowned " Clubfoot " with his heels kick- 
 ing in the air, a thunderous " He's dead ! " comes 
 as a superlative from the now frantic Donald, who, 
 exhorting me to load again and follow him, " in 
 case," darts down the hill-side with prodigious bounds, 
 
DEER-STALKING. 237 
 
 griping for his knife as he goes. I load and follow, 
 but my services are not needed ; no " in case " 
 occurs. Before I get half-way down I see. Donald 
 savagely occupied with his knife at the veteran's 
 chest, and the grand historic head at rest on the 
 mossy ground. When I arrive on the spot, Donald's 
 face positively glows and effervesces with delight 
 and pride, and I am conscious of an increased 
 deference in his demeanour towards myself, which, 
 though there never was any previous lack of respect 
 on his part, is on the whole, I cannot deny it, 
 rather pleasant to me. 
 
 There is no doubt of the fact that a certain 
 personal aggrandisement has accrued to me. 
 Throughout this glen and forest, and the whole 
 deer-stalking district around, the " man who 
 killed ' Clubfoot ' : will enjoy a certain celebrity, 
 deserved or not. I try not to exhibit undue 
 exaltation, and I shower praises on Donald for his 
 skill in the stalk, and especially on Archie, who 
 now comes panting up from the opposite side, 
 
238 SPORT. 
 
 more radiant, if anything, than Donald himself, 
 for his wonderful tact and sagacity in turning the 
 deer. Then we all three admire and expatiate 
 on the thickness and breadth of the dead hero's 
 horns, which had eleven points, and examine the 
 mysterious foot, the malformation of which a de- 
 ficiency of length in one of the toes had given 
 him his name. " Ah, many's the top it has gone 
 over ! " ejaculates Donald in a sudden access of 
 poetical emotion, as he reverently lifts the re- 
 nowned member. After many conjectures as to 
 his probable weight, I produce my flask, and serve 
 out a mighty dram to both, not forgetting my- 
 self, or neglecting to join in the somewhat 
 barbarous toast or sentiment : " Here's more 
 blood ! " 
 
 Then first my mind reverts to the other stag 
 of whose fate I was still ignorant, and of whom 
 indeed, so absorbed had I been in the superior 
 attractions of " Clubfoot," I had not even thought 
 since I fired the shot, which I knew must or 
 
DEER-STALKING. 
 
 239 
 
 ought to have been a deadly one and I ask 
 Donald's opinion. " Oh, he's dead," says he 
 rather contemptuously. " Did you see him down ? " 
 I ask, being rather surprised at the assured 
 
 AN OLD STALKER WAITKNG FOR HIS DINNER WHILE DONALD PERFORMS THE LAST RITES ON 
 
 CLUBFOOT. 
 
 certainty of his assertion. " No, I never looked 
 at him again after I saw him start. I knew he 
 had it in the right place, and couldn't go fifty 
 yards. It's a long way up, sir, but maybe you'll 
 
240 SPORT. 
 
 go up with Archie and look after him while I 
 stay and grallach * Clubfoot/ or Archie can go alone, 
 for there'll be no need for the rifle." 
 
 I decide, however, to accompany Archie ; and after 
 a long climb we find, as Donald had predicted, my 
 first stag dead as a stone, about fifty or sixty yards 
 from the spot where I shot at him. He was a very 
 fine beast, fully as heavy as " Clubfoot," if not 
 heavier, as the latter, from age, had been "going 
 back" for some years. He likewise had a royal 
 head, but not of the same substance or width as 
 " Clubfoot's," a rather narrow and upright head, never 
 very picturesque, but he was in splendid condition. 
 " Indeed it is not every gentleman coming to 
 Scotland," suddenly discourses Archie in a mor- 
 alising tone as he surveys him, while turning up his 
 sleeves for the grallach, " that will kill two such 
 stags as these in one day." I modestly assent to 
 this, and attribute my success to extraordinary luck, 
 secretly, in the bottom of my heart, fishing for a 
 compliment, which, however, don't come, whether 
 
DEER-STALKING. 
 
 241 
 
 in consequence of Archie's keenness of percep- 
 tion or the intentness of his researches into the 
 stag's interior 1 can't say ; but I feel rightly served 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 ARCHIE PULLS DOWN THE ROYAL. 
 
 by the miss-fire, and rather ashamed of myself, as 
 indeed I ought to be. When his bloody work is 
 
 R 
 
242 SPORT. 
 
 ended I help him to drag the beast down the 
 hill, he taking the horns and I steering, plough 
 fashion, with his hind legs to avoid collisions with 
 rocks and stones and subsidences into inconvenient 
 dips and hollows. 
 
 So, eventually, we got him down to Donald, who 
 had likewise concluded his sanguinary rites in regard 
 to Clubfoot ; and the lad with the ponies having, with 
 the sort of instinct which never seems to fail him 
 on these occasions, turned up at a handy distance, 
 the two stags are soon mounted and scientifically 
 strapped on the ponies, and after a few struggles 
 with soft ground we attain the comparative solidity 
 of the springy hill path, and l( down the shaggy 
 side/' we "wind with joyous march our glad array." 
 I know of no more comfortable sensation or posi- 
 tion than after a good day's work with a happy 
 result, to quietly stroll down the hill, smoking the 
 pipe of contentment, following your spoil, whose 
 branching heads your eye hardly ever bears to 
 leave, as they undulate from side to side with 
 
DEER-STALKING. 243 
 
 the motion of the ponies that carry them. This is, 
 I say, delight enough on ordinary occasions, but on 
 this one with the story I have to tell when I get 
 home ! and how much has this to do with all our 
 sport ! I am in that often quoted, but rather 
 vague locality, the " Seventh Heaven," and there, 
 if the reader can imagine and consent to occupy 
 such a position, I will leave him. 
 
 THE EXD 
 
 LONDON : RICHARD CI.AY ANJJ SONS, PRINTERS. 
 
AD VERT1SEMENTS. 
 
 " To all who ride, either necessarily, or for pleasure, the use of a properly 
 adjusted belt will remove the contingency of any form of rupture" 
 
 HAWKSLEY'S 
 
 Hunting and Riding Belts 
 
 ARE 
 
 LIGHTER, STRONGER, and MORE POROUS 
 
 I haft any others, ami 
 
 MAY BE WORN WITH COMFORT. 
 
 Mmh' cither to hnclde or button. 
 
 MEASUREMENTS required: Circumference two inches below hip-. 
 
 HAWKSLEY'S 
 
 " Rider's Sprain " Belt. 
 
 "The rider's thigh or sprain occurs very frequently' It is caused by the I. 
 man suddenly making a strong gi'ip. owing to his horse rearing, shying, slipping, 
 or unexpectedly taking a jump .... The pain at the time is often very ti 
 but subsequently more p;\ii>. is felt in walking, severe pain attends the act of 
 mounting, and still more pain, sometimes described as unbearable pain, is excilei. 
 by gripping the horse." 
 
 " '1 he accident generally happens to hunting men, is more frequent in tall men. 
 and affects the right thigh more often than the left." 
 
 " For these cases Mr. I lauksley makes a long web or leather strap, two or - 
 inches broad, pad led to localise the pressure .... The action is immediate, a 
 the man can at once firmly grip his hor-c." 
 
 "Often the huntsman rides to the meet with the strap put on loosely, ami 
 tightens it up when the hounds get away." L'iit-tt. 
 
 <4 From these sprains many men often lose a season's hunting/ 
 
 %& Sole Agent for the PORTABLE HOT AIR BATH, to use after Excessive 
 Fatigue, Falls, Sprains, or long exposure to Cold whilst Hunting, Shooting. 
 Fishing, c. 
 
 Tniwxfor the " Tnt.nis Knee" &c. &c. 
 
 T. HAWKSLEY, Surgical Instrument Maker, 
 
 357, OXFORD STREET, LONDON, W. 
 
A D VER TISEMEN'l 'S. 
 
 GEORGE GIBBS, 
 
 (temi, giflr, $ jmnmnitirm IBamifarturrr, 
 29, CORN STREET, BRISTOL 
 
 ESTABLISHED OVER 50 YEARS. 
 
 Patentee and Sole Proprietor of the first 
 
 Hammerless Gun adopted by the Public 
 
 (the "G and P" Patent). 
 
 About 5,000 of these are now in use and giriny 
 entire satisfaction. 
 
 Sole Manufacturer of the cslebrated FARQUHARSON METFORD Match, 
 Military, and Sporting Rifles. 
 
 THE BEST SPORTING EIFLE EVER OFFERED. 
 
 Ammunition at the lowest possible prices. 
 
 FULL ILLUSTRATED LIST ON APPLICATION. 
 
A D VER TISEMENTS. 
 
 FISHING 
 
 Gold Medal and Diploma of Honour 
 
 Great International Fisheries 
 
 Exhibition, 18856. 
 
 ONLY MEDAL AWARDED FOR GUT AND GUT CASTS, 
 
 Send name and address for Gut Report and Price List to 
 
 R. BAMSBOTTOM, 
 
 (But Jmporter, 
 81, MARKET STREET, MANCHESTER. 
 
A D VER TISEMENTS. 
 
 GOLD MEDALS AWARDED 
 
 Antwerp and New Orleans International Exhibitions, 1885, 
 Paris and Arnhem Dog Shows, 1885, 
 
 for the Superior Excellence of 
 
 SPRATT'S PATENT 
 
 MEAT "FIBRINE" VEGETABLE 
 
 (WITH BEETROOT). USED IN THE ROYAL KENNELS. 
 
 Purveyors to the Kennel Club, Birmingham Nationals, Societe St. Hubert, 
 
 Csrcle de la Chasse, Dogs' Home, Battersea, and to all the principal 
 
 English and Foreign Canine Societies. 
 
 International Health Exhibition, 1884 PRIZE MEDAL AWARDED. 
 
 THE ONLY ONE GRANTED FOR MANUFACTURES OF THE KIND. 
 
 The most Nutritious and Digestible Food for Chicks and 
 Laying Hens (being thoroughly cooked). 
 
 "THE COMMON SENSE OF POULTRY KEEPING," ql. 
 
 GRANULATED PRAIRIE MEAT "CRISSEL." 
 
 Takes the place of Insect Life. 
 
 PIGEON FOOD, for Rearing Young Squabs, 
 
 Sold only in 7-lb., 14-lb. , 28-lb., and cwt. Sealed Bags. 
 PAMPHLET ON PIGEON REARING, POST FREE. 
 
 CARDIAC, A TONIC FOR POULTRY. 
 
 Write for our Illustrated Catalogue of Dog, Poultry, Pigeon, and Game Houses, 
 Baskets, Troughs, and Appliances of all kinds, post free. 
 
 SPRATT'S PATENT, LONDON, S.E. 
 
ADVERTISEMENTS. 
 
 HORSE, CARRIAGE ANDJATTLE INSURANCE. 
 
 THE LONDON AND PROVINCIAL 
 
 HORSE AND CARRIAGE INSURANCE COMPANY, LIMITED, 
 
 AND 
 
 THE HORSE INSURANCE COMPANY, LIMITED. 
 CHIEF OFFICE: 17, QUEEN VICTORIA STREET, LONDON, E.G. 
 
 This is the oldest Office in the United Kingdom for this class 
 
 of Insurance. 
 
 A. WATERS, Secretary. 
 
 Fifth Kditmii. I>emy 8vo. gs. 
 
 THE RACEHORSE IN TRAINING, 
 
 With some Hints on Racing and Racing Reform. To which is added a chapter on "Shoeing." 
 By WILLIAM DAY. 
 
 " The chronicles of post and paddock contain scarcely any name either better or longer known 
 thai: that of Day. What a Day, whether of Danebury, or of Stockbridge, or of Woodyates, has to 
 tell us about the racehorse and pertinent matters is almost as worthy of attention as what a 
 ( iamaliel might have to say upon a very different subject. For the Days have been noted jockeys. 
 Trainers, and < wners from the time of the first 'honest John' to that of 'our William.' And 
 Mr. William Day, who has now added a deed of authorship to his feats of horsemanship, 
 trainership, and ownership, speaks with < xtraordinary authority upon a certain question of 
 training. He omits sensational anecdotes, though he could no doubt have astonished his readers 
 had he chosen to draw up m his memory for strange stories; and he adopts, on the contrary, a 
 quiet, business-like, timple style, exhibiting here and there an ingenuous disposition quite different 
 from the Machiavellian character which general opinion attributes t > the trainer of racehorses." 
 l\ill Mall Gaz-lt-. 
 
 London: CHAPMAN AND HALL. Limited. 
 
 GARDEN & SON, 
 
 200, PICCADILLY, LONDON. 
 
 Manufacturers of HARNESS, PLAIN and MILITARY 
 SADDLERY, and every description of ACCOUTREMENTS. 
 
 PATENTEES OF THE 
 
 "Absolute Safety Saddle-Bar," 
 
 Ensuring perfect protection against being dragged by the Stirrup. Approved 
 by all who have used it. 
 
 Hand-made Polo Saddle Complete 3 3s. 
 
 Specialties in Service Sword -Belts, Chain Mail, &c. 
 
 REVOLVERS, SWORDS, and all kinds of ARMS and SPORTING APPARATUS. 
 
 A Variety of most excellent Breech-loaders to be Sold 
 
 at much Reduced Prices. 
 
 Gt .A. R 1> X2 NT SC SO IW, 
 
 200, Piccadilly, W. 
 
A D VER TISEMENTS. 
 
 CHAMBERLIN'S 
 
 PHEASANTS' FOOD: 
 
 Aromatic Spanish Meal, 
 
 Caycar Excelsior, 
 Double Super Meat Greaves, 
 
 OBTAINED THE 
 
 ONLY AWARD for GAME FOOD, 
 
 PARIS INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION, 1878, 
 BRONZE MEDAL AND DIPLOMA, MANNHEIM, 1880, 
 
 SILVER MEDAL, CLEVES, 1881, 
 GOLD AND SILVER MEDALS, ANTWERP, 1884 and 1885. 
 
 npHE great and increasing yearly demand for the AROMATIC SPANISH 
 1 MEAL and CAYCAR EXCELSIOR is the best proof that the use of these 
 CELEBRATED FOODS (which have now been used by all the Principal Rearers of 
 Game for MORE THAN THIRTY YEARS) is not only highly beneficial, but 
 absolutely necessary to the successful Rearing of young Pheasants and Game. 
 
 Supplies constantly forwarded to the Royal Parks; H.R.H. the Prince of 
 Wales, at Sandringham; and to all the Noblemen and Landed Proprietors in the 
 United Kingdom, France, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Sweden, &c. 
 
 No connection with any other House. Beware of Imitations. 
 
 " Belle Vue, Kirkby Lonsdale, February 7th. 
 " Mr. James Chamberlin, 
 
 " Sir, I beg to say that, as usual, your Food gave me great satisfaction, both for the birds 
 in the pens and for rearing the young ones, I having reared last season nearly 4,000 birds. All 
 being well, I expect to rear quite as many this coining season, and will forward you an order for 
 D. S. Greaves and Spanish Meal for my penned birds in a few days. 
 
 " JOHN HARROD, Head Keeper to the Earl of Bective, M.P." 
 
 " Horstead, January 25th. 
 
 " Sir, I have much pleasure in giving you a testimonial as to the gODd qualit.es of your 
 Pheasants' Foods. I reared 1,000 pheasants, and never lost one by disease, which I attribute to 
 the use of your Spanish Meal Caycar Excelsior, and Greaves. I consider them the best food I 
 ever used. " Yours obediently, 
 
 "THOMAS JOHNSON, 
 " Head Keeper to Edward Birkbeck, Esq., M.P., Horstead Hall." 
 
 Write for the New Book of Prices, with Treatise on Pheasant Rearing, and 
 a lot of information about Gnni?, free by post. 
 
 JAMES CHAMBERLIN & SMITH, 
 
 (Late JAMES CHAMBERLIN), 
 
 GAME, POULTRY, AND DOG FOOD WAREHOUSE, 
 
 3V O H. WIO H, 
 
A D VER TI SEME NTS. 
 
 THE ST. PANCRAS IRON WORK C ov 
 
 & Ironfoimfcrrs, Hoirtion. 
 
 COW-HOUSE 
 
 AND 
 
 Manufacturers of 
 STABLE 
 
 AND 
 
 HARNESS 
 
 ROOM 
 FITTINGS. 
 
 Illustrated Catalogues sent post free on application. Write for Pamphlet on 
 the Company's Improved System of Paving and Drainage. 
 
 PIGGERY 
 FITTINGS. 
 
 GENERAL CAST AND WROUGHT IRON WORK, 
 
 IRON GATES, RAILINGS, VERANDAHS, IRON ROOFS, 
 
 COVERED WAYS, IRON STAIRCASES, 
 
 IRON CONSERVATORIES, 
 
 SASHES, BALCONIES, 
 
 ORNAMENTAL 
 
 Hand-Forged 
 
 Wrought Iron 
 
 Work, Grilles, 
 
 Screens, &c. 
 
 Special designs and 
 Estimates Furnished on t^g 
 Receipt of Particulars. "^ 
 
 Larpre ) 
 Showrooms 
 at I 
 
 THE 
 
 ST. PANCRAS IRON WORKS, 
 
 ST. PANCRAS ROAD, LONDON, 
 N.W. 
 
 Close to the St. Pancras, King's Cross, and Euston 
 Railway Stations. 
 
A D VER TJ SEME NTS. 
 
 London, 1862. 
 
 THREE 
 FIRST AWARDS 
 
 at the 
 
 MELBOURNE 
 
 EXHIBITION, 
 
 1880-1. 
 
 Paris, 1878. 
 
 SILVER MEDAL 
 
 and 
 
 FIRST CLASS 
 
 CERTIFICATE 
 
 CALCUTTA 
 
 XHIBITION,1884. 
 
 Highest Award Inventions Exhibition, London, 1885, for Chaff Cutters. 
 
 RICHMOND & CHANDLER, 
 
 MANUFACTURERS OF ROYAL FIRST PRIZE AND EXHIBITION MEDAL 
 
 CHAFF CUTTERS, 
 
 ENSILAGE CUTTERS, 
 
 CORN CRUSHERS, 
 
 MALT MILLS, 
 
 LINSEED MILLS, 
 
 ROOT PULPERS, 
 
 ROOT SLICERS, 
 
 LITTER CUTTERS, 
 
 HORSE GEARS, 
 
 KNEADING MACHINES, 
 
 STEAMING APPARATUS, 
 
 ROOT WASHERS, 
 
 SACK HOLDERS, 
 
 <k, Ac. 
 
 RICHMOND & CHANDLER'S CHAFF CtTTTEBS have 
 taken the Prize of the Royal Agricultural Society of England 
 at every Competition since 1854. 
 
 a- RICHMOND & CHANDLER were awarded the Gold Medal of the 
 Royal Manchester, Liveroool, and North Lancashire _Society at the 
 Stockport Meeting, 1884, for Ensilage Cutter. 
 
 IbO Gold and Silver Medals awarded during the last 13 years. 
 
 Sydney, 1879. 
 
 Melbourne, 183O. 
 
 Calcutta 1884. 
 
JOHN HARRISON, JUNR., 
 
 (Formerly JOHN ATCHELER'S,) 
 
 arsc 
 
 A JK. ^_f JKT^ JL^^i .aum* "^^ -C^fc. .Jfc^j 
 
 KING'S CROSS. 
 
 To Her Majesty, H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, 
 1st and 2nd Life Guards, Royal Horse Guards (Blue), 
 
 Royal Horse Artillery, Royal Veterinary College, 
 
 The Metropolitan Fire Brigade, Gt. Northern, Midland, 
 
 L. and N. W. t and Gt. W. Raihvay Companies, 
 
 Leading Contractors, Job Masters, etc. 
 
 Having a staff of qualified men, 
 J. H. Junr. is prepared, on receipt of 
 order by telegram or letter, to send to 
 any part at a moment's notice ; or gentle- 
 men can send their own servants, and 
 have their old favourites destroyed 
 humanely by experienced men, -with 
 instructions to take back a hoof or 
 other part as a guarantee their wishes 
 have been complied with. 
 
 iid Papers.] 
 
GOLD and SILVER MEDALS Awarded at INTERNATIONAL and 
 INVENTIONS EXHIBITION, 1884-1885. 
 
 Patent. Most 
 From 16 to 40 
 
 SELF-EJECTING HAMMER- 
 
 LESS GUNS, 42. 
 HAMMERLESS GUNS, 
 
 "ANSON & DEELEY 
 serviceable gun made. 
 Guineas. 
 
 HAMMERLESS GUNS of other 
 
 patterns, from 12 to 40 Guineas. 
 
 SEMI-HAMMERLESS GUNS, 
 
 with Outside Hammers, at 20 and 25 
 Guineas. 
 
 HAMMER GUNS. Low 
 
 Hammers. From 20 to 40 Guineas. 
 
 HAMMER GUNS. Solid Bar- 
 
 actions, top levers, from .15. 
 
 PLAIN HAMMER GUNS, 
 
 from j ios. 
 
 EXPRESS DOUBLE AND 
 SINGLE RIFLES for all 
 
 kinds of Game. 
 
 ROOK RIFLES, from 4 4 s. 
 MAGAZINE RIFLES. Several 
 
 New Patterns. 
 
 SELF-EXTRACTING REGU- 
 LATION REVOLVERS, 
 
 '450, '455, and '476-bore, from 85$. 
 
 REVOLVERS for House, Pocket, 
 
 &c., from 25-y. 
 
 Gun Cases, Covers, Cartridge 
 
 Bags, Game Bags, &c. 
 Loaded Cartridges, from gs. per 
 
 100. 
 
 Guns Converted & Exchanged. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED PRICE LISTS. 
 
 E. M. REILLY & Co., iim 
 
 PARIS. 
 
 ROWLANDS' ODONTO 
 
 Is the purest and most fragrant dentifrice ever made ; 
 it whitens the teeth, prevents decay, and gives a 
 pleasing fragrance to the breath. All dentists will 
 allow that neither washes nor pastes can possibly be- 
 as efficacious for polishing the teeth and keeping them 
 sound and white as a pure and non-gritty tooth 
 powder ; such Rowlands' Odonto has always proved 
 itself to be. 
 
 ROWLANDS' 
 
 MACASSAR OIL 
 
 Has been known for the last 84 years as the best and 
 safest preserver and beautifier of the hair ; it contains 
 no lead or mineral ingredients, and is especially 
 adapted for the hair of children. It can now also be 
 had in a golden colour, as well as in the ordinary tint. 
 Sold in usual four sizes. 
 
 Ask any Chemist, Perfumer, or Hairdresser for ROWLANDS' ARTICLES, 
 
 Of 20, HATTON GARDEN, LONDON, and avoid Spurious Imitations. 
 4