. Mammals of other lands;. Mammals. THE DEER TRIBE 247 The Red Deer. Mr. J. G. Millais, author of " British Deer and their Horns " and other works, himself a first-rate sportsman in many parts of the world, compares the style of shooting red deer in vogue forty or fifty years ago with that obtaining in the Highlands at the present day. " A stalker in Black Mount, Argyllshire," he says, " told me of a typical day's sport in which he took part some forty years ago. Fox Maule and Sir Edwin Landseer were the two rifles (they frequently stalked in pairs at that time), and,
. Mammals of other lands;. Mammals. THE DEER TRIBE 247 The Red Deer. Mr. J. G. Millais, author of " British Deer and their Horns " and other works, himself a first-rate sportsman in many parts of the world, compares the style of shooting red deer in vogue forty or fifty years ago with that obtaining in the Highlands at the present day. " A stalker in Black Mount, Argyllshire," he says, " told me of a typical day's sport in which he took part some forty years ago. Fox Maule and Sir Edwin Landseer were the two rifles (they frequently stalked in pairs at that time), and, on the side of Clashven, Peter Robertson, the head forester, brought them within eighty yards of two exceptionally fine stags Maule fired and missed, as did also Sir Edwin as the stags moved away; then, on a signal from Robertson, Peter McColl, the gillie, slipped the hounds — the two best ever owned by the late Marquis of Breadalbane, and whose portraits are still pre- served in the famous picture of ' The Deer Drive ' — and away they went in hot pursuit of the deer. An end-on chase now ensued, the line taken being due east down the great glen towards Loch Dochart, and at last the stalkers were brought to a standstill, being fairly exhausted both in wind and limb. At this moment, however, four dark spots, like small rocks, standing out at the point of a little promontory in the lake, attracted their attention, and, on drawing nearer, they saw, to their surprise, each of the big stags being held at bay by a gallant hound. A couple of shots then settled the business, and so ended what was then considered a grand day's sport. No doubt it was most exciting to see the struggle of bone and sinew between two such noble quadrupeds, but it was not rifle-shooting. To-day the gallant but disturbing deer-hound has given place to the cunning and obedient collie, and the success of the stalker depends, for the most part, on the accuracy of his rifle and his skill in using ; Here
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