was a heavy one, and the ground was very awkward. We gralloched the stag, and took out the heart and liver in order to make him as light as possible, and then set to work to get the stag down. This was a very heavy job, and I could not help thinking, as I had often thought before, what an excellent thing it would be if every one who is going to stalk, whether proprietor, tenant, or guest, were obliged some time or other to take part in dragging a stag to the place where he is to be put on the pony, and help in putting him on the pony. We succeeded at last in getting the stag down, and the stalker then arranged to wait on the pony path lower down, in order to meet old Angus and the pony boy, who would be bringing the first stag I had shot and the ponies. I took my rifle, the luncheon bag, and the sticks and glasses, and struck across the hill for the lodge. On my way down I began to speculate as to the age of the two old stags I had shot that day, and came to the conclusion that they were probably not less than fourteen or fifteen years old. The old Gaelic saying, which shows how little was formerly known as to the age of a stag, came into my mind: Tri aois coin, aois eich; Tri aois eich, aois duine; Tri aois duine, aois feidh; Tri aois feidh, aois firein; Tri aois firein, aois dbaraich, which may be translated: Thrice dog’s age, age of horse; Thrice horse’s age, age of man; Thrice man’s age, age of deer; Thrice deer’s age, age of eagle; Thrice eagle’s age, age of oak. It is probably true to say that a stag in its wild state rarely lives beyond sixteen or seventeen years of age. In those forests which are on islands, for example Jura, stalkers have unusual opportunities of observing and learning the history of particular stags, and I recollect when stalking in North Jura two years ago discussing this subject with John Mackay, the head stalker. He told me that he had several times been familiar with a stag all through its life, and in more than one instance had seen a stag with a fine head gradually lose its points, until at last it had only comparatively short upright narrow horns with two, short brow points, the stag itself losing steadily both in size and weight and becoming very light in colour. [Illustration: OLD ANGUS NEARING HOME. By V. R. BALFOUR-BROWNE.]