Fishing -- Scotland; Hunting -- Scotland; Salmon fishing -- Great Britain; Spanish American literature -- History and criticism
began to spy and get directions from the gillie, who signed that he
went round the shoulder before us. It was getting late and dark, so
we hurried after the stag. When we got round the shoulder we could
dimly see him limping away a good deal below us, and towards the
boundary, so we considered it was best not to follow further in
case we forced him over the march and then lost him in the dark,
for we were in hopes to find him next morning near this place, and
possibly dead. As he did not catch us following him, he slowed down
to a stand, so we left him there.
“Next morning, we were on the move early and got up to where we
left him, searched every hollow and corner on our side and as far
into the other side as I dared, but could not find or see him
anywhere. So, when home, we wrote to the surrounding tenants with
a description of the head, and to have a look-out, when we would
expect the head to be sent to us if the stag were found dead. But
none ever came across him, so we gave up hopes and expected he was
dead in some hole.
“The following year the forest was taken by a new tenant, and there
was no more thought about the lost wounded stag till, about the
beginning of October, what was my surprise to see, and very near
the same place and corrie, a stag with the same kind of head and
peculiarly formed tops. I mentioned to the gentleman our experience
last season with one very like this stag in the same corrie, but
I remember our remark was that it was more likely one of the same
breed, so lost no time in spying, as everything was favourable for
a successful stalk. We got to a nice distance, and shot him dead.
When I went down to examine him I was surprised to find that he had
no brow-points, and instead of being a ten-pointer he was only an
eight-pointer. I could not see anything like last year’s wound at
the time, but next morning, when I went to the larder where he was
hanging skinned, I noticed at once his right leg showing exactly
where our last year’s bullet had broken it, but now nicely healed
up, and it looked as though both legs were exactly the same length.
I could not say if he had a limp, as he was standing all the time
till we had our shot. I got this haunch for my own use and had it
boiled and stripped of flesh, when I could see plainly how well it
joined. The bone was jagged at both ends, and the longest points
exactly touching, and the missing parts were filled up with tough
hard flesh. I noticed a splinter on the outside which lay so neatly
in place, and even to both ends. The stag weighed 15 st. 11 lb. He
was in fair condition, but not up to the average; he looked to me
to be much heavier the year before, although that year we had much
better average weights.”
Lieut.-General Crealock, in _Deer Stalking in the Highlands of
Scotland_, relates a case of the same kind:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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