In the fog I had under-estimated the distance and the hit was low and too far back. With two trackers I followed the spoor while daylight served and through places that any words of mine must fail to describe; but from the first the head-keeper had foretold the result: "Eso no se cobra--va léjos"--"that stag you will not recover; he goes far, but wherever he stops, he dies. See here! the dogs have run his spoor all along, but have not yet brought him to bay." The indications left by the stag on brushwood and rock conveyed to the trackers' practised eyes, as clear as words, the precise position of the wound; and, as foretold, those coveted antlers were lost, to perish uselessly. The pack of Mezquitillas was on this occasion reinforced by those of the Duke of Medinaceli and of the Marquis of Viana--bringing the total up to seventy hounds. Thus, in Spain, do the Grandees of a big land, when guests at a _montería_, bring with them their huntsmen, kennelmen, and their packs of hounds--a system that breathes a comforting sense of space. Next day being hopelessly wet, I took opportunity of measuring three of the trophies which adorn the hall at Mezquitillas:-- +-------+-------+---------+------------+------------+-------------+ | |Points.| Length. |Widest Tips.|Circ. above | Circ. below | | | | | | Bez. | Corona. | +-------+-------+---------+------------+------------+-------------+ |A | 15 | 38-1/4" | 38-3/4" | 6-1/2" | ... | |B | 14 | 38" | 29-1/2" | 6-1/4" | 7-1/2" | |C | 14 | 37-3/4" | 33-1/2" | ... | ... | |Roebuck| ... | 8-1/2" | 3-1/4" | | | +-------+-------+---------+------------+------------+-------------+ It will be observed that the stag shot a day or two before, and illustrated above (p. 167), tops the best of these by half an inch. The somewhat abnormal curve, however, partly explains this. [Illustration: JULY.] [Illustration] We must record yet one more memorable day on this estate of Mezquitillas. This _montería_ (in January 1910) covered the region known as the Leoncillo. Upwards of twenty big stags passed the firing-line, and every gun enjoyed his chance--several more than one. In the result, six stags were killed--three by our host, one by his son. Though carrying 12, 11, 10, and 10 points respectively, none of these four were of exceptional merit, and the best, a 14-pointer, fell to the Duke of Medinaceli. The clean weight of these, the largest stags, is usually between 11-1/2 and 12 arrobas, or 287 to 300 lbs. English. One exceptionally heavy stag killed by our host's son, Juan Calvo, Junr., and which had received some injury in the _testes_, resulting in a malformation of the horn, weighed no less than 16-1/2 arrobas, or 412 lbs. English.