FAR NORTH, _January 31, 1907_.--First beat by the "Eagles' Nest" (in the biggest cork-oak we ever saw, the imperial bird soaring off as we rode up). Brushwood everywhere tall and dense, giving no view. On placing me the keeper remarked, "By this little glade (_canuto_) deer _must_ break, but amidst such jungle will need _un tiro de merito_!" Four stags broke, two were missed, but one secured--seven points on one horn, the other broken. So dense is the bush here that a lynx ran almost over the writer's post, yet had vanished from sight ere gun could be brought to shoulder. In the next beat, La Querencia del Macho (again all dense bush), B. shot two really grand companion stags, but again one of these had a broken horn. This animal while at bay so injured the spine of one of our dogs that it had to be killed two days later.[13] A third beat added one more big stag, and the day's result--four stags with only two "heads"--is so curious that we give the detail:-- +--------------------------------------------------------+ | | Length. | Breadth. | Points. | +--------------------------------------------------------+ | W. E. B.[14] | 23-1/2" | (One horn) | 7 × 2 | | W. J. B. (No. 1) | 28" | Do. | 6 × 2 | | W. J. B. (No. 2) | 25" × 25" | 25" | 7 × 6 = 13 | | A. C. | 26" × 24" | 20-1/2" | 6 × 5 = 11 | +--------------------------------------------------------+ Amidst forest or in dense jungle (such as last described) where no distant view is possible, it is usually advisable to watch outwards--that is, with back towards the beat, relying on _ears_ to give notice of the movements of game within. But in (more or less) open country where a view, oneself unseen, can be obtained afar, the situation is modified. The following is an example:--