the mountain, black clouds, which had been gathering ominously * the; west, burst upon
us in a perfect deluge o f rain, and with the depressing experiences o f previous days fresh
in mind, we should have sunk in despair but É f the assurance o f Grant that it was probably
a passing shower, which would be over by the time we reached the summit. So on we
went, soaked to the skin, but cheered in spirit by a discourse on Highland pipe music, in
the history o f which, as well a | 5the practice, Grant is equally 0 home. Grant, let me
say, is one o f the élites o f his craft, a man o f cultivated mind and refined feelings— in a word,
one o f “ Naturels gentlemen,” o f whom, - happily, there are many specimens to be found
in the stalking fraternity,— and with the advantage o f '6 feet 3 inches in height, and a frame
in proportion, he is in every way fitted for the work he loy.es tpifursue. A jovial man
“ as a f e a t h e r is w a f t e d d o w n w a r d fr om a n ea g le in h e r f l ig h t
too is Grant, with a sense o f humour altogether at variance with Sydney Smith’s playful
remark that “ it requires a surgical operation to get a joke into a Scotchman’s head ; so
a more pleasant companion on a hill-side could hardly be found.
He was right about the weather. No sooner had we reached the summit than the rain
ceased, and beneath our feet lay open to view what might w ell be called a Sportsman’s Paradise.
Standing on the deer-pass above the two corries o f Larig Dochart and Altahourn, we had a
magnificent view o f the latter— the largest and probably the best corrie in the forest of the
Black Mount,-^nd as we saw it, with the sun stealing across the immense slopes upwards
over line after line o f ridges, whose serrated forms were finally lost to sight in the mists of
Glencoe, it presented as fine a subject for a picture as I have ever seen.
Landseer seems to have thought so too, for upon a memorable occasion he turned away
the wrath o f his fellow-sportsmen by committing it to canvas. There was a big drive going
on, and Landseer was posted on the spot we now occupied, to await the coming o f the deer ;
and instead o f allowing the first lot to go by, he fired at a stag that was coming up the pass
towards him, the result o f which was that the deer, numbering about a thousand, clubbed
together and broke back, to the utter ruin o f the drive. The great painter was so impressed
with the spectacle that he left his post and ran home to paint it while it was still fresh in his
mind, and when his comrades returned to the lodge in the evening they found the chief
event o f the day so charmingly and truthfully depicted that they readily forgave the disappointment
he had caused them.
Mid-day was now approaching, and as my glass presently assured me that the little
brown specks on the Altahourn slopes were stags with some good harts amongst them, the
fascination o f the scene suddenly gave place to a conflicting emotion like that which got
King Ahab into trouble with regard to Naboth’s vineyard. I wanted to fee after them at
once, but Grant objected. We had better try Larig Dochart, he said, since no shot had been
fired there for a fortnight and the ground had been perfectly
undisturbed. So, after advancing cautiously for
some 400 yards along the razor-backed ridge which
separates the two corries, I sat down to lunch, while
Grant crawled forward to a rock which commanded an
extensive view pf our ground, and proceeded to carefully
examine i| |. He “ found ” at once, and I knew instinctively
by the stationary position o f his glass on some
object below us, followed by short impulsive movements
to right and left, that he had got not only one beast
but several. A ll was now impatience on my part, and,
hurriedly finishing my meal, I waited till Grant had
slowly pushed himself into a sitting posture, when he
proceeded to wipe the face o f his glass with a red bandana
o f prodigious dimensions, while his own face assumed an
expression o f extreme seriousness. Now it was my turn to have a look, and— Yes! by
all that was delightful, there they were, nearly a hundred deer grazing along the face of
the hill about 300 yards below us. M y glass, however, had another tale to tell.
Running it quickly over the entire herd, they seemed to be composed, almost without exception,
o f hinds, “ knobbers,” and brockets— not a shootable stag amongst them,— and now my
only hope was to discover some fine “ beastie ” that I might have overlooked, or which
might be lying half-hidden behind some sheltering hummock. With spirits sobered by -
disappointment, I was looking for this, when a voice close to my ear laconically observed,
“ T hat’s no the right beasties you’ve got, sir. The others are over the brow to the right.”-
It was the voice o f Grant, whose digit finger told me where to l|§|k for what I wanted; and,
taking down my glass, I saw w ith a thrill o f exultation about seventy stags, the finest lot I had ever
beheld, dotted about on the hill-side some 700 yards farther towards the head o f the corrie.
Rarely indeed, except in such a forest as this, could such a sight be seen. There was hardly
an unshootable stag amongst the whole herd, and many a one that had long since reached his
prime. Most of them were lying chewing the cud in happy ignorance o f danger, and I had