Note 78 — Chapter XXXVIII · DEER-STALKING AND "STILL-HUNTING"

These old and cunning stags do not always break covert so readily, as the following incident will show. We had tracked a hart for some miles, till eventually the trail led towards quite a small clump—not two acres—of 20-ft. gorse and tree-heath with an outer fringe of bamboo, all growing on dry ground, though entirely surrounded by flood-water. Every indication pointed to the stag having couched in this congenial covert; the hunters, however, traversed it without moving game. The water-weeds outside showed no sign of the stag having passed onward: but, to make sure, we took a wide cast on the drier ground beyond, separating so as completely to encircle the mancha. No vestige of a trail could be seen; clearly the beast still lay in the recesses of his island-sanctuary. The gun once more took up his position to leeward, and the covert was beaten again—this time more effectively, for presently, amid crash of branches and bamboos, the stag, which had been lying like a hare in its form, bounded out across the shallow marsh—with the usual result!