Part 18 (1/2)

CHAPTER XV

SIERRA MOReNA (_Continued_)

RED DEER AND BOAR

The randest of their kind in Spain, and will compare favourably with any truly wild deer in Europe[27] The drawings, photographs, and iven in this chapter prove so much, but no nificent harts, as seen in the full glory of life bounding in unequal leaps over so more deliberate course up a stone stairway

Massive as they are in body (weighing, say, 300 lbs clean), yet even so the giant antlers appear alth and superstructure

The whole Sierra Morena being clad with brushwood and jungle, thicker in places, but nowhere clear, shooting is practically confined to ”driving”

on that extensive scale ter two or three typical experiences of our own in this sierra, we attempt a sketch of the systehout Spain

[Illustration: WOLF SHOT SIERRA MOReNA

March, 1909--weight 93 lb]

[Illustration: HUNTSMAN WITH CARACOLA, SIERRA MOReNA]

[Illustration: PACK OF PODENCOS, SIERRA MOReNA (COUPLED IN PAIRS)]

The area of operations being immense and clad with almost continuous thicket, it is customary to employ two or three separate packs (ter in all as hty hounds The extra packs--beyond that belonging to the host--are brought by shooting guests, and each pack has its own huntsman (_perrero_), whonise The huntsh not the beaters) are mounted, and each carries asea-shell The forelegs of the horses, where necessary--especially in Estremadura--are enveloped in leather sheaths (_fundas de cuero_) to protect them from the terrible thorns and the spikes of burnt cistus which pierce and cut like knives

The best dogs are _podencos_ of the bigger breeds, also crosses between _podencos_ and mastiffs, and between h-haired bull-dogs largely used in Estre-up” the boar

The huntsmen with their packs, and the beaters, usually start with the dawn, so before, dependent on the distance to be traversed to their points, whichthe cast-off, hounds are coupled up in pairs: a collar fitted with a bell (_cencerro_) is then substituted, and the aligniven hour the beat begins

On every occasion when a gae the hounds, and the who-hoops of the huntsmen behind resound for miles around Should the animal hold a forward course (as desired), the hounds are shortly recalled by the _caracolas_, or hunting-horns aforesaid, and the beat is then reformed and resued--the firing-line (_aruns e, sometimes defiled in a narrow pass of the valley far below

Should the nuuns be insufficient to co a second firing-line (terht angle from the centre of the first line, is sometimes effective

It a aniuns scattered over vast areas uns--even ten or twelve--is necessarily insufficient, but here local knowledge and the skill of Spanish uerrilleros_ on earth) comes effectively into play In practice it is seldom that the best ”passes”

are not coes skylines are frequently pierced by nicks or ”passes” (terest, even to a stranger possessed of an eye for such things, the probable lines of retreat for ame But ”passes” are not always conspicuous, nor are all skylines of broken contour On the contrary, there frequently present thelance appear wholly uniform Here comes to aid that local intuition referred to, nor will it be found lacking Many a long hill-ridge apparently featureless may (and often does) include several well-frequented passes Soht sense of disappoint one's allotted post to perceive not a single sign of ”advantage” within its radius--or ”jurisdiction,” as Spanish keepers quaintly put it Yet it eries of converging watercourses, glens, or other accustomed _salidas_ (outlets), all of which are invisible in the unseen depths on one's front; but which salient points in cynegetic geography are perfectly appreciated by our guide

The brushwood of Morena consists over vast areas--uh on the stoniest ground Wherever a slightly enerous soil permits, the cistus is interspersed and thickened with rhododendron, broonate plants On the richer slopes and dells there crowd together a le of lentisk and arbutus, white buck-thorn and holly, all intertwined with vicious prehensile briar and woodbine, together with heaths, genista, giant ferns, and gorse of a score of species Watercourses are overarched by oleanders, and the chief trees are cork-oak and ilex, wild-olive, juniper, and alder, besides others of which we only know the Spanish naracejis, etc

Naturally, in such rugged broken ground as the sierras, where the guns are protected by intervening heights, shooting is permissible in any direction, whether in front or behind, and even soe days, when beaters didn't count, is suggested by a refrain of the sierra:--

Mas vale matar un Cristiano Que no dejar ir una res--