Unexplored Spain Part 6

[Ill.u.s.tration: "TAKING THE WIND"

(A stag, on recognising human scent, will give a bound as though a knife had been plunged into his heart.)]

Ill.u.s.trative of how astutely a cornered stag will exploit every device and avenue of escape, an excellent instance is given in _Wild Spain_, p.

434.

Skilled deer-driving is a different undertaking from the _force majeure_ by which pheasants and such-like game may be pushed over a line of guns.

For deer do not act on timid impulse, but on practical instinct. Scent is their first safeguard when danger threatens and their natural flight is up-wind. But as it is obviously impossible to place guns to windward, the operation resolves itself into moving the game--dead against its instinct and set inclination--down-wind, or at least on a "half-wind."

The latter is easier as an operation, but less effective in result: since the guns must be posted in echelon--otherwise each "gives the wind" to his next neighbour below. Consequently the firing-zone of each is greatly circ.u.mscribed.

In practice, therefore, the game has to be moved or cajoled--it can hardly be said to be "driven"--into going, at least so far, down-wind by skilled handling of the driving-line and by intelligent co-operation on the part of each individual driver. In the great mountain-drives of the sierras (elsewhere described) packs of hounds, being carefully trained, perform infinite service. Always under control of their huntsman, they systematically search out thickets impenetrable to man and push all game forward. In the Coto Donana, our scratch-pack of _podencos_ and mongrels of every degree, run riot unchecked at hind, hare, or rabbit, giving tongue in all directions at once, and probably do as much harm as good.

Our mounted keepers, however, expert in divining afar the yet unformed designs of the game ahead, are quick to counter each move by a feint or demonstration behind; and when desirable, to forestall attempted escape by resolute riding. The Spanish are a nation of hors.e.m.e.n, and a fine sight it is to see these wild guardas galloping helter-skelter through scrub that reaches the saddle--especially the way they ride down a wounded stag or boar with the _garrocha_--a long wooden lance.

Despite it all, however, many stags break back. Riding with the beaters it is instructive to watch the manoeuvres of an old stag as, sinking from sight, he couches among quite low scrub on some hillock, or stands statuesque with horns aback hiding behind a clump of tall tree-heaths--alert all the while, stealthily to s.h.i.+ft his position as yapping _podencos_ on one side or the other may suggest--and watching each opportunity to evade the encompa.s.sing danger. Now a stretch of denser jungle obstructs the advancing line. The beaters are forced apart to pa.s.s it, and a gap or two yawns in the attack. Instantly that introspective wild beast realises his advantage--he springs to sight, ignores Spanish expletives that scorch the scrub, and in giant bounds breaks back in the very face of encircling foes. Within thirty seconds he has regained security amid leagues of untrodden wilds.

Some years ago we tried the plan of placing one (or two) guns with the driving-line; but the experiment proved impracticable. Obviously only the coolest and most reliable men could be trusted in an essay which otherwise involved danger. Unfortunately--and it is but human nature--every one considers himself equally cool and reliable. Hence the breakdown and abandonment of the practice. For the long line of beaters, struggling at different points through obstacles of varying difficulty, necessarily loses precise formation; it becomes more or less broken and scattered. Here and there a man may get "stuck" and left a hundred yards behind the general advance. The risk in "firing back" is obvious. The writer remembers being one of two guns with the beaters, when a pair of stags, jumping up close ahead, bolted straight back, pa.s.sing almost within arm's length. As the second carried a fairly good head, I dismounted and shot it, but was then horrified to discover that my companion-gun had (contrary to all rules) gone back in that very direction to shoot a _woodc.o.c.k_!

DRIVING BIG GAME

On "driving" as such we do not propose to enlarge. The system is simple though the practice is subject to variation. On the gently undulated levels of Donana, for example, the latter (as already indicated) is widely differentiated from the systems practised in mountainous countries--whether in Scotland or the Spanish sierras--where shots can safely be accepted at incoming or at pa.s.sing game. Guns are there protected from danger by intervening ridges, crags, and piled-up rocks that flank each "pa.s.s." Here the game must be left to pa.s.s well through and outside the line of guns before a shot is permissible.

Our "drives," whether in forest or scrub, seldom exceed a couple of miles in extent; but in wild regions where isolated patches of covert are scattered, inset amid wastes of sand, the area may be extended to half a day's ride. These long scrambling drives gain enhanced interest to a naturalist in precisely inverse ratio with their probability of success.

In a big-game drive the first animals to come forward are, as a rule, foxes and lynxes--creatures which move on impulse, and instantly quit a zone where danger threatens. Both, however, will certainly pa.s.s unseen should there be any scrub to conceal their retreat. The lynx especially is adept at utilising cover, however slight. Should open patches or sandy glades occur among the bush, foxes will be viewed bundling along, to all appearance quite carelessly. Here in Spain foxes are merely "vermin"; but it is a mistake to shoot them, owing to the risk of thereby turning back better game. Neither lynx nor fox, by the way, are accounted _caza mayor_ unless killed with a bullet.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _SYLVIA MELANOCEPHALA_

(Sardinian warbler; conspicuous by its strong colour-contrasts.)]

As elsewhere mentioned, there is always a considerable possibility at the earlier period of a "drive" (and even _before_ the operation has actually commenced) of some old and highly experienced stag attempting to slip through the line in the calculated hope (which is often well founded) that he will thereby take most of the guns by surprise and so escape unshot at. Never be unready.

Although in "driving," that element of ceaseless personal effort, observation and self-reliance that characterise stalking, still-hunting, or spooring, is necessarily reduced, yet it is by no means eliminated.

Nor are there lacking compensating charms in those hours of silent expectancy spent in the solitude of jungle or amid the aromatic fragrance of pine-forest. Every sense is held in tension to mark and measure each sign or sound; 'tis but the fall of a pine-cone that has caught your ear, but it might easily have been a single footfall of game. The wild-life of the wilderness pursues its daily course around unconscious of a concealed intruder in its midst. Overhead, busy hawfinches wrestle with ripening cones, swinging in gymnastic att.i.tude.

These are silent. You have first become aware of their presence by a shower of scales gently fluttering down upon the shrubbery of genista and rosemary alongside, amidst the depths of which lovely French-grey warblers with jet-black skull-caps (_Sylvia melanocephala_) pursue insect-prey with furious energy--das.h.i.+ng into the tangle of stems reckless of damage to tender plumes. There are other bush-skulkers infinitely more reclusive than these--some indeed whose mere existence one could never hope to verify (in winter) save by patience and these hours of silent watching. Such are the Fantail, Cetti's, and Dartford warblers, while among sedge and cane-brake alert reed-climbers beguile and delight these spells of waiting. Soldier-ants and horned beetles with laborious gait, but obvious fixity of purpose, pursue their even way, surmounting all obstruction--such as boot or cartridge-bag. Earth and air alike are instinct with humble life.

[Ill.u.s.tration: REED-CLIMBERS]

To a northerner it is hard to believe that this is mid-winter, when almost every tree remains leaf-clad, the brushwood green and flower-spangled. Arbutus, rosemary, and tree-heath are already in bloom, while bees buzz in shoulder-high heather and suck honey from its tricoloured blossoms--purple, pink, and violet. Strange diptera and winged creatures of many sorts and sizes, from gnat and midge to savage dragon-flies, rustle and drone in one's ear or poise on iridescent wing in the sunlight, and the hateful hiss of the mosquito mingles with the insect-melody. Over each open flower of rock-rose or cistus hovers the humming-bird hawk-moth with, more rarely, one of the larger sphinxes (_S. convolvuli_), each with long proboscis inserted deep in tender calyx. Not even the b.u.t.terflies are entirely absent. We have noticed gorgeous species at Christmas time, including clouded yellows, painted lady and red admiral, southern wood-argus, Bath white, _Lycaena telica.n.u.s_, _Thais polyxena_, _Megaera_, and many more. On the warm sand at midday bask pretty green and spotted lizards,[10] apparently asleep, but alert to dart off on slightest alarm, disappearing like a thought in some crevice of the cistus stems.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GREAT GREY SHRIKE (_Lanius meridionalis_)]

Hard by a winter-wandering hoopoe struts in an open glade, prodding the earth with curved bill and crest laid back like a "claw-hammer"; from a tall cistus-spray the southern grey shrike mumbles his harsh soliloquy, and chattering magpies everywhere surmount the evergreen bush. Where the warm suns.h.i.+ne induces untimely ripening of the tamarisk, some brightly coloured birds flicker around pecking at the buds. They appear to be chaffinches, but a glance through the gla.s.s identifies them as bramblings--arctic migrants that we have shot here in midwinter with full black heads--in "breeding-plumage" as some call it, though it is merely the result of the wearing-away of the original grey fringe to each feather, thus exposing the glossy violet-black bases.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SPANISH GREEN WOODp.e.c.k.e.r (_Gecinus sharpei_)

(1) Alighting.

(2) Calling.

Birds, as a broad rule, possess no "breeding-plumage." They only renew their dress once a year, in the autumn, and breed the following spring in the worn and ragged plumes. It's not poetic, but the fact.[11] This is not the place to enumerate all the characteristic forms of bird-life, and only one other shall be mentioned, chiefly because the incident occurred the day we drafted this chapter. One hears behind the rustle of strong wings, and there pa.s.ses overhead in dipping, undulated flight a green woodp.e.c.k.e.r of the Spanish species, _Gecinus sharpei_. With a regular thud he alights on the rough bark of a cork-oak in front, clings in rigid aplomb while surveying the spot for any sign of danger, then projects upwards a snake-like neck and with vertical beak gives forth a series of maniacal shrieks that resound through the silences.[12] By all means watch and study every phase of wild-life around you--the habit will leave green memories when the keener zest for bigger game shall have dimmed--but never be caught napping, or let a silent stag pa.s.s by while your whole attention is concentrated on a tarantula!

[Ill.u.s.tration: A TARANTULA]

By way of ill.u.s.trating the practice of "driving," we annex three or four typical instances:--

LAS ANGOSTURAS, _February 5, 1907_.--The writer's post was in a green glade surrounded by pine-forest. A heavy rush behind was succeeded (as antic.i.p.ated) by the appearance of a big troop of hinds followed by two small staggies. A considerable distance behind these came a single good stag, and already the sights had covered his shoulder, when from the corner of an eye a second, with far finer head, flashed into the picture, going hard, and I decided to change beasts. It was, however, too late. Half automatically, while eyes wandered, fingers had closed on trigger. At the shot the better stag bounded off with great uneven strides through the timber, offering but an uncertain mark. Both animals, however, were recovered. The first, an eleven-pointer, lay dead at the exact spot; the second was brought to bay within 300 yards, a fine royal.

LOS NOVARBOS, _January 9, 1903_.--My post was among a grove of pine-saplings in a lovely open plain surrounded by forest. Two good stags trotted past, full broadside, at 80 yards. The first dropped in a heap, as though pole-axed, the second receiving a ball that clearly indicated a kill. While reloading, noticed with surprise that No. 1 had regained his legs and was off at speed. A third bullet struck behind; but it was not till two hours later, after blood-spooring for half a league, that we recovered our game. The first shot had struck a horn (at junction of trez tine) cutting it clean in two. This had momentarily stunned the animal, but the effect had pa.s.sed off within ten seconds.

Both were ten-pointers, with strong black horns, ivory-tipped. During that afternoon I got & big boar at Mae-Corra; and B., who had set out at 4 A.M., twenty-three geese at the Cardo-Inchal.

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:--

CORRAL QUEMADO, _February 1, 1909_.--The authors occupied the two outmost posts on a high sand-ridge which commanded an introspect far away into the heart of the covert. Already before the distant signal had announced that the converging lines of beaters had joined, suddenly an apparition showed up. Some 300 yards away a low pine-clad ridge traversed the forest horizon, and in that moment the shadows beneath became, as by magic, illumined by an inspiring spectacle--the tracery of great spreading antlers surmounting the sunlit grey face and neck of a glorious stag. For twenty seconds the apparition (and we) remained statuesque as cast in bronze. Then, with the suddenness and silence of a s.h.i.+fting shadow, the deep shade was vacant once more. The stag had retired. It boots not to recall those agonies of self-reproach that gnawed one's very being. Suffice it, they were undeserved; for five or six minutes later that stag reappeared, leisurely cantering forward.

Clearly no specific sign or suspicion of danger ahead had struck his mind or dictated that retirement. But his course was now, by mere chance and uncalculated cunning, 300 yards outside the sphere of your humble servants, the authors. That stag was now about to offer a chance to gun No. 3, instead of, as originally, to Nos. 1 and 2. Eagerly we both watched his course, now halting on some ridge to reconnoitre, gaze s.h.i.+fting, and ears deflecting hither and thither, anon making good another stage towards the goal of escape. A long shallow _canuto_ (hollow) concealed his bulk from view, but we now saw by the bunchy "show" on top that this was a prize of no mean merit. Then came the climax. Rising the slope which ended the _canuto_, in an instant the stag stopped, petrified. Straight on in front of him, not 100 yards ahead, lay No. 3 gun, and the fatal fact had been discovered. It may have been an untimely movement, perhaps a glint of sunray on exposed gun-barrel, or merely the outline of a cap three inches too high--anyway the ambush had been detected, and now the stag swung at right angles and sought in giant bounds to pa.s.s behind No. 2. It was a long shot, very fast, and intercepted by intervening trees and bush--the second barrel directed merely at a vanis.h.i.+ng stern. Yet such was our confidence in the aim--in both aims--that not even the subsequent sight of our antlered friend jauntily cantering away down the long stretch of Los Tendidos impaired by one iota its self-a.s.surance. For a mile and more we followed that bloodless spoor, far beyond the point whereat the keeper's solemn verdict had been p.r.o.nounced, "No lleva nada--that stag goes scot-free."

As usual, that verdict was correct.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

An incident worth note had occurred meanwhile. On the extreme left of our line, a mile away, two stags out of four that broke across the sand-wastes had been killed; and these, while we yet remained on the scene (though a trifle delayed by fruitless spooring) had already been attacked and torn open by a descending swarm of vultures. That, in Africa, is a daily experience, but never, before or since, have we witnessed such unseemly voracity in Europe.

MAJADA REAL.--This is the one lowland covert where shots are permissible at incoming game. Being flanked on the west by gigantic sand-dunes, the guns (under certain conditions) may be lined out a couple of miles away, along the outskirts of the next nearest covert--the idea being to take the stags as they canter across the intervening dunes. The conditions referred to are (1) a straight east wind, and (2) reliable guns.

Obviously the element of _danger_ under this plan is vastly increased, and as the keepers are responsible for any accident, they are reluctant to execute the drive thus save only when their confidence in the guns is complete.[15] A careless man on a grouse-drive is dangerous enough; but here, with rifle-bullets, a reckless shot may spell death. The "in-drive," nevertheless, is both curious and interesting. A spectacle one does not forget is afforded when the far-away skyline of dazzling sand is suddenly surmounted by spreading antlers, and some great hart, perhaps a dozen of them, come trotting all unconscious directly towards the eager eyes watching and waiting. The effect of a shot under these conditions is frequently to turn the game off at right angles. The deer then hold a course parallel with the covert-side, thus running the gauntlet of several guns, and the question of "first blood" may become a moot point--easily determined, however, by reference to the spoor. Boar naturally are averse to take such open ground; but when severely pressed, we have on occasion seen them scurrying across these Saharan sands, a singular sight under the midday sun.

To introspective minds two points may have showed up in these rough outline ill.u.s.trations. First, that the best stags are ever the earliest amove when danger threatens. These not seldom escape ere a slovenly gunner is aware that the beat has begun. The moral is clear. Secondly, as these bigger and older beasts exhibit fraternal tendencies, it follows that a first chance (whether availed or bungled) need not necessarily be the last.

Besides deer, it is quite usual that wild-boar, as well as lynxes and other minor animals, come forward on these "drives." The divergent nature of pig, however, renders a more specialised system advisable when wild-boar only are the objective. For whereas the aboriginal stag seeking a "lie-up" wherein to pa.s.s the daylight hours was satisfied by any sequestered spot that afforded shelter and shade from the sun, that was never the case with the jungle-loving boar. To the stag strong jungle and heavy brushwood were ever abhorrent, handicapping his light build and branching antlers. Clumps of tall reed-gra.s.s or three-foot rushes, a patch of cistus or rosemary, amply fulfilled his diurnal ideals and requirements. Nowadays, it is true, the expanded sense of danger, the increasing pressure of modern life--even cervine life--force him to select strongholds which offer greater security though less convenience. The wild-boar, on the reverse, with lower carriage and pachydermatous hide, instinctively seeks the very heaviest jungle within his radius--the more densely briar-matted and impenetrable the better he loves it.

Many such holts--some of them may be but a few yards in extent--are necessarily pa.s.sed untried both by dogs and men when engaged in "driving" extended areas, sometimes miles of consecutive forest and covert. The somnolent boar hears the pa.s.sing tumult, lifts a grisly head, grunts an angry soliloquy, and goes to sleep again, secure.

Another day you have returned expressly to pay specific attention to him. In brief s.p.a.ce he has diagnosed the difference in attack. Instantly that boar is alert, ready to repel or scatter the enemy, come who may, on two legs or four.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HOOPOES

On the lawn at Jerez, March 19, 1910.]

CHAPTER VI

ANDALUCIA AND ITS BIG GAME (_Continued_)

WILD-BOAR