Wild Spain Part 27

The intention was to devote the first few days to the small game of the adjacent plains, but our first operation in the morning was a deer-drive. This, however, proved blank, for, though several were seen--five stags breaking back--none, except a few hinds and one _bareta_, or yearling stag, whose incipient horns (hardly longer than his ears) were not distinguished by the gun past whom he broke, came forward to the shooting line. The writer's position was on the crest of a sand-ridge, with only the covert of a dead cistus bush: nothing, however, tested his powers of concealment except a few partridge and a pack of stone-plovers. The sandy glen which the post commanded was, nevertheless, plentifully tracked over by deer, and three wild pigs had pa.s.sed inwards into the covert that morning.

After this beat, shot-cartridges were subst.i.tuted for ball, and for the rest of that day and several following ones _caza menor_ was the order of the day. The system of small-game shooting adopted on these plains combines both walking up and driving at the same time, and requires a few words of description. It must be borne in mind that we always have on one side of us--towards the north and east--the marisma, practically at this season an inland sea, and upon this circ.u.mstance the system is based. The plan of campaign consists in driving the game down upon the marisma; a line of eight, ten or twelve guns each 100 or 150 yards apart, and with several beaters placed in the interval, is formed at a distance of three or four miles inland. This line occupies upwards of a mile in length, and as it advances towards the marisma, obviously encloses whatever game may be concealed in three or four square miles of country, the greater part of which (the game) has a fair chance of coming in the way of one point or another of the line of guns. Some care is needed to preserve the formation of the beat, which is done by mounted keepers, who also see that the "points" or wings are thrown slightly in advance.

Presently there occurs an obstacle; already we have waded through some wettish spots; but how is it possible to cross this broad lagoon? On the right a _mancha_, one of those thickets of tree-heath and brooms, all interlaced with th.o.r.n.y briars, bars the way: these _manchas_ are impenetrable--we have proved this--save to the wild boar or the badger.

In the other direction the water stretches far--we can see the mounted beaters already splashing through it. In England one does not walk through river, lake, or pond merely because it lies in one's course, but this is not England, and as, after all, the bottom is sound and moderately level, if one can keep the cartridges dry, the sun will soon dry the rest.

The density of the scrub varies also: sometimes for a short distance one has to push through thickets where every step is a struggle with hard dried cistus stems, and where broken ground, ravines and th.o.r.n.y jungle make perspiration flow, and ill conduce to taking those smart chances that offer overhead at inopportune moments.

To a northerner it is hard to believe that it is midwinter while almost every tree remains leaf-clad, and the brushwood all green and flower-spangled. Arbutus, rosemary and tree-heath (_Erica arborea_) are already in bloom; while bees buzz in the shoulder-high heather, and suck honey from its tricoloured blossoms--pink, purple and violet. Strange flies 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 here and there one of the larger sphinxes (_S. convolvuli_), each with his long proboscis inserted deep in the tender calix. Not even the b.u.t.terflies are entirely absent.

We have noticed several gorgeous species at Christmas-time, including the painted lady and red admiral, the southern wood-argus, Bath white and clouded yellow, with _Lycaena telica.n.u.s_, _Thais polyxena_, _Megaera_, and many more. On the warm sand bask pretty green and spotted lizards, apparently asleep, in the sunshine, but all alert to dart off on slightest alarm, disappearing like a thought in some crevice among the roots of the cistus.[67]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate XLI.

BREAKFAST-TIME--DOnANA.

Page 352.]

Gradually, as the line approaches the flat sh.o.r.es of the marisma, the "driving" shots increase in number and the cry of _pajaro_, the Spanish equivalent to "mark over," becomes incessant. _Pajaro, pajaro_, the magic word comes borne on the breeze from right and left, dwelt on by the Andaluz till the final "o" dies away in prolonged cadence; and there, far away ahead, appear sundry dark specks in the sky, rapidly growing in size as the redlegs wheel back towards the spot where we crouch behind a lentiscus. Now they are overhead, for two brief seconds within reach of a well-directed aim--then, in happy moments, a brace of redlegs will bounce on the bents.

Here every little thicket or clump of brushwood holds some of the birds that have been driven forward, and even on the barest ground some have found refuge behind a tuft of gra.s.s or palmetto. Everywhere partridges start up from the slightest covert, and one sees them running forward ere they rise. But the hottest work occurs in the belt of rush and reed--in the _juncos_ that border the marisma. The finale is short, but it is sweet, and the man who has stopped handsomely the rocketers that sped to his lot has a reputation ready made.

Such is, in outline, the system of an _avero_, several of which can be carried out on a winter's day.

The partridges, unwilling to run save among the scrub, usually rise at longish range on bare patches, and mount rapidly in air, their flight rather resembling that of black-game than of our grey partridge, and as they wheel back fast and high, and at all angles, they test the best skill of the gunner. Besides partridge and rabbits, an odd pair of mallards will often rise from some rushy hollow, and from the drier reeds a quail or two spring with their smart game-like dash. The small Andalucian bush-quail (_Turnix sylvatica_) is occasionally shot, and crossing the more open ground, among short scrub of tamarisk and juniper, a few hares will be added to the bag. These are of the small southern race, _Lepus mediterraneus_, weighing only five or six pounds, more brindled in colour and with warmer shades on shoulders and flanks than ours. One of them being hemmed in, was this afternoon swimming a shallow pool when she attracted the attention of a Southern Peregrine falcon (_Falco punicus_) which was waiting on the partridge in front of our line. This falcon had already made several fine stoops at the flying game, all unsuccessfully, when the sight of a hare in difficulties brought him overhead, and, in the act of poising, a double shot laid both low.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A ROYAL HEAD--DOnANA.]

After two or three days with the small game, it was decided to give the deer a turn. The sun shone brightly as we rode out to the ground selected for the day's sport, and a gentle breeze blew from a favourable direction. The first beat, nevertheless, proved blank--only hinds pa.s.sing through the line, which served to give us, for a moment, a flutter of excitement as they crashed through the under-wood, and dashed away at redoubled speed. On the next drive several stags were seen--some broke back, but three ran the gauntlet of our line at different points, offering good opportunities to three of our guns, two of which, however, were not accepted. The third hart was stopped in the midst of a last bound by a clean rifle-shot at long range--a fine head of twelve tines.

[Ill.u.s.tration: DEAD LYNX.]

The guns were next placed along a line of gigantic clumps of bulrushes which extended for miles with narrow glades, and thick, matted jungle between. This beat resulted successfully: seven shots were fired, two deer escaped, but two deer and two boars were killed. A curious incident also occurred with a lynx: the beast was evidently wounded by a lucky rifle-shot, and presently, the dogs ran her to bay in a neighbouring _mancha_. Here one of us who had fired the first shot followed, when, coming unexpectedly upon her in a narrow opening, the lynx being enclosed between man and dogs, made a desperate spring to pa.s.s by; the writer, in stepping aside, tripped and fell prostrate on his back, right under the furious beast--never did man rise more promptly! luckily without a scratch, and the next moment the lynx lay gasping out its life on the sand.

After this beat rifles were exchanged for smooth-bores, a line formed, and we shot our way back to the lodge, securing some twenty brace of partridge and other small game, besides another stag, which, all too drowsy, had permitted our line to advance too near ere he sprang from his lair. Shot was quickly exchanged for ball, and as the hart ran broadside on and within one hundred yards of two guns, he was struck in three places, and the dogs soon pulled him down. This was a very old beast, but only carried eight points, the "bay" antlers being entirely wanting, and the double-tops curiously bent inwards. This small-game beat having brought us to the verge of the marisma, we finished a successful day's sport with an hour's flight-shooting, during which five geese and nearly fifty teal and wigeon were brought to bag. The day's results were thus:--4 stags, 2 boar and a lynx, 23-1/2 brace small game, and 54 head of wildfowl.

This evening there was performed the time-honoured ceremony of crowning with the laurel a neophyte in _caza mayor_. Dark-eyed Petra, the recognized belle of a region where it must be admitted that rivals were few, headed the motley procession of guards, beaters, and miscellaneous folk from the lower regions, and gracefully invested the blushing brows of Santiago, who knelt before her, with a chaplet of flowering arbutus.

Then the loving cup pa.s.sed round, and each drank to the health of the fair donor and the wearer of the crown. There followed a scene of festivity and ordered revels. The s.p.a.cious court-yard was lit up by a blazing bonfire, and in its lambent light danced stalwart figures arrayed in the picturesque costume of rural Andalucia, while maiden forms alternately revolved and pirouetted in graceful minuet or fandango, keeping time to the guitar, and each accompanying her own movements with the castanets. We were told that a trio of brunettes had travelled the long four leagues from the hamlet of Rocio to our lonely quarters to join the festive scene, but felt too much flattered by the compliment to inquire if such was really the case.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GROUP OF FOREST-GUARDS.]

The revelry continued till far on in the night, but for all that, a faithful few were taking a hasty cup of coffee at 5 A.M. preparatory to an early attack on the greylags. A strong west wind howled across the waste, whistling through the cracks of roof and rickety window-frames--favourable omens--and before the sun rose we were far out in the marsh, lying concealed on the furthest projecting points of dry land. Then, as the approaching dawn set the wildfowl in motion, the half-lit skies were serried with hurrying files, and the cold air resounded with the cries of the various ducks and geese. Our luck this morning was hardly so good as expected, but four guns brought in 7 geese, 21 teal, and 8 mallards.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PANNIER-PONY AND GAME.]

This day again proved a lucky one--several deer and a lynx, besides minor game, being piled on the panniers of the carrier-ponies before night. The lynx was a specially handsome beast, an old male with bushy whiskers, his tawny pelt boldly splashed with dark spots. He was killed by a rifle-ball when going at top speed across a glade. The writer's mind that evening was, nevertheless, tinged with regret. While posted as "point-gun," amidst some lovely but very broken forest ground at a remote _corral_, I observed an object move slightly among some young pine-scrub in a hollow on my front. It was the antlers of a stag; and soon, by the forest of ivory tips, I perceived they belonged to a hart of no ordinary degree. Presently the owner emerged from the covert and for several seconds stood, fully exposed, at 100 yards, an enormous beast, looking as black as coal against a background of dead yellow flags. He presented a certain shot; but, alas! was still _within the beat_; and though the stag stood in a slight hollow where rising ground behind rendered the shot perfectly safe, I hesitated to break the rules, and the chance was lost--the grand beast going away wide to the right.

The vision of that stag, with his broad and branching head and unnumbered points, his ma.s.sive frame and glossy coat, haunted me awake and asleep that night and for many another.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SPANISH RED DEER--A MOUNTAIN-HEAD FROM MORENA.]

A few weeks afterwards, when "still-hunting" with a single Spanish companion in the same district, we came somewhat unexpectedly (it was only 4 P.M.), on a stag quietly splashing through a marsh-belt that separated two patches of forest. The beast was more than half a mile off; but on reaching the place after a detour, we observed him standing under the shade of some trees 400 yards distant. On putting the gla.s.s on him, to my intense joy, I recognized my old friend of a month ago--there he stood flicking at the flies, the _black stag_ beyond a shadow of doubt! A nearer direct approach was not possible; but Jose suggested that by going round in a wide circuit and giving the stag his wind, he would probably move him my way. This manuvre we proceeded to carry out, and in half an hour's time I had the satisfaction of observing the great beast's first signs of suspicion. He had, meanwhile, laid down; now he rose and moved uneasily away, stopping and sniffing alternately.

Then he seemed to have made up his mind, turned deliberately, and slowly trotted in my direction. Jose had managed the business in a masterly way--never showing. Already the stag had reached a long range shot, when from the nearer, opposite, covert dashed five hinds, which came splashing through the water, right between me and the big stag. How persistently those confounded hinds interposed their useless bodies right between the foresight and its mark! Already the black hart was within thirty yards of the water's edge and the shelter of the forest; when, for a few moments, I got a clear view of his broadside at rather long range, took a full sight with the 100-yard flap up, and fired.

Thud! went the conical Paradox ball right on the point of his shoulder, and he pitched forward, stone-dead, in the water. It was a pretty shot, well placed, though rather high, breaking the spine close below the withers. Such shots are, of course, instantly fatal; but are too risky to _try for_, since they come within an inch or two of a clean miss!

There is a degree of mental gratification in occasionally "pulling off"

shots of this kind--that is, in killing _clean_ with ball a large animal in full career, and at long distance--that must probably be experienced to be appreciated. And, after all, how much is due to the marvellous precision and power of modern sporting weapons! This stag carried sixteen points, and his horns measured along the curve 32 inches, with a sweep of 28 inches. In weight he probably exceeded any we have shot on the Spanish plains, and his rich velvety pile was conspicuously dark and glossy.

One other incident, with a moral: towards the end of one campaign an afternoon was devoted to burning the _carrizales_, or bamboo-brakes, which in places form belts of jungle, extending over several miles, and afford secure harbour for various wild animals, including, occasionally, deer. These places, owing partly to the impervious nature of the covert and partly to the quicksands and quaking bogs with which the jungle is interspersed, cannot be traversed: hence the only effectual means of driving out the game which may lie within their shelter is by fire. The writer, to-day, though the first gun in line, was posted some half a mile back from the commencement of the beat, and was endeavouring to make a hasty sketch of the beautiful landscape of cane-brake, bamboo, and marsh-land which stretched away before us. The dry sedges and canes were fired at several points: but hardly had the distant smoke-wreaths begun to curl upwards in the clear still air, than a first-rate stag slowly trotted across the open, right before me. I had not seen him come; the sketch-book was in hand; the gun--loaded in _both_ barrels with shot, for cats and the like--lay on the ground; truly a magnificent bungle! One ball-cartridge was inserted ere the game, still unconscious of an ambush, was pa.s.sing, full broadside, at 80 or 90 yards--as easy a shot as need be wished. But in the flurry of unreadiness, I forgot to raise the sight, and the ball pa.s.sed immediately beneath the breast, missing both forelegs. Again a cartridge had to be changed; and now the stag was bounding away, end-on, at 150 yards. This time the aim was refined and nerves braced by a very sense of shame, and the impact of the ball was distinctly, though faintly, heard. On went the stag, disappearing over rising ground behind, and hardly had the cartridges been replaced, than a second hart, breaking back, offered a long and infinitely more difficult shot; but, after one vertical bound, like that of a lightly-hooked salmon, dropped stone-dead in his tracks. Soon afterwards a small stag with three hinds showed on the outer edge of the jungle; but, though more than one express rifle was levelled at him, the distance was too great (300 or 400 yards), and the bullets uselessly ricochetted across the swampy wastes. Towards the end, two wild-cats bounded from the fringe of burning bamboos, and simultaneous shots stretched both lifeless among the tamarisks.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A STAG OF THIRTEEN POINTS.]

The spectacle from our posts was remarkable, the whole area, many hundred acres, enveloped in smoke; here and there tongues of flame shot upwards as the flying sparks carried forward the conflagration across some marsh-channel and renewed the dying blaze. Dense black clouds rolled away to leeward, amidst which hovered swarms of swallows and insect-feeding birds with an outer fringe of kites, kestrels and magpies, all preying on belated locusts and coleoptera. Legions of mice--common house-mice, as far as we could judge--with land-and water-rats, fled from the fiery jungle; here and there a grizzly mongoose hurried off up the sloping dune; otters, genets and badgers were seen at various points, while coots and bitterns, rails, crakes, and waterhens flapped about, half-dazed with fright. Over the smoking brakes swept buzzards and marsh-harriers which, forgetting their fears in opportunity, pounced boldly on the homeless and helpless.

As soon as it was over, we went eagerly to examine the tracks of the big stag. Yes! blood was there sure enough--whole streams of it; but the verdict of the _guardas_ was prompt and emphatic--"that stag you will never get. See! the blood is all at one side. The bullet has merely grazed his off-flank, causing a flesh-wound which bleeds much, but does no vital harm." They were right. Impelled by shame and self-reproach, we followed the trail for miles; but though we twice sighted our quarry afar, it was evident he had sustained no serious injury, and as he headed for a wild region where leagues of jungle afforded secure refuge, we were fain, at dusk, to acknowledge defeat, and to leave him in peace.

Now for the moral--though perhaps it hardly needs pointing. Never attempt to sketch, or otherwise play the fool, when every energy should be concentrated on the sport in hand. One thing well done is as much as poor mortals are capable of at one time.

Thus, amidst varied and abundant sport, fun and good-fellowship, amidst lovely scenes and a glorious climate, sped all too quickly those happy days in Donana--some devoted to big game, some to small; on others we divided forces, one party going to the partridges, or quail, another preferring wildfowl; while those who had confidence in their skill with the rifle elected to _rastrear_--that is, to track a deer to his lair, following the _rastro_, or spoor, of some big hart, perhaps for leagues, across the broken plains and _corrales_, with only the uncertain prospect of a difficult, often impossible, snap-shot after all. But there is a reward in seeing the skill in woodcraft displayed by the Spanish _guardas_, who seem to diagnose by intuition the unfulfilled ideas and desires which, some hours previously, have been pa.s.sing through the mind of the hart, whose faint _rastro_ they follow with the certainty and patience of a bloodhound. This is, however, a distinct branch of sport, to which we owe many a pleasant day on the South-Spanish plains, and a separate chapter is devoted to its description.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate XLII.

SPANISH WILDFOWLERS WITH _CABRESTO_ PONIES.

Page 365.]

One day we tried a novel method of approaching the wildfowl on the sh.o.r.es of a lake which lay at a distance of three or four miles. This was by means of the _cabresto_, or decoy pony--a curious experience. The wildest waterfowl are at the mercy of a clever fowler provided with one of these ponies. As there are many half-wild mares pasturing at large over the swamps, the ducks are accustomed to the sight of them and take no alarm at their proximity. As we approached the lake, its flat sandy margin was in places black with wildfowl, while myriads sat on the surface, splashing and pluming themselves in the sunshine. With each of the three ponies went its owner, a _patero_, or professional wildfowl-shooter, each taking with him one of us--almost literally--"in tow," for, with one hand grasping the pony's tail, the other carrying the gun, we followed each close behind his _patero_, who directed the pony towards the thickly-covered sh.o.r.e. We proceeded thus, crouching behind the pony's quarters, till we had approached within 100 yards of the fowl. The leading _patero_ now stopped his pony, which at once commenced to feed, an example followed by the rest--we six men sitting meanwhile on the gra.s.s. No alarm was shown by the ducks. A cord was now slipped over the neck of each _cabrestro_ and made fast to its off foreleg above the knee, bringing the heads of the ponies close to the ground, thus giving them the appearance of grazing, though in truth we were now on bare dry mud. We continued approaching thus, and the interval was now reduced to fifty yards; looking beneath the ponies we could see hundreds of ducks all playing themselves in fancied security.

There, close at hand, sat or swam wigeon and mallards, shovelers, garganeys, teal and pintails, a few gadwall and several of the curious heavy-headed "porrones" (_Erismatura mersa_), with diving-ducks and grebes of many kinds. The nearer sh.o.r.e was ma.s.sed with teal, and a few yards beyond a big pack of mallards were daintily pluming themselves. As the teal came first in line, it was to them we directed our attention: with alternate progression and feigned halts to "graze" we continued our slow advance. We were now within twenty-five yards of the teal: already a movement of preparation had been made by the leading gun, instantly imitated by the two who followed, when a tremendous scare took place among the wildfowl, and the whirr of wings threw the whole lake into confusion. A kite had swept across the birds, and all had taken to the refuge of the deep waters. "Paciencia," resignedly muttered our friends the _pateros_. We unc.o.c.ked our guns and squatted on the mud, each under cover of his beast, thus spending an hour while the frightened fowl gradually swam ash.o.r.e and reformed on the margin. A second time the moment to pull trigger had almost arrived when the tyrant again swept over with the same result as before. At last, however, the twice delayed moment arrived, and our six barrels drove together through the ranks of teal, leaving upwards of fifty dead or wounded on the sh.o.r.e, of which we ultimately bagged forty-four. This shot was taken against the wishes of our friends, who declared that had we waited an hour longer we should have had the birds thick enough to have killed three times that number.

But we had other sport in view, and could not wait for this golden opportunity; besides, our rival the kite might have spoiled our game again. We had, however, seen enough to understand that one of these men and his sagacious auxiliary can really account for the almost fabulous number of ducks which they are said occasionally to obtain at a single shot. These men shoot for a living; hence they never fire except when they have made certain of a heavy shot. It is not at all unusual for them to manuvre for a whole day without discharging their ancient fowling-pieces. They make the slowest approach, get to the closest quarters possible, and never unnecessarily disturb the fowl. When they _do_ fire it is a b.u.mper. In summer their occupation is varied by fishing and catching leeches in the swamps, which they do by flogging the surface of the water, when the leeches fasten upon their legs. A trained _cabresto_ pony, though a rough, s.h.a.ggy little beast, is of considerable value to these men, among whom there exists a sort of brotherhood, and an intruder of their own cla.s.s fares badly if he ventures into the lonely districts which they almost regard as their exclusive domain.[68]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate XLIII.

A SHOT IN THE OPEN.

Page 367.]

At length the time for our departure had arrived, for we intended spending a few days among the big game in the extensive pine-forests which cover the southern extremity of the Coto Donana. The pack-mules with the baggage being despatched by a direct route, we rode off on an almost summerlike morning, taking a wider course so as to get a "drive"

of some of the wooded _corrales_ that lay towards the west. Here, in one of the wildest spots, Manolo placed the line of guns. The writer is posted on a mound of blown sand, one of the many which form the irregular broken country around. The c.o.c.ked rifle is placed conveniently for instant grasp while one surveys the position and speculates on the likeliest spot for a stag to appear--quickly taking note of the uneven ground, its hillocks and hollows where it will be necessary to enterprise a snap-shot, and again where more deliberate aim may be taken. Every here and there similar mounds present an unbroken view, spots where the driven sand has collected around some stalwart pine, taking various picturesque forms and crowned with the dark green foliage of latest growth.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate XLIV.

SALAVAR--A SKETCH IN A SPANISH _MANCHA_.

Page 369.]

Presently the sharp crack of a rifle breaks our reverie and gives startling evidence that game is afoot. A few seconds later the patter of galloping feet is heard on the hard sand and the expected quarry bounds across the glen, his antlers thrown back as he scents danger and redoubles his speed. Full in the shoulder strikes the express bullet, stopping his flight and sending him headlong to earth, where a second shot ends his agony with instant death. In this fortunate drive four stags and two boars are brought to bag. One of the latter, in a thick brambled _mancha_, for some time defied the dogs, which declined to face him at close quarters. He was a brute of unusual size, and each time he faced the dogs with gnashing tusks, they retired. At last a shot fired in the air dislodged him, and a quick rifle-shot took effect in his lower jaw. Again he sought refuge among the brambles, but the dogs now held the advantage, and inch by inch he was driven forward to a point where he offered an easy mark to several guns, and soon Manolo's long _navaja_ was performing his obsequies. Another stag of thirteen points (_see_ photo, p. 363), and a brace of foxes, right and left, were secured in a small isolated thicket just before dusk, and the last ten miles of our ride had thus to be managed in the dark.