THIRTY-SIX POINTS. 275 



falling over, and when I came up to him he 

 was quite dead. My bullet had struck him in 

 the middle of the chest and must have passed 

 through his heart. This stag carried a pretty 

 symmetrical head of thirtj^-six points, and 

 though not large it was the best I came 

 across during the trip. 



On hearing the shot my men came up, and 

 I soon cut the stag's head off, and after having 

 had a cup of tea and something to eat, I 

 skinned it, and Smart then cut all the meat off 

 the skull, which he tied on the top of his pack. 



Early in the afternoon we came to a splendid 

 old stag lying fast asleep all by himseK. I 

 crept close up to him, but his horns though 

 heavy v.^ere very uneven and altogether not at all 

 handsome, so I left him lying asleep. 



After this we had some very tiring walking 

 through very wet marshes alternating with 

 belts of gnarled and twisted pine scrub not 

 more than three or four feet in height but 

 growing so thickly matted together that it was 

 only just possible to force one's wa}' through 

 It with a pack on one's back. This stunted 



