342 RECENT HUNTING TRIPS. 



under the skin along the back, from which they 

 had removed every particle of fat. They had 

 also eaten almost all the soft meat of the loins 

 and hindquarters. 



In the mountainous regions of the Yukon 

 ravens are excessively numerous, and in that 

 wild northland these birds take the place of 

 the vultures of the warm regions of the old 

 world, spying out the carcase of any dead animal 

 almost as soon as life has left it, and flocking 

 in numbers to the feast. 



As I prefer hunting by myself whenever I can 

 do so, I sent both my men back to camp with 

 the skull and horns of the caribou, and then 

 went on l^y niyself. 



I had not walked more than a couple of miles, 

 when I came in sight of a stag feeding on the 

 top of a stony hill, which rose perhaps one 

 hundred feet above the level of the surrounding 

 country. On looking at him through my glasses 

 I felt sure that he was a full-grown stag with 

 fine large horns, and determined to try and get 

 a shot at him. 



To do so it was necessary, owing to the 



