The Elk of the Pacific Coast 179 



on fire to keep you warm ; and you had better 

 carry provisions enough for at least two days. 

 For a good chance to trail up a band of elk, or 

 even a single one, is now so rare that if you have 

 gone to the trouble of going so far and spending 

 the time and money necessary, you cannot afford 

 to let the question of comfort interfere with your 

 further proceedings. And though the nights 

 may be cold, you cannot dress very warm, as you 

 will have to move rapidly by day. 



Unless you have a very rare dog, he will be of 

 little or no use to you in this chase. You must 

 go too fast for him to " slowtrack," and you can- 

 not trust him to bring such game to bay. While 

 elk will often turn and fight a dog much more 

 quickly than deer, especially cows with calves, 

 they are more likely on rough ground to depend 

 on leaving him in the rear. Or if the dog over- 

 takes the elk, it will be so far ahead of you and in 

 such broken ground that before you can come 

 up with the procession the dog will have been 

 whipped, or retired to some bush for rest, or gone 

 off to hunt much-needed water. 



Subject to these inconveniences, which, for a 

 tough person, amount to almost nothing, such a 

 chase will take you now among the grandest 

 scenery the forest primeval has left to offer. On 

 this coast are still millions of acres where the axe 

 has left no scar, some of it too rough even for our 



