Big Game Shooting 267 



to his compass and the landmarks; both often 

 mislead. 



I was lost once for three days in the company of 

 a cook and a box of sardines. There was nothing 

 to shoot, not even a sage-hen, and the sardines 

 disappeared at the first meal. On this occasion I 

 learned that a short cut is the longest way home. 

 The cook and I endeavoured to cross a range of 

 hills on the other side of which were our camp and 

 supplies ; distant — so we estimated — less than 

 twenty miles as the crow flies. We had an empty 

 waggon with us, which we were forced to abandon 

 (we retrieved it later), and we wandered round and 

 round, compassless in an unknown sea of small hills 

 and vales. Finally we struck the trail, and an 

 hour later were sitting down to an immense meal, 

 but I never, never stirred abroad again without a 

 compass. 



I have said that in my opinion the late autumn 

 and early winter are the seasons when game (ex- 

 cepting bear) is most easily stalked and shot. But 

 you must provide against cold, that may prove 

 intense. Blankets are a sorry protection during 

 nights when the mercury falls many degrees below 

 zero, and I would strongly urge every sportsman to 

 provide himself with a sleeping-bag and also a thick 

 Tam o' Shanter. During one of my expeditions I 

 had a professional antelope-hunter with me, who 

 was supplying a railroad with venison. And, curi- 

 ously enough, he, a hardened veteran, was badly 

 frost-bitten, whilst I, the tenderfoot, escaped scot- 

 free. We carried a small stove amongst our im- 

 pedimenta , and a blessed comfort it proved, being 



