84 Reminiscences of 



through eight inches of snow. The buck had evi- 

 dently found several others in conflict, and being a 

 free lance, and at a free fight, had immediately engaged. 

 The snow was completely crushed and tumbled over 

 an area somewhat larger than an ordinary circus ring, 

 and it was decidedly apparent that a stag circus of 

 unusual magnitude had occurred without the super- 

 vision of a ringmaster, or the encouraging plaudits 

 of spectators. I counted five departing trails, and the 

 performance had probably terminated several hours in 

 advance of my arrival. Probably one by one the 

 vanquished had departed, until the acknowledged 

 champion held the field. Such seems to have been 

 the case, as the trails were diverging. One champion 

 exhibited the hasty and ludicrous method of his exit 

 by leaping over a broken tree six feet in height, when 

 a projecting fracture had creased his body the whole 

 length in passing, leaving a bountiful handful of hair 

 and fragmentary cuticle in evidence. This might be 

 accounted a feeling instance of the P. P. C. order of 

 etiquette with the Cervus family. The trampled area 

 was flecked with enough hirsute scrapings to fill a 

 good-sized pillow, with occasional spatterings of scarlet 

 coloring. 



It is seldom that a buck, however large and sav- 

 age, will charge a stalker when wounded, but occa- 

 sionally though very rarely he will, and a friend 

 of mine will carry the scar for life of a face disfigure- 

 ment from a wounded buck he shot at, which came 

 upon him with such sudden force that he had no time 

 for defence, and was struck in the face by an antler 

 which broke his jaw-bone, and stove out several of his 

 teeth. The buck then passed on out of sight. 



