CHAPTER II. 



NKWERA ELLIA THE TURN-OUT FOR ELK-HUNTING ELK-HUNT- 

 ING ELK TURNED TO BAY THE BOAR. 



\ T THERE shall I begin ? This is a momentous ques- 

 V V tion, when, upon glancing back upon past years, 

 a thousand incidents jostle each other for precedence. 

 How shall I describe them ? This, again, is easier asked 

 than answered. A journal is a dry description, min- 

 gling the uninteresting with the brightest moments of 

 sport. No, I will not write a journal ; it would be end- 

 less and boring. I shall begin with the present as it is, 

 and call up the past as I think proper. 



Here, then, I am in my private sanctum, my rifles 

 all arranged in their respective stands above the chimney- 

 piece, the stags' horns round walls hung with horn- 

 cases, powder-flasks and the various weapons of the 

 chase. Even as I write the hounds are yelling in the 

 kennel. 



The thermometer is at 62 Fahr., and it is midday. 

 It never exceeds 7 2 m the hottest weather, and 

 sometimes falls below freezing-point at night. The sky 

 is spotless and the air calm. The fragrance of mignon- 

 ettes, and a hundred flowers that recall England, 

 fills the air. Green fields of grass and clover, neatly 

 fenced, surround a comfortable house and grounds. 

 Well-fed cattle of the choicest breeds and English sheep 



are grazing in the paddocks. Well-made roads and 



33 



