BEYOND THE TETONS 31 



timber at a pace which makes you wonder why 

 you called him clumsy, and it is poor fun when 

 you are only allowed to kill two bulls to find that 

 you have killed a beast with horns but little larger 

 than those of a Scotch stag. The timber is so thick 

 in many places that you cannot see twenty yards, 

 and the chances of finding a wounded beast are 

 considerably against the hunter. It may seem in- 

 credible to any one who has never seen a big bull 

 wapiti in his native wilds that a beast of his build 

 can so cleverly conceal himself; but so it is. 



I lost two good bulls, each in a patch of timber 

 but a quarter of a mile square. The first was lying 

 down, about one hundred and twenty cows being 

 scattered around. I hit him twice before he stag- 

 gered into a bunch of quaking asp whilst the cows 

 split into two lots. One, of about thirty, came 

 straight up the hill and didn't spot us till they 

 were within five yards ; the others ran along the 

 ridge opposite in full view, and there wasn't the 

 sign of my bull in either party. I felt very joyful 

 and the guide was easing his feelings in a barbaric 

 paean, for we could see the country round for quite 

 a distance and were pretty well certain the bull was 

 lying dead within a few yards of the edge of the 

 wood. Yet though we searched every inch of that 

 wretched little clump of asp for more than an hour 

 never a sign of our bull did we discover ! That is 

 the great disadvantage of a small-bore rifle ; in many 

 instances no blood comes from a wound. 



