BEYOND THE TETONS 43 



bull wapiti than a red deer's, one is very apt to 

 be misled. I could see nothing at first, but on twist- 

 ing one eye round the trunk of a tree I made out an 

 apparently huge horn silhouetted like a dead limb 

 against a patch of open sky. Lower down a dull 

 white patch which I knew was a bull's stern, in the 

 half light. Under his breath, hissing like an escape 

 of gas, I heard my fidus Achates murmuring, " It's 

 the big bull ! It's the big bull ! " So pleased was 

 he at his own perspicacity, that he continued to hiss 

 until my shot rang out. The bullet raked the bull 

 right forward, and he sank at once with a broken 

 spine, but I had to fire at his neck again, before he 

 fell over on his side. He was in very poor condition, 

 unlike the first bull I got which had three inches of 

 fat on his haunches. He had, however, a very good 

 head for that season, with a span of forty-seven 

 and a half inches inside measurement. His tops, 

 like all I saw, were very poor. After performing 

 " the usual offices," we prepared to make a start, 

 when Edward created a momentary diversion by 

 announcing in a cheerful tone that he hadn't the 

 least idea where we were. The bull's ventriloquial 

 efforts had certainly led us a pretty dance, but the 

 chief reason for engaging a guide is to have a man 

 with you who knows the country, and of this, 

 Edward, I discovered too late, was conspicuously 

 ignorant. The question of engaging guides before- 

 hand, when one knows nothing of the country, is 

 always a difficult one, for the prospective employer 



