THE MULE BEER. 297 



soon lost. I heard the hounds giving tongue at intervals 

 among the peaks; but as they seemed to remain in one 

 spot, I sounded the recall, and they came back with an evi- 

 dent air of being nicely outwitted that time. 



Thinking I might be able to capture one after all, I made 

 a cast on a new line ; but before the dogs had run what I 

 should imagine to be a mile, they became silent. I follow- 

 ed their tracks as well as I could for three or four miles, 

 and found them pottering about in the most indecisive 

 manner amidst ledges of trap-rock and a grassless soil that 

 would scarcely retain the odor of a polecat. I then learn- 

 ed that their apparent proximity was due to the resonant 

 echoes of the mountain and forest, and that I had had a 

 hard tramp for nothing. On looking for the slot or seal of 

 the deer they had been pursuing, I saw that it led into a 

 ravine, and, on entering this, I detected the wily character 

 of the animal immediately; for when it entered the rivulet 

 it did not emerge on the other side, but waded downward 

 with the current. Not caring to go on a wild-goose chase, 

 I retraced my footsteps, and went back to town without 

 a trophy. That was my first and last attempt at hunting 

 the macrotian creature with hounds; though I would not 

 presume to infer from this failure that it cannot be pur- 

 sued to good advantage with dogs in a less difficult region 

 than the one I was in. 



The best time for hunting it is when the early snows of 

 winter force it to descend to the foot-hills in order to se- 

 cure food and shelter. One may stalk it then rather easily, 

 if it has not been hunted much, as it seems loath to leave its 

 coverts, and is not so liable to head for the steep summits 

 on the first alarm. If one can secure a good position in a 

 frequented run-way during this annual migration, he may 

 reap a large deer harvest, for the animals come trooping 

 down rapidly in single file, and seem more anxious to reach 

 their destination than to avoid danger. If the hunter 

 should have a rifle that carries a small charge of powder 

 and a heavy ball, he is more likely to be successful than if 

 he were armed with the usual hunting weapons; as the 



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