40 CANADIAN NIGHTS 



tions in a long and whispered conversation ; and 

 finally, having settled where the deer were likely 

 to be, and how to get at them, we made a long 

 circuit, so as to be down wind of the game, and 

 went to work. The ground to which I am re- 

 ferring is very rough. It slopes precipitously 

 towards the river. Huge masses of rock lie 

 littered about on a surface pierced by many per- 

 pendicular jagged crags, hundreds of feet high, 

 and long ridges and spurs strike downward from 

 the sheer scarp that crowns the canon of the river, 

 forming beautiful little glades — sheltered, sunny, 

 clothed with sweet grass — on which the deer love 

 to feed. 



In such a country there was no chance of seeing 

 game at any distance ; so we had to go very cau- 

 tiously, examining every sign, crawling up to every 

 little ridge, and inch by inch craning our heads over 

 and peering into every bush and under every tree. 

 In looking over a rise of ground it is advisable for 

 the hunter to take off his head-covering unless he 

 wears a very tight-fitting cap. I have often laughed 

 to see great hunters (great in their own estimation) 

 raising their heads most carefully, forgetting that a 

 tall felt hat, some six inches above their eyes, had 

 already been for some time in view of the deer. 



