HOW TO GET IT. 11] 



does not in the least prevent his hunting on foot when 

 occasion requires ; and if, during his hunt, he finds a cosy 

 dell likely to be the home of a red deer, or a cedar 

 thicket into which leads a recent trail of black-tails, he 

 can dismount, steal into these places noiselessly on foot, 

 and, if nothing is found, remount and go in search of 

 better fortune. When a sportsman of only ordinary 

 pedestrian powers hunts on foot he is constantly tram- 

 melled by the thought of the return tramp, and is apt to 

 cut short his hunt. Should his enthusiasm carry him far 

 from his camp, the fatiguing return march will very likely 

 unfit him for work next day, especially if he has to pack 

 in much game. The sportsman should never permit his 

 ardour to convert sport into mere labour. 



Whether on foot or on horseback, I cannot too 

 urgently recommend to the sportsman that he never hunt 

 alone. Two hunters should not go together, but each 

 hunter should be accompanied by a servant or other 

 person. 



If on horseback, this person holds the sportsman's 

 horse when he dismounts, and follows at a long distance 

 when he is beating-up cover. If on foot, he assists in 

 carrying the game. In either case the presence of this 

 person is a guarantee against an ordinary mishap becom- 

 ing a serious casualty. A thousand accidents may happen 

 to a sportsman which are serious only when he is alone. 

 He may turn his ankle by a miss-step, or slip down a bank 

 and break his leg. The same accident is not likely to 

 occur to two men ; and, if one should get hurt in any way, 

 the other may not only make him comparatively comfort- 

 able at once, but can go for assistance. I have known of 

 several instances where men went out hunting alone, and 

 were never afterwards heard of. One of these cases 

 occurred in the Black Hills, within six weeks previously to 

 the time that this is written. I knew an estimable man who 

 went out alone after buffalo. Three weeks afterwards his 

 remains were found in the bottom of a deep chasm, into 



