164 CARIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. 



one of them and scared the other almost to death/ 

 said Le Buffe. 'Yes,' he continued, 'it is try- 

 ing hard to get to its feet again, but can't.' In the 

 meantime Paul loaded his old gun and fired another 

 slug into the wounded animal ; then the whole party 

 broke cover, and with an Indian yell of triumph ran 

 out to the fallen deer, which was still trying hard to 

 rise as the Indians surrounded it. ' Thud ! Thud ! 

 Poonk ! Poonk ! ' came a peculiar sound over the 

 marsh, while they kept up their infernal yelling. 

 ' What are they doing now ? ' I asked Le Buffe ( who 

 could see every move they made, owing to his eleva- 

 ted position and having the field glass.) ' Oh, the 

 dirty old heathen is mauling it to death with the butt 

 of his old musket,' he replied, as he slid down the 

 tree ; ' come let us go down and see what they are 

 doing.' By the time we got there they had the hide 

 almost off, and so intent were they on their work that 

 they scarcely noticed our presence, as each one pulled 

 and tugged at it wherever they could get a hold, chat- 

 tering all the while like a flock of crows. We re- 

 mained to see them dress the deer and cook the 

 dainty bits of offal, consisting of the ' bombgut ' or 

 rectum and the marrow bones the latter having 

 been roasting over the hot coals since they were cut 

 off, and the boys were soon quarreling as they cracked 



