The Monarch of the Forest. 



we had crossed some days previously. We halted here tc take 

 a short rest, and to listen for sounds indicating the presence of 

 wapiti and get a response to our calls, the while I admired the 

 magnificent panorama of mountain, forest and glacier. Presently 

 Numgoon said he thought he heard the sound of something 

 moving in the forest below to our right. Again Nurah called 

 on his blowpipe, his efforts this time meeting with success, for a 

 minute or two later a stag responded and then another and yet 

 a third. 



Of the three wapiti who had taken up our call the one 

 to the right was deemed to be the best to follow up, the Kalmuks 

 saying that his deep-toned voice proclaimed him to be a 

 good head. So we plunged silently into the depths of the 

 forest, calling at intervals and proceeding with the utmost 

 caution. On the way we came to another small opening, and 

 taking cover behind some huge rocks awaited developments. This 

 opening was about a hundred yards in breadth and sloped gradu- 

 ally down to a small hollow. From our position in rear of the rocks 

 we commanded a view of the ground to the edge of the forest 

 beyond. The other two stags were above and in front of us, 

 but they seemed to be stationary, whereas the one lower down 

 was moving in our direction in response to the calls. We were 

 now quite close to this stag, who was calling at irregular intervals 

 a few hundred yards away. Gradually he drew nearer until he 

 was certainly not more than 250 yards distant, though nothing 

 could be seen of him owing to the dense nature of the forest. 

 From the sound of his movements we judged he would probably 

 ■debouch from the forest at a point situated almost opposite to 

 where we lay concealed. I now began to prepare for business, 

 and awaited the advent of the monarch of the forest. He was 

 now moving down through the woods, and we caught a momentary 

 glimpse of him heading directly towards the clearing. Presenth' 

 he came out on to the edge of it and glanced round in search of 

 his rival. As he stood there I thought what a noble picture he 

 presented, his antlers forming a trophy worthy of the long trek 



255 



