THE SCANDINA V/AN ELK 145 



holds the leader ;jbut I have watched with still greater ad- 

 miration the extraordinary accuracy with which my Lapp 

 hunter's dog, Passop, when kept at heel, judges the pliability 

 of any ash-plant or other sapling over which the slack of the 

 leader fastened to his master's belt is likely to sweep. If it is 

 sure to bend, the dog simply stiffens his neck until the slight 

 strain is past ; but if it is too rigid or too much branched, he at 

 once shifts his position from the man's left knee, close to which 

 he runs, to the right, thus bringing the loop of the slack directly 

 behind the Lapp, who of course avoids the obstacle, and in 

 ninety-nine cases out of a hundred there is no check to the 

 progress of the pair. When the slack occasionally catches in a 

 projecting root, stone, or dead branch, he will spring like light- 

 ning to one side, or even backwards, and clear it before it is 

 drawn taut. I notice that if a rare mistake does occur and the 

 dog goes the wrong side of a tree, the Lapp, even when holding 

 the leader, will never pass the end round the tree as some hunters 

 do, but always pitilessly compels the dog to dodge back to 

 the proper side and free the line himself. The slightest, almost 

 inaudible, sound with the lips is enough to send Passop to the 

 front full of subdued eagerness, and a turn of the wrist to bring 

 him to heel. It is a treat to witness the way in which, when 

 purposely brought to the brow of a hill, he will calmly squat on 

 his haunches and test the wind for many minutes together, 

 quite motionless except for the slight turn of his head and his 

 incessantly working nostrils. By carefully watching his saga- 

 cious countenance, one can almost follow his subtle apprecia- 

 tion of the various odours that are wafted to those delicate 

 organs. It may be that he will at length suddenly rise, and 

 without hesitation begin to lead in a particular direction, in 

 which case it becomes a certainty that there are elk somewhere 

 in that quarter, although they may be still a couple of miles 

 <^r more away. Again^ it may be that this prolonged nasal 

 rutiny will result in his lying down, and, with studied careless- 

 ness, beginning to nibble his foot or lick himself, thereby 

 demonstrating that he has temporarily lost all interest in the 



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