XI AWAY TO THE MOOSE-GROUND 233 



never winded or heard me. Two more blank days thoroughly 

 disgusted me with that country, and as fresh tracks were few 

 and far between, we decided to return to the lake and cross 

 over again to a place near where Hanbury had been hunting. 

 I heard from some natives that he had gone back to Kenai 

 with at least one head over 70 inches, and that he had found 

 plenty of moose near his camp. We had still a fortnight 

 before us, and from signs and sounds in the forest, the big 

 bulls were now running and fighting freely, so that there was 

 a good chance of picking up a really good head or two in a 

 few days. We retraced our steps to the lake, somewhat 

 mournfully, having wasted a week at Nicolai Creek, during 

 which time, although Little and I were both out every day, 

 and covered miles of ground, we only saw one small bull. 



On the evening of October 3 we reached the empty 

 cabin, and took up our quarters there for the night. 



Next morning the wind began to blow hard, and in con- 

 sequence we delayed starting at daylight, as we had intended 

 to do. Had it not been for this circumstance, we should 

 have avoided a very unpleasant surprise. 



