WILD ANIMALS AND MEN 243 



Their antics interested me and it was some time before I fell 

 asleep again. 



"In the morning, though a heavy rime (frozen mist) was 

 falling and though it was so thick that it obliterated the sur- 

 rounding forest, I set out again in search of game tracks, 

 and having crossed the muskeg, not only found the tracks of 

 many caribou, but learned, too, that the eight wolves were now 

 trailing the deer in earnest. 



"About half way between sunrise and midday I came upon 

 a lake, and there I discovered not only the same herd of caribou 

 and the same wolves, but the deer were running at full speed 

 with the wolves in full chase behind them. My son, it was a 

 fascinating sight. The caribou were going at full gallop, cover- 

 ing twenty feet or more at a bound, and all running at exactly 

 the same speed, none trying to outstrip the others, for the 

 fawns, does, and bucks were all compactly bunched together. 

 It was as exciting and as interesting a sight as one may see in 

 the Strong Woods. Though the wolves did not seem to be 

 putting forth their utmost speed, they nevertheless took care 

 to cut every corner, and thus they managed to keep close 

 behind, while their long, regular lope foretold their eventually 

 overhauling their quarry. 



"Protected by a gentle southwest wind and a thick screen 

 of underbrush, I watched the chase. Three times the deer 

 circled the lake, which was about half a mile in length. For 

 safety's sake the caribou carefully avoided entering the woods, 

 even rounding every point rather than cut across among the 

 trees. On the fourth round I saw that the wolves had set 

 their minds upon running down a single deer, for as they now 

 suddenly burst forward at their top speed, the herd, splitting 

 apart, allowed the wolves to pass through their ranks. A few 

 moments later an unfortunate doe, emerging in front, galloped 

 frantically ahead with the wolves in hot pursuit; while the 

 rest of the herd slowed down to a trot, then to a walk, and finally 



