282 SPORT IN EUROPE 



or division of the land, as registered in the Government books, it 



was in Sweden permissible up to recent times to shoot calves as 



well as adult beasts, and if the opportunity presented itself any 



number of elk might be killed on the same holding, however small. 



In considerinu" the chase of the elk {A Ices inachlis), the 

 The Elk. "^ \ ' 



monarch of the deer tribe, and the biggest game-beast 



in Europe, we may dismiss driving with a very few words. On a 



large scale it is possible only in the most stricth' preserved forests 



in Sweden. On a small scale it is sometimes attempted in Norway, 



under the name of Klap-jagt, by employing beaters, who tap the 



trees with axe-heads and sticks to move the elk out of deep gorges 



or unusually thick woodlands towards the shooter. 



In the pursuit of elk, a dog is habitually used, namely, the Arctic 



dog, originally the well-known companion and drudge of the Lapp, 



the Samoyed, the Esquimaux, and the Chukche, which 



, has in the course of ages spread from the extreme 



north over the whole of Scandinavia. Although much 

 modified in appearance from the original Arctic type, and showing 

 considerable variety in size and colour, it still universally retains the 

 chief characteristics of its race, which constitutes the great canine 

 population of Scandinavia. Examples of it, for the most part utterly 

 useless in the field, are to be seen at every farmhouse throughout 

 the peninsula. 



The elk-dog is used either loose or in a leader. The duty of 

 the loose dog is to range the forest, find the elk, and bring it to 

 bay, or so far delay it, that the hunter, guided by the music, may 

 get up as best he can and obtain a shot. The leash-dog, on the 



