A FALL HUNTING TRIP. 85 



line as a northern limit and the south coast. This herd 

 is hunted by the Micmac Indians, who have divided 

 that part of the country into hunting-grounds. These 

 Indians are a branch of a Nova Scotian tribe, who 

 transferred themselves to the more northerly island 

 about the middle of the eighteenth century. They do 

 not resent the presence of hunters on their especial 

 districts, though probably if trappers interfered with 

 their rights there might be trouble. The third herd is 

 a very small one, and consists of the few deer that still 

 survive in the Avalon Peninsula, south of St. John's, 

 and these do not, I believe, migrate at all. 



In the vast interior of the country are thousands of 

 caribou which have probably never been within many 

 miles of the railroad, and it is towards these herds 

 that one would wish to make one's way. Here is a 

 wild and empty land, inhabited only by a few hundred 

 Indians, uncounted deer, and, for the rest, beaver, a 

 few black bears, many lynx, foxes and other of the 

 smaller fur-bearing animals, with, few and far between, 

 the dying remnant of the wolf-packs, for whose slaughter 

 a heavy Government bounty is still, I believe, offered, 

 though very rarely claimed. 



By the game laws of the island the shooting licence 

 costs $50, and now its holder is limited to the killing of 

 three stags, though under the old licence five stags and 

 two does were allowed. A resident of the island is 

 limited to five caribou, but should a Newfoundlander be 

 employed as guide by a non-resident he is, very wisely, 

 prohibited from exercising his right during the time he is 

 acting in that capacity. All guides must have certifi- 

 cates, but a non-resident guide must also carry a licence 

 costing $50. 



