A FALL HUNTING TRIP. 95 



three hundred in any direction. This mist, of course, 

 entirely prevented our using the telescope, and was very 

 unfavourable for stalking. Nevertheless, I went out 

 with Jack Wells, and we had not gone very far before 

 we saw a couple of does with one fawn feeding along in 

 our direction. We sat down to watch them, when all 

 at once they stopped feeding and began approaching us 

 at a swift walk. We remained as still as the stones 

 amongst which we sat, and they passed within fifteen 

 paces before the leading doe winded our track. She 

 leaped into the air, and all three dashed back, passing us 

 again at an even less distance than before, and then were 

 lost in the mist to the westward. 



During the day we covered some twenty miles, and 

 came across rather more than fifty does and only one 

 stag, which carried a head of about twenty points. We 

 stalked him to within two hundred yards and had a 

 good look at him. His horns were long and fairly 

 heavy, but he carried only one brow antler. The next 

 day was Sunday, and we could see small parties of deer 

 continually crossing the marsh to the east of our camp. 

 There were one or two stags amongst them, but not 

 very large ones. 



For some time after this the weather alternated 

 between frost and " sleepy " snow. We had one or two 

 unpleasant days of sleet, but the sun generally showed 

 himself for a longer or shorter time between morning 

 and evening. During this period our camp was set in 

 a drogue beside the small lake known as Doctor's Pond. 

 We made our march there through a storm of sleet and 

 snow blowing in our faces all the way, covering stones 

 and bog-holes from our sight and rendering walking 

 with a heavy pack disagreeable. 



