A FALL HUNTING TRIP. Ill 



upland marshes and woods, that is before you come up 

 on to the ' big country ' that lies beyond it. At this 

 time of year the stags seem to prefer the hard ground, 

 the rocky, mossy barrens which Wells calls * sandy 

 ridges.' I do not therefore think the other side of the 

 lake would be very good ground at this time of year. 



" We then visited the barrens north of our camp ; 

 after a long hunt, saw a stag with curiously deformed 

 antlers, no bays, but, as it appeared, two separate horns 

 growing like a V almost from the coronet. While we 

 were watching him a doe suddenly dashed into sight, 

 followed by a stag with what looked like a head full of 

 points. I thought him very good, and killed him as he 

 galloped by at about one hundred yards. Thirty points 

 only, but a very pretty head. 



" Nov. 3. Hunted towards John's Pond, and walked 

 about twenty-five miles. Saw fifteen stags and the 

 largest number of does I have yet seen in any one day. 

 I think the really fine stags are very rare, one in a 

 hundred or so. Cold, cloudy weather. All this time, 

 although I have seen so many deer, I have observed 

 practically nothing else on the barrens. Only one fox 

 and one willow-grouse." 



The next day, the 4th of November, was my last full 

 hunting day, as I wished to catch the next fortnightly 

 mail to England. Jack Wells and I made a start in 

 the rain long before it was light enough to see. I had 

 decided to hunt the country on the southern side of 

 the lake, which we had spied from across the lake on 

 the previous day. Although the telescope had not 

 shown much of the kind of ground which the stags at 

 that season seemed to prefer, I fancied that the caribou, 

 after passing through the woods near the lake, might be 



