A FALL HUNTING TRIP. 113 



staggered, slowed to a walk, and presently stopped 

 altogether. As I was sure that he was mortally hit, I 

 very foolishly attempted to approach closer, for I had 

 but a couple of cartridges left several having fallen 

 from my pocket during the stalk with the result that 

 he began to move off again, and in doing this he crossed 

 our wind, whereupon his fresh alarm seemed to give 

 him an access of strength. Luckily for me he chose to 

 disappear behind a long tongue of woods, and by dint 

 of running I was able to arrive just in time to salute 

 him with another bullet as he ran clear of the trees. 

 This shot broke his back, and we were soon beside him. 

 I now saw that there was only one bullet in the animal, 

 the first having struck his horn and stunned him. The 

 peculiar shape of his antlers, which curved forwards and 

 downwards in a very unusual fashion, bringing the 

 whole mass of horn together, explained the impression 

 of excessive palmation that we had at first observed. 

 The trophy was, however, a very beautiful one of thirty- 

 one points, so that the chance shot was, after all, a 

 matter for congratulation. With the death of this stag 

 I finished my hunting for the year. 



On this trip I was extremely fortunate in striking as 

 I did the great scattered herd of deer as they were 

 travelling south. I thus had the most acceptable 

 opportunity of studying and watching them for hours 

 at a time. By climbing a tree or mounting to a point 

 of high ground it was possible to spy over a great 

 expanse of country, and, having found a company of 

 deer, to follow and stalk any stag which seemed to be 

 worth the trouble. 



I suppose I stalked quite forty stags to within range, 

 and it was frequently the stalk that did not end in a 



H.C. I 



