118 HUNTING CAMPS. 



found among the berry-covered barrens. After visiting 

 the carcases without success, we were returning to camp 

 in the late dusk, when I caught sight of a stag approach- 

 ing. We lay down, and the stag climbed a knoll 

 within eighty yards of us, where, outlined against the 

 sky, he showed splendidly better, indeed, than he 

 deserved, for he carried but a slight head of less than 

 twenty points. We were uncommonly glad to see him, 

 as, according to reports, he certainly had not been there 

 when Simon had been hunting, so that his presence 

 augured that the migration had begun and that we might 

 expect the main body of stags at no distant date. The 

 next day, the 21st of October, was the opening day of the 

 second season, and Wynyard and I, accompanied by 

 Jack Wells, were off early. The weather was beautiful, 

 and even rather warm. Before long we reached the 

 series of high barrens above Millais Lake, and here we 

 were destined to witness a really fine spectacle. 



We were lying behind some spruces watching three 

 stags, one with well-developed bays, that we had stalked, 

 when an old stag, with a band of does following him, 

 came up out of the Island Pond woods. Immediately 

 they appeared in view the stag with the large bays 

 galloped out across the marsh, challenging the new- 

 comer. The master stag of the harem was nothing 

 loth to try conclusions, and advanced at once to the 

 combat. Both animals uttered a kind of coughing 

 grunt as they closed, and were soon hard at it, clashing 

 their antlers together, measuring their strength as they 

 twisted and strained in the struggle to push each other 

 backwards. The battle lasted some minutes, the stags 

 engaging and disengaging more than once, as they were 

 very equally matched. It was really a magnificent 



