NEAR MIDDLE RIDGE. 139 



The soles of these boots consist of a single layer of skin 

 and are as noiseless as moccasins, but the legs, which 

 tie below the knee, being very full and baggy, act like a 

 drum upon which the lower stems and leaves play a 

 tattoo as one passes through them. I had, by ill- 

 fortune, put on a new pair of these boots that very 

 morning, as my old ones had been placed too near the 

 fire and in consequence burnt. Now as we moved 

 along the edge of a wood the hard new legs set up a 

 disastrous tapping with the touch of every twig. We 

 had to delay while I pulled the tops of my stockings 

 down over the boots ; this done, we were able to resume 

 our stalk in adequate silence. 



As we were hurrying along, a portion of a stag's antlers 

 suddenly showed in a gap among the spruces. He had 

 heard something and was evidently suspicious, as the 

 antlers remained perfectly still, and by their angle the 

 animal had raised his head to listen. From my position 

 it was only possible to see that the left horn carried five 

 points on the top. I was wondering what the rest of 

 the horn was like, when the stag took a step forward 

 preparatory to flight. This movement disclosed more 

 of the horn, and as the view was highly satisfactory I 

 fired at once. The Mannlicher bullet broke his neck. 

 The stag, which had the smallest body of any I 

 ever shot, proved to possess a most symmetrical and 

 beautiful head of thirty-five points, the brow antlers 

 being perfectly equal and fulfilling exactly the descrip- 

 tion of " hands clasped in prayer." It is singular how 

 few caribou grow the brows evenly. There is no single 

 specimen hi the British Museum from Siberia, Canada, 

 or Norway which displays this distinctive beauty. 

 Nearly all Newfoundland stags carry two brow antlers, 



