140 HUNTING CAMPS. 



but one is almost invariably inferior to the other, that 

 on the left being usually the finer. 



I sent off Jack to bring up Sam and the packs, and 

 on their return we camped in a drogue of birches not 

 very far from the body of the caribou. While we were 

 setting up our lean-to the rain began again to fall 

 heavily, but as we had been walking up-wind we were 

 able to light a fire without spoiling any more ground 

 for hunting. It is astonishing how quickly one can 

 light a good fire in Newfoundland, for quantities of 

 inflammable birch bark are to be found everywhere. 

 In a few minutes we had boiled a kettle of tea and 

 were as comfortable as our soaking garments would 

 allow us to be. The tea was hardly drunk before the 

 wind shifted several points to the west, and, guessing 

 that this change would have its effect upon the weather, 

 Jack and I started at once again, leaving Sam Dewey 

 to his duties in camp. 



By the time we had crossed a little river and come 

 out upon a wide marsh we could hear Dewey 's axe- 

 strokes from among the birches, and as we walked over 

 a rise we found to our disgust that two stags, which 

 must have been lying down upon the marsh, had heard 

 them also, for we saw the pair trotting away over a 

 ridge, and soon afterwards we came upon their fresh 

 tracks. We only saw them as they passed over the 

 sky-line, therefore we neither of us got more than a 

 momentary glimpse of the stags, which, however, was 

 enough to tell us that one was a very fine animal. 

 His track also was large. A caribou differs from either 

 elk or moose in that, when once he is frightened, it is 

 almost hopeless to expect to see him afterwards. A 

 moose will often travel ten miles, yet, if you are 



