66 BIG GAME OF NORTH AMERICA. 



tious veneration. No white man had ever before been per- 

 mitted to visit it, and it was only by the exercise of a great 

 deal of diplomacy that we were able to overcome the objec- 

 tions of the chief and gain his consent to hunt on the shores 

 of the lake. He finally consented, however, and sent three 

 of his young men to guide us in and carry our camp 

 equipage. 



On arriving at the lake we separated, two of our party 

 going on one side, and I on the other. 



I soon came to an arm of the lake that extended at least 

 two miles into the woods, and that was a quarter of a mile 

 wide. While looking toward the opposite shore, I saw water 

 splashed high in the air, and began to wonder if whales 

 inhabited the mystic lake. Keeping in the cover of the 

 woods until I reached the bank opposite where the disturb- 

 ance was, I saw a band of eighteen Elk, sixteen of them 

 standing in a body, watching a terrific battle between two 

 large bulls. Although the lake was at least a quarter of a 

 mile wide, I could hear the clash of their horns when they 

 rushed on each other. A grander sight than these two 

 majestic forest monarchs presented could not be imagined. 

 Whirling round and round went the two gladiators, each 

 endeavoring to find an unguarded point on his adversary's 

 side. When one was off his guard, the other would rush at 

 him, and the report would come plainly to my ears. I 

 grew excited, and determined to have a hand in the fray. 

 The only way in which I could reach them was to circum- 

 vent the lake; so I started on a run round the head of it. 



The beach afforded a splendid running-ground, and I 

 lost no time until I reached a point within half a mile of 

 the place where I knew the Elk to be. Stopping a moment 

 to catch my wind, I could not resist the temptation to look 

 and see if the Elk were still fighting; but the battle was 

 over, and the defeated Elk was walking up the beach toward 

 me, roaring and bellowing as he came, while the victor had 

 rejoined his harem. 



The conquered Elk then turned off the beach into the 

 marsh. As a path led from the beach to the marsh, from 



