THE SCANDINAVIAN ELK 143 



down. Secondly, the fact that it is, to a great extent, blind 

 work, that one is entirely dependent on the dog and must run 

 to a sound, that there is little or no opportunity for the science 

 of woodcraft, and none for that study of the object of the 

 chase which is so dear to the stalker. Thirdly, that you cannot 

 run a single deer for any distance without disturbing a great 

 extent of country. Fourthly, that there is the obligation, if 

 not invariably yet nearly so, to kill whatever beast the hound 

 has succeeded in stopping, be it a young bull with insignificant 

 honours or a cow with a calf in tow. The Swedish hunter 

 never gives quarter ; his immutable doctrine may be summed 

 up in the words, 'Meat for the man, and blood for the dog.' 

 He will not risk disappointing his hound and perhaps ruining 

 his staunchness, nor will he, if he can help it, stultify the whole 

 raison d'etre of the chase, nor forego his hankering after the 

 flesh-pots. I do not say that the English sportsman is abso- 

 lutely compelled to adhere to this merciless creed, but he will 

 find it difficult to withstand. He is the actor in a drama in 

 which the hound takes the leading part throughout until the 

 climax, and for that he is himself responsible ; excitement, 

 struggle, endurance, opportunity, these are the several stages ; 

 it rests with him what the final one is to be : if failure, well, 

 man is prone to err and so is his bullet ; after all, he has done 

 his best and tried to succeed but refusal ! I think he will 

 become conscious, possibly against his will, that this is, under 

 the conditions of such a chase, the most miserable fiasco of all : 

 the chance at last, and tamely to forego it ! he will feel that 

 he who acts thus is deserving of that limbo to which Dante 

 consigned the otherwise blameless man who refused the 

 popedom : 



Che fece per viltate il gran rifiuto. 



I find it to be commonly supposed that the chase of the 

 elk is almost always confined to comparatively low ground, 

 covered with pine wood and swampy thickets. There was a 

 time when I had this notion myself, and as regards Sweden it 



