MIGRATION AT MILLAIS'S LAKE 59 



link between the northern and southern forest, and as it 

 lies immediately in the centre of the main deer leads of the 

 southern herd, I felt sure that I should soon be rewarded 

 by the sight of more good stags than we had encountered 

 during the first four weeks of spying and timber tramping. 

 There is no doubt that if you want to get really good heads 

 in Newfoundland, the only way is to sit still when the deer 

 are on the move. This is, of course, not the highest class 

 of sport, but it is interesting for a few days, and during the 

 week that we spent by the lake I thoroughly enjoyed my 

 stay, and saw more caribou than previously. 



We waited all the 20th and 21st without seeing anything 

 worth shooting, and on the 22nd, after spying the barren 

 from daybreak till nine o'clock, I got a fit of restlessness, and 

 so determined to take a walk on high ground towards the 

 Gander. To reach this high ground it was first necessary 

 to cross the little river flowing at the north-east corner, and 

 then, after an uphill mile of dense woods, it was all plain 

 sailing. We tried to cross the river near the lake, and 

 found this impossible, afterwards holding right across the 

 open barren to effect a passage higher up. This was an 

 unfortunate manoeuvre, and one that almost cost us a fine 

 stag as subsequent events proved. One should not walk 

 about on the ground where deer are expected to cross. 

 Half a mile up the country the river was still impossible, 

 and, so as not to waste further time, I decided to go up 

 and work the ridge to the south-east. As we crossed the 

 barren I kept looking round (a habit one gets into when 

 expecting game to appear from any quarter) ; and suddenly 

 saw three does come out of the north woods, dash across 

 the river, and begin to traverse the open marsh. We had 

 hardly got out of sight when three more came suddenly into 



