106 NEWFOUNDLAND 



and all set in those beautiful wild curves that go to make 

 up a really good head. He had good double front shovels 

 prettily interlocked, and very handsome wild " tops " to the 

 horns, containing several extra straggly points, which add so 

 much to the beauty of any head. At any rate I felt pleased 

 with our first trophy, and it was with light hearts we re- 

 turned to camp, where Bob at once set to work to skin, 

 whilst Sandy prepared an excellent supper. 



Next day Bob and I wandered far to the north, getting 

 into some abominable ground, from which it took us some 

 hours to extricate ourselves. The farther we went from the 

 river and Migwell's Brook, the less sign of deer was notice- 

 able, and the worse the timber became. Just as we left 

 camp we saw two stags, but their heads were of no account, 

 and in the evening two more crossed the river and came 

 walking by the camp not more than fifty yards away. One 

 of these was a regular old patriarch. His horns were 

 narrowed to mere thin spires, and I believe he was partly 

 deaf, for it was not till I had thrown two stones at him, 

 and then warmed him up with a swan shot from my catapult, 

 that he condescended to take any notice of me. Many of 

 these stags which I now saw had probably never seen 

 man before, for on several occasions, when the wind was 

 right, one could take surprising liberties with them, without 

 their seeming alarmed. Never in my life did I regret the 

 loss of a camera so much as during the next fortnight. 

 In the hurry of packing I had left it at the station at Glen- 

 wood, and it was not till I returned there that it came in for 

 any use. During our absence Sandy said that a stag with 

 a fair head walked by the camp between him and the river, 

 a distance of fourteen yards. The unsuspecting animal had 

 stopped a moment to observe our cook peeling potatoes, and 



