118 NEWFOUNDLAND 



so when I let go the next two shots, I had the satisfaction 

 of seeing them both strike the flying deer. One went through 

 his side, and the last raked him from end to end ; so he 

 stopped, floundered forward in the river, and was dead by 

 the time I reached him. I looked upon the capture of this 

 fine head as the result of simple reasoning, though Saunders 

 regarded the affair in a somewhat more exaggerated fashion. 

 Had I not heard that first gentle crack, led up to by the 

 sight of those hoof-prints, old Curly Toe and his antlers 

 would probably still be dodging backwards and forwards 

 along the narrow leads of the Upper Gander. 



This was without doubt the stag with the fine tops which 

 I had spied late in the evening two days previously, and he 

 must only just have returned to his lair when so rudely 

 disturbed. The horns were not large, but very massive, and 

 the head one of high quality, with thirty points. 



At midday we decided to camp, as the country to the 

 north seemed fairly open and worth a visit. As the canoes 

 came to a halt, and we prepared to relieve them of their 

 contents, a large stag came out on to the river bank, and 

 stood surveying us within sixty yards. His horns were long 

 and with few points, which accounted for the lack of evil 

 intention on our part, so after a prolonged stare he swung 

 round and disappeared in the forest again. In the afternoon 

 a long tramp through a dense country resulted in nothing, 

 and we returned to camp just in time to see two fine stags 

 cross the river about a quarter of a mile below. 



It was plain that real difficulties with the canoes had now 

 commenced. Nothing but basswood, and that of the finest 

 quality, would have withstood the bumping and hauling over 

 sharp rocks that these little boats had undergone. Both were 

 well " shaved," and the new one had swollen and burst 



