210 NEWFOUNDLAND 



time was July and early August, a season at which the big 

 stags do move out of the woods, drawing from the rivers to 

 avoid the flies, and so the circumstances were easily explained. 

 Late in August the stags again take to the woods and 

 hardly ever show out except at early dawn, until the beginning 

 of the rutting season (20th September), and often not as early 

 as this. 



As we were returning to camp we saw a wonderful thing. 

 I call it wonderful, because few men, even professional trappers, 

 have ever seen the beast — a veritable black fox, as black as 

 ink. We were descending a low range of hills, when right 

 in front of us, and, most unfortunately, dead down wind, 

 appeared the rarity. He saw us as quickly as we saw him, 

 and, like a flash, he whipped round, and, erecting his magni- 

 ficent brush of black and white, darted over the skyline and 

 was lost to view. 



" There goes four hundred dollars ! " said Joe sadly. "Ah, 

 if we had only been fifty yards to the right, we should 

 have been out of sight and under the wind, and I could 

 have tolled him." 



It was one of the most melancholy " ifs " I can remember 

 in my hunting experience. The Indians have a "call" or 

 " toll " for nearly every animal. They can bring a fox right 

 up to within 20 yards by making a sibilant noise produced 

 by sucking the back of the hand. Reynard takes it to be 

 the cry of a hare in difficulties, and seldom fails to advance 

 close to the sound. Stag caribou are "tolled" by grunting 

 loudly in two different ways, and this vocal effort requires 

 little skill or practice on the imitator's part, for the first 

 beast I tried it on answered at once, and came grunting up 

 close at hand. 



The " herd " stag will quickly answer the caller and advance 



