250 NEWFOUNDLAND 



to trap, the best method being that employed by the Indians, 

 of which I give a sketch. A good Indian trapper will kill 

 from 50 to 100 in one season. I have never seen the 

 lynx, but I have seen the tragedy of the little hare's death 

 written on the snow as plainly as if I had been there to 

 witness it. Here is where the lynx suddenly stopped in his 

 prowling v/alk ; here is where he crouched on seeing the 

 unfortunate "rabbit"; and again that is where he leaped 

 after his prey in immense bounds, rapidly overtaking the 

 scurrying form. The scattered earth and leaves with crimson 

 patches and tufts of hair on the frozen snow show where 

 the death took place, and the tracks of the lynx now walking 

 slowly indicate where he has borne his victim to the side 

 of a bush where more tufts of hair, two leg bones, and a 

 skull and eyes, exhibit the last stage of the tragedy. 



No doubt lynxes kill a few very young caribou fawns, 

 but only those that are lying hidden in the undergrowth 

 apart from their mothers. 



The day following that on which I had killed the two 

 big stags was a typical day's still-hunting, and its various 

 incidents will serve to show something of the nature of this 

 particular form of the chase and its excitements, so I take 

 leave to copy it directly from my diary as it was written. 



Wednesday, ijih September. — We moved camp this morn- 

 ing three miles down the river to the mouth of Little Gull 

 River, where we left Bob to build a camp in the angle of 

 the two streams. It was a beautiful autumn morning, clear 

 and still, with the golden leaves showering from the bushes 

 into the river. We had left camp in the darkness, and so 

 saw the day break in all that pellucid clearness which is 

 a never-failing source of wonder and enjoyment to the 

 lover of Nature. Round about were the wood thrushes, 



