282 NEWFOUNDLAND 



hills in a ding-dong chase, until the big fellow finds he has 

 achieved a moral victory. 



The country to the west, known as Shoe Hill, forms itself 

 into a great basin, in the centre of which was a lake, which 

 I have named Shoe Hill Lake. On all sides of this piece 

 of water the ground, which is quite open and stony, like 

 Norwegian reindeer country, rises to several hundred feet, 

 except to the west, where the land falls abruptly to the big 

 lake, known in Howley's map as " Jubilee " Lake, and to the 

 Indians as " Sandy Pond." Seated on the ridge, about one 

 mile to the west of Shoe Hill droke, we could survey the 

 whole of this vast amphitheatre, and during the next few days 

 I found there many a fine stag with his attendant wives. By 

 watching from various points with the telescope, I could pick 

 up three stags to one that the Indians could see, even with 

 their sharp eyes, so that Steve acknowledged the superiority 

 of the glass and was industrious in learning its use. I found 

 that on sitting down to spy, far the best plan was to survey 

 the whole of the lake edges and then to take every small 

 marsh in turn in the vicinity of the water. The reasons for 

 the deer halting and resting at midday on the shores is ex- 

 plained by the fact that they travel all night from some distant 

 point and are stopped by any large sheet of water, which they 

 do not like to cross at night. At dawn the does begin feeding 

 on the moss, and as the sun warms all things, they lie down 

 and rest for several hours, or stand motionless with drooping 

 ears. In spite of their size, it is not always easy to detect 

 them, so well do their brown coats harmonise with stones. 

 Often a herd remains in the same spot for several days if 

 undisturbed. 



It was some days before I found a stag with a fine head. 

 I was watching a restless old fellow trying to move his 



