THE ELK IN NORWAY. 129 



weaker from loss of blood, which gushed forth from 

 the wound, but still kept its eyes steadily fixed on the 

 man, looking at him in a most reproachful manner. 

 Moved with compassion, he stepped forward to put an 

 end to the poor beast's sufferings with his " tolle-kniv," 

 when just as he was going to give the coup de grace, 

 the animal cast such a look at him that he was obliged 

 to turn aside till it was dead. Meanwhile, the second 

 elk, as is often the case, had returned to look after its 

 companion. Here was a chance ! Two elks in one 

 day is not such a despicable bag to one gun. But the 

 ordeal through which his nerves had recently passed 

 had completely upset him, so that he could not find 

 in his heart to shoot it. Then and there he made 

 a solemn vow that as long as he lived he would never 

 raise gun any more against an elk, for it seemed to 

 him as if he had for all the world been guilty of murder. 

 The memory of the scene haunted him, I suppose, like 

 the killing of the albatross did the " ancient mariner." 

 Now-a-days in Norway the elk is, I believe, uni- 

 versally hunted with a single dog, trained for the 

 purpose, held in hand. Last autumn, however, two 

 were shot in Odalen by a party of hunters who adopted 

 the plan of " driving" i. e., of stationing themselves 

 in a line at suitable distances from each other, and 

 employing a number of beaters and dogs to drive them 

 in their direction. One of these animals weighed 



