138 SPORT IN NORWAY. 



beginning of October- with two Micmac Indians. 

 Captain H , a most experienced sportsman, kindly 

 came out with me for the first few days to 'set me 

 going.' The following is an extract from my diary 

 of our first day's hunting : 



"September 16th, 1857. Up before daylight a 

 fine day with cool breeze very good, they said, for 

 ' creeping.' We set off in high hopes before sunrise, 

 and in about an hour Joe found a fresh moose-track, 

 which we followed through thick hardwood and over a 

 ' barren.' It was marvellous to see the sagacity of the 

 Indian. The moment he knew he was on game his 

 countenance brightened, and every faculty of mind 

 and body seemed brought into action, yet without 

 displaying the least excitement or want of perfect 

 self-possession. Where I could see no track (and 

 sporting has sharpened my eye pretty well), he seemed 

 scarcely for a moment at a loss. Where footprints 

 failed, the turn of a leaf, the slightest scratch on a 

 piece of bark, or a little twig, seemed signs enough. 

 We worked our way rapidly but cautiously through the 

 thick brush, carefully putting back every branch as we 

 passed, feeling lightly with our mocassined feet the 

 fallen moss-covered trees lest they might not bear our 

 weight. H insisted that the young hunter should 

 have the first chance, so I followed close behind Joe, 

 who every now and then would turn and whisper, 



