214 SPORTING ADVENTURES 



a low, long-drawn grunt. A few minutes later and two 

 splendid bulls came crashing 1 through the forest from opposite 

 directions,, about two hundred yards away. Both reached the 

 open space at nearly the same time, and just as the deceptive 

 red man was giving vent to a low and most loving grunt. On 

 seeing each other they forgot the call of love, however, and 

 after gazing sternly at one another for a few moments, and 

 uttering cries of defiance, they charged at full speed, and, 

 meeting with a clanging thud, were soon engaged in a despe- 

 rate fight. They struggled and pushed, and tried to get every 

 advantage of each other, but they were too evenly matched for 

 either to win an immediate victory. Their horns clashed and 

 gave forth a dull sound, not unlike that produced by men 

 fencing rapidly with foils ; but this was frequently drowned by 

 the tearing up of the ground, the scattering of the leaves, the 

 crashing of bushes, and the deep grunts of the combatants. 



The contest was waging about five minutes perhaps, when 

 the Indian ran up to us, and said that we might be able to kill 

 both if we could steal upon them unawares. We, accordingly, 

 crept out of the thicket, and advancing as noiselessly and 

 rapidly as possible up wind, got within thirty yards of them 

 undetected, for they were oblivious of everything but the 

 struggle, and securing a shelter behind a tree, and in a position 

 where the moonbeams streamed in clearly, we took aim at 

 them while their antlers were locked, iired, and when the smoke 

 cleared away we saw one on his knees, and the other trying to 

 unlock the entangled horns. I fired at the latter twice in 

 rapid succession, and had the satisfaction of seeing him stagger, 

 then fall over on his side. On approaching them we found the 

 shoulder of the first one to be broken, but, as he was not dead, 

 the Indian finished him in a few moments by giving him three 

 or four blows on the head with the axe. 



Both animals proved to be in excellent condition, and were 

 evidently full grown, as one boasted eighteen points on his 

 antlers, and the other sixteen. Having " drawn " them, we 

 covered them with boughs and leaves, marked their position, 

 then sallied out for new trophies. 



.Moving nnward cautiously, a walk of two miles or more 



