ON THE MAMMALIA OF THIS DISTRICT. 195 



The next day messengers were despatched to 

 some neighbouring friends to help to form a 

 "skall," on a large scale, the day after; and in 

 the evening we again camped in the forest. The 

 worst of these amateur skalls or battues is, that 

 they are sure to bring together so many of the 

 " Mr. Briggs" class of sportsmen ; and ours was 

 no exception to the general rule. We mustered 

 strong (about a dozen guns), two or three good 

 men and true, but the rest in far too blooming a 

 condition to live the pace over so severe a line of 

 country as this. One thing, however, was certain, 

 they were determined not to depend for their 

 dinner upon the elk we might shoot ; and it was, 

 indeed (as the Yankees would say), " a caution" to 

 see the knapsacks unpacked whenever a halt was 

 called. As the bottle went merrily round, each 

 one was loud in his own individual praise ; and it 

 was hard to say, from their own showing, which 

 was the keenest sportsman of the lot : but for all 

 this I was much inclined to think that 



" Save at the flagon, 



And prog in the waggon, 

 They did nought that the muse 

 Ever heard of to brag on.'' 



This day's proceedings are easily described. 

 It was a succession of picnics from beginning to 

 end. We had scarcely finished breakfast before 



