ON THE MAMMALIA OF THIS DISTRICT. 211 



from the gun below me. I had certainly a beau- 

 tiful stand. On my right was the lake, within 

 fifty yards ; and by its side a well-worn run 

 proved that the elk often came that way. The 

 swamp here terminated in a point, and was not 

 100 yards over. A clump of fir-trees, covering a 

 stony rise of perhaps 100 acres, was at my back ; 

 and fronting me just over the swamp, the forest 

 rose on a rocky mountain some hundred feet high, 

 so perpendicular and steep that it seemed almost 

 impossible for any creature to keep his legs com- 

 ing down it. Directly in front of me, however, 

 was a clear run from the mountain-top, and if the 

 elk were started it was next to certain they would 

 come down this run, and either cross the little 

 hill on which I was stationed, or pass to my right, 

 and, skirting the lake, make for the deep forest 

 which lay behind me. Such at least were the 

 calculations of my old friend the wood-watcher, 

 and they were borne out to the letter. I had not 

 forgotten my old bush experience as a kangaroo 

 hunter, and sitting down in front of a large pine 

 close to the edge of the swamp, and cutting some 

 fir-branches I made a little screen before me, be- 

 hind which I ensconced myself, like a jolly old 

 spider in his web, on the look-out for any unfortu- 

 nate fly that might chance to come within his 

 toils. I lighted my pipe, and was very comfort- 



