94 HUNTING CAMPS. 



His head carried twenty-five points, but was much knocked 

 about by his love battles, several points having been broken 

 off his horns. This is the case with so many stags in the 

 October season that it is often difficult to secure an abso- 

 lutely perfect head at that time of year. Had this par- 

 ticular animal been shot early in September, his would have 

 been a very good trophy ; still, I was pleased enough to 

 have secured a fair stag so early. We left him to lie while 

 we returned to camp to finish the meal of tea and hard 

 biscuit his presence had interrupted. 



Later Jack Wells and I went back to take off the head 

 and head-skin, while the other men made up their packs 

 and started to walk over the marsh to Beaver Pond, where 

 we meant to camp for the night. 



The following dawn was dull and grey, a heavy mist 

 hung over the face of the marshes, so that it was difficult 

 to see two hundred yards, and impossible to see three hun- 

 dred in any direction. This mist, of course, entirely pre- 

 vented our using the telescope, and was very unfavourable 

 for stalking. Nevertheless, I went out with Jack Wells, 

 and we had not gone very far before we saw a couple of 

 does with one fawn feeding along in our direction. We 

 sat down to watch them, when all at once they stopped 

 feeding and began approaching us at a swift walk. We 

 remained as still as the stones amongst which we sat, and 

 they passed within fifteen paces before the leading doe 

 winded our track. She leaped into the air, and all three 

 dashed back, passing us again at an even less distance than 

 before, and then were lost in the mist to the westward. 



During the day we covered some twenty miles, and 

 came across rather more than fifty does and only one stag, 

 which carried a head of about twenty points. We stalked 

 him to within two hundred yards and had a good look at 

 him. His horns were long and fairly heavy, but he carried 

 only one brow antler. The next day was Sunday, and we 



