no HUNTING CAMPS. 



facing me. At this angle the head looked so light that I 

 decided not to shoot, and had already rejoined Wells, when 

 one of the does took fright and ran off, followed by the 

 stag. Broadside on, the horns looked better than ever. 

 I had put my rifle over at safety, so that it took a moment 

 or two to rectify this, as well as to find a clear place among 

 the cover through which to shoot. 



By this time the stag was some two hundred yards 

 away, splashing across a marsh with the water flying all 

 round him. At the shot, however, to my delight he stag- 

 gered, slowed to a walk, and presently stopped altogether. 

 As I was sure that he was mortally hit, I very foolishly 

 attempted to approach closer, for I had but a couple of 

 cartridges left several having fallen from my pocket dur- 

 ing the stalk with the result that he began to move off 

 again, and in doing this he crossed our wind, whereupon 

 his fresh alarm seemed to give him an access of strength. 

 Luckily for me he chose to disappear behind a long tongue 

 of woods, and by dint of running I was able to arrive just 

 in time to salute him with another bullet as he ran clear of 

 the trees. This shot broke his back, and we were soon 

 beside him. I now saw that there was only one bullet 

 in the animal, the first having struck his horn and stunned 

 him. The peculiar shape of his antlers, which curved 

 forwards and downwards in a very unusual fashion, bringing 

 the whole mass of horn together, explained the impression 

 of excessive palmation that we had at first observed. The 

 trophy was, however, a very beautiful one of thirty-one 

 points, so that the chance shot was, after all, a matter for 

 congratulation. With the death of this stag I finished 

 my hunting for the year. 



On this trip I was extremely fortunate in striking as 

 I did the great scattered herd of deer as they were travel- 

 ling south. I thus had the most acceptable opportunity 

 of studying and watching them for hours at a time. By 



