NEAR MIDDLE RIDGE. 133 



thick wood, and presently I thought I caught a glimpse of 

 the top of an antler, but could not make quite sure. All 

 the animals were moving, and as it was impossible to see 

 more than ten yards in the thick growth we set off as rapidly 

 and silently as might be to a spot ahead of the deer, where 

 the wood seemed to be less dense. 



Owing to the nature of the country and the continual 

 necessity of fording streams and crossing flooded marshes, 

 we were both hunting in sealskin boots, which are made by 

 the Eskimo of the Labrador Peninsula. The soles of these 

 boots consist of a single layer of skin and are as noiseless as 

 moccasins, but the legs, which tie below the knee, being 

 very full and baggy, act like a drum upon which the lower 

 stems and leaves play a tattoo as one passes through them. 

 I had, by ill-fortune, put on a new pair of these boots that 

 very morning, as my old ones had been placed too near the 

 fire and in consequence burnt. Now as we moved along 

 the edge of a wood the hard new legs set up a disastrous 

 tapping with the touch of every twig. We had to delay 

 while I pulled the tops of my stockings down over the boots ; 

 this done, we were able to resume our stalk in adequate 

 silence. 



As we were hurrying along, a portion of a stag's antlers 

 suddenly showed in a gap among the spruces. He had 

 heard something and was evidently suspicious, as the 

 antlers remained perfectly still, and by their angle the 

 animal had raised his head to listen. From my position it 

 was only possible to see that the left horn carried five points 

 on the top. I was wondering what the rest of the horn 

 was like, when the stag took a step forward preparatory to 

 flight. This movement disclosed more of the horn, and 

 as the view was highly satisfactory I fired at once. The 

 Mannlicher bullet broke his neck. The stag, which had the 

 smallest body of any I ever shot, proved to possess a most 

 symmetriGal and beautiful head of thirty-five points, the 



