206 HUNTING CAMPS. 



huge white mane showed up splendidly, and splendidly the 

 shadowy form of his mighty antlers. 



He was coming from the further bank to my side of the 

 river. I crept forward, keeping as much in cover as I could, 

 but, finding the weed-grown, water- worn rocks too slippery, 

 I lay down behind a boulder and got my focus with the glass. 

 The stag was still in the river, but now rapidly nearing the 

 bank. As soon as I had him in the field of vision I was sure 

 that I had seen the stag before. The formation of the bays 

 was very distinctive, as were the hooked points on the tops. 

 It was undoubtedly the same stag I had been pursuing when 

 I fell a fortnight earlier. I could have shot at him in the 

 water, and it would have been quite a fair shot, as he had 

 by then reached the shallows, but there is a law in Newfound- 

 land against the shooting of deer in the water. It is, more- 

 over, an excellent law, as it prevents the killing of caribou 

 when swimming across the great lakes, for at such times 

 they could easily be overtaken by canoes and their backs 

 broken with an axe, even if they are not shot at close range, 

 for the caribou is a good swimmer and will readily cross a 

 lake four or five miles broad. When swimming they show 

 the whole of the back, and the little scut-like tail sticks up 

 straight. Their extraordinary buoyancy is said to be due 

 to the fact that the hairs of their coats are hollow ; at any 

 rate, it is the material that is now beginning to be used 

 for stuffing life-belts. However, although the law against 

 shooting caribou in the water can hardly apply to a stag 

 walking through shallows that barely cover his hoofs, yet 

 it is well to pay respect to a law in letter as in spirit. 



I waited till the stag had nearly climbed to the top of 

 the bank, and in consequence I very nearly lost him, for he 

 took the crest with a rusli ; but just as he topped it a bullet 

 brought him down. He made a dash to re-cross, but fell 

 dead upon a little island of coarse grass. Jack immediately 

 appeared in strong excitement, calling out that he had heard 



