152 CAMP FIRES IN THE YUKON 



barefoot stalk. Really this method of stalking re- 

 sults in one hundred per cent, silence, for the reason 

 that twigs and branches hurt the bare feet and con- 

 sequently the stalker is particular to avoid them. 



We approached the hill where Albert felt the 

 moose was resting, and with less noise than the 

 drifting snowflake searched every foot of the 

 ground; shod in silence we searched two other hills 

 without result, and finally came upon the trail of our 

 moose leading across a wide, low marsh, as he evi- 

 dently had no intention of resting on any of the 

 near-by hills. Taking his trail, we decided to fol- 

 low him; and if his course led to a hill we would 

 stalk him, provided there was still sufficient day- 

 light; or, if the light failed, we would still camp 

 under a tree and stalk him in the morning. For a 

 long distance we hung on his trail, through the 

 marsh, down the valley, with no deviation towards 

 the hills; it began to snow hard and darkness came 

 on, making it impossible to do further tracking as 

 the snow blanketed the tracks; it was futile to at- 

 tempt to follow an obliterated trail and equally 

 unpromising even to hope to pick it up in the morn- 

 ing, when the snow would be deeper. 



It was disappointing and difficult to come to the 

 point of giving up that moose, as we had decided 

 to follow that trail and, forgetting our blankets and 

 grub, to sleep on the trail until we had that moose ; 

 but we had reckoned without the snow which wiped 



