A CARIBOU STAG. 81 



appointed spot where it was arranged we were 

 to meet and camp that evening. We then 

 set off on a hunt into the country lying to the 

 west of our last night's bivouac. 



After having followed the shore of the lake 

 for a mile or so, we made our way up a densely- 

 wooded slope, which rose to a height of two or 

 three hundred feet above the level of the water, 

 and presently emerged upon an open plateau 

 of level marsh, scattered over which were little 

 islands of forest and outcrops of moss-covered 

 rock, known as " barrens." 



We had been walking for perhaps a couple 

 of hours, and were just entering a patch of 

 burnt forest, a veritable wilderness of dead and 

 bleaching poles, when I suddenly caught sight 

 of the white neck and reddish antlers of a 

 caribou stag. 



" Sit down ! " I whispered to my guide, who 

 was just in front of me but had not yet seen 

 him, and we both squatted at once. 



The caribou stag was less than a hundred 

 yards away when I first saw him, and 

 had he been a sharp-sighted animal would 



