126 RECENT HUNTING TRIPS. 



glasses that this stag carried a fairly good head 

 and was quite worth shooting, though a much 

 inferior animal to the monster of the day 

 before. 



I now watched for the return of my men, 

 who had gone up the river in the canoes, and 

 as soon as they came back I crossed to the 

 other side, and was soon on the edge of the 

 nearest cover to the sleeping stag. I was, how- 

 ever, still quite three hundred yards away from 

 it, and, not caring to risk a shot at that dis- 

 tance, resolved to crawl towards it over the 

 open mud. This I did without difficulty as 

 the sleeping animal never once looked up, 

 though its head faced towards me, but con- 

 tinued to dream the happy hours away till its 

 slumbers were rudely disturbed by my first shot. 

 This struck it too low, as, lying flat on the 

 ground as I was, I had underestimated the dis- 

 tance. As the wounded animal struggled to 

 its feet I sat up and killed it with a second 

 bullet. It proved to be a line old stag, very 

 fat, like all the others I had shot, and carried a 

 very pretty and regular head. 



