I SAT PERFECTLY STILL. 289 



spot where my men were sitting close to a 



caribou trail which led across the creek, so I 



told them to go a little higher np and hide 



amongst some bushes. Meanwhile, I took np a 



position on the open marsh, about fifty yards 



from the creek. 



Here I sat perfectly still though in full 



view — for I had learnt that the caribou in 



Newfoundland never seem to notice a human 



being as long as he stands quite still — and 



watched the herd coming on, the wind blowing 



across the marsh in such a way that they 



could not scent me without passing behind me. 



A doe with a pretty pair of horns was leading, 



the stag bringing up the rear of the herd, but 



when he had come up to within one hundred 



yards of me I saw that he was not worth 



shooting. 



By this time the leading doe was on the 



point of crossing the creek, but she never did 



so, for when within a few yards of it, she 



stopped dead, and with her head raised stood 



stock-still sniffing the air. She evidently smelt 



the taint left on the ground some ten yards 



19 



