170 SHORT STALKS 



following tliem for a short distance in the hope of catching 

 a first glimpse of the coveted game, we struck off" afresh, 

 hoping to hit on an ox. 



The elk lies down from 10 a.m. till about 3 p.m., 

 and, unlike deer in this respect, he rarely changes his 

 couch during those hours. At this time it is of little use 

 to continue the search. He has some craft in his stupid 

 old head, and one of his tricks is to return on the lee side 

 of his track, so that any pursuer following is certain to 

 give the wind. Besides, his hearing is very acute, and 

 as he lies i^crdu in thick scrub, the hunter is almost 

 certain to be heard before he is aware of the prox- 

 imity of the game. These hours of waiting are very 

 difficult to spend, and very trying to the patience. Some- 

 times a small pent-house of birch faggots, into which 

 one can just crawl, serves as a refuge, sometimes a 

 more substantial hay-hut, but most frequently the hunter 

 must sit "just there" among the spruces, and keep him- 

 self warm by collecting dead wood for a big blaze. On 

 the present occasion we had a little diversion. Paolus 

 said : " We will have boiled trout for luncheon." I did 

 not know what he meant, but presently he led me to a 

 small rivulet runnino' into a lake, and Ijeuan workinii; 

 up it, scanning its miniature pools. Presently a wave and 

 the protruding fin of a good-sized trout was seen, but the 

 water was too shallow for him to escape, and after a short 

 but exciting^ run we had him out on the bank. In a 

 quarter of an hour we had two more, and the three 

 averaged about a pound each. It was pleasant, but 

 wrono-. I onlv remember one similar hunt. That was 

 after a large eel, which we dislodged while tickling trout 



