IN THE GULA VALLEY 135 



the thick woods south of the steep canon of which 

 more anon early in the morning, and followed him 

 with bloodthirsty intent for the rest of the day, with- 

 out ever catching sight of his dark, hairy hide. This 

 artful animal actually made a complete circle round 

 his pursuers, and having thus ascertained their nature 

 and object to his entire satisfaction, and accurately 

 diagnosed the situation, slipped away through the 

 thick woods for a distant point, without giving any 

 chance of a shot. 



A day or two after I moved to the south end of the 

 forest, while A. H. went up to the saeter, in order to 

 try the higher ground. He was accompanied by a 

 retinue of his own, including Ivor, Johan, and Carrie 

 the housekeeper (Johan's sister). Carrie was young 

 and fair. I contented myself with Peder and Ole, the 

 chef. 



Next evening the welcome news arrived that A. H. 

 had killed a good four-year-old bull the first morning 

 out. It happened thus: He and Ivor had tramped 

 through snow towards the head of the valley for a 

 mile or two without sign or sight of elk, and were 

 seated on a convenient hillock spying the opposite 

 f jeld, when to them entered a bull elk from the depths 

 of the canon below. The country here was more open, 

 interspersed with patches of thick birch- scrub, and the 

 elk had emerged unexpectedly from one of these 

 patches 120 yards away. The next moment his career 

 was terminated, before he could rectify his mistake, 

 by a bullet from A. H.'s rifle. It was a happy 

 and a lucky incident and a clean kill. A. H. 

 admitted that he was entirely taken by surprise at the 

 elk's sudden appearance, while Ivor, with a profes- 

 sional reputation to sustain, said he had heard the 



