MY FIRST TRIP TO THE ROCKIES 159 



The next moment I was gazing with admiration 

 and delight, and at the same time, I will confess, with 

 some feelings of compunction, at the three magnificent 

 bulls lying dead within 50 yards of one another. 

 The size and beauty of the animals, their fat and 

 sleek condition, and the weight and length of the 

 antlers they carried, simply amazed me. Previous to 

 that season I had killed nothing bigger than a red- 

 deer stag. Here were threefold- magnified specimens 

 of, to all intents and purposes, the same animal, 

 carrying antlered trophies of a length and weight 

 beyond my most sanguine former anticipations. In 

 addition to this, here also was about 25 hundredweight 

 of the finest fat venison in the world lying at our 

 feet, only a very small portion of which our camp 

 of five able-bodied men could possibly use before 

 it spoilt. Hence, no doubt, my feelings of com- 

 punction. All three of these bulls were mature 

 twelve-pointers. One carried the heaviest head I 

 have ever killed, measuring over 9 inches in cir- 

 cumference of horn between bay and tray. Another 

 bull had a head just under 60 inches in length. 



We got back to camp late that night, after butcher- 

 ing the elk and taking off their heads. Two fat 

 haunches, each one as much as two men could con- 

 veniently lift, were hung on a tree for camp use. 



Tom Bate had also found a large band of elk, and 

 killed a moderate -sized bull, but had not been for- 

 tunate enough to come across any old patriarchs. 



Next day we moved our tents a short distance up 

 into the timber, choosing a place that had formerly 

 been used as an Indian camp. We found their old 

 lodge-poles lying about, and also some arrow-heads. 

 To us ignorant Britishers these were merely interest- 



