A HUNTER'S CAMP-FIRES 



We both stopped instantly, and as the caribou exposed a white 

 shoulder between two moss-draped tree-trunks, I took a careful 

 aim and snapped the hammer of the rifle on an empty chamber. 

 At the click of the falling hammer the bull at once plunged 

 forward, but so thick and tenacious were the close - growing 

 spruces that it seemed to make little progress. I managed to 

 secure two snap shots at glimpses of the struggling caribou, 

 and as I was forcing my way forward in the hopes of securing 

 another, I almost fell over the expiring beast. One of my shots 

 had broken the neck of the bull, which was a very dark-colored 

 animal for Newfoundland caribou. The antlers, while evenly 

 balanced, were rather disappointing, carrying only twenty-two 

 points. Loaded down with the head and skin, we continued 

 our course, and soon came out of the hood (as the Newfound- 

 landers call the thick woods) into the burnt country. Here 

 we saw a number of caribou, but none of the bulls had a head 

 large enough to warrant its death. During the afternoon we 

 crawled up quite close to a large, white-necked, hornless bull 

 which w^as lying down dozing on the slope of a burnt hillside. 

 A few bull caribou are perennially hornless, and at this time of 

 the year lead a solitary existence, as they are whipped out of 

 the herds by even the younger bulls possessed with antlers. 



The following day Howe and Will Webb hunted in somewhat 

 the same direction, and my friend shot an old light-colored 

 bull with the largest head secured on the trip. The palmation 

 was broad, and the antlers carried thirty-seven points. In 

 stalking this animal the hunters crawled by the bleached skele- 

 ton of another bull, which had evidently died from a bullet 

 wound the year before. The antlers of this head, which were 

 still in good condition, were very remarkable, having palmation 

 like a moose head and forty-eight points, mostly massed around 

 the brow pieces. That night it began to snow, and for ten 

 days, alternately, sleet, rain, and snow fell continuously. A 

 dense mist settled over the country, making hunting impossible, 



