226 SPORT AND TRAVEL 



yards before rolling over dead. I went down to look 

 at him before taking up the spoor of the wounded 

 bull, and found he had got the bullet right through 

 the lungs. I felt and still feel the keenest regret at 

 having slain him so needlessly through a stupid 

 mistake. 



On climbing up to the place where the bull had 

 been standing when I fired at him, I soon found spots 

 of blood on the snow. The wounded beast had first 

 gone off along the mountain-side by himself, but, 

 always ascending, soon came round to the tracks of 

 the rest of the herd, which he then followed straight 

 up the mountain-side, which was here very steep, 

 though thickly covered with pine-trees. The snow 

 lay quite three feet deep, but was comparatively easy 

 to get through, as the wapiti had ploughed a path for 

 me. I did n't like my wounded bull going straight 

 uphill, as I thought that if he were badly wounded 

 he would have gone downhill. However, I deter- 

 mined to follow him as long as I could. He was not 

 bleeding very freely, but every speck showed up very 

 plainly on the pure white snow; and as wherever he 

 dipped his nose in it, he left a bloody patch, I felt 

 sure my bullet had touched his lungs. 



I had got close to the top of the ridge we were on, 

 when hearing something above me, I halted, and the 

 next moment saw a mule deer doe coming down 

 towards me through the pine-trees. She was closely 

 followed by another doe with a fawn, and behind 



