2 9 o SPORT AND TRAVEL 



the stem of a big tree. I was making my way to- 

 wards where he lay, when Graham, who was behind 

 me, whistled softly, and on my turning round pointed 

 up the mountain-side above us. At first I saw 

 nothing, but soon caught sight of a wapiti bull 

 threading his way through the forest. The timber 

 on this part of the mountain was large and more 

 open than usual, so that although the wapiti was 

 often entirely hidden from view, portions of him 

 frequently came in sight between the trees. He 

 was climbing slowly upwards, constantly halting, and 

 when I first saw him, must have been nearly two 

 hundred yards away. No other thought entered 

 my head than that this was the bull at which I had 

 fired my first two shots, and which I was sure I had 

 wounded. The deliberation of his movements I at- 

 tributed to the weakness caused by loss of blood. 

 I thought that he had probably climbed uphill in 

 the shelter of the gully after my second shot, and 

 had only just emerged from it again when Graham 

 caught sight of him. Fully believing him to be 

 wounded, and seeing how slowly he was moving, I 

 tried to get nearer to him. But the most frantic 

 exertions to climb quickly up the slippery snow slope 

 in my " gum " boots only resulted in putting me 

 thoroughly out of breath, as I kept continually slip- 

 ping and falling flat on my face, and rather lost than 

 gained ground on the object of my pursuit. 



At last I lay where I fell, flat on my stomach, and 



