SPORT AND TRAVEL 297 



trail led me quickly to where the victim of my small- 

 bore rifle lay dead. My bullet had struck him just 

 above the breast-bone at the base of the throat, and 

 passed just above the heart, no doubt cutting some of 

 the large arteries. The blood had not come from the 

 bullet-wound, and I suppose that at first the haemor- 

 rhage had been internal, but after a few bounds the 

 dying beast had commenced to throw great quantities 

 of blood from his mouth, and soon fell dead. 



He was a beautiful animal in full winter coat of 

 soft grey, with the dark patch on the forehead almost 

 black, and the snow-white hair on the back of the 

 rump extending to above the root of the tail. He 

 carried, too, a pretty even head, somewhat larger than 

 that of the first mule deer stag I had shot. Like the 

 latter, he was in splendid condition, the fat over the 

 loins being more than an inch in thickness. After 

 cutting off his head with a good long neck, I cleaned 

 him, and took out all the inside fat, which I tied to- 

 gether and made into one bundle with the head to 

 carry home. Then I left the carcass belly down- 

 wards on the snow, to be brought into camp later, 

 and made my way down the mountain. 



When I first visited the Rocky Mountains in 1897, 

 the casual way in which our hunters were accustomed 

 to leave good meat lying about in the mountains to be 

 brought into camp when convenient, surprised me, I 

 must say, very considerably ; for in South Africa, if 

 you leave a dead animal of any kind lying uncovered 



