Trail and Camp-Fire 



Now the trees began to thin, and the moss 

 to grow more and more spongy, and then, 

 with a suddenness which dazzled, the whole 

 scene shifted, and we were standing in a fringe 

 of breast-high bushes, and before us, as far as 

 the eye could see, stretched a yellow waste of 

 level plain, sweeping with gentle undulation 

 to the north and east, where lay Grandfather's 

 Lookout and Hall's Bay. 



But our attention was chained by something 

 nearer and more absorbing ; for three hun- 

 dred yards before us was a band of twenty 

 caribou. There were three bulls. One, stand- 

 ing, was a little fellow. But two, lying down, 

 were apparently monsters, one of them espe- 

 cially, and these two we decided to have. The 

 cover extended fifty yards nearer to our 

 quarry, and carefully we made our way to its 

 very edge. The cows were browsing, and did 

 not heed us. I do not believe they would 

 have minded had we stepped fairly out into 

 the open. 



The biggest bull was to go to my father, as 

 to date I held the champion head ; and we 

 agreed that he should fire first. He selected 

 a stunted pine tree for a rest, and I stepped 



to one side, and chose the limb of another. 



300 



