TRAPS FOR DEER 137 



I saw one of these traps, and while at Archuen 

 they brought in a young roe, and a musk-deer which 

 they had caught. 



Another method of trapping wapiti is to prop 

 two young pines in a V-shape, the tops overlapping 

 and forming a fork. A third pine is balanced in 

 this fork, with a hemp cord fastened to the pro- 

 jecting end. This again terminates in a running 

 noose set in a deer path. The unsophisticated 

 animal which is so ill-fated as to get caught by the 

 leg overbalances the log, cannot go far attached to 

 so cumbrous a weight, and is soon overtaken by the 

 hunters. 



A smoking joint was placed on the table one 

 night, which the doctor carved with an air of joyful 

 anticipation. I took a mouthful, and wondered 

 why he looked so pleased. Then George followed 

 my example, and an awful look of pained surprise 

 dawned on his face. 



" Isn't that delicious ? " demanded the carver, 

 who had been so busy with the joint that he had 

 not noticed our expressions. 



" I never tasted such beastliness in my life," said 

 George, and the doctor was only pacified when we 

 discovered that the animal from which our dinner 

 came had been hanging in a snare for about a fort- 

 night, and, I should imagine, for another fortnight 

 in the house of the man from whom we bought it. 

 As a matter of fact fresh musk-deer meat is very 

 good. 



On September 20th we moved from Archuen, 

 and camped some distance up a side valley to the 

 east, where we had news of sheep. 



