ON THE MAMMALIA OF THIS DISTRICT. 195 



The next day messengers were despatched to 

 some neighbouring friends to help to form a 

 "skall," on a large scale, the day after; and in 

 the evening we again camped in the forest. The 

 worst of these amateur skalls or battues is, that 

 they are sure to bring together so many of the 

 "Mr. Briggs" class of sportsmen; and ours was 

 no exception to the general rule. We mustered 

 strong (about a dozen guns), two or three good 

 men and true, but the rest in far too blooming a 

 condition to live the pace over so severe a line of 

 country as this. One thing, however, was certain, 

 they were determined not to depend for their 

 dinner upon the elk we might shoot ; and it was, 

 indeed (as the Yankees would say), " a caution" to 

 see the knapsacks unpacked whenever a halt was 

 called. As the bottle went merrily round, each 

 one was loud in his own individual praise ; and it 

 was hard to say, from their own showing, which 

 was the keenest sportsman of the lot : but for all 

 this I was much inclined to think that — 



" Save at the flagon, 



And prog' in the waggon, 

 They did nought that the muse 

 Ever heard of to brag on." 



This day's proceedings are easily described. 

 It was a succession of picnics from beginning to 

 end. We had scarcely finished breakfast before 



