ON THE MAMMALIA OF THIS DISTRICT. 203 



had struggled up. This was cheering. We now 

 separated, for the spoor became confused, and I 

 had not left him many minutes before the Swedish 

 "who-whoop" rang through the forest, and on 

 running up I had the satisfaction of seeing the 

 noble brute lying dead on his side, the keeper's 

 ball, which was easily recognized by its size, as 

 his gun was nearly the calibre of a small blunder- 

 buss, having passed clean through it. The elk 

 had, however, gone perhaps two English miles 

 before he fell. " They laugh best who laugh last," 

 is an old Swedish proverb, and it was now the old 

 boy's turn. I could see he had been " fairly 

 riled," for his skill in woodcraft had been called 

 in question. Our shouts soon brought up the rest 

 of the party, and great was the rejoicing over the 

 fallen beast. I had never seen a dead elk before, 

 and the bulk of this huge animal as he lay on the 

 ground struck me indeed with astonishment. 



He was about six years old by his horns, which 

 were magnificent. His length as he lay, from 

 nose to tail, was about 9 feet ; the height over his 

 withers more than 6 feet ; and his carcass, when 

 dressed, was guessed by the old hands to weight 

 nearly 10001b. "Whether this was correct or 

 not, however, I could have no means of judging, 

 but I daresay it was not far from the mark. His 

 throat was immediately cut (although he had been 



