XXIV 
THE WAPITI 
253 
had been Indian tribes, I should have been delighted 
to have shot for their benefit, but as the country was 
uninhabited, the shooting of those splendid wapiti 
was simply destruction. I could only restrict myself 
to a study of natural history, occasionally taking 
shots whenever the temptation was too strong. 
In riding daily throughout the country, I was much 
impressed with the small number of cast horns which 
we discovered. Although they were scattered in 
considerable profusion, they were nothing compared 
with the rubbing marks upon the trunks of the spruce 
firs. Thousands of them were bare to the wood, 
over a surface of 4 or 5 feet; from the appearance, 
these were annual rubbing-posts, but all had been 
freshly rubbed during the last season. We seldom 
found a pair of antlers, generally only one ; and the 
fellow was nowhere in the neighbourhood. This 
paucity of antlers denoted that the deer were not in 
this country in large numbers during the early spring, 
when the horns are shed. I can imagine that the 
bitter cold of winter to the end of February would 
drive every living creature to the lower ground ; 
but where the horns are shed, I cannot explain. As 
the deer are migrating, it is possible that they travel 
to certain localities periodically, either for the annual 
shedding, or for the reproduction of their horns. 
Upon two occasions only I came upon really large 
herds. I had been out all morning, but had only 
seen bison and black-tail deer. We were riding 
along the gentle incline of a glen, through which a 
rapid but shallow stream was flowing; there was an 
