ere goes the jungle kennel! the pack squeezing out of it in every
direction as they hear the preparations for departure.

Now we are all right; ten couple out, and all good ones. Come along,
yo-o-i, along here! and a note on the horn brings the pack close
together as we enter the forest on the very summit of the ridge. Thus
the start was completed just as the first tinge of gold spread along
the eastern horizon, about ten minutes before sunrise.

The jungles were tolerably good, but there were not as many elk tracks
as I had expected; probably the high wind on the ridge had driven them
lower down for shelter; accordingly I struck an oblique direction
downward, and I was not long before I discovered a fresh track; fresh
enough, certainly, as the thick moss which covered the ground showed a
distinct path where the animal had been recently feeding.

Every hound had stolen away; even the greyhounds buried their noses in
the broad track of the buck, so fresh was the scent; and I waited
quietly for "the find." The greyhounds stood round me with their cars
cocked and glistening eyes, intently listening for the expected sound.

There they are! all together, such a burst! They must have stolen away
mute and have found on the other side the ridge, for they were now
coming down at full speed from the very summit of the mountain.

From the amount of music I knew they had a good start, but I had no
idea that the buck would stand to such a pack at the very commencement
of the hunt. Nevertheless there was a sudden bay within a few hundred
yards of me, and the elk had already turned to fight. I knew that he
was an immense fellow from his track, and I at once saw that he would
show fine sport.

Just as I was running through the jungle toward the spot, the bay broke
and the buck had evidently gone off straight away, as I heard the pack
in full cry rapidly increasing their distance and going off down the
mountain.

Sharp following was now the order of the day, and away we went. The
mountain was so steep that it was necessary every now and then to check
the momentum of a rapid descent by clinging to the tough saplings.
Sometimes one would give way and a considerable spill would be the
consequence. However, I soon got out on the patina about one-third of
the way down the mountain, and here I met one of the natives, who was
well posted. Not a sound of the pack was now to be heard; but this man
declared most positively that the e