158 RECENT HUNTING TRIPS. 



sign of clearing by three o'clock and it became 

 evident that we would have to remain where 

 we were for the rest of the day, I took my rifle 

 and did a four hours' tramp in the rain, climbing 

 to the top of some wooded ridges near the 

 southern bank of the river. 



When we left the steamer we knew that we 

 must be very near Slate Creek, a considerable 

 stream running into the Macmillan from the 

 Russell Mountains, where some mining opera- 

 tions are being carried on. As soon as I had 

 reached a point a few hundred feet above the 

 valley of the river, I could see this creek only 

 two or three miles above our camp, and also the 

 point, a few miles further ahead, where the two 

 main feeders of the Macmillan, known as the 

 North and South Forks, join together to form one 

 stream. 



In the intervals between the showers I got 

 glimpses of what seemed an ideal moose 

 country, the dark spruce forests being inter- 

 spersed with open stretches of wiUow swamp 

 and grassy glades, in which there were many 

 small lakes. Every moment I thought I should 



