58 JOURNAL OF THE TRINIDAD 



ing one, " portaging" over to the head waters of another which 

 we would in like manner descend, camping where and when we 

 felt inclined, and generally travelling from ]'2 to 50 miles a day, 

 stopping for a couple of days at any spot where the fishing or 

 shooting was unusually good ; or to explore some side stream in 

 order to trap or shoot, beaver, musquash, lucifee, &c. 



I am afraid I was too keen a sportsman to be a good Field 

 Naturalist, and my great ambition was— I do'nt know that 1 

 need be ashamed of it for 1 was young, and I was cram-full of 

 Fenimore Cooper's novels — to be a great and mighty hunter, able 

 to follow a trail, read signs, shoot, and paddle a canoe etc., etc., 

 accordingly. 



I do'nt know that I was ever more proud in my life than 

 when on one occasion we met a party of Micmac Indians, and I 

 overheard them questioning our own head Indian, old Gabe as 

 to who and "what sort "' we were individually. It came to my 

 turn, and old Gabe removing his pipe from his mouth, grunted 

 out in the quiet. Indian way "That, that is Kawanick, 'most as 

 good as an Indian." Coming from old Gabe, who was a great 

 hunter, I thought it the highest praise that could possibly be 

 given to be thought " most as good as an Indian." Kawanick 

 was my universal Indian name. It means the 'otter,' and was 

 bestowed upon me, I believe, because I was rather good at 

 swimming and diving and particularly good at catchingfish, having 

 fished our Scottish rivers from my earliest boyhood. We all 

 had our Indian names. The Governor was the " Sagum," meaning 

 the " Great Chief." Young C. who frequently accompanied us, 

 was " Loks," the panther or painter, because he swaggered occa- 

 sionally in a gorgeous head piece of a most brilliant red colour, 

 and so on. 



The charm of these canoe voyages in the way of shooting 

 was that you never knew what you might at any moment come 

 across. Large game, ducks, partridges, Arc., etc., etc. 



Game was even then getting scarce. You seldom or never 

 got much ; but you had the pleasing excitement that at any 

 moment you might sweep quietly round a bend of a river and 

 get a chance shot at a moose, a deer or a cariboo or a lucifee 

 (lynx) or even a bear. The two latter are particularly difficult 

 to get a shot at, they are so cunning. 



Poleing up the Nepisiquit one day I saw what turned out to 

 be a lucifee swimming across some distance ahead, but out of 

 range. We poled up opposite the spot as quietly as possible, 

 hoping to get a shot at him on the bank. I may remark that a 

 canoe is a capital thing to " stalk " in, because, not only does it 

 make no noise, but you can get clown in the bottom of the canoe, 

 and canting it slightly to one side, and putting your hand with 



