76 JOURNAL OF THE TRINIDAD 



To our great disgust they were gone, and we only found 

 the dying embers of the fire. No food, getting dark, and the 

 rain beginning to come down in torrents. Hungry as I was 

 and anxious to join the others I was inclined to take the deserted 

 camp for the night, bat I asked Noel what an Indian would 

 do if he were alone and unencumbered with a white man. " Oh !" 

 he said, " if I were alone I could easily find my way and recross 

 the long portage to the (depot) camp to-night." 



It was some nine or ten miles as I have said, not a vestige 

 of a track, and it was getting pitch dark and pouring rain, so 

 I did not think he could. But I was a little nettled and thought 

 I would like to see him try, So I said, " all right you carry 

 my gun and axe, so that I may travel lighter, off you go, I 

 will keep up with you somehow, if I cannot I will shout. 



So off we went, and a terrific pace did that fellow take me 

 at through the bush for a while, but I soon saw that he was going 

 anything but direct, and could not possibly find his way on 

 such a night ; and at last to my secret relief he stopped, and 

 said it was no use he could not find the way, it was impossible. 



We set to work, peeled some bark and made a camp and 

 were proceeding to make a fire, when I found (I was soaked to 

 the skin) that the matches were a mass of wet pulp. I remem- 

 bered that I had seen two straggling matches which had some- 

 how or other got into my purse or pocket book which I carried 

 in a small waterproof bag in an inside pocket. You can imagine 

 with what care I got them out and proceeded to strike them 

 under cover of the bark roof. The first went out. One damp 

 match between us and a cold, comfortless, hungry, wet night ! 

 I never struck a match so carefully in my life, and I succeeded 

 and the dry inner birch bark, which we had carefully procured 

 for the purpose blazed up and we had a fire. 



It was immediately rewarded by two good results. The 

 first was that as the blaze sprang up there was a flutter overhead 

 and looking up I saw on a tall tree a partridge craning his neck 

 and bewildered by the sudden light. I did not give him long to 

 consider it — -crack went my gun and down he came. We had at 

 any rate something for supper. But a still better result followed 

 for we then heard shouts from a hill about a mile off, which we 

 soon recognised as coming from the two Indians, who had set off 

 to cross the long portage a little before our return down the Lake, 

 and who like ourselves, had been caught by the rain and dark- 

 ness and been obliged to camp midway. 



They had heard my gun and then seen the blaze of our fire, 

 though we could not see their's and shouted to us ; as they had 

 the " food " there was little doubt what to do, and guided by their 

 shouts for a time and then by the light of their fire, we soon 



