292 MISCELLANEOUS. 



nearly forty miles. After fully satisfying our appetites, we 

 filled our game bags with bread and meat for a noonday 

 lunch, and again set out in the direction of our own camp. 

 During the forenoon we crossed one of the almost impene- 

 trable swamps with which this country abounds. This one is 

 thickly grown with spruce, tamarack and white cedar. Un- 

 derneath this growth the formation seems to be a light quick- 

 sand, which stands full of water. We stood on the roots of 

 the undergrowth, which forms a network, or screen, over the 

 quicksand, and, jumping up and down, the ground and 

 bushes would shake for two or three rods in every direction. 

 These swamps seem to be the favorite hiding-places of the 

 bear, for they are literally cut up with bear-tracks and wal- 

 lows, and in some places well-beaten paths are seen where 

 the bears pass from one part of the swamp to another. My 

 guide informed me that if we would sit down here, by one of 

 these paths, and wait a few hours, we would be almost sure 

 of a shot, but our plan would not admit of this loss of time ; 

 so we pressed on and arrived at camp late in the afternoon, 

 tired enough to thoroughly enjoy the comforts it afforded us. 



Other expeditions in different directions from camp were 

 made during our stay, but they so closely resembled those 

 already described that further particulars of them would not 

 be interesting. However, we failed to find any more deer, 

 though we were constantly coming upon tracks and other 

 signs where they had been feeding during the night. 



On Saturday evening, our time having arrived to return 

 to the railroad, our team came to take us back. We were 

 glad to see the familiar face of our honest driver, especially 

 as it was one of the few human faces we had seen since our 

 departure from civilization. Our camp was on what is called 

 the "Tote road," upon which one team passes each week, 

 c ' toting ' ' supplies from the nearest railroad station to the 



