182 CANADIAN WILDS. 



was a smooth bore H. B. and carried bullets 28 

 to the pound. We had a cup of tea and a bite 

 of galette at the foot of the mountain and left 

 our sleds there together with the Indian's bun- 

 dle of ammunition, tea, tobacco, etc., he had 

 traded at the post. My men each carried one of 

 the dogs in a bag to let go at the proper mo- 

 ment. As the Indian proposed in the first place 

 to still hunt the bull, he reasoned that it being 

 yet so early perhaps I would get a shot when he 

 jumped up from his bed of the night. 



We had to wear snow shoes in the green 

 bush as the crust was not sufficient^ strong to 

 support a man without them. We whipped 

 strips of old rags about the frames to deaden the 

 noise when walking on the hard snow. The In- 

 dian led off putting down each foot with the ut- 

 most care and I followed gun in hand the men 

 being told to keep an acre or two behind us. 

 The ascent was gradual and pretty free from un- 

 dergrowth. We were getting near the summit 

 when all at once the Indian called out, "he's 

 off." After the stillness of our procedure these 

 words were quite startling. The men heard him 

 and hurried forward to us. The dogs were 

 emptied out, they caught the tainted air in a mo- 

 ment and away they ran. 



This was the first time I knew of an Indian's 

 acute sense of smell, and after, when I came to 



