OR, THE LAKE LANDS OF CANADA. 



271 



course and movements appeared to be based on the in- 

 formation thus conveyed to him. Another observation was 

 made during this hunt bearing on the acuteness of the 

 sense of smell in the red deer, which is regarded as worthy 

 of a brief report in this little work. The hounds had been 

 taken into the woods for the purpose of driving deer into 

 the lake, while " Jim" and myself were keeping a watch on 

 one of the many islands of this beautiful sheet of water. 

 This island was situated about three hundred yards from 

 the mainland, where it was thought the deer might enter. 

 We had continued to watch about three hours, when I dis- 

 covered a buck walk leisurely out of the woods and un- 

 concernedly pass down a sloping rock to the water, which 

 he entered unhesitatingly and without causing any noise 

 that was perceptible at our stand. We had not heard the 

 hounds at any time during the morning prior to the ap- 

 pearance of this deer, and their cry was not audible to 

 us even at this moment. The deer, immediately after 

 entering the water, began to swim directly towards us. 

 We were at this moment seated in our birch-bark canoe, 

 and remained completely immovable and cautiously ob- 

 served the approaching animal. He had not placed more 

 than eighty yards between himself and the point at which 

 he had entered the lake when he began to exhibit signs 

 of alarm by moving his ears, snuffing in air, and turning 

 his head in different directions, evidently for the purpose 

 of sighting the object which he had already discovered by 

 the sense of smell. In this effort he was certainly unsuc- 

 cessful, since he did not immediately turn towards the 

 mainland, but began to swim away from us in a line par- 



