io6 A Hunting Trip 



seek, till finally I entered the land of dreams 

 and slept until the guide called me in the morn- 

 ing — when he informed me that he had not 

 slept all night for fear of limbs or trees falling 

 on the tent! In the morning it began 

 to rain; and there followed little bursts of 

 sunshine, little showers of rain, all day long. 

 The greater part of the day was spent in 

 preparing the trophy — the caribou shot the 

 preceding day. A tub was made from birch 

 bark and filled with brine made from salt; 

 into this pickle the skin was placed for curing, 

 being left undisturbed for several days, after 

 which it was removed from the tub, stretched 

 on a frame of four sticks, and rubbed thor- 

 oughly with alum to preserve it against blow- 

 flies ; at the same time, also, the skull was care- 

 fully cleaned of all meat — to render the whole 

 trophy ready for packing. 



The day after the rain was very hot in the 

 sun, and the flies were thickest when the sun 

 was hottest. We waited until evening before 

 going down the stream: the morning and the 

 evening being the best times to be on the still 

 hunt for game. Towards evening the guide, 



