14 CONSERVATION OF CANADIAN WILD LIFE 



freshment on mountain or prairie, in the bush or by lake 

 or stream our wild life most commonly serves as the ob- 

 ject they have in view. 



Kipling has expressed the call of the wild in his ''The 

 Feet of the Young Men," and all Canadian sportsmen re- 

 main young: 



So for one the wet sail arching through the rainbow round the bow, 

 And for one the creak of snow-shoes on the crust; 

 And for one the lakeside lilies where the bull-moose waits the cow, 

 And for one the mule train coughing in the dust. 

 Who hath smelt wood smoke at twilight? Who hath heard the birch- 

 log burning? 

 Who is quick to read the noises of the night? 



Let him follow with the others, for the Young Men's feet are turning 

 To the camps of proved desire and known delight ! 



Do you know the blackened timber — do you know that racing stream 



With the raw, right-angled log-jam at the end; 



And the bar of sun warmed shingle where a man may bask and dream 



To the click of shod canoe poles round the bend? 



It is there that we are going with our rods and reels and traces. 



To a silent, smoky Indian that we know — 



To a couch of new-pulled hemlock with the starlight on our faces, 



For the Red Gods call us out and we must go ! 



Do you know the world's white roof-tree — do you know that windy rift 



Where the baffling mountain-eddies chop and change? 



Do you know the long day's patience, belly-down on frozen drift. 



While the head of heads is feeding out of range? 



It is there that I am going, where the boulders and the snow lie, 



With a trusty, nimble tracker that I know. 



I have sworn an oath, to keep it on the Horns of Ovis poli, 



And the Red Gods call me out and I must go ! 



Canadian sportsmen are fortunate on account of the 

 comparative ease with which they can satisfy their long- 

 ings, owing to the proximity of good hunting-grounds to 

 all our large centres of population. In few countries do 

 the same conditions exist. 



