THE "LAST WOOD" 205 



same animal with the same results, and before I could 

 reload my half-magazine the caribou were off around a 

 point. That I was disgusted is hardly necessary to say ; 

 that I was bitterly disappointed those sportsmen who 

 have lost their supper by poor marksmanship will know. 

 But my wonder at not having scored on such a big target 

 for all five were bunched was greater than my disgust 

 or disappointment. I walked over to see if I had drawn 

 blood, and, reaching the place where the caribou had been 

 standing in what seemed an incredibly short 300 yards, 1 

 paced back, and, to my amazement, found the distance 

 measured just 105 yards!, I had, of course, shot far over 

 them. But I was thankful to have made this discovery 

 before reaching musk-ox, even though it had cost us much 

 needed meat, and I vowed on the spot to at once begin 

 schooling my eye to the illusions of the white desert. 



I followed the caribou for a while, in hopes of getting 

 another chance, but they had gone too far ; and then, as 

 I headed for camp, I began my first lessons in Barren 

 Ground distance-gauging by guessing the yards to a stone 

 and then pacing them off. I was not only astonished at 

 the discrepancy between my guess and the actual dis- 

 tance, but oftentimes by the size of the rock when I 

 reached it. A stone which looked as large as a cabin at 

 four or five hundred yards would turn out to be about as 

 big as a bushel basket. Later, on the one or two very 

 clear cold days we had, the illusion was reversed. Of 

 course the difficulties of determining distances on the 

 Barrens are exactly similar to those that obtain on the 

 ocean, where there is nothing by which to gauge the range 

 of one's vision, nor any object on either side for a com- 

 parative focus. I found much difficulty in overcoming 

 the tendency to exaggerate distance, though the Indians 

 apparently were not so troubled. 



