236 HUNTING CAMPS. 



two seasons later, within no great distance of the same 

 place, we were persecuted by black flies up to the 15th 

 of the same month. 



On a dull day, with a persistent wind and little showers 

 of snow, we portaged across, and set our canoe upon the 

 waters of Lac Bruise. We had been informed that there 

 was a camp at some distance along the shore, but before 

 visiting this the whole party, which now consisted of 

 two French-Canadians, Ed and myself, paddled up 

 to the head of the lake, to see whether any caribou 

 might be visible there, or whether we could detect any 

 sign of their recent presence. As soon as we came in 

 full view of the strip of marsh at the lake-head, Ed, sitting 

 in the bow of the canoe, saw a couple of brown objects 

 within a few feet of the water's edge, and I made them 

 out with the glass to be caribou. The wind, fortunately, 

 was in our favour, but the clamorous rising of a number 

 of black duck put the deer on the qui vive. Both 

 immediately ran off among the dead trees. The canoe 

 ceased moving, and watching the deer through my glass, 

 I saw them walk down out of the undergrowth to the 

 open strip by the water. At once we noiselessly paddled 

 the canoe in their direction, and when we once more 

 came in full sight of them, they were not much more 

 than two hundred yards away. One was a stag, carrying, 

 as far as I could judge, a head of twelve or fourteen 

 points. I had no wish to shoot such an animal, and 

 finding that Edward was of the same mind, was about 

 to give the order to turn and leave them in peace, when 

 the cook intervened. To him a caribou was a caribou ; 

 the question as to whether it was a good or a bad caribou 

 depended entirely upon its fatness, and in a lesser degree 

 upon the accessibility of the spot where it might be shot. 



