THE INDIANS' DEEP-SHADOWED LAND 103 



noted and investigated later by others if not by 

 myself. 



Reindeer Lake is undoubtedly very abundantly 

 stocked with fish, and one is prone to wonder 

 if, in time, it will come to be exploited by the 

 white race on account of their food value. 



But meantime its vast expanse lies undisturbed ; 

 virgin — for one can almost discount the piscatorial 

 activities of the handful of Indians that now 

 live on her shores, for those are the activities 

 of but a limited number of individuals who can 

 make no visible impression on this inland sea. . . . 



And so, of the future of Reindeer Lake one 

 dreams, or is prone to dream, when camped by 

 her shores when the sun is lowering in the gold- 

 rippled, peaceful West, and the air vibrant with 

 the churring of nighthawks. . . . And, as you 

 muse, and night creeps in, further sounds of the 

 wild awake and catch your acutely tuned ears, 

 as does even the minute rustle of a mouse in the 

 grass in the breathless intervals of overawing 

 silence. . . . And at last, as if aware you had 

 been waiting for it, from the shadow-filled swamp 

 near-by arises the elf-song of the white-throated 

 sparrow in mystic sweetness. . . . Then are you 

 glad to cease your ponderings ; glad that Time 

 has not changed this wonderland : and that 

 yours is the good fortune to camp on Indian 

 hunting-ground, in the Indians' deep-shadowed 

 land. 



