PHOTOGRAPHING CARIBOU 145 



to the narrows where the Caribou were expected 

 to pass. The hide was built as small and insigni- 

 ficant as possible, and the outside — that which 

 might be apparent from the lake — was sprayed 

 with snow until it resembled the natural sur- 

 roundings. The first two hours of daylight 

 passed uneventfully, and it was not until about 

 10 a.m. that two Caribou were sighted. These 

 animals came on to the ice south of the narrows 

 — they had come off the shore past the camera 

 — but the cunning Indians had foreseen the 

 possibility of this, and a few spruce boughs 

 barred the narrows, some distance beyond my 

 outlook. At this fence the two Caribou were 

 turned, and after a long wait they began to ap- 

 proach the hide. Of the leading buck I obtained 

 one good exposure, and though slight was the 

 click of the release the animal heard it, and 

 swung round as if he had been shot at : there 

 he paused for a second, proud head up and great 

 eyes alarmed, while I remained motionless ; but 

 in a moment more he turned and retraced his 

 steps, smelling the ground suspiciously, while his 

 companion followed. 



After this there was a long period of patient 

 waiting — not an easy matter in the numbing 

 cold — and it was noon when the next Caribou 

 were seen. It was then that a small herd of a 

 dozen came on to the lake, and within the en- 

 closure, from the west shore. They were very 

 nervous, probably because of the " fence," and 

 they made one or two short rushes as if they 

 meant to risk galloping through the barrier that 

 lay across the lake — only to come to a halt in the 



