With Gun &P Rod in Canada 



and a half, and struck fresh tracks. Ken circled around 

 to the windward of a big swamp, while I stayed to lee- 

 ward watching for any animal that might break cover 

 at Ken's approach. In about three-quarters of an hour 

 there was a crash in the bushes, and a cow with her calf 

 lumbered by within a few yards of me. I lowered the 

 too eager rifle with a sigh of disappointment. A minute 

 or two later a big bull grunted about a hundred and fifty 

 yards to my left, but trotted safely out of the danger zone 

 without my catching sight of him. Ken soon showed up 

 wet, tired, and winded. It was pouring rain, so we 

 built a big fire, which we started with birch-bark, boiled 

 the " kittle," made tea, and had a snack. We got back to 

 the dory at dark and started for the home landing. 



The channel we had to follow was crooked and very 

 rocky. It was a case of watching the compass and the 

 skyline in order to keep our course without accident. 

 Right here it would be well to advise those who have not 

 cruised much on inland waters to observe closely the shape 

 of the skyline, as in the dark it is often the only guidance 

 one has to steer by. 



On the way home the engine slowed down and stopped. 

 After this performance was repeated several times, we 

 found that the needle- valve on the carburettor was open 

 less than half a turn. When it was opened one and a 

 quarter turns the engine ran perfectly. But in a short 

 time she stopped again. With the aid of our flash-light we 

 discovered that the little spring holding the valve in place 

 had in some manner become bent back from the edge 

 of the needle-valve head, and the vibration of the engine 

 caused the needle-valve to gradually screw down till it 

 shut off the gas. It was only a second's work to fix it 

 after we discovered the cause. This goes to illustrate 

 one of the thousand stray things that can go wrong with 

 a marine engine. Undoubtedly the spring had been hit 



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