A WINTER IN THE WILDERNESS 115 



Yet ducks are quite as numerous here, on the whole, as 

 in any part of America. Perhaps large flocks find it diflS- 

 cult to find sufficient food in the boreal regions. 



Several parties of both ducks and geese were allured 

 to mthin gun-shot by Tom, who imitated their calls and 

 cries so well that I could not tell the difference between 

 the voice of the man and that of the birds. And they 

 themselves were deceived, as was sufficiently proved by 

 the twenty odd victims which we secured. 



There were deer in this neighbourhood, for we found 

 the tracks of both cariboo and moose ; but our efforts to 

 stalk them were futile until there was snow on the ground. 

 The animals were very wary and wild, and there is no 

 doubt but that they had been much persecuted by the 

 hunters from the Company's posts on the Severn. 

 Indeed, we found many traces of visits about here by 

 trappers, including two graves side-by-side, with wooden 

 crosses at the heads. On one were cut the initials, J. P. A. 

 1853 : on the other an O only could be deciphered, with 

 part of the date, thus — . . 8 . . 3. The two men must 

 therefore have died at the same time, and we may con- 

 clude that their deaths were violent. The graves were 

 about four miles from our hut, in the midst of the woods. 

 The crosses were quite rotten and covered with lichens. 

 We therefore cut fresh ones, and placed them at the 

 foot of the graves, with such of the inscriptions as we 

 could decipher burnt on them, and, of course, left the 

 remains of the old crosses standing-. 



It is very melancholy to meet with these relics of 

 our dead brethren in the solitude of the wilderness, 

 especially when there are circumstances that point to 

 a premature end. Was all well when these men passed 

 the border ? or did greed or fury have a hand in hasten- 

 ing their departure ? Had the graves been nearer the 

 water I should have thought that they were the victims 

 of a canoe accident, for there is a dangerous rapid nearly 

 abreast of the graves. 



