AND OTHER SKETCHES 275 



rare treat if I could have flashed a kodak on him. He was 

 on a bit of clear ground and stood out in bold relief, his 

 two consorts. a little behind him, and a grander sight 

 never favored a hunter's eyes. 



He stood over seventeen hands high, weighed a ton or 

 more, and had a spread of antlers that fill my eye even 

 now, while writing this, as they did then, to the ex- 

 clusion of all others I ever looked upon. It was a glorious 

 morning in early October, a sunshiny, bright, crisp 

 autumnal day; one of the kind that makes an outing in 

 the Canadian forests a long dream of exquisite pleasure. 

 The sun's rays just tipped his antlers, till they shone like 

 burnished gold, and out of respect for his majestic bear- 

 ing I doffed my cap and gave him a rousing cheer. At 

 the sound of my voice his lordship threw his head back 

 and struck a gait that promised many a long mile would 

 be passed before he again halted by the way. 



Bound Lake, at the head of the Blanche River, is not 

 a big sheet of water, but it is a veritable gem in the wild- 

 erness. On one-half of the shore is a dense forest, the 

 other is a succession of rocky heights. In the lake are 

 plenty of bass and pickerel and here, as elsewhere, in 

 this region, partridge are fairly abundant. Moose and 

 caribou are numerous, but red deer are not as plentiful 

 as in the woods farther south. Straight north is Lake 

 Abittibi, and in a direct line north of the lake is the 

 Abittibi River, which runs clear to James Bay. In this 

 region big game is so numerous that all the hunters likely 

 to visit the region for a quarter of a century will make 

 but little impression upon the number. But the sports- 

 man who cannot spare more than two or three weeks for 

 his outing, need not travel as far as this section to get all 

 the shooting he desires. Much nearer the railroad, at 

 Temiscaming station, there is a branch line running 

 down to Keepawa on Lake Keepawa. It is scarcely neces- 

 sary to add that the hunter coming to this section must 

 have a guide. Some of the lakes are so dotted with 

 islands and the forests so immense that until you have 

 learned your way by experience, it would be sheer folly 



