NEAR MIDDLE RIDGE. 131 



theless the weight of the head made up for its irregularities, 

 and we were glad to think that we had at last killed a stag 

 upon those ridges of which both of us had been thinking for 

 so many months. 



After the day just described the wet weather, alas ! 

 resumed its sway, the winds blew more violently than ever, 

 and, worst of all, rain once more took the place of snow, 

 and for the following days and nights we were never dry. 

 The deer upon the Middle Ridge country proved to be ex- 

 ceedingly wild, a fact which we at the time accounted for 

 by concluding that they might possibly have been harried 

 by wolves. This opinion was, however, later proved to be 

 erroneous. The true reason is that Middle Ridge, as well 

 as the burnt lands to the west of it, form one of the chief 

 hunting-grounds of the Micmac Indians ; indeed, the ridge 

 itself is parcelled out into individual preserves and rigor- 

 ously hunted. The chief of the Micmacs told me that a 

 number of his people were camped in the Partridgeberry 

 Hills near the source of the Gander in the previous Sep- 

 tember. 



During the autumn months the Micmacs migrate to 

 their hunting-grounds, where they trap a good number of 

 beaver and lynx. They are a cheerful and improvident 

 race. Why is it that the enchanting quality of cheerful- 

 ness is often linked with this correlative ? With their old 

 muzzle-loading rifles, an axe, a blanket, a box of matches, 

 and a packet of tea, they habitually make long journeys, 

 often crossing the island from the south coast to the railway. 

 Although popularly supposed by the settlers to " kill all 

 they can come up with/' it is quite probable that they are 

 far more economical of animal life than their white brethren. 

 Among them some interesting customs still obtain. For 

 instance, I have heard it said that no Indian hunter will 

 ever kill a caribou stag without first whispering a short 

 speech or prayer addressed to it, in which he regrets the hard 



