ON THE GANDER RIVER. 201 



between Little Gull River and Migwell's Brook. To this we 

 accordingly returned. 



One evening at this time, as we sat by our fire, which we 

 had made on the bank of the river near Serpentine Hill, we 

 detected an odour which was certainly more curious than 

 pleasant, and which we at first attributed to our sealskin 

 boots that had not been adequately cured. But after the 

 offending boots had been removed beyond the sphere of our 

 senses the smell remained in its original force and seemed to 

 come from the back of the camp. A short exploration in 

 that quarter showed us good reason for it. An Indian had 

 camped there some time in the previous winter. We found 

 his blanket, rotted with wet, his cup and his knife, and the 

 bones of a deer. Of the Indian himself no sign remained. 

 He may have deserted his camp all standing, though such 

 an act would have been at variance with the characteristics 

 of his race ; for an Indian will walk any distance to recover 

 his goods and chattels. On the other hand, it is possible 

 that the man died in the camp and that his kinsmen had 

 removed his body for burial, leaving his belongings in the 

 place of death, which with many tribes is held to be accursed. 

 Or he may have fallen a victim to some accident while hunt- 

 ing and crept away to the nearest thicket to die in its shelter. 

 However, all this is mere conjecture, and only one fact is 

 certain that anything more lonesome than that deserted 

 camp, with its few poor rotting or rusty implements beside 

 the ashes of the camp fire, can scarcely be imagined. 



We had now been nineteen days without firing a shot, 

 and, with the exception of the stag which crossed the river 

 by Serpentine Hill, without seeing a really fine specimen, so 

 it became necessary to hold a council of war. We decided 

 to split into two parties, Jack and I going into camp near 

 Little Gull River, while Hardy and the two other men 

 " guarded the higher passes of the stream." 



When we had packed Jack's outfit and mine into the 



