PLEASURES OF ANGLING. 191 



passing up and down the river, you intercept broods 

 at every turn. The cunning shown by the mother 

 bird in its efforts to divert attention from her young 

 is an interesting study. The maternal instinct is 

 quite as strongly illustrated in them as in any 

 other game-bird known to the sportsman. 



The monotony of our camp was one day broken 

 by a visit from a gold seeker, who had faith in an 

 Indian tradition of " a mountain of gold " near the 

 head-waters of this river. The story goes that some 

 fifty years back an old Indian came into the settle- 

 ment with several heavy lumps of the precious 

 metal which he exhibited to a trader as specimens 

 of an inexhaustible supply of "the same sort," 

 available to any one who would take the trouble to 

 dig for it. The trader pronounced the specimens 

 worthless, but succeeded in getting possession of 

 them nevertheless. In his cupidity, however, he 

 refused to return the Indian an equivalent for his 

 prize; and, in revenge, the red man refused to 

 reveal the locality of the placer, and as he died one 

 day, the secret died with him. It was said, how- 

 ever, that when beside himself with the " fire-water " 

 of the white man, he so far indicated the neighbor- 

 hood of the hidden treasure as to induce, twenty- 

 five years ago, a company of credulous white men 

 to search for it. Our present visitor, then quite 

 young, was one of the party. They discovered 



