WE LEAVE THE WATER. 259 



with its nostrils twitching. I remained per- 

 fectly still and it then turned aside, and walking 

 past me rejoined its mother, without, however, 

 seeming to have taken alarm. 



Directly they were past me these caribou got 

 my wind, but even then they did not run, but 

 just walked on till they were out of sight, con- 

 tinually stopping and sniffing the wind, and 

 holding their absurd little tails cocked up. 



During the afternoon, in spite of our utmost 

 efforts, we only advanced about a mile up the 

 river, which was very swift, shallow, and full 

 of rocks and boulders. 



On October 13th I came to the conclusion 

 that at our present rate of progress it would 

 take at least ten days to reach King George's 

 Lake with the canoe, and so determined to 

 leave it and proceed on foot, just taking a very 

 light cotton sheet, twelve feet by eight feet, and 

 only weighing eight pounds, to protect us from 

 the weather at nights, and our blankets, and 

 enough tea, sugar, and flour to last us ten days 

 or a fortnight, if we always had plenty of 

 meat. 



