ON THE ISLAND OF VANCOUVER 233 



likely-looking stream and pool was fished for a mile 

 or two above our camp, with good results. Prettier 

 fishing water I have seldom seen. In a couple of 

 hours half a score of fresh-run sea-trout, averaging 

 nearly 2 pounds in weight, lay in the bow of the 

 canoe, and I began to think it time to use the rifle. 



The opportunity was nearer than I thought. Here 

 and there, to right and left, ran occasional small 

 streams and watercourses, affluents or backwaters to 

 the main stream, up which it was possible to see at 

 times for some distance through the forest. We were 

 quietly paddling along a still stretch of river and 

 passing one of these watercourses, when I felt the 

 canoe swung suddenly round by a powerful stroke 

 of the steersman's paddle and into the watercourse. 

 4 See !' said Dick, the Indian, pointing with some 

 eagerness up the narrow avenue of the watercourse. 

 At first I could make out nothing. Then presently 

 I became aware of a gray back some 300 yards away 

 beyond a fallen tree, and, yes, a good pair of antlers 

 above it. A good buck deer was crossing the back- 

 water, had stopped to drink and gaze, and had been 

 picked up like lightning by Dick's sharp eyes as we 

 passed the entrance of the watercourse. Luckily the 

 wind was right, and the deer had not seen us owing 

 to the leafy shade of the river-banks. It was an 

 exceedingly lucky find. We had happened to catch 

 a good buck unawares in one of the few places in the 

 valley where it was possible to do so. Crouching low 

 in the canoe, we paddled quickly on behind the con- 

 venient shelter of a fallen tree. Now the canoe was 

 stopped, and I quietly crawled along a sandy bank 

 up to the fallen tree, over which I cautiously peeped. 

 There stood the buck 150 yards away, close to the 



