308 TRAVELS IN THE EIGHTIES. 



Next morning the weather cleared, and while 

 George packed the large canoe, Jack and I took 

 another turn after the salmon. The powerful move- 

 ment outside was causing a current in the bay to circle 

 round and round like a huge vortex, gathering into 

 its centre a large quantity of floating timber, while 

 the time of day and the state of the tide were not 

 suitable for salmon-fishing, or the old man and his 

 kloochman would surely have been on the water. I 

 had succeeded in capturing two sea-fish of different 

 kinds, unhappily not salmon, and was about to 

 give the order to return to camp to resume our 

 journey southwards. Jack, under the drowsy influ- 

 ence of the fine weather, was working his paddle with 

 the smallest possible necessary expenditure of exertion, 

 when in a moment he became transformed from a 

 semi- civilised Indian into a wildly excited savage. 

 "With one of the subdued yells he was accustomed 

 to give vent to on certain occasions, with black eyes 

 gleaming and features contorted and flushed at the 

 sight of some object, he suddenly commenced to urge 

 the canoe seawards with powerful strokes, that caused 

 the frail thing to rock fearfully from side to side, and 

 made me reflect upon capsizing. The fact was that with 

 his splendid eyesight, of which I had many proofs, Jack 

 had spied, far, far out over the tumbling waters, the 

 twin black points which meant the head of a swimming 

 deer. The deer we had previously killed swimming 

 had been found while we were sailing not many miles 

 to the northwards, but much nearer the centre of the 



