70 



NOTES OF THE HUNT. 



ing, barren and desolate country ; our elaborate supper of roast bear, 

 venison, and a table full of other substantial fare, well-cooked and 

 well served ; and of our ride thence in the bright moonlight, over 

 the placid and lovely " Lake of Bays," to the " Trading Lake House" 

 at the head of the North Bay. Of all these interesting events, neces- 

 sary parts of a finished " ever- to-be-remembered and never-to-be- 

 forgotten " whole, I can only make briefest mention. 



Our arrival at this remarkable "base of operations" was the 

 beginning of the end of our journey. — A good night's rest, a hearty 

 breakfast, crisp autumn air and as lovely a sky as can be imagined, 

 gave us abundant courage and strength for a much more serious 

 task than a few miles tramp through the woods, and a few more 

 miles of paddling of birch bark canoes, aye, and for a much more 

 perilous undertaking than deer-hunting. 



A guide had been provided for each of us by the " Master of the 

 Hunt," the redoubtable "Ed. Gouldie," under orders of the Club, and 

 faithful guides they proved indeed, not only leading our way through 

 lake and forest, and propelling our canoes, but bearing our burdens, 

 instructing us in the arts and mysteries of hunting, and telling us of 

 that remote country, and the possibility of maintaining a subsistence 

 in it ; — the latter a mystery which I pray I may not be required to 

 solve for myself. We reached the Camp early on that lovely seventh 

 day of October, and were warmly greeted by the " advance guard" 

 of the Club, their guides and a cook, who had gone on a few days 

 before to make ready. 



And such a Camp ! —Words fail me. — A charming situation, the 

 eastern shore of Long Lake. A commodious, securely-built log 

 house, too well constructed, appointed and provided, to be lightly 

 spoken of as a " jhanty " or even a "cabin." A log kitchen with 

 modern stove, and convenient appliances that I suspect would excite 

 the envy of half the housewives in any country. Spacious tents for 

 the guides,— doubly protected from the weather, and kennels for 

 the dogs. 



On the afternoon of this first day of our arrival, the hunt began. 

 — Hunting, — for me ! — Why, I had scarcely fired a gun in twenty 

 years, — and the remote hope of killing any game, was less in my 

 mind than the apprehension that, by some wretched accident, I 

 might put an end to my unfortunate guide, or myself — But I must 

 join the hunt, all the same. 



