PIKE'S PORTAGE 203 



days the shores of this lake will be alive with Caribou." 

 It will show the erratic nature of these animals when 

 I say that the old man was all wrong; they did not 

 appear there in numbers until many weeks later, 

 probably not for two months. 



Here, at the foot of Artillery Lake, we were near the 

 last of the timber, and, strange to say, we found some 

 trees of remarkably large growth. One, a tamarac, 

 was the largest and last seen; the other, a spruce — 

 Pike's Lobstick — was 55 inches in girth, 1 foot from 

 the ground. 



At this camp Weeso complained that he was feeling 

 very sick; had pains in his back. I could not make 

 out w T hat was the matter with him, but Billy said 

 sagaciously, "I think if you give him any kind of a pill 

 he will be all right. It doesn't matter what, so long 

 as it's a pill." 



Of course "cathartic" is good blind play in case of 

 doubt. He got a big, fierce rhubarb, and all went well. 



