FORT SMITH AND THE TUG 279 



he was an intelligent companion, and I was glad to have 

 secured him. At the first and second camps he worked 

 hard. At the next he ceased work suddenly and went 

 aside; his stomach was upset. A few hours afterwards 

 he told me he was feeling ill. The engineer, who 

 wanted him to cut wood, said to me, "That man 

 is shamming." My reply was short: "You have 

 known him for months, and think he is shamming; 

 I have known him for hours and I know he is not that 

 kind of a man" 



He told me next morning, "It's no use, I got my 

 breast crushed by the tug a couple of weeks ago, I 

 have no strength. At Fort McKay is a good man 

 named Jiarobia, he will go with you." 



So when the tug left us Bellalise refunded his ad- 

 vance and returned to Chipewvan. He was one of 

 those that made me think well of his people; and his 

 observations on the wild life of the country showed 

 that he had a tongue to tell, as well as eyes to see. 



That morning, besides the calls of Honkers and 

 Waveys we heard the glorious trumpeting of the White 

 Crane. It has less rattling croak and more whoop 

 than that of the Brown Crane. Bellalise says that 

 every year a few come to Chipewvan, then go north 

 with the Waveys to breed. In the fall they come 

 back for a month; they are usually in flocks of three 

 and four; two old ones and their offspring, the latter 

 known by their brownish colour. If you get the two 

 old ones the young ones arc easily killed, as they keep 

 flying low over the place. 



Is this then the secret of its disappearance? and is it 



