ACROSS THE SUB-ARCTICS OF CANADA 



Rifles were examined and an ample supply of cartridges pro- 

 vided. Shot-guns and revolvers were furnished to four of 

 the men, and thus prepared we landed and drew up the 

 canoes. So far the deer had apparently not seen us, but to 

 prevent a general stampede, it was arranged that I should 

 go around to the rear of a large detachment of the herd near 

 by, while my brother should approach them from the shore. 

 Accordingly, I was given fifteen minutes to run around, a 

 mile or so, behind some rising ground. Meanwhile the rest 

 of the party scattered themselves about in different places^ 

 and at the given time my brother, having approached within 

 easy range, opened the fray by bringing down a noble buck. 

 At this first shot the whole band — -a solid mass of several 

 thousands of caribou — ^was thrown into confusion, and wildly 

 rushed to and fro, not knowing which way to flee. Simul- 

 taneously with my brother's shot, I opened fire on them from 

 the rear, and our armed men charged from the sides, while 

 the other two were obliged to take refuge upon a great boulder 

 to avoid being trampled to death. The band was speedily 

 scattered, but not before a woful slaughter had been made, 

 yielding us an abundant supply of fine fresh meat, for which 

 we were sincerely thankful. It was fortunate that there was 

 wood at hand with which to make a fire and dry the meat. 

 Having slain as many animals as we required, the men were 

 set to work to prepare dried meat for the rest of the trip. 



This stroke of good fortune gave us much encouragement, 

 as we thought we had nothing to fear now from lack of pro- 

 visions. Several days were spent in drying the eighteen or 

 twenty carcases which were selected, and while this work 

 was progressing my brother and I had ample time to roam 

 over the hiUs and view and photograph the bands of deer 

 which were still everywhere about us. After the slaughter of 

 the first day we carried no rifies with us, but, armed only 

 with a camera, walked to and fro through the herd, causing 

 little more alarm than one would by walking through a herd 



78 



