Nov. 2o, 1893.J 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



447 



I asked "how much for this?" "No sell. Give,"the re- 

 plipd with emphasis. 



Then a bright idea struck me; so, beckoning to my com- 

 rade over by our camp, I said. "Shaw, let me have 

 yom- -whisky flask." Then said I to the redman, "Will 

 you have some of this?" His Enghsh before was broken 

 and labored, but now he replied promptly, "You bet!" 

 He then produced a Httle tin vessel into which I poured a 

 proper quantity, which he swallowed joyfully. "Call 

 your friend," said I, and the other Indian was duly made 

 happy in the same way. Now, all this time the squaw 

 was toiling and moiling about the fire, cutting wood and 

 drawing water for us as weU as for her lord, so I held up 



I am afraid I early lost all hold on his respect by asking 

 him if Scotland was a lai"ge town, and also if it was not 

 named after Sir Walter Scott, wholfirstjmade it famous. 



But on a certain day I fell forever in his estimation. 

 He was a carpenter and I was using liis saw. A nail 

 loomed up in my plank just in the line of cutting. I 

 stopped and said to the Scot: 



"They say that there is nothing that pleases a carpenter 

 more than to hear you sawing a nail with his best saw." 



The carpenter dropped his liammer and his lower jaw; 

 for a moment he regarded me dumbfounded. Then, with 

 a rough ejaculation and a voice seething with scorn and 

 disgust, he vehemently burst forth, "Well, that just 



■J 



mULE DEER SKETCHED AS SHE RAN. 



the still available iiask and said, "Shall I give the scjuaw 

 BOmeT" Her eyes sparkled ^vlth the pleasure of anticipa- 

 tion. But the redman vshook liis head, and with an air of 

 stern rebuke said, "No, bad for squaw." 



My sitting room at Car berry had become a sort of resort 

 in evenings for those of the inhabitants who had tastes 

 artistic or for natural history, and the usual belt competi- 

 tions in yarns were often observable. I have already 

 mentioned briefly a pigeon match we had thei-e, and an- 

 other evening wolves was subject of contest. Two of 

 the latter stories ran as follows: A friend of the narrator 

 was making a trip on foot 100 miles through the Canadian 

 woods in March, when, toward one evening, as he was 

 drying his clothes over a brisk fire, he heard the cry of 

 wolves ra,pidly approaching him. He was entirely un- 

 armed, and there being no time to lose, although at th-: 

 moment he was stark naked, he quickly shinned up tin 

 nearest tree, and there the wolves kept him until next 

 day, when they left him. He came down unhurt, but 

 nearly frozen, reclothed himself and got back to a settle- 

 ment all right. But he died six months afterward from 

 nervous prostration induced by the horror of that night. 



The next contribution was to this effect: "We were 

 snowed up in a shanty on the Petawawa, some six of uk. 

 and at last were about starving, when one evening we 

 heard wol ves close at hand . Tlien a struggle on the pori 1 1 

 of our shanty. We rushed out with axes and firebrands, 

 just in time to drive back a pack of wolves and secure a 

 tine fat buck, killed, neatly bled and ready cleaned forua, 

 and all done while one could count three; and so we were 

 saved." 



shows how much you know about it, for there is nothing 

 worse for a saw." 



I groaned a little and went away to lie on the prairie 

 for a while, but x^resently an Irishman came along. I re- 

 lated the incident to him and he fairly bellowed over it. 

 This made me feel so much better that, like Diogenes, 

 having found a man I was contented, and went again 

 about my business. 



On another of these eventng-s the subject of conversation 

 the was difficulty of getting a decided answer out of a half 

 breed, and I was able to contribute the following personal 



The crowning glory of another pinnacle ran thus: 

 "Yes, I knew him; that's young McHooly; awful sigl it 

 now; terribly mangled he was; the doctor didn't think he 

 would pxill through; but they are good stuff those Mc- 

 Hoolys. Ye see, he had just got his first watch, a brand 

 new Waterbury of the old-fashioned build, and like all 

 youngsters, he was forever winding it. Well, that's al! 

 right for a Waterbury, you know; but it was all wron- 

 for him. Ye see, he got it out one day on the prairie ani 

 kinder recklessly exposed the machineiy, and first thm^ 

 he knew the breeze blew his coat tail in among the cogs, 

 and he never knew till he was dragged in. Fortunately, 

 it was the hour movement; for it was twenty minutes 

 before help came. They say if it had been the minute 

 movement he never would have known what he died of. 

 It seemed to affect his brain, too; so he'll never be tio 

 good only for a bookkejier or a school teacher, or some- 

 thin' of that sort." 



On one occasion no one had a yarn ready and I wa- 

 called on for a story. I could not think of one so gave 

 the following excuse: 



A himdred years ago a famous hunter was killed by a 

 buck on the banks of the Ohio. His friends bui'ied him 

 where he fell and each one placed over the grave a pair of 

 antlers, and each one made it a duty to bring a pair of 

 antlers whenever he found himself in the neighborhood. 

 The custom continued for years, until there was a vast 

 pile of deer horns 30 or 40ft. in diameter and even more 

 in height to mark the grave of the old deer slayer; the 

 additional pairs were always thrown on top, and loose 

 ones were aJso puUed away and piled on top, so that when 

 last seen this wondrous pile was perfectly tightly inter- 

 locked. There they were, hundreds of antlers, but so 

 securely intertwined that it is absolutely impossible to ex- 

 tract a single specimen, 



"Now," said I, "that is just the way with my stories. I 

 have himdreds of them piled up right in sight, but I'm 

 blest if I can pull one out of the pile or find a loose one to 

 offer you." 



But it wasn't needed; my yarn set the rest agoing. 



A newcomer from the land of Burns afforded us some 

 amusement by his truly nattonal manner o£ taking a joke. 



"Of course not," I said. 



' 'Besides, real good cedar ain't so plenty as it used to bt-, " 



"I know all that, but what is it to cost?" 



' 'Tiien I've seen the time I could just step to the swamp 

 with a spade, and git all the tamarac ribs I wanted in five 

 minutes, but it ain't like that now, I suppose I'd ha' to go 

 a half a mile or more for 'em." 



"I know all that, what I want to know is" — - 



"An' maybe you think it's no trick to srit jest the right 

 sort of gum jest when ye want it for caulking." 



"Botheration! are you going to tell me or not?" 



" Another thing, it ain't every man you meet can build 

 a canoe." 



"Do you think I'd be here fooling around if I thought 



it was?" 



"Well, I dunno, there's a terr'ble lot o' work about it, 

 it's near a two weeks' job. an' wages is away up now. it 

 ain't like it was twenty year ago, I tell ye, canoe building 

 was cheap then, but ye got to squeal for it nowadays, 

 'specially when they is built to order." 



"Now, look here," I said, "I'm not beating you down, 

 and I don't want any more explanation. Once for all, 

 what would she cost?" 



"Well, I dunno, ye crowd a man when he's busy, ye 

 have to pay for it; I dunno, but I guess ye can't git that 

 canoe under fo' dollars, an' I ain't partic'lar to do it at 

 that even." 



By this time, you see, I was once more quite at home 

 in Carberry, but my visit was drawing to an end, for the 

 summer was nearly over. I had more than carried out 

 my programme, for T had one and a half sketches, three 

 pages of notes and three skins for every day of my trip. 

 Besides, I had sown wild rice in fifty different localities, 

 and had renewed my acquaintance with the scenes of my 

 early days. Once more the Bald Hill, the Lone Spruce, 

 and Lake Cbaska were familiar friends, and the song of 

 the prairie lark my daily delight. 



Among my sketches from life are two at least, which I 

 prize out of all proportion to their artistic worth. They 

 are drawings of wild deer as they stood or ran, and in one 

 instance I might have used my gun instead of my pencil 

 had I been so inclined. 



On Sept. 6 I gathered up my accumulated treasures and 

 returned to Winnipeg, and there proceeded to make a 

 careful search among the taxidermists, etc., for interest- 

 ing items of natural or other history. 



The Albion Hotel is a place that all visitors speedily 

 find, for the yard in rear contains, besides some bears, 

 lynxes, etc., in cages, tliree moose, three elk, a mule deer 

 and a Virginia deer, running loose, following and sniffing 

 suspiciously at the strangers who venture near them. I 

 had not much time for sketches, but procured a snap 

 camera, and exposed twenty plates with the usual result, 

 as I found out when too late, not one pictm-e! This was 

 the more disappointing, because the moose were very fine 

 animals and had given me several opportunities of photo- 

 gi-aphing them while they fed on grain that was lying oti 

 the ground. This, according to some books, is not 



THE REMAINS OF FORT GARRY SEPTEMBER, 1893. 



experience, which was to the point and also illustrated the 

 vast size and purchasing TXJwer of a dollar in the back 

 country, where nearly all Dusiness is done by truck and 

 swap. 



In the summer of '85 I was traveling among the back 

 lakes of Ontario and thought I should like to take home 

 a good birch canoe. There was a half-breed named True- 

 axe, who was famous for his canoes, so I sought him out 

 and asked him if he could build me one. He was reclin- 

 ing in the sun by his door, and whittling a stick at the 

 time. He replied slowly: 



"Well, I dunno, I'm terr'ble busy, what size do you 

 want?" 



"To hold two men and a hundred weight of baggage." 



"Well, I dunno, there's a terr'ble lot of work about a 

 canoe like that." 



"I know that, I don t expect to get it for nothing." 



"Ye see it ain't like it was twenty year ago, when I 

 cwld cut a doaen canoe b^rk? right at the door." 



possible, and, according to others, it can be done only if 

 the animals kneel or straddle grotesquely, but these 

 moose neither straddled to any extent nor knelt, they 

 simply lowered their heads and fed like horses. 



I also went a good deal among the Hudson Bay Co.'s 

 men, and in particular was regaled with tlie conversation 

 of two old factors, whom I shall call Cumberland and 

 Garry. We went together to the remains of the old fort, 

 and in this, the best of company, I saw it thoroughly, and 

 learnt much I never knew before. The old gateway is 

 almost all that now stands, but the outlines and remains 

 of the walls are clearly visible. The soft maples {Negundo 

 aceroides) that were planted in the central courtyard 

 twenty-five years ago — Garry told me, are still there; they 

 are about 40ft. high, and the largest measures 4ft. ll^in. 

 in circumference a foot from the ground; the next in size 

 is 4ft. 7|in., and all the rest are but little less. 



Down toward the river front are the remains of the 

 south bastion, and here -aa we stood together I heard the 



