190 
P-OREST AND STREAM. 
tMARCH II, I90S.I 
After Caribou with the Crees. 
Phillip Ward and John Sampson were the two full- 
blooded Crees that the Hudson's Bay Con-.pany had pro- 
cured for me for a winter's hunt into the caribou country 
of northern Quebec, and from previous arrangements 
with them they had erected somewhere in the woods a 
little cabin of logs and bark. This, of course, they did 
slowly on their journeys to and from the post and their 
own country further to the north, where their tribe 
borders on the Esquimaux. 
Phillip was talkative — very much so for an Indian — and 
this exceptional trait helped a long ways to pass some 
of those cold, cold days and nights that we found in the 
frozen land of Canada. Sampson, poor fellow, who, just 
a few days before we arrived had lost his son by drown- 
ing, was reticent, but reliable. They were good hunters, 
and up to within a few years lived on Hudson Bay where 
cold and hunger pinches even the Indians. They related 
their experiences, which were very interesting, when we 
once had them launched in story-telling. 
It was the wish of my wife and me to try the woods 
in midwinter, and as moose were out of season, caribou 
with some trapping was to take its place. It did not 
take long to reach Quebec, where we procured our heavy 
woolen undergarments, much, better and cheaper than can 
be bought in this country; soft moccasins, socks, duffle, 
snowshoes, mitts, caps and blankets were awaiting us at 
the post, and everything was reasonable and of the best. 
The four-point blankets I consider far superior to any 
sleeping bag; they are large enough to fold in three parts, 
then held by large safety pins in this position made nine 
thicknesses of blanket to be used as the temperature war- 
ranted. I found that it took almost as much covering 
under one's body as over to keep warm, but we had 
enough. With a rubber air bed one thickness is suffi- 
cient under you, but they cannot be carried in cold 
weather without great risk of breaking; the rubber seems 
very brittle and one small break or crack would make 
them useless. That is why we had to endure the "com- 
hardest place to fill satisfactorily was that of the leader. 
A dog that pulled a good stroke was a loafer when in 
the van, and vice-versa. The most satisfactory way we 
eventually found was to put the largest and most unruly 
one next to the toboggan. The leader that showed the 
most intelligence was a small spaniel-like dog, and he 
would follow a trail very well, even when the Indian 
who was breaking the trail was out of sight. We all had 
gotten on so far in fairly good shape; the loaded tobog- 
gan had capsized a number of times, and we had lost a 
little food, broken a piece out of the spare snowshoes, 
and had a shaking up generally. Already the fatigue of 
snowshoe walking was commenchig to tell on tis teiider- 
feet, for we had had frequent falls, and how those bushes 
would smart when they stung our cold faces ! A couple 
of hot cups of tea with a few pieces of toasted bread 
that we had brought from the post, together with a ean 
of emergency ration made into a nice mush, gaVe us a 
good lunch, and we were off again. Along toward dusk, 
and when we were getting a wee bit uneasy, we came to 
a lake, and the teams — with which we could not keep up 
during those last few miles — had not waited at the lake; 
the tracks were very plain, however, but the approaching 
darkness made one feel sort of queer, besides the Indians 
had showed us any amount of wolf tracks on the way in. 
This had been a discouraging sign as far as game was 
concerned, for the chances were that they would drive the 
deer away. Anyhow, we kept on over the lake, and just 
as we rounded a point at the far end, our little shack 
loomed up. Every dog was tied to a separate tree, the 
men were busy cutting wood. We soon got some of the 
"stuff" unloaded, the fire started, water on and supper 
under way, then retired. I am sorry I could not say, as 
did Mr. Stewart White, "Instantly it was morning," but 
the morning eventually came, and the greater part of it 
was spent in improving that bed and fixing up things. 
The roof leaked a little from the heat of the stove; but 
by sweeping all the snow off and keeping it so, we had no 
more trouble. It seems strange the amount of annoyance) 
a trifle will cause one sometimes. The cold, hard work 
and our plans were mapped out for the day. Our firs 
day was to be spent in setting traps, of which we had fii 
teen; about one-half were set that day and the rest o; 
the following day. The weather was very poor for trap 
ping, as invariably it would snow a few inches ever- 
night, completely covering up the bait or trap, althoug j 
they were set in the usual way with a brush covering i 
The wind helped to do this, and thfen we usually found 
rabbit (or more piroperly speaking a hare) foir otir paiiis 
After spending a few days in resfetting the ttaps We foun^ 
it took so much time that it was impossible to hunt, a 
was netessary to find caribou, so we gave it up ; but late 
a mink and a lynx were added to our Collection. To fi) 
the iarder> snares wei-e set , ai"Ound the lake, and ever 
morning while Phillip and I were out looking for track; ; 
my wife and Sampson were gathering iil the white one;.i 
Now and then a live rabbit would be found with th 
noose around the poor thing's neck, but he was alway 
let go. They were so plentiful and so easy to catch tha 
in a few days enough had been bagged to keep us fo 
some time, and that branch was stopped. But the par 
tridges, although not plentiful, were in sufficient number 
that we could generally get two or three in a morning' 
hunt, and that sport now occupied the time of the "stay 
at-homes." 
My wife had a Parker 28-gauge, and for that purpos 
it couldn't be beaten ; it was so light for her to lu 
through the woods, and when snow is on the ground th 
walking is much harder ; at least that was our experienct 
The weight of five and three-quarters of a pound is fin< 
especially for a woman, and the load strong enough fo 
grouse and rabbits; besides, for the same weight, one ca. 
carry almost twice as many shells as you can with a 12 
gauge. A little .22 was along, but the .28 was the favorite 
The little noise the gun makes is a great factor while in 
big-game country. 
I The late spring was the reason given for there bein 
so few birds, but there were enough for a good stew no^ 
and then both of birch and spruce partridges, mostly thi 
latter. , . , , 
THE PARTY — THREE BUCKS AND A SQUAW. LUNCH AT 30 BELOW ZERO. 
fort" (I can't see it) of a browse bed. Each day the 
Indians added more spruce, but with a few hours' use the 
bed would be flat and hard as ever, it seemed. Anyhow, 
we slept and shivered. 
After everything had been bought and packed, and after 
the dogs (two teams of four each) were beaten a few 
times, we were off. Experience came fast and furious to 
us on this novel and exhilarating hunt, and one of the 
first things found out was to not use anything that has 
or had a drop of oil in it. The amount of flour, rice, etc., 
distributed along the trail due to the oiled canvas bags 
cracking open with the least jar or rub, taught us this. 
Another thing was to wear loose clothing, keep away 
from the fire no matter how cold you were, -and "go 
lighter next time." Our course was almost due north, 
and by the time we "boiled the kettle" for our noonday 
meal we had put, I suppose, ten miles to the dogs' credit. 
I say to their credit and my disgrace, because I rode on 
the toboggan over the lakes ; going through the woods 
on the snowshoes was most laborious work, mostly be- 
cause I- was not used to snowshoes, and secondly,_ be- 
cause the fall was light and very soft, this causing a sink- 
ing of about nine inches and lifting a good deal of snow 
at every step. How my wife stood it I don't know ; any- 
how she said nothing, but trudged along. I will admit 
that she rode a little more than I did and had nothing to 
carry. This was the dogs' first trip this year, and they 
were very Wild and green, constantly fighting or tangling 
themselves up. I believe the dogs and their antics caused 
more inward swearing and outward laughter than any- 
thing else. Each animal had its characteristic, and I en- 
joyed watching and trying to study them. Some were 
husky, some straight dog and the rest a mixture. Abciut 
every mile or so Phillip — who- was the possessor of this 
live stoek—would change their relative positions, The 
and bad luck at the traps were nothing compared to the 
bother a miserable little mouse made for this camp. No 
sooner were we in bed and the candles out than he com- 
menced, first in the woodpile, scratching and gnawing, 
then among the tins, and many an hour of sleep was lost 
on account of this little creature. Into traps he would 
not go, nor did we have any poison, but by great patience 
he was finally shot, only to find that on the next night the 
racket continued, and then we gave it up, as there was 
no telling how many there were. 
To return tO' the arrangement for our hunting and trap- 
ping; that was to commence with as little loss of time as 
possible. We spent the balance of the first day in getting 
everj^thing in first class shape ; there were the provisions 
to put in individual bags and suspended from the roof 
where the rodents couldn't get them ; the blankets shaken 
and made into bag form, wood cut and stowed; camera, 
gun. field glasses, and all such fittings placed that they 
could be easily found, and lastly a small store house 
miade outside for meats and supplies that had to be kept 
cold. The cam^p had a couple of tables, so the only fixing 
necessary to do in that line was to^ cut a couple of extra 
seats. That night was better, and we dispensed with 
getting up every few hours to build the fire, although ice 
formed in the camp every night. Before daylight one of 
the Indians would come in and build the fire, recut the 
hole in the ice, fetch water and depart to his tent to 
await the first and only call to breakfast. My wife did all 
of the cooking, preferring to do the work herself than let 
either of the men do it. In less than an hour from the 
time the fire was started a good meal was ready, generally 
consisting of biscuits, ham (until we got caribou), boiled 
rice or potatoes and tea; sometimes we had stewed fruit, 
onions, chocolate, beans and preserves. After breakfast, 
^jid when the dishes were washed, daylight would come. 
Many miles with rifle, ax and lunch pail did Phillip an 
I travel before we found tracks, and then, after followin 
them until it was time to go home, did we get the fin 
sight of the barren's own child. The wolf tracks y^cr 
everywhere, and some nights the^ dogs would keep u 
such an infernal barking that sleep was out of the quej 
tion. They either heard or smelled them, as we ran aero- 
their fresh tracks often on the lake we were camped cn : 
They were never seen, and I only heard them once, an 
that in the late afternoon. A few deer were seen, btg; 
not shot at, besides they were especially shy. The wolve 
were hot on the trail, and many times did the telltal 
tracks show where they were in full pursuit. Jumps c 
fifteen feet were found made by these brutes, and th 
foot-prints larger than any dog's I ever saw. Abot 
the second week, within a few miles and after a ligl 
snow had fallen, we found fresh caribou tracks ; thel 
had been a number and we lost no time in followin} 
They were going right against the wind, and up to noo 
were still going. A short rest with a cold lunch and 
thermometer that registered 29 degrees below zero whe: 
we left in the morning, caused us to tarry but a shoip 
while, and within an hour we saw them lying down in m 
fairly open spot in some burnt woods. Look as we couh'r 
no large heads were to be seen, but as we needed the me; 
picked out apparently the largest and let the .405 do th 
rest. It did, and the animal only went about fifty fee 
There must have been a dozen that jum.ped up, but nor 
had heads any larger than the one down. He was des^.. 
when we got to him, and the bullet had gone completelji, 
through, but a little too high considering we had gotteljij 
so close to him— not over fifty yards. After getting t)X, 
head and a small piece of meat off, we completely coverMj 
him with snow to keep him from freezing, and th^| 
hurried to camp, which ^a.-? fully sij^ fpiles, and it Y(m- 
