THE ALLEGAS1I AND EAST BRANCH. 
287 
to the shore. He once made an indirect, but lengthy 
apology, by saying that we might think it strange, but 
that one who worked hard all day was very particular to 
have his dinner in good season. At the most considera¬ 
ble fall on this stream, when I was walking over the 
carry, close behind the Indian, he observed a track on 
the rock, which was but slightly covered with soil, and, 
stooping, muttered “ caribou.” When we returned, he 
observed a much larger track near the same place, where 
some animals foot had sunk into a small hollow in the 
rock, partly filled with grass and earth, and he exclaimed 
with surprise, “ What that ? ” “ Well, what is it ? ” I 
asked. Stooping and laying his hand in it, he answered 
with a mysterious air, and in a half whisper, “ Devil 
[that is, Indian Devil, or cougar] lodges about here 
— very bad animal — pull ’em locks all to pieces.” 
“ How long since it was made ? ” I asked. “ To-day or 
yesterday,” said he. But when I asked him afterward 
if he was sure it was the devil’s track, he said he did not 
know. I had been told that the scream of a cougar was 
heard about Ktaadn recently, and we were not far from 
that mountain. 
We spent at least half the time in walking to-day, and 
the walking w r as as bad as usual, for the Indian being 
alone, commonly ran down far below the foot of the car¬ 
ries before he waited for us. The carry-paths themselves 
were more than usually indistinct, often the route being 
revealed only by the countless small holes in the fallen 
timber made by the tacks in the drivers’ boots, or where 
there was a slight ‘trail we did not find it. It was a tan¬ 
gled and perplexing thicket, through which w r e stumbled 
and threaded our way, and when we had finished a mile 
of it, our starting-point seemed far away. We were glad 
