first a region of prosperous farms, then 
one of less prosperous farms, and final- 
ly where settlers were just wresting 
the land from nature and had but a 
little clearing about their houses. The 
last mile or so was through dense, un- 
touched forest, and we put the canoes 
in the water feeling we were standing 
right on the edge of civilization—six 
hours straight travel from the bustling 
city of Montreal. 
If anyone wants a pleasant canoe 
trip I can unhesitatingly recommend 
the Devil River, especially if he can 
pick out a November day that is as 
warm and balmy as the middle of Sep- 
tember. Certainly any river that will 
safely bear along canoes, overburdened 
and top-heavy as ours were, is very 
kindly disposed. Yet one forgot the 
imminent perils of a dip in the ex- 
quisite beauty of the route. The water- 
way is full of abrupt twists and turns 
and every one of them contains a sur- 
prise which fully justifies it. On one 
side mammoth rugged rock piles, typi- 
cal of the Laurentian region, rear im- 
pressively and on the other side, in 
gentle undulations, stretches dense 
forest. 
E made camp and cooked our first 
meal at a spot about five miles 
up the river, known for no reason we 
could discover as La Vache Noire (The 
Black Cow). We were still full of the 
idea of passing through the five lakes 
until the guide described the route. It 
seemed that the Devil river later on 
abandoned its tranquil character and 
did some little to justify its name in a 
series of rapids which necessitated the 
dragging of the canoes. Incidentally 
the guide mentioned that to reach the 
708 

an 
Six rifles and a comfortable cabin—in the heart of the moose country, too. 
fifth lake there was a five-mile portage. 
It was no time of year for gamboling 
in the water and a five-mile portage 
has no sort of justification. After we 
had lost the right amount of enthusi- 
asm the guide diplomatically proffered 
his suggestion that we portage to a 
little log cabin he knew two miles or 
so inland and make this a headquar- 
ters. This met with an unanimous ap- 
proval and we decided to let the lake 
trip go until some time we could get 
away in summer. 
NLY the thought of that log cabin 
kept us up during that two miles 
of portaging. I rather pride myself 
on my physique for a typewriter addict, 
but I don’t remember two miles ever 
being so long or unpleasant, or a one- 
hundred pound pack that was so heavy. 
I became more than ever convinced that 
we had brought more grub than was 
necessary. Tradition had it that there 
had been a tote road there at one time, 
but any trace of it had long since dis- 
appeared under thick brush and fallen 
logs. Half of it was under water and 
one sunk frequently and unexpectedly 
to the knees in a particularly oozy bog. 
But nothing could surpass that ex- 
quisite sense of satisfaction experi- 
enced when the cabin hove in sight and 
we sank down with packs within its 
shadow. 
The camp site was a lovely one. The 
cabin itself was of solid log construc- 
tion, no less sound because well ven- 
tilated, which had been left in excel- 
lent condition by the previous tenants 
whoever they had been. It is still there 
for any party adventurous enough to 
follow us, and will probably serve 
hunting parties for many years to 
9 
’ 
come, unless one of 
them has poorer luck ~ 
than we had in nip-— 
ping incipient conflag- 
rations in the roof, 
Standing in the door- 
way, a narrow ex-— 
panse of underbrush — 
stretched in front, 
which was bordered by 
a little babbling creek 
which ran into a lake 
not half a mile away. 
Towering over the 
whole scene was a 
huge rocky pile, pine- 
clad, of typical Lau-— 
rentian dimension and 
shape. All about us 
on the other three 
sides were dense woods 
very inviting in their 
unknown possibilities. - 
Any suggestion of 
fatigue was dissipated — 
after lunch in a burn-— 
ing anxiety to discover 
what the woods contained, and with a_ 
fine disregard of the process of diges- 
tion we trudged, amply armed, after 
the guide into what seemed a good 
sample of the forest. We had not pro-— 
ceeded half an hour before the leader 
halted and pointed to a deer track. 
We were properly thrilled at this early 
sign of the prolificness of game. The 
guide divided us into two parties, seni 
us off in different directions with in- 
structions what to do, and then set off 
to follow up the tracks himself. . 

Three of us made our way through 
the woods for some distance and then 
deciding we had gone far enough sat 
down upon a log to await develop- 
ments. They were some time in hap- 
pening and we began to get cold. Then 
simultaneously we sat up tense, alert. 
There was the sound of a heavy prog- 
ress through the brush. Something 
told me it was not a deer. Then as val 
rose to our feet, spasmodically finger- 
ing the triggers of our rifles, we 
glimpsed the heavy lumbering body 
progressing through the brush with 
incredible rapidity for its size. We 
were so overcome as to lose many valu- 
able seconds. Then a shot rang out, | 
followed closely by two others. We 
saw the progress of the big animal 
arrested, he sank on one knee, hal 
turned, then disappeared again in the 
brush. 









ITHOUT losing any time 
reached the spot where we had 
seen him stumble. It was well defin 
by several large dark crimson blotches 
As we stood there the guide joined us 
and warning caution proceeded to fol- 
low the clearly marked blood trail as 
