The wind continued high, and squalls and heavy showers passed.
Nevertheless, when lunch was over we pushed on, keeping close to
the west shore of the lake. Little more than a mile further up the
men caught sight of deer feeding not far from the water's edge. We
landed, and climbing to the top of the rock wall saw a herd of
fifteen or more feeding in the swamp. I watched them almost
breathless. They were very beautiful, and it was an altogether new
and delightful experience to me. Soon they saw us and trotted off
into the bush, though without sign of any great alarm. George and
Job made off across the swamp to the right to investigate, and not
long after returned, their eyes blazing with excitement, to say
that there were hundreds of them not far away.
Slipping hurriedly back into the canoes we paddled rapidly and
silently to near the edge of the swamp. Beyond it was a barren
hill, which from near its foot sloped more gradually to the water.
Along the bank, where this lower slope dropped to the swamp, lay a
number of stags, with antlers so immense that I wondered how they
could possibly carry them. Beyond, the lower slope of the hill
seemed to be a solid mass of caribou, while its steeper part was
dotted over with many feeding on the luxuriant moss.
Pages:
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168