A Second
Skua Came Flying To Help, But Was Not Needed.
With a falcon-like
swoop, the pirate seized the Longspur in his bill and bore it away
to be devoured at the nearest perch.
At 7.30 A. M., August 24, 1907, surrounded by scattering Caribou,
we pushed off from our camp at Sand Hill Bay and began the return
journey.
At Wolf-den Point we discovered a large and ancient wolf-den in the
rocks; also abundance of winter sign of Musk-ox. That day we made
forty miles and camped for the night on the Sand Hill Mountain in
Tha-na-koie, the channel that joins Aylmer and Clinton-Colden. Here
we were detained by high winds until the 28th.
This island is a favourite Caribou crossing, and Billy and Weeso
had pitched their tents right on the place selected by the Caribou
for their highway. Next day, while scanning the country from the
top of the mount, I saw three Caribou trotting along. They swam the
river and came toward me. As Billy and Weeso were in their tents
having an afternoon nap, I thought it would be a good joke to stampede
the Caribou on top of them, so waited behind a rock, intending to
jump out as soon as they were past me. They followed the main trail
at a trot, and I leaped out with "horrid yells" when they passed
my rock, but now the unexpected happened. "In case of doubt take
to the water" is Caribou wisdom, so, instead of dashing madly into
the tents, they made three desperate down leaps and plunged into
the deep water, then calmly swam for the other shore, a quarter
of a mile away.
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