"Earl Grey River"',
I have been privileged to name it after the distinguished statesman,
now Governor-general of Canada.
Then and there I built a cairn, with a record of my visit, and
sitting on a hill with the new river below me, I felt that there
was no longer any question of the expedition's success. The entire
programme was carried out. I had proved the existence of abundance
of Caribou, had explored Aylmer Lake, had discovered two great
rivers, and, finally, had reached the land of the Musk-ox and secured
a record-breaker to bring away. This I felt was the supreme moment
of the journey.
Realizing the farness of my camp, from human abode - it could scarcely
have been farther on the continent - my thoughts flew back to the
dear ones at home, and my comrades, the men of the Camp-fire Club.
I wondered if their thoughts were with me at the time. How they must
envy me the chance of launching into the truly unknown wilderness,
a land still marked on the maps as "unexplored!" How I enjoyed the
thoughts of their sympathy over our probable perils and hardships,
and imagined them crowding around me with hearty greetings on my
safe return! Alas! for the rush of a great city's life and crowds,
I found out later that these, my companions, did not even know that
I had been away from New York.
CHAPTER XXXVI
THE ARCTIC PRAIRIES AND MY FARTHEST NORTH
Camp Musk-Ox provided many other items of interest besides the Great
River, the big Musk-ox, and the Arctic Fox. Here Preble secured a
Groundsquirrel with its cheek-pouches full of mushrooms and shot
a cock Ptarmigan whose crop was crammed with leaves of willow and
birch, though the ground was bright with berries of many kinds. The
last evening we were there a White Wolf followed Billy into camp,
keeping just beyond reach of his shotgun; and, of course, we saw
Caribou every hour or two.
"All aboard," was the cry on the morning of August 19, and once
more we set out. We reached the north arm of the lake, then turned
north-eastward. In the evening I got photos of a Polar Hare, the
third we had seen. The following day (August 20), at noon, we camped
in Sandhill Bay, the north point of Aylmer Lake and the northernmost
point of our travels by canoe. It seems that we were the fourth
party of white men to camp on this spot.
Captain George Back, 1833-34.
Stewart and Anderson, 1855.
Warburton Pike, 1890.
E. T. Seton, 1907.
All day long we had seen small bands of Caribou. A score now appeared
on a sandhill half a mile away; another and another lone specimen
trotted past our camp. One of these stopped and gave us an
extraordinary exhibition of agility in a sort of St. Vitus's jig,
jumping, kicking, and shaking its head; I suspect the nose-worms
were annoying it.
