e
forehead the locks were cut short, so as to afford free scope to his
black eyes and sturdy-looking nose. By his side lay a long hunting
spear, and a double-bladed paddle, fully fifteen feet long; which latter
belonged to a kayak, or Esquimau canoe, that lay on the sand close to
the water's edge. Sitting there, motionless as the rocks around him,
the giant looked like a colossal statue of an Esquimau. He was no
figure of stone, however, but a veritable human being, as was proved by
his starting suddenly from his reverie and hastening towards the spring
before mentioned, at which he stooped and drank rapidly, like one who
had to make up for lost time.

After a few hurried gulps, the man strode towards his canoe; but as he
went his restless eye became fixed on the branching antlers of a deer,
that were tossed in the air on the summit of a neighbouring cliff. Like
one who is suddenly paralysed, the Esquimau stood transfixed in the
attitude in which he had been arrested. He did not even seem to
breathe, as the antlers moved to and fro, clearly defined against the
blue sky. At length they disappeared, and the animal to which they
belonged slowly descended a ravine towards the river. Then, as if set
free from a spell, the man glided into his kayak, and swept rapidly but
noiselessly behind a projecting point of rock, where he waited patiently
till the deer took to the water. He had not long to wait, however, for
in a few minutes afterwards the deer, followed by several companions,
walked out upon the patch of sand, snuffed the air once or twice, and
entered the stream with the intention of crossing.

But there was an enemy near whom they little dreamed of--not an enemy
who would dash excitedly into the midst of them, or awaken the thunders
of the place with his noisy gun, but a foe who could patiently bide his
time, and take cool and quiet advantage of it when it came. When the
deer had proceeded about a hundred yards into the river, the Esquimau
dipped his paddle twice, and the narrow, sharp-pointed canoe, which, at
a short distance, seemed little more than a floating plank, darted
through the water and ranged alongside of the startled animals. The
fattest of the herd was separated from its fellows and driven towards
the shore from which it had started, while the others struggled across
the river. Once or twice the separated deer endeavoured to turn to
rejoin its comrades--an attempt which was frustrated by the E