Broad stream.
Like most of his official brethren, he is a Scotchman; he was born
in Nairn, Scotland, in 1848. At 19 he came to the north-west in
service of the company, and his long and adventurous life, as he
climbed to his present responsible position, may be thus skeletonised:
He spent six months at Fort Temiscamingue,
1 year at Grand Lac,
3 years at Kakabonga,
5 years at Hunter's Lodge, Chippeway,
10 years at Abitibi,
3 years at Dunvegan, Peace River,
1 year at Lesser Slave Lake,
2 months at Savanne, Fort William,
10 years at Nipigon House,
3 years at Isle a la Crosse,
4 years on the Mackenzie River, chiefly at Fort Simpson,
6 months at Fort Smith.
Which tells little to the ears of the big world, but if we say that
he spent 5 years in Berlin, then was moved for 3 years to Gibraltar,
2 years to various posts on the Rhine, whence he went for 4 years
to St. Petersburg; thence to relieve the officer in charge of
Constantinople, and made several flying visits to Bombay and Pekin,
we shall have some idea of his travels, for all were afoot, on
dogsled, or by canoe.
What wonderful opportunities he had to learn new facts about the
wood folk - man and beast - and how little he knew the value of the
glimpses that he got! I made it my business to gather all I could
of his memories, so far as they dwelt with the things of my world,
and offer now a resume of his more interesting observations on
hunter and hunted of the North. [Since these notes were made, Thomas
Anderson has "crossed the long portage."]
The following are among the interesting animal notes:
Cougar. Ogushen, the Indian trapper at Lac des Quinze, found tracks
of a large cat at that place in the fall of 1879 (?). He saw them
all winter on South Bay of that Lake. One day he came on the place
where it had killed a Caribou. When he came back about March he saw
it. It came toward him. It was evidently a cat longer than a Lynx
and it had a very long tail, which swayed from side to side as
it walked. He shot it dead, but feared to go near it believing it
to be a Wendigo. It had a very bad smell. Anderson took it to be
a Puma. It was unknown to the Indian. Ogushen was a first-class
hunter and Anderson firmly believes he was telling the truth. Lac
des Quinze is 15 miles north of Lake Temiscamingue.
Seals. In old days, he says, small seals were found in Lake Ashkeek.
This is 50 miles north-east from Temiscamingue. It empties into
Kippewa River, which empties into Temiscamingue.
