Popular Adventure Tales

by Mayne Reid

  CHAPTER XXXV.

  THE "ALARM BIRD" AND THE CARIBOU.

  "There wasn't much 'adventure' in my day's sport," said he, "though Imight call it a 'bird-adventure' too, for if it hadn't been for a bird Ishouldn't have had it. I shot a deer--that's all. But maybe it would becurious for you to know how I came to find the animal, so I'll tell you.

  "The first thing I did after leaving here was to climb the hillyonder"--here Norman pointed to a long hill that sloped up from theopposite shore of the lake, and which was the direction he had taken, asBasil and Francois had gone right and left.

  I saw neither bird, beast, nor track, until I had reached the top ofthe hill. There I got a good view of the country ahead. I saw it wasvery rocky, without a stick of timber, and did not look very promisingfor game. "It's no use going that way," I says to myself; "I'll keepalong the ridge, above where Frank's gone. He may drive some varmint outof the hollow, and I'll get a crack at it, as it comes over the hill.

  "I was about to turn to the left when I heard the skreek of a bird awayahead of me. I looked in that direction; and, sure enough, saw onewheeling about in the air, right above the rocky jumble with which thecountry was covered.

  "Now it's a mighty curious bird that I saw. It's a sort of an owl, but,I should say myself, there's a sprinkling of the hawk in it--for it's asmuch like the one as the other."

  "No doubt," interrupted Lucien, "it was one of the day owls of theseNorthern regions, some of which approach very near to the hawks, both inshape and habits. This peculiarity arises from the fact of the longsummer day--of weeks in duration--within the Arctic circle, requiringthem to hunt for their prey, just as hawks do; and therefore Nature hasgifted them with certain peculiarities that make them resemble thesebirds. They want the very broad faces and large tufted heads of the trueowls; besides the ears, which in the latter are remarkable for theirsize, and also for being operculated, or with lids, in the former arenot much larger than in other birds of prey. The small hawk-owl which isaltogether a Northern bird, is one of this kind."

  "Very well," continued Norman, "what you say may be very true, cousinLuce; I only know that the bird I am speaking about is a mighty curiouslittle creature. It ain't bigger than a pigeon, and is of a mottledbrown colour; but what I call it curious for is this:--Whenever it seesany creature passing from place to place, it mounts up into the air, andhovers above them, keeping up a constant screeching, like the squallingof a child--and that's anything but agreeable. It does so, not only inthe neighbourhood of its nest--like the plover and some other birds--butit will sometimes follow a travelling party for hours together, and formiles across the country."

  From this circumstance the Indians of these parts call it the "alarmbird," or "bird of warning," because it often makes them aware of theapproach either of their enemies or of strangers. Sometimes it alarmsand startles the game, while the hunter is crawling up to it; and I haveknown it to bother myself for a while of a day, when I was after grouse.It's a great favourite with the Indians though--as it often guides themto deer, or musk-oxen, by its flying and screaming above where theseanimals are feeding.

  Just in the same way it guided me. I knew, from the movements of thebird, that there must be something among the rocks. I couldn't tellwhat, but I hoped it would turn out to be some creature that waseatable; so I changed my intention, and struck out for the place whereit was.

  It was a good half mile from the hill, and it cost me considerableclambering over the rocks, before I reached the ground. I thought to getnear enough to see what it was, without drawing the bird upon myself,and I crouched from hummock to hummock; but the sharp-eyed creaturecaught sight of me, and came screeching over my head. I kept on withoutnoticing it; but as I was obliged to go round some large rocks, I lostthe direction, and soon found myself wandering back into my own trail.

  I could do nothing, therefore, until the bird should leave me, and flyback to whatever had first set it a-going. In order that it might do so,I crept in under a big stone that jutted out, and lay quiet a bit,watching it. It soon flew off, and commenced wheeling about in the air,not more than three hundred yards from where I lay. This time I tookgood bearings, and then went on. I did not care for the bird to guide meany longer, for I observed there was an open spot ahead, and I was surethat there I could see something. And sure enough I did. On peepinground the end of a rock, I spied a herd of about fifty deer.

  They were reindeer, of course, as there are no others upon the 'BarrenGrounds,' and I saw they were all does--for at this season the buckskeep altogether in the woods. Some of them were pawing the snow to getat the moss, while others were standing by the rocks, and tearing offthe lichens with their teeth. It so happened that I had the wind ofthem, else they would have scented me and made off, for I was within ahundred yards of the nearest. I was not afraid of their taking fright,so long as they could only see part of my body--for these deer are sostupid, or rather so curious, that almost anything will draw them withinshot.

  Knowing this, I practised a trick that had often helped me before; andthat was to move the barrel of my gun, up and down, with the same sortof motion as the deer make with their horns, when rubbing their necksagainst a rock or tree. If I'd had a set of antlers, it would have beenall the better; but the other answered well enough. It happened theanimals were not very wild, as, likely, they hadn't been hunted for agood while. I bellowed at the same time,--for I know how to imitatetheir call--and, in less than a minute's time, I got several of themwithin range. Then I took aim, and knocked one over, and the rest ranoff. "That," said Norman, "ended _my_ adventure--unless you call thecarrying a good hundred pounds weight of deer-meat all the way back tocamp part of it. If so, I can assure you that it was by far the mostunpleasant part."

  Here Norman finished his narration, and a conversation was carried onupon the subject of reindeer, or, as these animals are termed, inAmerica, "caribou."

  Lucien said that the reindeer is found in the Northern regions of Europeand Asia as well as in America, but that there were several varieties ofthem, and perhaps there were different species. Those of Lapland aremost celebrated, because they not only draw sledges, but also furnishfood, clothing, and many other commodities for their owners. In thenorth of Asia, the Tungusians have a much larger sort, which they rideupon; and the Koreki, who dwell upon the borders of Kamschatka, possessvast herds of reindeer--some rich individuals owing as many as ten ortwenty thousand!

  It is not certain that the reindeer of America is exactly the same aseither of the kinds mentioned; and indeed in America itself there aretwo very distinct kinds--perhaps a third. Two kinds are well known, thatdiffer from each other in size, and also in habits. One is the "BarrenGround caribou," and the other, the "Woodland caribou." The former isone of the smallest of the deer kind--the bucks weighing little over onehundred pounds. As its name implies, it frequents the Barren Grounds,although in winter it also seeks the shelter of wooded tracts. Upon theBarren Grounds, and the desolate shores and islands of the Arctic Sea,it is the only kind of deer found, except at one or two points, as themouth of the Mackenzie River--which happens to be a wooded country, andthere the moose also is met with.

  Nature seems to have gifted the Barren Ground caribou with such tastesand habits, that a fertile country and a genial clime would not be apleasant home for it. It seems adapted to the bleak, sterile countriesin which it dwells, and where its favourite food--the mosses andlichens--is found. In the short summer of the Arctic regions, it rangesstill farther north; and its traces have been found wherever theNorthern navigators have gone. It must remain among the icy islands ofthe Arctic Sea until winter be considerably advanced, or until the seais so frozen as to allow it to get back to the shores of the continent.

  The "Woodland caribou" is a larger variety--a Woodland doe being aboutas big as a Barren Ground buck--although the horns of the latter speciesare larger and more branching than those of the former. The Woodlandkind are found around the shores of Hudson's Bay, and in other woodedtracts that li
e in the southern parts of the fur countries--into whichthe Barren Ground caribou never penetrates. They also migrate annually,but, strange to say, their spring migrations are southward, while, atthe same season, their cousins of the Barren Grounds are making theirway northward to the shores of the Arctic Sea. This is a very singulardifference in their habits, and along with their difference in bulk,form, &c., entitles them to be ranked as separate species of deer.

  The flesh of the Woodland caribou is not esteemed so good an article offood as that of the other; and, as it inhabits a district where manylarge animals are found, it is not considered of so much importance inthe economy of human life. The "Barren Ground caribou," on the otherhand, is an indispensable animal to various tribes of Indians, as wellas to the Esquimaux. Without it, these people would be unable to dwellwhere they do; and although they have not domesticated it, and trainedit to draught, like the Laplanders, it forms their main source ofsubsistence, and there is no part of its body which they do not turn tosome useful purpose.

  Of its horns they form their fish-spears and hooks, and, previous to theintroduction of iron by the Europeans, their ice-chisels and variousother utensils. Their scraping or currying knives are made from thesplit shin-bones. The skins make their clothing, tent-covers, beds, andblankets. The raw hide, cleared of the hair and cut into thongs, servesfor snares, bow-strings, net-lines, and every other sort of ropes. Thefiner thongs make netting for snow-shoes--an indispensable article tothese people--and of these thongs fish-nets are also woven; while thetendons of the muscles, when split, serve for fine sewing-thread.Besides these uses, the flesh of the caribou is the food of many tribes,Indians and Esquimaux, for most of the year; and, indeed, it may belooked upon as their staple article of subsistence.

  There is hardly any part of it (even the horns, when soft) that is noteaten and relished by them. Were it not for the immense herds of thesecreatures that roam over the country, they would soon beexterminated--for they are easily approached, and the Indians have verylittle difficulty, during the summer season, in killing as many as theyplease.

  Norman next gave a description of the various modes of hunting thecaribou practised by the Indians and Esquimaux; such as driving theminto a pound, snaring them, decoying and shooting them with arrows, andalso a singular way which the Esquimaux have of taking them in apit-trap built in the snow.

  "The sides of the trap," said he, "are built of slabs of snow, cut as ifto make a snow-house. An inclined plane of snow leads to the entrance ofthe pit, which is about five feet deep, and large enough within to holdseveral deer. The exterior of the trap is banked up on all sides withsnow; but so steep are these sides left, that the deer can only get upby the inclined plane which leads to the entrance. A great slab of snowis then placed over the mouth of the pit, and revolves on two axles ofwood. This slab will carry the deer until it has passed the line of theaxles, when its weight overbalances one side, and the animal isprecipitated into the pit. The slab then comes back into a horizontalposition as before, and is ready to receive another deer. The animalsare attracted by moss and lichens placed for them on the opposite sideof the trap--in such a way that they cannot be reached without crossingthe slab. In this sort of trap several deer are frequently caught duringa single day."

  Norman knew another mode of hunting practised by the Esquimaux, andproposed that the party should proceed in search of the herd upon thefollowing day; when, should they succeed in finding the deer, he wouldshow them how the thing was done; and he had no doubt of their beingable to make a good hunt of it. All agreed to this proposal, as it wouldbe of great importance to them to kill a large number of these animals.It is true they had now provision enough to serve for several days--butthere were perhaps months, not days, to be provided for. They believedthat they could not be far from the wooded countries near the banks ofthe Mackenzie, as some kinds of the animal they had met with were onlyto be found near timber during the winter season. But what of that? Evenon the banks of the great river itself they might not succeed inprocuring game. They resolved, therefore, to track the herd of deerwhich Norman had seen; and for this purpose they agreed to make a stayof some days at their present camp.