The Wendigo

The Wendigo by Algernon Blackwood. In the wilderness north of Rat Portage in Northwestern Ontario, two Scotsmen - divinity student Simpson and his uncle, Dr. Cathcart, an author of a book on collective hallucination - are on a moose-hunting trip with guides Hank Davis and the wilderness-loving French "Canuck", Joseph Defago. While their Indian cook, Punk, stays to tend the main camp, the others split up into two hunting-parties; Dr. Cathcart goes with Hank, while Defago guides Simpson in a canoe down the river to explore the vast territory beyond. Simpson and Defago make camp, and it soon becomes clear that Defago senses - or at least thinks he senses - some strange and fearful odour on the wind. That night, Simpson wakes to find Defago cowering in terror from something outside the tent.