Canadian Wilds: Tells About the Hudson's Bay Company, Northern Indians and Their Modes of Hunting, Trapping, Etc.Hunter, Martin
History
Canadian Wilds: Tells About the Hudson's Bay Company, Northern Indians and Their Modes of Hunting, Trapping, Etc.
Hunter, Martin
Hudson's Bay Company; Hunting -- Canada
I remember a laughable occurrence that took place once. Chum and I
had a small log shanty on the edge of a big lake. This was our
headquarters. Radiating from the shanty we had lines of traps to the
four points of the compass and we often slept out a night, visiting
and cleaning out the traps. Each used to take a line end, each slept
for that night solitary in the wilds.
On our return from one of our trips we met on the edge of the
clearing and when we got to our shanty we noticed things looked
strange and yet we could not tell for a moment what it was. On
opening the door things looked stranger still, for on the floor was a
mixture of mostly all our belongings, flour, matches, moccasins,
tobacco, soap and numerous other things and sifted over all was
ashes.
One would think a hurricane had come down the chimney and blown
everything loose, but we knew better. Some animal must have done this
devastation and we could call that animal by his right name by
reading his work. Yes, a wolverine had been there and we fell to
calling him some appropriate names and as we went along, we invented
other names which our cuss vocabulary did not possess.
During a momentary lull in our burst of passion, we heard a slight
scratching under the table and there we found the worker of all the
mischief. A blow of the axe finished him then and there and he was
pulled out into the light. Our surprise was great to find most of the
hair on his head singed off and he was blind in both eyes. Then we
set to work to read the signs how it happened.
We found by our deduction that in the first place he had clambored up
on to the roof and from there had entered by the wide mouthed
chimney. Once in the shanty he had set to work to examine and
investigate everything about, each in turn to be cast from him on the
floor.
The very last thing to attract his attention was my chum's powder
horn. It was one of those old-fashioned cow horns with a plug in the
small end. There was at the time nearly half a pound of gun powder in
it. With this bright and shining article "carajou" started to clambor
up and out thru the chimney.
Alas! he held the butt end upwards. By dryness, I suppose, the plug
dropped out and a fine stream of powder found its way to the center
of our fireplace where a few coals must have yet kept fire. A flame
shot up, an explosion followed, and down came the frightened, blinded
beast. No doubt from agony and fear he crawled under the table where
we found him and put an end to his misery.
Their legs are very strong and muscular and I have known them to
break out of even a No. 4 Newhouse. When they will take bait a pretty
sure way to get them is by "setting a gun," but this is dangerous
work as some stranger might pass that way, and even to the person
setting the gun, great care must be used.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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