A DISAGREEABLE PRIZE. 5 



Often in trapping, a poaching skunk has tried 

 his thieving propensities on the dainty and 

 tempting bait tied to a steel trap, cunningly laid 

 in the run of a sable, and paid the penalty of 

 his dishonesty by spending a night fast by the 

 leg. The nose was quite enough to reveal what 

 the captive was ; the trap, the grass, the shrubs, 

 the flowers, were all alike redolent of skunk. The 

 smell met you, borne on the wings of the breeze, 

 long ere the eye was capable of discerning the 

 prisoner. Then to kill and extricate him from 

 the trap was sure to entail a share of the stench, on 

 gloves and clothes. Again and again I have buried 

 gloves, trap, and trousers deep in the earth, and let 

 them remain for weeks a remedy of no avail : 



Bury and wash, or rub as you will, 

 The scent of the skunk will cling to them still. 



My constant companion was the Russian setter, 

 that had as great a weakness for killing skunks, 

 as he had for fishing out dead salmon. For days, 

 nay weeks, after one of these encounters, I could 

 hardly bear him near me; the sickening foetor 

 seemed to gain in strength as it exhaled from 

 the dog, volatilised by the heat of his body. 



We had a store near the Fraser River, a kind 

 of depot for provisions, from which the men 

 were supplied who were employed in making the 



