THE WOLVERINE " THE EVIL ONE." 103 



fra<mieiits of meat are scattered about, and the place 

 smoothed down, so as to leave no trace. To the 

 trap is attached a chain, with a ring at the free ex- 

 tremity, through which a stout stake is passed, and 

 left otherwise unattached. When an animal is caught 

 — generally by the leg, as he digs in the snow for the 

 hidden morsels — he carries off the trap for a short 

 distance, but is soon brought up by the stake getting 

 entangled across the trees and fallen timber, and is 

 rarely able to travel any great distance before being 

 discovered by the trapper. 



The fur-hunter's greatest enemy is the North 

 American glutton, or, as he is commonly called, the 

 w^olverine or carcajou. This curious animal is rather 

 larger than an Enghsh fox, with a long body, stoutly 

 and compactly made, mounted on exceedingly short 

 legs of great strength. His broad feet are armed 

 wdth powerful claws, and his track in the snow is as 

 large as the print of a man's fist. The shape of his 

 head, and his hairy coat, give him very much the 

 appearance of a shaggy brovm dog. 



During the winter months he obtains a livelihood 

 by availing himself of the labours of the trapper, and 

 such serious injury does he inflict, that he has 

 received from the Indians the mime of Kekwaharkess, 

 or " The Evil One." With untiring perseverance he 

 hunts day and night for the trail of man, and when it 

 is found follows it unerringly. When he comes to a 

 lake, where the track is generally drifted over, he 

 continues his untiring gallop round its borders, to 

 discover the point at which it again enters the w^oods, 



