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 killmg 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 fcetor 
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 depét for provisions, from which the men 
were supplied who were employed in making the 
