x INTRODUCTION 



a hollow stump, all other schemes having failed, 

 was an actual occurrence. It is a well known 

 fact that many a Trapper has had to abandon his 

 &quot; marten road &quot; and move to another locality 

 when Carcajou has set up to drive him out. 



Mooswa is still plentiful in the forests of the 

 Athabasca, and is the embodiment of dignity 

 among animals. 



There is no living thing more characteristic 

 of the Northern land than Whisky-Jack, the Jay. 

 Wherever a traveller stops, on plain or in forest, 

 and uncovers food, there will be one or two of 

 these saucy, thieving birds. W here they nest, 

 or how, is much of a mystery. I never met but 

 one man who claimed to have found Jack s nest, 

 and this man, a Trapper, was of rather an 

 imaginative turn of mind. 



The Rabbit of that land is really a hare, never 

 burrowing, but living quite in the open. As told 

 in the story they go on multiplying at a tremen 

 dous rate for six years ; the seventh, a plague 

 carries a great number of them off, and very few 

 are seen for the next couple of years. The 

 supply of fur depends almost entirely upon the 

 rabbit he is the food reserve for the other 

 forest dwellers. 



Blue Wolf is also an actuality. Once in a 

 while one of the gray wolves grows larger than 



