322 THE TRAPPER. 



beautiful 104th psalm. He has no doctor to consult, but, 

 except in cases of accident, he never wants one ; there is 

 no bad drainage in the woods, no bad smell, no bad venti- 

 lation, no epidemics ; he has a daily and nightly tonic in 

 the bracing air, and the pure water is the best of medi- 

 cine ; he has no time for dyspepsia and its companion 

 the blues ; his fare is simple, but his appetite is good ; and 

 on his fragrant bed of boughs, after his hard day's labour 

 is over, he sleeps the sleep that the city man could not 

 buy for millions. To him there is no loneliness so un- 

 bearable, no solitude so wearisome, as the solitude of a 

 great city. True, in the latter case he sees thousands of 

 his fellow-creatures every day, but what are they to him 

 or what is he to them ? If while gaping in amazement 

 at the human hive he happens to get run over by a cab 

 one or two passers by may turn round to look at him, or 

 even say " poor fellow," but that is all. Truly in the 

 trapper's opinion the loneliness of the city is infinitely 

 more oppressive than that of the forest. 



The trapper generally starts for the woods either on 

 foot, with his pack on his back, or else in his canoe. The 

 following are some of my experiences of a year's trapping 

 expedition in the forests of Lower Canada. 



I started from the settlement in the month of Sep- 

 tember, accompanied by an old Micmac, of the name of 

 Andrew, and another young Indian, called Toma. Our 

 destination was a lake 60 or 70 miles from human abode. 

 Our kit consisted of 10 cwt. of flour, 2 cwt. pork (all fat), 

 half a chest of tea, a keg of molasses, a bag of salt, a 

 small assortment of luxuries (such as brandy, rice, curry 

 powder, sauces, pickles, &c.), cooking utensils, blankets, 



