262 THE GREAT NORTH-WEST 



herculean strength and a power of endurance that seemed 

 to be untirable. Brown was also over six feet in height, 

 and of muscular power scarcely inferior to that of his 

 companion. He was known as " Splits " ; where or how 

 he obtained that inelegant sobriquet I could not learn. 

 If I questioned either of them on the subject there would 

 be a hearty laugh, and a sly look pass between them, but 

 I got no answer. Probably the nickname had been con- 

 ferred during one of those boisterous orgies in which all 

 backwoodsmen occasionally indulge. 



Long Jake was a taciturn, quiet sort of man, as so 

 many other trappers are. It would seem that the soli- 

 tary life they lead, often absolutely alone, seldom with 

 more than a single companion during the greater part 

 of the year, has a tendency to teach these men to speak 

 seldom, and as shortly as they can. Splits, however, 

 was a strong contrast to his companion. He was a very 

 lively man, full of joke and fun, and whiling the time 

 away when he was perforce alone with songs comic, songs 

 jovial, songs of love, and songs of questionable sentiment. 

 He was full of anecdote too, and used to tell some funny 

 as well as some strange tales, for he had seen not only a 

 great deal of frontier fighting with the Red Men, but had 

 fought also through the Civil War, in one of Kilpatrick's 

 cavalry regiments. 



With these two men I spent several weeks in the 

 forests of Northern Michigan, living in a temporary hut, 

 and spending the days in shooting, fishing, and watching 

 the habits of the animals. There were still plenty of 

 foxes and wolves, with deer, at this time in this region, 

 but the bears had nearly or quite disappeared. The 

 pelts obtained by my companions, with the exceptions 

 named above, were all those of small mammals ; and 

 they both complained that of late years their earnings 

 had decreased by more than one-half in amount. 



Our hut was about three miles from the shore of the 

 lake, and about thirteen, as far as we knew, from the 



