160 ON THE FRONTIER, 



your farthest one is to be put, you will tie up your horse at 

 a moderate distance from the stream ; then you will cut 

 a willow-pole, about the size of a large clothes-line prop, 

 and a dozen or two slender osier twigs, each about two 

 feet long these latter you will insert in your waistbelt ; 

 then you will set your trap, tie the end of its chain to your 

 pole, about a foot above its bottom end, which you have 

 sharpened to a point, and, with the pole in your right 

 hand and the open trap in your left, enter the river at 

 the place you had previously decided upon as the best for 

 so doing. You will then wade up or down the stream, as 

 the case may be, to where you intend to plant your trap, 

 remembering that the farther the place where you leave 

 the bank to enter the river is from where your trap is to 

 be left the better; for should a beaver get a sniff sug- 

 gesting human presence on the bank, he will keep the 

 middle of the stream for a considerable distance, and no 

 " medicine " will allure him to its edge. When opposite 

 to where the trap is to be placed, you will temporarily 

 thrust your pole into the bottom of the river, and leave it 

 standing upright. Then you will completely submerge 

 both your hands, and, keeping them and the trap under 

 water all the time, place it firmly on the ground, close 

 to the edge of the stream, and at from four to ten inches 

 under water, according to whether you wish to catch your 

 beaver by a front or hind leg. If the water is there 

 deeper than that, then you must make a foundation for 

 your trap; if shallower, you must "set" at some other 

 place. You will then select a twig from those under 

 your belt for a " bait-stick," cut it a proper length, split 



