THE PUESUIT OF BEAVER AS A SPORT. 165 



knowledge ; of patient, unremitting care and attention ; of 

 energy and of endurance, versus the natural instinct if 

 we may not call it reason of the most sagacious, acute, 

 and wary of all the brute creation. It stands at one end 

 of that scale of sports of which the " battue " is the 

 other. 



Hard frost closing the streams at last stopped the catching 

 of beaver. The same traps, however, serving admirably for 

 the capture of coyote's, lynxes, foxes, and other land fur 

 animals, we turned our attention to doing so, and found 

 it great amusement to " run the traps," each morning ; for 

 notwithstanding we were much bothered by the blue jays 

 and magpies occasionally springing our traps in trying to get 

 a share of the bait, we generally had a " take " of about 

 a dozen animals every morning. 



