HUNTING OTTER AND MUSQUASH. 113 



tices which is certainly not known to the whites, 

 and is at a certain time very successful. That 

 is spearing them on the ice; and another mode 

 in which the Indians are very successful in the 

 fall is digging them out, or "trenching" them, 

 in the same way they do the beaver, only with 

 much less labor, as it is done before the ponds 

 and creeks freeze up. I will describe the latter 

 way first, seeing it comes before that of spearing. 



The resort of musquash (always where they 

 are in numbers) is along grassy rivers, creeks, 

 or ponds; for they store up large quantities of 

 the long, flat grass for winter use, as the beaver 

 does with young birch and poplar. The Indian 

 paddling along the shores of such places has his 

 eyes fixed on the bottom of the water ; presently 

 he perceives the entrance to one of the rat bur- 

 rows; he stops his canoe and gazes fixedly on 

 the opening, which is always about a foot under 

 water. At last he sees the water ebb and flow 

 in and out of the hole. This is a sure sign that 

 the "wash" is occupied at that very moment by 

 one or more rats. 



He at once, either with his axe or the blade 

 of his sharp maple paddle, chops down the mud 

 bank until he has an embankment or dam. This 

 is to prevent the musquash from running out to 

 deep water. When all is ready, either his wife 



