GOOD WAGES TRAPPING. 237 



120 Martens. 

 35 Minks. 

 40 Lynxes. 

 1236 Musquash. 



Making altogether four of our eighty pound 

 packs of furs. This, of course, was an excep- 

 tional hunt still we had several other Indians 

 who ran A-ta-so-kan a close second. 



What a difference in the stretching and dry- 

 ing of that man's skins, compared with those 

 we get on the frontier. Each skin, apart from 

 the musquash, was as clean as note paper, all 

 killed in season and all dried in the frost or 

 shade. On the line of civilization there is such 

 keen competition among the traders to get furs, 

 that the hunters stretch and dry the skins in 

 any way. Beaver, for instance, which is bought 

 hy the pound, is frequently weighted with syrup, 

 and sand rubbed into the hair and paws, and 

 considerable flesh left on, all tells when three 

 or four dollars a pound is paid. 



The Abanakis Indians about St. Francis 

 Lake, St. Peter, are noted for their tricks of 

 the trade, and when you get a blue-eyed Aba- 

 nakis, look out to be cheated. I call to mind on 

 the St. Maurice River, when stationed there, 

 one of these gents brought furs to sell at our 

 Post. Among the lot was a beaver skin. Ac- 



