264 CANADIAN WILDS. 



back that perhaps there was a bear there. As 

 we had no firearms in the party not even a pis- 

 tol, the first tiling to do was to cut good stout 

 hardwood poles about five feet long. 



A large place was well tramped down with 

 our snow shoes to insure good solid footing and 

 when all was ready, with our packs and extra 

 things out of the way, one of the party was de- 

 tailed to get up on the tree trunk and with a 

 strong birch lever insert it near where we lo- 

 cated the bear to be and pry him out, the other 

 two to belabor him with their poles. The man 

 on the log had such a strong leverage that his 

 first effort broke the bear clear out of the snow 

 and before he had time to rouse from his stupor 

 he was dead. 



The Indians, who were middle-aged men, 

 thought it a great joke that we should all have 

 tramped on this bear and three weeks later 

 found and killed him. The skin, of course, was 

 at its prirnest state, so we packed it turn and 

 turn about, to the fort, where each received his 

 share of its value. 



Another time I camped almost on the very 

 shore of a small lake with a youth for my com- 

 panion. We were to start a yard of moose in 

 the early morning on a mountain on the oppo- 

 site shore. In the morning while I was cooking 

 breakfast, the youth went a few yards away to 



