TRAPPING IN WINTER. 37 



you have on must be taken off and dried when they become the 

 least damp, or you will have frozen feet. 



After the snow was down we had delightful weather, as bright 

 as in summer, and there being no wind the cold was not 

 unpleasant, though the thermometer sometimes fell to over 50 

 below zero. Big game was scarce, as it was unusually cold, 

 and most of the deer and elk had moved south ; but we 

 managed to kill several early in the winter, and had fair luck 

 when trapping, getting a good many marten, mink, foxes, and 

 wolves. As this mode of trapping is peculiar to North America, 

 I will describe it here. Having arranged which direction you 

 will each of you take, you start off on snow-shoes, carrying 

 some meat for food and for baits, coffee and salt, a knife, fork, 

 and spoon, a plate, and a big tin cup which answers the purpose 

 of both coffee-pot and cup, as you cool it in the snow, a small 

 axe, and two wolf -traps, with two blankets rolled up and put on 

 soldier fashion ; all this is not a bad load when on snow-shoes 

 and in deep snow. You keep as straight a course as you can, 

 stopping when you come across " sign " to erect a fall-trap, 

 which is made as follows : 



You first choose two young fir-trees growing about fifteen 

 inches apart, and enclose a semicircle behind them with stout 

 stakes driven firmly into the snow. Then you cut a small log, 

 which you lay on the ground against the front of the trees, 

 fastening it in its place by two uprights two feet high, opposite 

 to the trees. You then cut a fall-log about twenty feet long, and 

 place it between the uprights and the trees, filling up the space 

 above it with short logs. You then prepare your trigger, which 

 is about a foot long, and sharp at one end, on which you put your 

 bait ; then cut a short piece of wood, sharp at both ends, and 



