60 I COMMENCE TRAPPING 



touched liquor, so that was a saving in weight, 

 and money also. Tents and camp stoves were un- 

 known. We carried for use in bad weather a 

 strip of ordinary unbleached cotton, five or six 

 feet wide, and twelve feet long. This we put up 

 in a semi-circle on poles, and built a fire in front. 

 In fair weather we slept in the open air. This 

 was the method while travelling. Whenever we 

 reached a suitable hunting ground we built a per- 

 manent camp. These were of various kinds, log 

 huts of round timber, split huts, that is to say, 

 of logs split into boards and erected on a frame 

 work, and pole huts, made of small trees cover- 

 ed with earth and branches. This last is a dan- 

 gerous kind of camp, and often catches fire, as 

 many a trapper has found to his cost. Then there 

 was the ordinary bark tepee, a very comfortable 

 kind of camp, and specially suitable for the 

 earlier part of the season. In winter travelling 

 we always used the cotton strip to shelter us 

 from the wind and cold. When the snow was 

 deep this camping was tedious work, as we had 

 to remove the snow from a space sufficiently 

 large for our camp and for the fire. Then there 

 was the cutting of the fire wood and collecting 

 branches of the Canada Balsam or spruce to 

 make our beds and pillows. Altogether it re- 

 quired over two hours of hard work. Much of 

 our comfort the little there was of it depended 

 on a judicious selection of the site. Hollows were 



