trapping JLpnx 



BOUT the middle of October we reached what 

 was to be our first permanent camp. It was 

 a section of country bordering on one of the 

 branches of the Manicouagan River, one of the 

 largest streams on the North Shore, and the high- 

 way of many families of Indians and trappers. 

 As a general rule an Indian will hunt any kind of 

 game he comes across, but as in the higher call- 

 ings, there are specialists in trapping. My part- 

 ner, Ashini, was a specialist on lynx hunting; this 

 was his hobby. During the many years that I 

 knew him he more than doubled the catch of 

 other Indians around. The tract of land he had 

 selected was specially adapted to this, old burned 

 ground, covered with a growth of birch, poplar, 

 balsam and black spruce. In such sections the 

 Northern hare, squirrel, ruffed grouse and spruce 

 partridge abound, and these are the natural food 

 of the lynx. This second growth, that follows 

 a large bush fire, will grow in patches. Near the 

 moisture portions, in gullies, around lakes or at 

 the edge of rivers, it will be balsam and spruce; 

 on the higher plateaus, birch, poplar and moun- 

 tain ash, and the summit of the mountains will 

 frequently remain bare or grow small shrubs and 



