Jttarten anb fy& g>mall jltammate 



OME trappers claim that there are three 

 varieties of marten on the North Shore of 

 the St. Lawrence. First, the pine marten, found 

 in the heavily wooded sections, secondly the rock 

 marten, found in hilly and rocky country with 

 stunted growth of trees, and lastly the swamp 

 marten, inhabiting lowlands and marshes and 

 short black spruce country. I must confess that I 

 could never see any difference in them, except 

 sometimes in the color of the fur, those caught in 

 the low, swampy places being, as a rule, lighter 

 in color than the others, though I do not think 

 this enough to justify a distinction of species. 

 In any case, I will leave this question open, as 

 for present purposes it makes no difference 

 whether there be one or three species, as they are 

 all trapped alike. To trap marten with success, 

 one has to specially select the ground, viz, thick 

 woods and heavy timber, such as spruce or bal- 

 sam. This sort of growth will generally be found 

 in the bottoms of foothills of large streams or 

 near large lakes. No other fur of any conse- 

 quence will be found in such localities. The 

 ground having been chosen, a path is blazed 

 through the forest, and a line of traps built, 



