26 THE DRAMA OF THE FORESTS 



I inwardly laughed, for any man — red, white, black, or 

 yellow — who could make such a hard-headed old Scotsman as 

 Donald Mackenzie loosen up, was certainly clever; and the way 

 old Oo-koo-hoo made off with such a lot of supplies proved him 

 more than a match for the trader. 



THE BEST FUR DISTRICTS 



While we were at supper a perfect roar of gun shots ran 

 around the bay and on our rushing to the doorway we saw the 

 Inspector's big canoe coming. Up went the flag and more gun 

 shots followed. Then we went down to the landing to meet 

 Inspecting Chief Factor Bell. 



After supper the newcomer and the Factor and I sat before 

 the fire and discussed the fur trade. I liked to listen to the old 

 trader, but the Inspector, being the greater traveller of the two, 

 covering every year on the rounds of his regular work thou- 

 sands upon thousands of miles, was the more interesting talker. 

 Presently, when the subject turned to the distribution of the 

 fur-bearing animals, Mr. Bell took a case from his bag and 

 opening it, spread it out before us upon the Factor's desk. It 

 was a map of the Dominion of Canada, on which the names of 

 the principal posts of the Hudson's Bay Company were printed 

 in red. Across it many irregular lines were drawn in different- 

 coloured inks, and upon its margins were many written 

 notes. 



"This map, as you see," remarked the Inspector, "defines 

 approximately the distribution of the fur-bearing animals of 

 Canada, and I'll wager that you have never seen another like 

 it; for if it were not for the records of the Hudson's Bay Com- 

 pany, no such map could have been compiled. How did I 

 manage it? Well, to begin with, you must understand that the 

 Indians invariably trade their winter's catch of fur at the 

 trading post nearest their hunting grounds; so when the 



