186 THE TRAPPER 



out toward the most reddish-grey varieties of 

 the Cross Fox. . . . 



By night Gullfoot and I had exhausted our 

 fox-talk, which had been sustained by my interest 

 in his collection of freshly trapped pelts, which 

 he took some trouble to show me. 



As full night came on, accompanied by inevit- 

 able increase in low temperature, and Arctic 

 array of Northern Lights, we turned in to sleep 

 with thoughts of an early start on the morrow. 



Two hours before daybreak next morning we 

 were astir in the cabin, and, aided by a glimmering, 

 fitful light from a vessel containing liquid grease 

 rendered from wolf fat, which fed a piece of 

 twisted rag to which light had been applied, we 

 robed in our outdoor clothing of Eskimo Caribou 

 suits, and prepared and partook of food. 



An hour before daylight, out in the bitter cold, 

 our dogs were harnessed and ready to start. 



All day we travelled on Gullfoot's trap-line 

 through forest and over lakes and rivers. By 

 night we must have covered some thirty to forty 

 miles, and had visited forty traps, from which 

 had been taken one Cross Fox, one Red Fox, one 

 Wolf, four Marten, and three Mink : which 

 Gullfoot assured me was a successful and gratify- 

 ing result. 



From this it may be gathered that trapping 

 is not a simple task, and animals not to be 

 picked up in any abundance even on a wide range. 

 Broadly speaking, Gullfoot had one trap set to 

 every mile, and those sets resulted in one animal 

 captured to every four miles. If one assumes 

 that Gullfoot trapped with equal vigour during 



