A RAINY DAY IN CAMP 205 



John R. Norboe is an almost tireless climber, and 

 bold on the cliffs, beyond the limit of safety. In the 

 telling of stories he is both graphic and picturesque, and 

 the manner in which he unconsciously acts out his stories 

 is always irresistibly amusing. He is a reasonably ready 

 talker, and invariably interesting. In both John and 

 Mack the vernacular of the southern cattle-plains was 

 strongly in evidence, and it made them all the more 

 interesting. 



I mention these three men thus particularly because 

 they are to-day successful trappers of fur-bearing ani- 

 mals. Even amid the present scarcity of such wild life, 

 they are sufficiently wise in wood-craft to make at least 

 half their living by trapping marten, wolverine, ermine, 

 mink, lynx, and (I regret to say it) bear. In the United 

 States the fur-trapper is almost extinct, because there are 

 no longer enough fur-bearing animals to make the pur- 

 suit interesting. 



I am tempted to add the record of one winter's catch, 

 made on Bull River, by the two Norboes alone. From 

 September i^th until the middle of the following June, 

 they caught 96 marten, 7 wolverines, 4 grizzly bears, 6 

 beavers, 10 mink and i lynx. During this period they 

 consumed the following food: 3 bull elk, 7 goats, 700 

 pounds of flour, 200 pounds of sugar, 50 pounds of dried 

 fruit, 15 gallons of berries, 30 pounds of coffee and 20 

 pounds of rice. 



Let it not be supposed, however, that even in the 

 country in which we then were, it is always possible for 

 hunters and trappers to supply themselves with wild meat 



