CARIBOO HUNTING. 143 



collars for their cloaks ; the nose is fastened by a clasp 

 to the top of the tail, the rest of which hangs down in 

 front. 



The old man told us of the curious method he used in 

 obtaining his fox-skins. He would go off alone into the 

 moonlit forest, to the edge of some little barren, which 

 the foxes often cross, or hunt round its edges at night. 

 Here he would lie down and wait patiently until the 

 dark form of a fox appeared in the open. A little shrill 

 squeak, produced by the lips applied to the thumbs of 

 the closed hands, and the fox would at once gallop up 

 with the utmost boldness, and meet his fate through the 

 Indian's gun. 



He regretted that he was too old to accompany us 

 himself, but advised us to take a young Indian who was 

 at that time encamped on the ground to which we were 

 proceeding; and we left the old mans camp, and re- 

 sumed our trudge on the main road, after seeing him 

 make a successful bargain for his fox-skins. 



That afternoon we had reached our destination ; the 

 last few miles of the road had been more and more wild 

 and uneven, and at last we drew up before a tenement 

 and its outbuildings which stood on the brow of a hill 

 and overlooked a wide extent of country. It was the 

 house of the last settler, and those great undulating 

 forests before us were to be the arena of our sport. 

 Buckling on the loads, we dismissed the sleigh, and 

 turned at once into their depths. 



We had not far to carry our loads, for the Indian 

 camp was erected on a hard-wood hill, within reach of 

 the sounds of the last settler's clearing. This we found 

 afterwards to be a great comfort, as we often called on 



