282 A TRAPPER'S HUT. 



with great respect, offering him no indignity, interfering with 

 him in nothing ; and yet the old fellow seemed very far from 

 appreciating our politeness, or relishing our company. The 

 truth is, he was horribly frightened, and he struggled despe- 

 rately to rid himself of our association ; but we stuck by him 

 like his destiny, talking kindly to him, endeavoring to im- 

 press upon his mind that we meant him no harm indeed, 

 that we were his friends. But, I repeat, he did not appre- 

 ciate our politeness. By-and-by his feet touched the sand, 

 and he bounded forward, as much as to say, "Good-bye, 

 gentlemen," when a simultaneous yell from all six of us, and 

 the discharge of four rifles in quick succession over him, 

 added wonderfully to the energy of his flight. He will be 

 likely to recognise us if he ever meets us again, and if the 

 past furnishes any admonitions to his kind, he will give us 

 a wide berth. 



We rowed leisurely along the eastern shore, and in a deep 

 bay found excellent fishing, at the mouth of a cold mountain 

 brook. On the banks of this bay we found the whiter hut 

 of a martin and sable trapper. It had an outer and inner ap- 

 partment, the latter almost subterranean. The hut was com- 

 posed of small logs, which a single man could lay up, the 

 crevices between which were closely packed with moss, and 

 the roof covered with two or three layers of bark. The 

 doorway was sawed through these logs, and a door, con- 

 structed of bark, was made to fit it ; a rude hearth of sand- 

 stone was built in one corner, and a hole was open above it 

 to let out the smoke. Against the outside of this pen, only 



