Hunting the Grizzly 75 



his rawhide belt on one side, an ax on the 

 other, and over his shoulder his old carbine 

 slung with a piece of raw caribou-hide ; and to 

 complete the description I must not forget his 

 moccasins of rawhide encasing his feet. Dur- 

 ing the conversation I learned that he was 

 a trapper for many years in the States of the 

 far Xorthwest; but the same stringent laws 

 which had driven out other trappers had also 

 caused him to " shake " the States in search of 

 better trapping ground, and he had wandered 

 into this district as a perfect stranger, and was 

 just returning from his line of traps that he 

 had set. The portage, though only six miles 

 long, being through dense woods, the guide 

 consumed two days in the task of packing our 

 outfit across. This gave me the opportunity 

 to see more of one of nature's solitary inhabi- 

 tants than would otherwise have been the case. 

 As my information about trapping was very 

 meagre, I secured permission to accom- 

 pany the trapper in looking over his line of 

 traps for the following day. Meanwhile our 

 guest was invited to take a " snack " with us, 

 which he did without difficulty, remaining 



