ROMANCE AND ADVENTURE 27 



annual returns of all the posts are sent in to the Company's 

 headquarters, those returns accurately define the distribution 

 of the fur-bearing animals for that year. These irregular 

 lines across the map were drawn after an examination of the 

 annual returns from all the posts for the last forty years. 

 Publish it? No, siree, that would never do!" 



But the Inspector's remarks did not end the subject, as we 

 began discussing the greatest breeding grounds of the various 

 fur-bearers, and Mr. Bell presently continued: 



"The greatest centre for coloured foxes is near Salt River, 

 which flows into Slave River at Fort Smith. There, too, most 

 of the black foxes and silver foxes are trapped. The great 

 otter and fisher centre is around Trout Lake, Island Lake, 

 Sandy Lake, and God's Lake. Otter taken north of Lake 

 Superior are found to be fully one third larger than those 

 killed in any other region. Black bears and brown bears are 

 most frequently to be met with between Fort Pelly and Portage 

 La Loche. Cumberland House is the centre of the greatest 

 breeding grounds for muskrat, mink, and ermine. Manitoba 

 House is another great district for muskrat. Lynxes are found 

 in greatest numbers in the Iroquois Valley, in the foothills on 

 the eastern side of the Rockies. Coyote skins come chiefly 

 from the district between Calgary and Qu'Appelle for a hundred 

 miles both north and south. Skunks are most plentiful just 

 south of Green Lake; formerly, they lived on the plains, but of 

 late they have moved northward into the woods. Wolver- 

 ines frequent most the timber country just south of the Barren 

 Grounds, where they are often found travelling in bands. The 

 home of the porcupine lies just north of Isle a la Crosse. Forty 

 years ago the breeding grounds of the beaver were on the eastern 

 side of the Rockies. Nowadays that region is hardly worth 

 considering as a trapping ground for them. They have been 

 steadily migrating eastward along the Churchill River, then 

 by way of Cross Lake, Fort Hope, to Abitibi, thence north- 



