OF THE FUR-BEARING ANIMALS 31 



the settler told me they learnt regularly to come 

 down and haul his nets, dragging them to the land, 

 and not only eating out the fish, but severely 

 damaging the nets. But punishment had been meted 

 out to one in the form of a charge of buckshot, to 

 the other by a steel trap. 



Cartwright thus illustrates the power of this bear : 

 "We discovered this morning the damage done by 

 a polar bear to a cask of oil. It was of strong oak 

 staves, well secured by thick, broad hoops of birch. 

 Yet with one blow of his tremendous paw he had 

 snapped off the four chime hoops and broken the 

 staves short off." 



The most valuable fur animals are the fox, otter, 

 beaver, mink, marten, and lynx. Musk-rats, squirrel, 

 and hares are also plentiful. The porcupine is not 

 uncommon, One specimen I shot was larger than a 

 sucking pig. The long black hair, which almost 

 obscures the short quills, made it resemble a bear as 

 it sat asleep on a bough at the top of a fir tree. A 

 bullet through the head brought it down at once, 

 but even when mortally wounded they will cling to 

 the boughs, and you may have to fell the tree. I 

 saw a dog one day worrying one. The porcupine, 

 with its head well down, waited for the dog to come 

 near, and then switched round his tail end, on which 

 are most spikes, with lightning speed, hoping to 

 leave some in his enemy's nose. The quills are all 

 barbed, so that they " work in." In this way they 

 will kill dogs, wolves, and foxes. A fox was found 



