now TO iirxT axd catch the eeavek. 23 



clioly mementos of the tribes long previously whelmed in 

 the fathomless gulf of avarice. The business of trapping 

 requires great experience and caution, as the senses of the 

 beaver are very keen, and enable him to detect the recent 

 presence of the hunter by the slightest traces. It is neces- 

 sary that the hands should be washed clean before the trap 

 is handled and baited, and tliat every precaution should 

 be employed to elude the vigilance of the animal. 



The bait which is used to entice the beavers is prepared 

 from the substance called castor, obtained from the gland- 

 ulous pouches of the male animal, which contains some- 

 times from two to three ounces. This substance is called 

 by the hunters harkst07iG^ and is squeezed gently into an 

 open-mouthed phial. The contents of five or six of these 

 castor bags are mixed with a nutmeg, twelve or fifteen 

 cloves, and tliirty grains of cinnamon, in fine powder, and 

 then the whole is stirred up with as much whiskey as will 

 give it the consistency of mustard prepared for the table. 

 This mixture must be kept closely corked up, and in four 

 or five days the odor will become more powerful ; v.ith 

 care it may be preserved for months without injury. Va- 

 rious other strong aromatics are sometimes used to in- 

 ci'ease the pungency of the odor. Some of this prepara- 

 lion, smeared upon the bits of wood with which the traps 

 are baited, will entice the beaver from a great distance. 



The castor, whose odor is similar to tanners' ooze, gets 

 the name of barkstone from its resemblance to finely pow- 

 dered bark ; the sacks that contain it are about two inches 



