WILD ANIMALS AND MEN 213 



the foot in such a way that it may hurt the wearer. Though 

 the rabbit pelt is very tender and tears easily, it can be worn for 

 five or six days of hard travel. For warmth and comfort it is 

 unexcelled. 



Early that afternoon we came upon many lynx tracks, 

 evidently there had been a "pass of lynxes" as the hunters 

 call it, for lynxes have a way of gathering in bands of about four 

 to eight and passing through the forest. Oo-koo-hoo stated 

 that they migrated in that way from one region to another, 

 covering many miles in search of game, especially during the 

 years when the rabbit plague causes a great shortage of food ; 

 and had he known of their presence in time, he would have cut 

 big heaps of poplar, birch, and willow branches to attract the 

 rabbits, and thus furnish more food for the lynxes. Hoping, 

 however, that he was not too late, he set what few snares he 

 had; nevertheless, he regretted that the boys had gone off 

 with the dogs, for, if they had not, he would have tried to trail 

 and tree the lynxes. 



The boys had taken the dogs because they wanted them 

 to haul their sled. It was, however, against the advice of 

 their grandfather, for he had admonished them that only 

 white men and half-breeds would use dogs to haul a sled on a 

 trapping path ; that a good hunter would never do such a foolish 

 thing, and for many reasons: the traps — being usually set 

 close to the path — were apt to be either set off or destroyed by 

 the swinging sled; besides, the dogs' tracks would obliterate 

 the tracks of game; also the dogs might be caught in the traps; 

 furthermore, the smell of dogs always inspired fear in animals, 

 again, the noise of driving dogs frightened the game away. So, 

 according to Oo-koo-hoo, the wise hunter either packs Ins load 

 upon his back, or, by himself, hauls it upon his sled. But one 

 must remember that The Owl was an Ojibway and that those 

 Indians as well as the Saulteaux Indians prefer to haul their 

 own sleds on the hunting trail and to keep their dogs solely 



