388 FORTY-FOUR YEARS OP 



Tims, having the body of the trap completed, and all 

 pinned down to the end logs, the next thing is to set it. 

 Behind the trap drive two stakes into the earth, and about 

 two feet from the ground bore a hole through each of the 

 stakes, through which pui a pin of strong wood. On this 

 pin place a piece of flat wood, about two feet long, with a 

 hole bored through it about six inches from one end, and 

 a notch cut in the short end ; thus making the lower end 

 of the trigger, as it is called, eighteen inches, and the 

 upper end, six inches long. Take a pole, say eighteen or 

 twenty feet in length, and lay it on the cross-pole which 

 rests against the trees. This pole projects about three 

 feet over the cross-pole, and a strong withe, made of long, 

 thin hickory switches, is fastened to a pin in the fore-part 

 of the trap, and looped round the end of the pole, to raise 

 the upper half of the trap. Then, by taking hold of the 

 long end of the pole, and pressing it down, the upper half 

 of the trap may be raised up sufficiently to let the bear go 

 in. Take fresh meat, lay it in the pen, and tie it fast to 

 the trigger by a string passed through a crack of the trap. 

 One end of the string being fastened to the meat, and the 

 other end to the trigger, bear down on the back end of the 

 pole, and put the end of it into the notch on the upper 

 end of the trigger, and the trap is set. 



When a bear enters, he takes hold of the meat and 

 pulls it forward ; when the string, being tied to the lower 

 end of the trigger, draws the top of the trigger oft' the 

 pole, and allows the upper half of the trap to fall, when 

 all the notches drop into their places. The bear is then 

 compelled either to remain in the pen until the trapper 

 comes, or to gnaw a hole large enough to escape through ; 

 which they often do when the logs have become decayed by 

 age. 



To entice the bears, I used to roast the leg of a deer, 

 and wliile the meat was roasting, rub honey over it, so 



