66 FUR-TRAPPERS OF THE FAR WEST. 



and if placed on it directly after capture, he will not attempt 

 to get away. It is very easy to catch him in the first place, 

 for his movements over the loose sand of his haunts are 

 scarcely faster than those of a land tortoise. 



The trappers and other scattered inhabitants of this region 

 describe a fish with hands as frequenting the brooks and pools. 

 Though there are, no doubt, some curious fish, it is question- 

 able how far these creatures possess the members ascribed to 

 them. 



FUR-TRAPTEES OF THE FAR WEST. 



The fur-trapper of America is the chief pioneer of the Far 

 West. His life spent in the remote wilderness, with no other 

 companion than Nature herself, his character assumes a mix- 

 ture of simplicity and ferocity. He knows no wants beyond 

 the means of procuring sufficient food and clothing. All the 

 instincts of primitive man are constantly kept alive. Exposed 

 to dangers of all sorts, he becomes callous to them, and is as 

 ready to destroy human as well as animal life as he is to 

 expose his own. He cares nothing for laws, human or divine. 

 Strong, active, hardy, and daring, he depends on his instinct 

 for the support of life. 



The independent trapper possesses traps and animals of his 

 own, ranges wherever he lists through the country, and dis- 

 poses of his peltries to the highest bidder. There are others 

 employed by the fur companies, who supply them with traps 

 and animals, and pay a certain price for the furs they bring. 



The independent trapper equips himself with a horse and 

 two or three mules — the one for the saddle, the others for his 

 packs — and a certain number of traps, which he carries in a 

 leather bag, with ammunition, a few pounds of tobacco, and 

 dressed deer-skins for his mocassins and repairing his gar- 



