MAMMALIA. 43 
without. being disposed to rely strongly on etymological inquiries, I am inclined 
to refer the Carcajou, or, as it is sometimes pronounced Carcayou, of the 
Coureurs des bois, to the same source (ohkee-coo-haw-gew). Many other 
Knisteneaux or Cree terms have been adopted into the vernacular language of 
the Canadian voyagers. 
The Wolverene is a carnivorous animal, which feeds chiefly upon the carcases 
of beasts that have been killed by accident. It has great strength, and annoys 
the natives by destroying their hoards of provision, and demolishing their marten 
traps. It is so suspicious, that it will rarely enter a trap itself, but begining 
behind, pulls it to pieces, scatters the logs of which it is built, and then carries 
off the bait. It feeds also on meadow mice, marmots, and other rodentia, and 
occasionally on disabled quadrupeds of a larger size. I have seen one chasing 
an American hare, which was at the same time harassed by a snowy owl. It 
resembles the bear in its gait, and is not fleet; but it is very industrious, and 
no doubt feeds well, as it is generally fat. It is much abroad in the winter, and 
the track of its journey in a single night may be often traced for many miles. 
From the shortness of its legs, it makes its way through loose snow with difficulty, 
but when it falls upon the beaten track of a marten trapper, it will pursue it for 
along way. Mr. Graham observes that ‘‘ the Wolverenes are extremely mis- 
chievous, and do more damage to the small-fur trade than all the other rapacious 
animals conjointly. They will follow the marten hunter's path round a line of traps 
extending forty, fifty, or sixty miles, and render the whole unserviceable, merely to 
come at the baits, which are generally the head ofa partridge ora bit of dried 
venison. ‘They are not fond of the martens themselves, but never fail of tearing 
them in pieces or of burying them in the snow by the side of the path, at a con- 
siderable distance from the trap. Drifts of snow often conceal the repositories 
thus made of the martens from the hunter, in which case they furnish a regale 
to the hungry fox, whose sagacious nostril guides him unerringly to the spot. 
Two or three foxes are often seen following the. Wolverene for this purpose *.” 
The Wolverene is said to be a great destroyer of beavers, but it must be only 
in the summer, when those industrious animals are at work on land, that it can 
surprise them. An attempt to break open their house in the winter, even sup- 
posing it possible for the claws of a Wolverene to penetrate the thick mud walls 
when frozen as hard as stone, would only have the effect of driving the beavers 
into the water to seek for shelter in their vaults on the borders of the dam. The 
* GraHam’s MSS., p. 13. 
G 2 
