Oct. 20, 1894.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
333 
whistle," said Fred, as he reluctantly lowered his piece 
and gazed longingly at the bird. 
"No, the less noise we make here the better. We've 
plenty of meat yet and don't need that beauty. I'll want 
three more dead sticks like the last one, so sail in and 
get 'em." 
It took quite a long time for Joe to ohoose his places 
and get the trap3 nicely set. There were two beaver 
houses built of sticks and mud down toward the dam and 
in the deep water, but both these and the dams were left 
sacredly alone. He explained this presently by saying he 
preferred starting as far away from headquarters as pos- 
sible, and gradually working down to them, although he 
had known men, he said, who would cut a hole in the 
dam itself the first thing, and catch the beaver as they 
came to repair it by setting the trap there. But Joe 
preferred his own way, and the result proved the sound- 
ness of his views. 
"But why are you so mighty particular about having 
dead sticks for the sliding pole, Joe?" 
"Why, 'cause if you put a green one there they'd most 
likely cut it off and pack it away and the trap with it," 
said Joe. "Aint they cutting green sticks all around 
there? Now, let's make for camp, and I'll bet old 'Breed 
agenst a dollar we'll have fur to dress to-morrow," 
Joe prophesied correctly. When we reached the traps 
next morning we found a fine large beaver in the first one 
we had set, in the little pool. It was dead, having been 
drowned quickly and without making much disturbance 
apparently, while at the upper end two had been caught, 
both being kittens, as the young ones are called. We 
reset the traps and carried the dead beaver away from 
that vicinity, and after taking off the hides deposited the 
carcasses under a large tree a little way out on the fiat 
from the hillside, and in an open place. A beaver skin is 
stretched by being laced to an oval hoop made of willow, 
and those we found hanging in Billy's camp came in 
handy. That afternoon was spent in dressing the hides, a 
process of great importance, for furs to fetch a good price 
must be well handled and nicely cleaned of all fatty 
matter. Had those beaver been caught later in the 
winter they would have been worth more money. But 
they were in very fair condition, so we were glad to get 
them. 
During the next three days we caught five more beavers, 
and then they seemed to be getting very shy and suspi- 
cious. Twice Joe found his traps sprung — one at each 
dam— and nothing in them. The weather, too, which had 
hitherto been very fine, now turned cold and cloudy. 
November was approaching, and we might expect snow 
at any time, for the ground was usually white by the end 
of October in these parts. 
Joe's luck, too, seemed to be changing. There were 
some beaver to be caught yet, but all his skill did not 
avail him; so he and Fred took the hatchet and cut a gap 
in each dam that lowered the water for fully two feet. 
Then a trap was set under water just inside the dam, and 
the very first night we got a beaver at each place. It 
snowed a few inches deep that night, too, and it was evi- 
dent that our little expedition would soon be over. 
"There," Baid Joe, as he and Fred returned about 2 
o'clock next day with the skins; "them's che two finest and 
largest hides we've got yet, and if we get one more, I'll be 
satisfied." 
"Well, sit down and get your dinner; it's all ready." 
"Yes, and so are we," broke in Fred. "And if we'd had 
a rifle along we'd not have been back quite so soon. A 
bear has been feeding on the dead beavers we dumped 
under that tree, and he's covered what's left of 'em with 
leaves." 
"A bear!'' I replied, surprised at this information. "I'd 
have thought they had all holed up by this time. Are you 
sure the sign's quite fresh?" 
"Of course it is," replied Joe. "He was there early this 
morning and his tracks were made in the snow, and what's 
more, he'll be back there again this evening, so if you 
want some fun, take your rifle and lie in wait for him. 
I'd go myself only I'm too tired." 
I considered the matter a few moments. The place was 
nearly three miles distant, and I would have to watch 
until too dark to see any longer. But the moon was 
nearly at the full; so I took my powerful repeating rifle 
and a dozen cartridges, and started immediately. Great 
numbers of deer evidently inhabited this locality, for 
their tracks seemed everywhere, and I twice saw the 
branching antlers and waving flags of two magnificent 
bucks. But we had seen deer nearly every day, and I 
was now on a different errand, and by 3 o'clock I had 
crossed the river and was making my way along the side 
of the hill in search of a good place from which to obtain 
a clear view of the bait. 
This was not so easy to find, but at last I decided to sit 
on a fallen tree that was well concealed by bushes and 
not more than 00yds. from the beaver meat. I could see 
the pile of leaves raked together by the bear, but the 
warm afternoon sun streaming through the trees was 
rapidly removing the white fleecy snow that mantled the 
foliage of the spruces, and the continual drip, drip of the 
water, added to the feathery masses that were falling in 
all directions, had marred the spotless carpet on the 
ground, so that I could not see the tracks our visitor had 
made. For some time I sat in perfect stillness. The 
silence was only broken by the distant murmur of the 
Clearwater and the nearer ripple of the little stream that 
flowed through the gap Joe had made in the beaver dam, 
while now and then the sharp upward swish of a branch 
would be heard as it let its snowy burden tumble down- 
ward. Once the rustling flutter of a grouse startled me, 
so close was it. Then I saw the slender form of a doe as 
she slowly browsed her way into a little open glade and 
stood there unconscious of danger. But dusk was now 
approaching and no other visitor appeared as mv glance 
roved over the white scene below me, so I once more con- 
centrated my attention on the dark pile of leaves by the 
tree, and as I did so a wild thrill of excitement went 
through me. How the brute had come without my see- 
ing him I don't know to this minute. But there stood a 
black bear, slowly pawing away the leaves and rooting 
among them with his nose. For the first time in my life 
I knew what "buck fever" meant. The muzzle of my 
rifle moved in quivering circles as I tried to hold it steady, 
hut with a deep breath I was forced to lower it again. 
Still the bear continued digging among the leaves, at 
last uncovering a red-looking object, and now he stood 
broadside to me, with his paws upon the meat. 
Now for it. I dared not trust my holding powers, but 
laid gently back on the sloping hill and rested my rifle be- 
tween my knees. The bear's black hide contrasted beauti- 
fully with the white ivory foresight and I held for the 
shoulder as near as I could. 
A bright line of fire cut suddenly into the gathering 
gloom, and the thick smoke hung for a moment as the 
reverberating echoes of the sound died away among: the 
hills. I just raught a glimpse of my friend as he disap- 
peared among the brush, but the smothered roar he 
uttered told me something, and the blood-stained snow 
said more, so I followed the trail at once. To pursue a 
wounded bear into the brush in semi-darkness is no joke, 
but the broad crimson splashes thrown at every jump 
convinced me the chase would be a brief one. The track 
led through the brush, then wheeled round the point of 
the mountain, and the basin out of which our beaver 
stream flowed was evidently where my stricken friend 
intended going. But his strength rapidly failed him, and 
just as I entered a little opening I saw the bear rear up 
near a pine tree and essay to climb it. But one foreleg 
hung limp and useless and the jaws were red and gory as 
the poor brute swayed feebly against the pine. I was 
less than 20yds. away, and now a second ball pierced the 
breast and shattered the spine of the hapless bear, and 
before the sound of my shot ceased rolling up the valley, 
the last spasmodic kick announced the end. 
It was long after dark when I reached camp, but the 
bright moon made traveling easy, and the wild snort of 
the startled pony when he got a whiff of the bear skin 
heralded my return to the boys, and when I dropped my 
burden in the camp their joy and surprise were complete, 
for it was a fine hide and in excellent condition. They 
had finished their supper but mine was ready, and I did 
justice to it. Then, hefore turning in, we agreed that 
Fred and I should stretch and clean the bear skin on the 
morrow while Joe would pay the usual visit to the traps. 
His journey proved a fruitless one, so it was decided 
that night over the evening pipes that the following day 
would be our last in camp, and while Joe put a few fin- 
ishing touches to our furs, the traps should be brought in 
by Fred and myself. We found one small beaver had 
been caught, but nothing else had been touched, so we 
returned to camp with the skin and steel traps and passed 
the remainder of l he day in preparing for our homeward 
march. 
Old 'Breed's pack was a good deal lighter than when 
we first started, for our provisions were almost done. 
But eleven beaver skins and the large bear hide, with the 
tent and blankets as well, made a bulky load, and it was 
after nightfall when we reached the cabin on Joe's lanch. 
Moreover, it was snowing freely, and not until two days 
after did we meet any of our acquaintances, who were all 
too much accustomed to these erratic little movements on 
our part to exhibit any curiosity regarding our absence. 
Nor was Dutch Billy any the wiser. His prolonged 
"spree," as he termed it, left him without a cent; and he 
went to work cutting timber to raise another grub stake, 
and by the time the raise was made winter was too close 
for him to think of visiting his find. But we often won- 
dered what he thought when he found his birds had 
flown, and our wonder was mixed with admiration when 
we talked over Billy's knowledge of woodcraft as dis- 
played in the discovery of such a well hidden little wind- 
fall. 
As for ourselves, we passed a glorious winter on the 
money those beaver skins brought, and had many a rare 
day's sport among the deer, besides securing another pile 
Of furs. But then, as Rudyard Kipling says, "that is an- 
other story." Charles Greenwood. 
THE NORWEGIAN SNOWSHOE OR SKI. 
Los Angeles, Cal., Sept. 28— Editor Forest and Stream: 
I ,have been much interested in the experiences of Mr. 
Hough with the long snowshoe or ski of the Norwegians 
and Swedes. Like him I have often wondered why the 
American people, who love outdoor sports in winter, 
could be so intensely stupid about the finest of all out of 
door playthings. 
The first winter I spent in the woods of northern Wis- 
consin, over thirty years ago, I learned both kinds of 
snowshoes and quickly laid aside the netted shoe as a 
fraud when the other could be had. It bears the same re- 
lation to the ski that the old velocipede does to the mod- 
ern bicycle— you can do lots of work on it but there is 
little play. I am mightily in love with the bicycle.which 
is a wonderful plaything, especially on the miles of fine 
streets Los Angeles has all the year, but I agree with Mr. 
Hough most fully that the long snowshoe beats it. He 
makes a distinction, though that I never discovered, or 
rather he intimates the possibility of such, in speaking of 
ground where the web shoe is at home. I never found 
any ground where the other was not equally at home. 
When the snow is very soft and fresh it is work with 
either, the web shoe loads more than the long one and is 
more tiresome because it has to be lifted. When the snow 
is stiff enough and deep enough to make easy traveling 
with the Indian shoe, then the other will beat it day in 
and day out, in timber, among logs, or anything else. 
Where logs are very thick or hills very steep the web shoe 
will be better, but sooa you are on smoother and more 
open ground where a thousand twigs are sticking up 
through the snow which the long shoe slides over or 
pushes aside without you looking at them, while they will 
snag the other if you attempt to make the same speed. I 
I have seen Norwegians who could go through or over 
anything with them with apparent ease, but this takes 
years of practice. On open country the difference in the 
speed of the two kinds of shoe is ridiculous. But the dif- 
ference in learning is also very great. It takes but a few 
weeks to become quite proficient with the webbed shoe, 
but the other is much harder than skating, though the 
first stages are more easy. 
The difficulties of getting up hill are not as great as Mr. 
Hough's experience will justify. I found that the Scan- 
dinavians, most of whom are experts, learn them in 
in childhood and get along well with the shoe in any 
shape. In the several winters I played on them in the 
wooiia and on the open country I found out many im- 
provements. One was to countersink a place 8 or lOin. 
long on the bottom and fasten a strip of deerskin (off the 
shank where the hair is stiff) with the hair running back- 
ward. If carefully put on this will hold you well in 
going up hill if the grade is not too great or the snow too 
glassy, and without interfering much with high speed 
down slope. Where this won't do, if the hill is at all 
long, you will save much time and comfort by tying a 
handkerchief, strap or bit of soft rope around the shoe 
and lift it a little at each step. If you have it ready it 
takes but a moment to slip it on or off both shoes. 
Going up hill on them is not the same as with the 
bicycle. You lift your own weight, as in walking, and 
not by machinery, as with the bicycle. Consequently you 
can ascend a far steeper hill if they do not slip back. 
When it comes to a very steep hill the Indian shoe is 
much the best, and on some hills the only shoe on which 
you can make a direct ascent. But, as with the bicycle, 
the speed and ease of the ski anywhere but up hill are so 
great that the drawbacks of up hill amount to little in 
the general results. Where great speed is not needed 
three parallel grooves $in. wide and ^in. deep, rounded at 
the bottom, will prevent side slipping unless the snow is 
very hard. When the snow is glassy it pays to put in a 
strip of thin iron like the blade of a case knife or longer, 
like the centerboard of a boat. Let it project -^in. 
or more from the bottom and be made sharp and bev- 
eled where it first cuts the snow. Fix it on a little pivot 
and fasten to position with a button or two. It can be 
easily arranged to raise or lower like a centerboard. 
Balling of the snow under the foot aud slipping back in 
the tread does not seem to bother experts much, but there 
is no use in being bothered with either. A strip of deer- 
skin cut where the hair is long, strong and stiff, as on 
parts of the neck, and fastened in the tread with the hair 
running forward will almost entirely prevent backslip 
and balling. If the snow occasionally balls on this, which 
on some days it may do a little, especially under the heel, 
which is very annoying, it may be knocked out in a 
moment, whereas without hair it sticks very tight to the 
wood. 
A little guard of strap iron on each side the heel is a 
good aid to the beginner, and may be taken off easily 
when not wanted. Take a strip of thin iron (not too thin) 
about eight inches long and an inch wide, or an inch and 
a half will do. Bend this up two inches at each end (or 
more, if necessary— so high you don't tread on it) and so 
that it will not interfere with the one on the next shoe, a 
very important point. Screw this on the tread under the 
deer skin. You will find it of great help to hold your 
foot in place, and gives leverage in curving in working up 
hill and all side swings of the shoe. If you are sure that 
it don't interfere, it is no disadvantage for a racing shoe; 
while for a traveling shoe it is a great advantage for any 
one not a first-class expert, such as it takes years to make. 
You want nothing behind the heel. 
With the long shoe, as with the Indian shoe, buckskin 
moccasins with plenty of stockings under them are the 
thing of all things, and Arctic rubbers I imagine next, 
though I never used anything but moccasins. There is 
no bar to hurt the ball of your foot, as on the Indian shoe; 
but boots or shoes will not do well, if at all. 
The shoes should never be tied to the foot, as it may at 
any time be dangerous. It only prevents losing them, 
which had better be done by a string from the top of the 
toe strap hooked into your pants or tied around your 
ankle. 
I never found so much trouble as Mr. Hough did about 
the snow sticking to them and requiring so much waxing. 
I made mine of seasoned ash, well polished with emery 
paper. I then daubed them well with a mixture of pine 
pitch, such as is found on the ends of logs in the pineries, 
with beeswax and tallow in equal parts. This I ran into 
the wood with a flat iron as hot as it could be without 
burning. About once a month was often enough for this, 
and sometimes I let them go nearly all winter without 
any trouble, but then the snow was rarely soft. 
Mr. Hough says nothing about the use of these shoes in 
the sleigh track. They are almost as fine a plaything 
there as anywhere and it was the performance of a Nor- 
wegian there that first set me crazy about them. On a 
strip of perfectly level "tote road" in the woods, hard as 
a floor, he ran away from about a dozen of us. We ran 
our best and stayed with him for about a hundred yards 
and then one by one we began to weaken while he ran 
on half a mile further and came back at about the same 
speed without being a bit blown. He offered to bet fifty 
dollars that night in the camp and pulled the money, that 
he could go to mill, thirty miles, in three hours. Nobody 
took the bet but several who were well acquainted with 
him said they had no doubt that he could do it. On a 
mile and a half course of level ground near my home I 
have often made a mile and a half in ten minutes without 
being any more tired than I am in making that time on a 
bicycle on a pretty good road, but I could never equal 
the pace of that Norwegian. In such work both shoes 
run in the same track of one sleigh runner without inter- 
fering in the least if properly made. 
Speed on such ground as well as most anywhere is 
much aided by a pole, which should always be carried 
for safety in going down hill. This should be of hickory, 
rock-elm, ironwood, or some other tough wood and thick 
enough to allow you to throw your whole weight back 
on your right hand, in short, strong enough to sit on sud- 
denly. It should be about seven feet long, or more, and 
shod with iron sharp enough at the point to catch in ice or 
hard sleigh track, and an inch and a half or so above this 
should be a button an inch and a quarter or so in diame- 
ter to catch on ice or hard snow and hold you with cer- 
tainty and quickness when you want it to. Unless so 
fixed keep out of sleigh tracks on rolling country and off 
of steep hills when the snow is at all hard or you are 
liable to get into serious trouble. I was nearly knocked 
out once by one breaking with me on a heavy grade. A 
team came around a curve ahead of me and I threw my 
whole weight suddenly on it. There was a neat little cir- 
cus there. 
A racing shoe should be about 10ft. long, or even more 
for a heavy person, and sprung in the center so that it 
will stand up 3 or 4in. above the ends with no one on it. 
This will then distribute the weight evenly over the whole 
when one is on it. It should have no grooves in the 
bottom or anything to make friction, or possible inter- 
ference with the other shoe, which latter may be very 
dangerous. But for a cross country or traveling shoe I 
found 6ft. long enough and much easier to handle. Mr. 
Hough would have enjoyed his trip much more I think 
had he had such a shoe with the improvements above 
described. I have found this kind very much better for 
the woods and for hunting, though when the snow is 
deep and stiff enough for good fun with any kind of 
snowshoe no decent man has any business hunting any- 
thing but hares, grouse or squirrels, Four inches is about 
as wide as they can be safely made without interfering. 
For racing they should be a little narrower. 
The speed attainable by an expert with these shoes in 
