102 
FOREST AND STREAM 
[Feb. 8, 1902. 
The Metamorphosis of a Trapper. 
Our acquaintance with Charley began in Canada's 
woods on one day of the previous autumn, when, re- 
turning to our camp on Lake Crapaud with only a de- 
capitated woodduck to show as a result of a morning's 
hunt for big game, we sighted a canoe, containing two 
men, one of whom paddled while the other cast flies 
into our favorite trout hole. We called this hole our 
"larder," because at any time of day we could within a 
few minutes withdraw from it a sufficient number of fish 
for our next meal. It was, in fact, the main prop to our 
voracious appetites, and consequently we did not feel 
very cordial toward the intrusive strangers; but never- 
theless, when rain began to fall, we hallooed to them 
an invitation to share our shelter and good cheer. .They 
accepted, and the fisherman proved to be a Scotch 
gentleman on an initiatory visit to the American wilds, 
and his guide was Charley, who probably would have 
attracted neither especial attention nor thought beyond 
our enmity for trespassing but for an ensuing incident. 
The Scotchman while sipping his smoking tea — a won- 
derful antidote for cold and fatigue, by the by — evinced 
considerable uneasiness regarding a companion who 
had gone into the timber in quest of caribou with scant 
preparation either as to suitable wearing apparel or ex- 
perience in woodcraft. Charley then came to the fore, 
volunteered to search for him, and toward evening re- 
turned to camp preceding a wobegone Englishman 
clad in golf suit and tennis shoes, the wettest two-footed 
creature ever seen. He had, we learned, succeeded in 
forcing his way through tangled undergrowth, half way 
around a small lake, then, becoming exhausted and 
feeling unable to retrace his steps, thought to swim 
across, but having no strap for his rifle decided to wade 
out of the difficulty, and when found was floundering 
about in the lake with cold water up to his armpits, and 
no idea as to the points of the compass. 
Charley's accuracy in discovering our choice fishing 
ground and this amphibious Englishman were interest- 
ing, and prompted interrogations, which developed the 
information that he was merely acting as guide until the 
opening of the trapping season, when he would go to 
a more remote part of the wooded country. He told 
us of certain haunts of the moose, caribou, bear and 
other fur-bearing animals, until we felt as though it 
were still the age of Boone and Crockett. We had be- 
lieved that the day of professional trappers in lands which 
we could reach during our puny vacation had long since 
closed, but here was an afterglow illuminating those de- 
lightful stories of earlier times, which had always Caused 
us to criticise the belated date of our nativity, and to 
metaphorically shade our eyes with the hope of catch- 
ing a glimpse of the fast-retreating trackless forest and 
its denizens. Yes, he said, he would take us into this 
primitive land, which time, represented by woodchop- 
pers and railroads, had overlooked, if we would write 
to him after the grasp of the northern winter relaxed 
and he emerged from its fastnesses. So, during the 
following summer, we wrote and wrote again, and when 
we despaired and the stories of the strange land were 
becoming mythical, a reply came saying, "I received 
your letter asking will I go with you into the woods as 
a guide. Yes, you may come to me. I will be all to 
you. In the places where we will go, they are not good 
places for fishing; we can take only a little quantity, but 
it is a good place for hunting; there are many reindeer 
and many moose." 
I wonder how many times we reread that letter be- 
tween the time of its receipt and our departure. While 
it was true we had some heads over our fireplaces, still 
we wished for one or two more in order to illustrate 
the successive stages of development of the horns of the 
wild quadrupeds — at least this was the excuse given for 
our impatient longing to once again experience the 
barbarous exhilaration attending the outwitting of the 
timorous beasts. Well, one day in late September we 
joined Charley and pitched our tent in the deep woods 
of a corner of Canada, and during the ensuing careless 
days of a beautiful season in a picturesque country we 
gained an insight into the life and feeling of a pro- 
fessional trapper; in this case, a trapper by inheritance as 
well as by profession. His ancestors were Indians of 
the Huron tribe, and subsisted entirely by the spoils of 
the chase. The fact that his father was reduced (or 
advanced, if you chose) to an half-breed did not inter- 
rupt the inherited proclivity, and Charley, when a child, 
dwelt in the woods between Quebec and Lake S. John, 
where game was then very plentiful. 'Twas in these 
same woods, by the by, that we met him. and after hear- 
ing his story, we were no longer puzzled by his prompt 
discovery of our trout hole and the lost Englishman. 
This neighborhood withheld no secrets from him; it 
was the book from which he had gotten his entire 
education. As firearms improved, and their value dimin- 
ished, and traps became a manufactured article, the 
trappers, being no longer limited to snares, deadfalls, 
hgure 4 and such other ingenious contrivances, slaugh- 
tered large numbers of animals during a season; there- 
fore a frequent change of location was necessary. So 
our friend shouldered his few belongings from time to 
time, wandered back and forth along the borderland 
of the United States and Canada, through the Provinces 
of Ontario and Quebec, from Lake Superior to the ex- 
treme end of Gaspe Peninsula, with pecuniary results 
varying from $1,500 to $300 per winter, until the season 
preceding our acquaintance, when his catch netted him 
but little more than $100, and convinced him that a suc- 
cessful nomadic trapper was an institution of the past. 
A man living on the edge of a game country, however, 
can spend a couple of months of the long Canadian win- 
ter, during which there is no occupation except log- 
ging, in the bush, and satisfactorily supplement his sum- 
mer earnings. Within this time he can almost deplete 
the furry tribe in quite a large expanse of countrv, for 
S°\ 1S scarce ^""g the season of heavv snowfall", and 
th e hungry critters are easily enticed into traps. 
Charley, in hia discouragement, decided to try to main- 
J3in himself tyy guiding sportsmen— a ragst natural meta- 
morphosis for him, who had felt no limitation to com- 
plete freedom during his sixty years. He could no 
more endure the yoke incident to an industrial pursuit 
than a moose could be taught to draw a plow. 
We found the country to be exactly as he had rep- 
resented it. We were, indeed, in the midst of game, and 
inquisitive animals could be heard "whistling" near our 
tents during the night. Between our going and coming 
over the trails, moose and caribou would have traversed 
them. Charley was religiously truthful, as delicately con- 
siderate as a woman, systematically energetic, with a 
clearly defined object always in view, and altogether 
an enjoyable companion; but a veritable beast of prey. 
He noticed every sign and indication of our animal 
neighbors— where the bear had torn the bark of trees 
into ribbons when after the sweet sap, where the moose 
had nipped the buds of shrubs and rubbed its horns upon 
the stems of young fir trees, or where a caribou had left 
a tuft of hair upon a resisting twig and burnished his 
antlers upon the low-growing Dushes beside the stream, 
No sign, old or new, escaped him, and every fresh track 
was subjected to a close scrutiny, which enabled him to 
draw a vivid and accurate mental picture of the kind, 
size, sex and age of the brutes, so that he was in con- 
stant association with the inmates of the forest, and when 
he came up with them he had but one thought and in- 
tention. He knew no more about restraint than any 
other wild animal in search of pfey. The citizens of 
northern latitudes require a warm covering and meat for 
food; the indigenous beasts supply both, a provision of 
nature, and Charley had been for years an intermediary, 
as purveyor, who hesitated no longer about appropriat- 
ing an animal than the fur trader did of rewarding him, 
or than a lumberman would before felling a noble tree. 
To him the moose and caribou, for instance, meant sev- 
eral dollars for the hides, meat for himself, and bait for 
his traps. There was no waste of material here, to his 
mind. The only game law he observed was the opening 
and closing of the hunting seasons, and observed these 
incidentally because they corresponded with a marketable 
condition of fur. 
While with us, he carried no weapon, and his agitation 
when game came into sight was like that of a beagle 
hound in leash when a rabbit is jumped. He was dumb- 
founded by our declination to expend one cartridge for 
the beautiful hide of a cow caribou with which We came 
face to face. A crane or an owl, though worthless 
when dead to him or us, would inspire him with the 
thought and suggestion of slaughter, and one evening 
oil our return to camp from an independent quest for 
game, we found him handling a dead moose bird, one 
of a pair that had shared our luck, good or ill, and 
almost ate from our hands. 
•'Why did you kill it?" we asked. 
"I no like dem," 
"Why not? They keep our camp clean." 
"Oh, ves, dey's good fer dat; but I no like dem." 
"Tell us why." 
"In de col' of winter time, when I climbs de mounting 
and fin' my draps down and dinks I hab a marten an 
maybe ten dollar, I fin' only dese birds ! Dey springs 
de draps maybe five minutes after I Walks fer itiiles 
and sets urn," 
_ We, too, had fruitlessly cliiribed some of those "moun- 
tings," though not in winter's rigor, and were silent, 
his reason being rational. His language was knock- 
kneed, bow-legged and pigeon-toed; that is, it wobbled 
but always came to a point at the end. His stories Were 
entirely confined to the animals which had escaped him, 
and no doubt his thoughts dwelt principally upon these 
mischances during his summer hibernation. He had 
captured a number of bear when in this neighborhood 
during the preceding winter, but one of them avoided 
him; therefore a bear trap was a part of our impedi- 
menta, and the matter of the intended capture of this 
animal gave him occupation whenever there were no 
pressing duties. The bear referred to had visited the 
camp, it seems, one day during the absence of the 
owner, and after devouring a considerable portion of 
the remains ©f one of its own kin, had, beside rending 
some reserve wearing apparel, scattered things generally 
while searching for dainties. This was aggravating, 
but imagine Charley's indignation some nights sub- 
sequently when the audacious brute twice encircled his 
tent and then began tearing it down in order to obtain 
possession of a moose hide which was drying upon it. 
The moon cast Bruin's shadow obliquely upon the can- 
vas, and a hasty shot failed to do more than put him to 
flight. There being snow on the ground, Charley ran 
ten miles on the trail the next day — a tremendous ex- 
ertion—but failed to overtake the fugitive. The daring 
performances of the bear, and the lost opportunity, will, 
we think, never be forgotten, and after' the fall of our 
first caribou Charley carried pieces of meat far over the 
mountains in four directions, rubbing his moccasins 
upon it from time to time, saying, "Ef dat bear him 
cross dis trail, him fin* de meat purty quick; den him 
fin' de caribou, an' de day next after him fin' de cari- 
bou, we got him sure." He poked his head into our 
tent one evening to say, "I dinks I hear de bear snif- 
fin' las' night. We bes' put dis head and hide in you's 
tent dis night." We didn't feel jubilant over the propo- 
sition. Consorting with bait, under the circumstances, 
might not be an altogether desirable occupation, so we 
said, "If you put them in here you had better hug the 
earth pretty tightly, for if we hear a noise in the night 
we shall promptly fill the air with lead. He closed the 
bargain by replying quickly, "Dat's all right; you get 
de bear." 
It was a sorry day for our friend when our vacation 
ended before the bear's larger circuit crossed the trail 
of the meat. We came upon one of his marten traps 
when on one of our tramps, and it recalled another lost 
opportunity. This time the ill-luck befell Jean, his 
partner of the previous winter. Getting on his hands and 
knees before the trap he said, "Here was Jean youst so, 
an' w'en he look up dere was a ole bull caribou, twendy 
yards near, wid big, big, big, horns, youst a-lookin' ride 
ad him. Jean hes carbeen be ten feed far, and he youst 
stay here so and dink a heap; den he run quick fer hes 
carbeen, but de ole bull he go quicker. By gosh! Jean 
he one mad man." 
We are indebted to Charley for a thoroughly enjoyable 
outing; all the more enjoyable no doubt for the insight 
into the feelings of a-son of the woods, notwithstanding 
his regrettable bloodthirstiness. This proclivity con- 
vinces us that if more trappers are driven to change 
their calling the better it will be for sportsmen gener- 
ally. We know of three of this profession who aer 
knowledged having killed during last winter thirty moose 
and nine caribou, regardless of sex or age. Think of 
it! a herd of these animals shot down in one winter by 
three men, very much as buffalo were some years ago — 
for their hides. These men are, however, natives of the 
woods, pursuing their accustomed occupation, who be- 
lieve that their necessities- — and some members of this 
class are abjectly poor — take precedence over game 
laws, and they are probably less reprehensible than the 
amateur hunter, who, although shooting for pastime only, 
and being possessed of less bias and a more intelligent 
comprehension of the necessity of protective laws, is at 
times equally regardless of them. When away off in the 
woods, out of sight and hearing, and, we are sorry to 
add, not being watched, he cannot resist taking a beau- 
tiful head or hide, even though in a closed country or 
out of season or in excess of. the permitted quota. He 
excuses his lawlessness on the ground that restrictive 
laws are not intended for him, but for the pot-hunter, 
and withholds his influence from those persons, or- 
ganizations and periodicals who and which are striving 
to establish preserves and laws in order to perpetuate 
his pleasure, by preventing the carnage that is now 
going on. Lippincott. 
A Walk Down South.— XV. 
JofrN Bogan Welcomed me; so did his wife, and his 
eight or nine year old daughter climbed into my lap 
before the fireplace. Supper was soon ready — we ate — 
liver pudding, fresh pork, two kinds of peaches, three of 
apples, cherries, jelly and berries, beside coffee, hot 
biscuit, etc. Then we went into the sitting room and 
gathered before the fireplace. My maps, with the violet 
lines across them from the far Adirondacks clear down 
to their own mountain, excited their interest. I was the 
"funniest fellow" that had ever happened their way. 
Soon Warwick, John's brother, came in. He found 
May Ginger there already, doubtless as he expected. We 
sat around the fire, 1 telling something of my travels. 
A banjo Was on the bed in the sitting room. John 
picked it up and tuned it. Miss Ginger played a "low, 
sweet lullaby" and looked unutterable things at War- 
wick. The spectators grinned heartlessly, and the tall 
young lady tossed her chin. Then John took the in- 
strument and picked a few bars, as if to try it, but the 
stranger's presence restrained them all, as I could see. • 
Then I went to my pack and took from it a harmonica 
(mouth organ), or as the Virginians called it, a "French 
harp." It was a good one. I offered it to them of 
course, and Warwick played a song — a slow, mournful 
kind of tune— to which Miss Ginger hummed an ac- 
companiment. Then I took it and cut loose with a jig. 
That stirred the banjo in mighty style. 
Marking time with his foot, John began an equally 
lively piece, followed by another, and a third. The tunes 
to my ears wefe drowned at first in the melody (?). 
The pieces all sounded alike; that is, even in the 
changes and time. But after a bit I could tra.ee the 
thread of the tune up and down and round about. The 
effect was that of a stream flowing down a valley hidden 
now by high banks and again by woodlands. Pretty 
soon Bogan said, 
"I went up on the mounting," 
"I beg pardon?" I said, not catching the words un- 
derstandingly. 
"He's singing," said Miss Ginger. 
The banjo kept on moving. Then 
"To give mah horn a blow. 
Warwick rolled a cigarette and Miss Ginger frustrated 
the lighting of it, the banjo still moving, 
"Ah beared them hounds a-coming, 
A-coming very slow." 
After a line of music came the chorus unbroken: 
"Here lies a po'r gal, 
Here lies Elizer Jane; 
Here lies a po'r gal, 
Who died upon the train." 
Warwick and Miss Ginger paused to join in the 
chorus with low voices. Then they resumed the diffi- 
culty resulting from the demolished cigarette, while 
John thrummed steadily on, singing: 
"I went down the river, 
A-stripping sugar cane; 
Every shock Ah picked up 
Ah called on 'Liza Jane. 
Chorus: 
"I went out on the mounting — 
I went out on a train — 
I went out on the mounting 
To see poor 'Liza Jane. 
Ah ast her if she loved me, 
She said sbe loved me some, 
She throwed her arms around me 
Like grape vine 'round a gun." 
Chorus: 
"Railroad, plank road, Tennessee canal, 
Hadn't been for Lizer Jane, there'd never been no hell." 
"When I was in the army, 
Six hosses was me team, 
Drawed mah check, cracked mah whip — 
G'lang, 'Liza Jane." 
Bogan is a professional hunter. He kills deer for 
market. At 12 cents a pound he makes a comfortable 
living selling venison. He hunts six days a week, just 
as any other man follows a business. His farm has 
a 100- foot thick vein of iron ore on it. Capitalists 
negotiated for 2,200 acres of land, supposing this vein 
was on it. Finding that Bogan owned it, they tried to 
buy the land at good farm prices. They offered as 
much as $2,000 for the place, a staggering price, when 
one does not consider the 100-foot iron ore vein. But 
Bogan considers the iron. 
After two hour? 0 f jnu.sie, song and talk, we went 
