sections of the United States for
catching foxes, wolves etc, excepting, that it is smaller and perhaps
made with more skill. Old trappers were very superstitious in regard
to the makers of their traps, for they entertained the idea that much
of their good or bad fortune depended on the tools they worked with;
hence, they always had their favorite makers, and would pay more for
their traps than for those of any other maker. This is true also with
their rifles. For many years a rifle was condemned at first sight if
it did not have the name of Hawkins[23] stamped on it, and it was not
uncommon for them, when boasting of the good qualities of their riding
animals, if they considered them of the maximum degree of superiority,
to style them "regular Hawkins _horses_", thereby showing how far, in
this respect, their predilections grounded their opinions.

[Footnote 23: Mr. Hawkins was the owner of a large gun establishment
at St. Louis, Mo.]

The setting of the trap required expertness and experience, or else it
availed nothing; for the game to be caught is, as the reader can now
readily conceive, very wary and his suspicions of there being anything
wrong near at hand, had to be allayed by concealing as much as
possible the instrument from view; yet it must not be far from the
surface of the water; and then again it had to be firmly fixed in its
position, by being made fast to something that was firm so as prevent
its being dragged off. The trapper, while thus engaged, is in the
water. About his waist there is a strap to which is attached a pouch
in which is carried the bait. Everything being arranged, the trap is
set and the bait applied, when the man notes the place where he has
been at work so as to recognize it again, and then takes his departure
to return early the following morning. The beaver, during this
interim, is attracted by the peculiar scent of the bait, and, as a
reward for his curiosity, he generally is caught by one of his paws
and thus falls a prey to the hunter's pleasure. The traps, when
visited, are relieved of the contents and then set again. The game is
put out of its misery and carried to camp, where it is skinned, and
where all of the pelts recently taken are stretched out, dried, cured,
and packed in small bales, whenever a sufficient quantity is obtained
so to do with it. The trapper, when in _full dress_ for an expedition,
and especially after having been on one with its concomitant
hair-breadth