heet, the fur turned inwards, and the bundle,
containing twenty skins, tightly pressed and tied, was ready for
transportation. The beaver after the hide is taken off weighs about
twelve pounds, and its flesh, although a little musky, is very fine. Its
tail which is flat and oval in shape, is covered with scales about the
size of those of a salmon. It was a great delicacy in the estimation of
the old trapper; he separated it from the body, thrust a stick in one
end of it, and held it before the fire with the scales on. In a few
moments large blisters rose on the surface, which were very easily
removed. The tail was then perfectly white, and delicious. Next to the
tail the liver was another favourite of the trapper, and when properly
cooked it constituted a delightful repast.

After the season was over, or the hunter had loaded all his
pack-animals, he proceeded to the "rendezvous," where the buyers were to
congregate for the purchase of the fur, the locality of which had been
agreed upon when the hunters started out on their expedition. One of
these was at Bent's old fort and one at Pueblo; another at "Brown's
Hole" on Green River, and there were many more on the great streams
and in the mountains. There the agents of the fur companies and traders
waited for the arrival of the trappers, with such an assortment of goods
as the hardy men required, including, of course, an immense supply of
whiskey. The trappers dropped in day after day, in small bands, packing
their loads of beaver-skins, not infrequently to the value of a thousand
dollars each, the result of one hunt.

The rendezvous was frequently a continuous scene of gambling, brawling,
and fighting, so long as the improvident trapper's money lasted. Seated
around the large camp-fires, cross-legged in Indian fashion, with
a blanket or buffalo-robe spread before them, groups were playing
cards--euchre, seven-up, and poker, the regular mountain games. The
usual stakes were beaver-skins, which were current as coin. When their
fur was all gone, their horses, mules, rifles, shirts, hunting packs,
and trousers were staked. Daring professional gamblers made the rounds
of the camps, challenging each other to play for the trapper's highest
stakes--his horse, or his squaw, if he had one--and it is told of one
great time that two old trappers played for one another's scalps! "There
goes hoss and beaver," was a common mountain expression when any severe
loss was sustained, and sh