musquah) are also found
near Cumberland House though not frequently; a black bear often has red
cubs, and vice versa. The grizzly bear, so much dreaded by the Indians
for its strength and ferocity, inhabits a track of country nearer the
Rocky Mountains. It is extraordinary that although I made inquiries
extensively amongst the Indians I met with but one who said that he had
killed a she-bear with young in the womb.

The wolverine, in Cree okeekoohawgees, or ommeethatsees, is an animal of
great strength and cunning and is much hated by the hunters on account of
the mischief it does to their marten-traps. The Canadian lynx (peeshew)
is a timid but well-armed animal which preys upon the American hare. Its
fur is esteemed. The marten (wapeestan) is one of the most common furred
animals in the country. The fisher, notwithstanding its name, is an
inhabitant of the land, living like the common marten principally on
mice. It is the otchoek of the Crees, and the pekan of the Canadians. The
mink (atjackash) has been often confounded by writers with the fisher. It
is a much smaller animal, inhabits the banks of rivers, and swims well;
its prey is fish. The otter (neekeek) is larger than the English species
and produces a much more valuable fur.

The muskrat (watsuss, or musquash) is very abundant in all the small
grassy lakes. They build small conical houses with a mixture of hay and
earth, those which build early raising their houses on the mud of the
marshes, and those which build later in the season founding their
habitations upon the surface of the ice itself. The house covers a hole
in the ice which permits them to go into the water in search of the roots
on which they feed. In severe winters when the small lakes are frozen to
the bottom and these animals cannot procure their usual food they prey
upon each other. In this way great numbers are destroyed.

The beaver (ammisk) furnish the staple fur of the country. Many
surprising stories have been told of the sagacity with which this animal
suits the form of its habitation, retreats, and dam, to local
circumstances; and I compared the account of its manners given by Cuvier
in his Regne Animal with the reports of the Indians and found them to
agree exactly. They have been often seen in the act of constructing their
houses in the moonlight nights, and the observers agree that the stones,
wood, or other materials are carried in their teeth and generally leaning
against the shoul