ld oxen inclosed. The "pound" is another mode of capturing wild
animals practised by several tribes of Indians in the Hudson's Bay
territory. In this case the game is the caribou or reindeer, but no
rope fence would serve to impound these. A good substantial inclosure
of branches and trees is necessary, and the construction of a "pound" is
the work of time and labour. I know of no animal except the vicuna
itself, that could be captured after the manner practised in the
"chacu."

CHAPTER NINETEEN.

SQUIRREL-SHOOTING.

We were now travelling among the spurs of the "Ozark hills," and our
road was a more difficult one. The ravines were deeper, and as our
course obliged us to cross the direction in which most of them ran, we
were constantly climbing or descending the sides of steep ridges. There
was no road except a faint Indian trail, used by the Kansas in their
occasional excursions to the borders of the settlements. At times we
were compelled to cut away the underwood, and ply the axe lustily upon
some huge trunk that had fallen across the path and obstructed the
passage of our waggon. This rendered our progress but slow.

During such halt most of the party strayed off into the woods in search
of game. Squirrels were the only four-footed creatures found, and
enough of these were shot to make a good-sized "pot-pie;" and it may be
here remarked, that no sort of flesh is better for this purpose than
that of the squirrel.

The species found in these woods was the large "cat-squirrel" (_Sciurus
cinereus_), one of the noblest of its kind. Of course at that season,
amid the plenitude of seeds, nuts, and berries, they were as plump as
partridges. This species is usually in good condition, and its flesh
the best flavoured of all. In the markets of New York they bring three
times the price of the common grey squirrel.

As we rode along, the naturalist stated many facts in relation to the
squirrel tribe, that were new to most of us. He said that in North
America there were not less than twenty species of true squirrels, all
of them dwellers in the trees, and by including the "ground" and
"flying" squirrels (_tamias_ and _pteromys_), the number of species
might be more than forty. Of course there are still new species yet
undescribed, inhabiting the half-explored regions of the western
territory.

The best-known of the squirrels is the common "grey squirrel," as it is
in most parts of the United States the