by having a wolverine follow a line of
deadfalls, tear down the bait pen and take the bait, but we did not
allow him to do his cussedness long before we would put a trap in the
way.

We would sometimes have the parts of a deer taken down by a lynx
where we had hung up venison so that it would be convenient to use
for bear bait. We never objected much about it for we were willing to
trade venison for a cat almost any time, for deer were very
plentiful.

In April, when we were taking up our traps and getting ready to start
down the river as soon as the water dropped so that we dare start, we
were going onto a stream one day to take up three or four traps that
we had set for beaver, our route led us across the point of the
ridge. The point faced to the southeast, and the snow was off in
spots on this point. When we went over this point in the morning we
saw many deer run from these bare spots, so when we came back along
in the afternoon we were as careful as possible and kept the highest
ground so as to get a good view on this bare point to see how many
deer we could count. There were upwards of forty in sight at one
time. How I wish I could have had that picture.

We did not dare to start down the river until the first of June, on
account of the high water. We had been told that there was a camp on
the head of the river where they were cutting wood to be burned into
charcoal. While we were waiting for the water to drop we took a
knapsack of grub and some fishing tackle and started to find the wood
choppers' camp, which we did on the second day after leaving camp. We
stayed ten or twelve days at this camp, and while there a Frenchman
invited me out to a lake two or three miles from their camp and fish
for bass. He said he would take along a couple of traps and we would
have some rats for breakfast, as we were going to camp at the lake
over night. I did not say much about rats for breakfast, as I thought
the man was joking. But sure enough, we had rats for breakfast, also
plenty of fish.

Well, after the man had argued and plead the case of the rats from
all points of view, and I had done a good deal of snuffing and
smelling, I tasted, yes, I ate a piece of muskrat and I must confess
it was of a fine flavor and would be splendid eating if it was not a
rat. However, I have not tried any more from that day to this. I
prefer partridge, and I have never been in a place where there were
as many partridges as there were in