the other was resetting the trap beneath the ice. I raised
my gun and was about to fire, when . . . See Chapter VI.]

But before setting out on our way--I forgot to tell you--we cached our
moose meat in a tree as was previously agreed upon with old Granny,
who, with the boys, was to come and take it home; and in order to
prevent wolverines from stealing or spoiling the meat, the hunter
wrapped round the trunk of the tree an old bag to which were fastened
many fish hooks, all with their barbs pointing downward and ready to
impale any creature that tried to climb the tree. Needless to say, as
that tree stood alone, no wolverine touched that meat.

That day we covered about twenty miles, and by the afternoon of the
second day we had arrived at the lake on the far shore of which lived
Oo-koo-hoo's sister, Ko-ko-hay--The Perfect Woman--with her daughter
and her son-in-law and four granddaughters. As we drew near the camp
we found the women about a mile from shore fishing through the ice for
salmon trout. There were a number of holes--each of which was marked
by a spruce bough set upright in the snow--and the fishing was being
done with hook and line. The hook dangling below the ice about a third
of the water's depth, was held in position by a branch line to which
was attached a suitable sinker. The trout they had caught ran from ten
to thirty pounds each--as near as I could judge--and as the women had
already gained a good haul, they loaded their catch upon their sled and
returned home with us.

Gill nets are also used in the winter time. They are strung under the
ice beneath a series of holes by means of which the net is passed under
the ice with the aid of a pole. The lines being then secured at either
end, the net can be readily drawn back and forth for the purpose of
emptying and resetting. Of course, floats and sinkers are used to
spread the net and keep it in proper position. In some
localities--where the water is muddy--the nets are occasionally boiled
with willow bark to keep them from being destroyed by worms.

Gill nets, however, are frequently injured by animals, not only
amphibious ones such as beaver and otter, but even by such animals as
wolverines. Some years ago, a Yellowknife Indian hunting near Fort
Resolution had an experience of that kind. He having set a gill net
beneath the ice, failed to visit it for several days. When, however,
he did arrive, he saw that it had been tampered with, and