rime in the winter; in the
summer, it is of inferior quality.

_Austin._ Do the trappers catch many beavers? I should think there
could not be very many of them.

_Hunter._ In one year, the Hudson's Bay Company alone sold as many as
sixty thousand beaver-skins; and it is not a very easy matter to take
them, I can assure you.

_Austin._ Sixty thousand! I did not think there were so many beavers
in the world.

_Hunter._ I will tell you an anecdote, by which you will see that
hunters and trappers have need to be men of courage and activity. A
trapper, of the name of Cannon, had just had the good fortune to kill
a buffalo; and, as he was at a considerable distance from his camp, he
cut out the tongue and some of the choice bits, made them into a
parcel, and slinging them on his shoulders by a strap passed round his
forehead, as the voyageurs carry packages of goods, set out on his way
to the camp. In passing through a narrow ravine, he heard a noise
behind him, and looking round, beheld, to his dismay, a grizzly bear
in full pursuit, apparently attracted by the scent of the meat. Cannon
had heard so much of the strength and ferocity of this fierce animal,
that he never attempted to fire, but slipping the strap from his
forehead, let go the buffalo meat, and ran for his life. The bear did
not stop to regale himself with the game, but kept on after the
hunter. He had nearly overtaken him, when Cannon reached a tree, and
throwing down his rifle, climbed up into it. The next instant Bruin
was at the foot of the tree, but as this species of bear does not
climb, he contented himself with turning the chase into a blockade.
Night came on. In the darkness, Cannon could not perceive whether or
not the enemy maintained his station; but his fears pictured him
rigorously mounting guard. He passed the night, therefore, in the
tree, a prey to dismal fancies. In the morning the bear was gone.
Cannon warily descended the tree, picked up his gun, and made the best
of his way back to the camp, without venturing to look after his
buffalo-meat.

_Austin._ Then the grizzly bear did not hurt him, after all.

_Brian._ I would not go among those grizzly bears for all in the
world.

_Austin._ Do the hunters take deer as well as other animals?

_Hunter._ Deer, though their skins are not so valuable as many furs,
are very useful to hunters and trappers; for they not only add to
their stock of peltries, but also supply them with food. When s