The fur-trapper of America is the chief pioneer of the Far West. His
life spent in the remote wilderness, with no other companion than Nature
herself, his character assumes a mixture of simplicity and ferocity. He
knows no wants beyond the means of procuring sufficient food and
clothing. All the instincts of primitive man are constantly kept alive.
Exposed to dangers of all sorts, he becomes callous to them, and is as
ready to destroy human as well as animal life as he is to expose his
own. He cares nothing for laws, human or divine. Strong, active,
hardy, and daring, he depends on his instinct for the support of life.
The independent trapper possesses traps and animals of his own, ranges
wherever he lists through the country, and disposes of his peltries to
the highest bidder. There are others employed by the fur companies, who
supply them with traps and animals, and pay a certain price for the furs
they bring.
The independent trapper equips himself with a horse and two or three
mules--the one for the saddle, the others for his packs--and a certain
number of traps, which he carries in a leather bag, with ammunition, a
few pounds of tobacco, and dressed deerskins for his mocassins and
repairing his garments. His costume is a hunting-shirt of dressed
buckskin, ornamented with long fringes; pantaloons of the same material,
decorated with porcupine quills and long fringes down the outside of the
leg. He has mocassins on his feet, and a flexible felt hat on his head.
Over his left shoulder and under his right arm hang his powder-horn and
bullet-pouch, with flint, steel, and other articles, in a bag. A belt
round the waist secures a large knife in a sheath of buffalo hide to a
steel chain, as also a case of buckskin, containing a whetstone. In his
belt is also stuck a tomahawk, a pipe-holder hangs round his neck, and a
long heavy rifle is slung over his shoulder.
Arrived on the hunting-ground, as soon as the ice has broken up he
follows the creeks and streams, keeping a lookout for the signs of
beavers. As soon as he discovers one, he sets his trap, secured to a
chain fastened to a stake or tree, baiting it with the tempting
castoreum. He is ever on the watch for the neighbourhood of Indians,
who try to outwit him, though generally in vain, to steal his traps and
beavers. His eye surveys the surrounding country, and instantly detects
any sign of his foes. A leaf turned down, the slightly pressed grass,
the uneasiness of the wild animals, the flight of birds, all tell him
that other human beings are in the neighbourhood. Sometimes, after he
has set his traps and is returning to his camp, the wily Indian who has
been watching follows, and a home-drawn arrow, shot within a few feet,
never fails to bring the hapless victim to the ground. For one white
scalp, however, that dangles in the smoke of an Indian's lodge, a dozen
black ones surround the camp-fires of the trappers' rendezvous. Here,
after the hunt, from all quarters the hardy trappers bring in their
packs of beaver to meet the purchasers, sometimes to the value of a
thousand dollars each. The traders sell their goods at enormous
profits; and the thoughtless trapper, indulging in the fire-water from
which he has long abstained, is too often induced to gamble away the
gold for which he has risked life and gone through so many hardships.
When all is gone, he gets credit for another equipment, and sets off
alone, often to return and repeat the same process, although the profits
of one or two successful hunts would enable him to stock a farm and live
among civilised men.
Wonders of Nature.--Mammoth Cave of Kentucky.
There are many other wonders of Nature in different parts of North
America well worthy of more notice than we can give them. The most
remarkable, perhaps, is the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky. The entrance to
it is situated near Green River, midway between Louisville and
Nashville.
A lonely road leads to the entrance, from which, as we approach it in
summer, we find a peculiarly chilly air issue forth. The sombre gloom
of the entrance does not prepare us for the enormous hall within; long
avenues leading into vast chambers, the smaller, thirty feet in height,
at least, with an area of half an acre, and, as we get lower and lower,
increasing in height. Upwards of eighteen miles of the cavern have been
explored, and it may possibly be of still greater extent. To give an
idea of the height of one of the chambers, we may add that the rocks
from above have fallen, and a hill has been formed one hundred feet in
elevation. Many of the halls are ornamented with the most magnificent
stalactites. One of them is appropriately called Martha's Vineyard, in
consequence of having its tops and sides covered with stalactites which
resemble bunches of grapes.
Several streams pass through the cavern, down the sides of which rush
numerous cataracts. Some of these streams, which are of considerable
depth and width, are inhabited by shoals of eyeless fish, the organs of
sight being superfluous in a region doomed to eternal night. The
atmosphere of this huge cave is peculiarly dry, and is supposed to be
extremely serviceable to persons afflicted with pulmonary complaints.
To visit any considerable portion of the cavern would occupy us at least
a couple of days. It is calculated there are no less than two hundred
and twenty-six avenues, forty-seven domes, numerous rivers, eight
cataracts, and twenty-three pits,--many of which are grand in the
extreme. Some of the rivers are navigated by boats, and, as may be
supposed, they have obtained appropriate names. Here we find the Dead
Sea and the River Styx. One of the streams disappears beneath the
ground, and then rises again in another portion of the cavern. But
after all, as naturalists, the little eyeless fish should chiefly claim
our attention.