"Chingawa," began he, "a Chippeway or Ojibway Indian, better-known at
the fort as `Old Foxey,' was a noted hunter of his tribe. I had grown
to be a favourite with him. My well-known passion for the chase was a
sort of masonic link between us; and our friendship was farther
augmented by the present of an old knife for which I had no farther use.
The knife was not worth twopence of sterling money, but it made `Old
Foxey' my best friend; and all his `hunter-craft'--the gatherings of
about sixty winters--became mine.
"I had not yet been inducted into the mystery of `rat-catching,' but the
season for that `noble' sport at length arrived, and the Indian hunter
invited me to join him in a muskrat hunt.
"Taking our `traps' on our shoulders, we set out for the place where the
game was to be found. This was a chain of small lakes or ponds that ran
through a marshy valley, some ten or twelve miles distant from the fort.
"The traps, or implements, consisted of an ice-chisel with a handle some
five feet in length, a small pickaxe, an iron-pointed spear barbed only
on one side, with a long straight shaft, and a light pole about a dozen
feet in length, quite straight and supple.
"We had provided ourselves with a small stock of eatables as well as
materials for kindling a fire--but no Indian is ever without these. We
had also carried our blankets along with us, as we designed to make a
night of it by the lakes.
"After trudging for several hours through the silent winter forests, and
crossing both lakes and rivers upon the ice, we reached the great marsh.
Of course, this, as well as the lakes, was frozen over with thick ice;
we could have traversed it with a loaded waggon and horses without
danger of breaking through.
"We soon came to some dome-shaped heaps rising above the level of the
ice. They were of mud, bound together with grass and flags, and were
hardened by the frost. Within each of these rounded heaps, Old Foxey
knew there was at least half a dozen muskrats--perhaps three times that
number--lying snug and warm and huddled together.
"Since there appeared no hole or entrance, the question was how to get
at the animals inside. Simply by digging until the inside should be
laid open, thought I. This of itself would be no slight labour. The
roof and sides, as my companion informed me, were three feet in
thickness; and the tough mud was frozen to the hardness and consistency
of a fire-brick. But after getting through this shell, where should we
find the inmates? Why, most likely, we should not find them at all
after all this labour. So said my companion, telling me at the same
time that there were subterranean, or rather subaqueous, passages, by
which the muskrats would be certain to make off under the ice long
before he had penetrated near them.
"I was quite puzzled to know how we should proceed. Not so Old Foxey.
He well knew what he was about, and pitching his traps down by one of
the `houses,' commenced operations.
"The one he had selected stood out in the lake, some distance from its
edge. It was built entirely upon the ice; and, as the hunter well knew,
there was a hole in its floor by which the animals could get into the
water at will. How then was he to prevent them from escaping by the
hole, while we removed the covering or roof? This was what puzzled me,
and I watched his movements with interest.
"Instead of digging into the house, he commenced cutting a hole in the
ice with his ice-chisel about two feet from the edge of the mud. That
being accomplished, he cut another, and another, until four holes were
pierced forming the corners of a square, and embracing the house of the
muskrat within.
"Leaving this house, he then proceeded to pierce a similar set of holes
around another that also stood out on the open lake. After that he went
to a third one, and this and then a fourth were prepared in a similar
manner.
"He now returned to the first, this time taking care to tread lightly
upon the ice and make as little stir as possible. Having arrived there,
he took out from his bag a square net made of twisted deer-thongs, and
not much, bigger than a blanket. This in a most ingenious manner he
passed under the ice, until its four corners appeared opposite the four
holes; where, drawing them through, he made all last and `taut' by a
line stretching from one corner to the other.
"His manner of passing the net under the ice I have pronounced
ingenious. It was accomplished by reeving a line from hole to hole by
means of the long slender pole already mentioned. The pole, inserted
through one of the holes, conducted the line, and was itself conducted
by means of two forked sticks that guided it, and pushed it along to the
other holes. The line being attached to the comers of the net made it
an easy matter to draw the latter into its position.
"All the details of this curious operation were performed with a
noiseless adroitness which showed `Old Foxey' was no novice at
`rat-catching.'
"The net being now quite taut along the lower surface of the ice, must
of course completely cover the hole in the `floor.' It followed,
therefore, that if the muskrats were `at home,' they were now `in the
trap.'
"My companion assured me that they would be found inside. The reason
why he had not used the net on first cutting the holes, was to give any
member of the family that had been frightened out, a chance of
returning; and this he knew they would certainly do, as these creatures
cannot remain very long under the water.
"He soon satisfied me of the truth of his statement. In a few minutes,
by means of the ice-chisel and pickaxe, we had pierced the crust of the
dome; and there, apparently half asleep,--because dazzled and blinded by
the sudden influx of light--were no less than eight full-grown
musquashes!
"Almost before I could count them, Old Foxey had transfixed the whole
party, one after the other, with his long spear.
"We now proceeded to another of the houses, at which the holes had been
cut. There my companion went through a similar series of operations;
and was rewarded by a capture of six more `rats.'
"In the third of the houses only three were found.
"On opening a fourth, a singular scene met our eyes. There was but, one
muskrat alive, and that one seemed to be nearly famished to death. Its
body was wasted to mere `skin and bone;' and the animal had evidently
been a long time without food. Beside it lay the naked skeletons of
several small animals that I at once saw were those of the muskrat. A
glance at the bottom of the nest explained all. The hole, which in the
other houses had passed through the ice, and which we found quite open,
in this one was frozen up. The animals had neglected keeping it open,
until the ice had got too thick for them to break through; and then,
impelled by the cravings of hunger, they had preyed upon each other,
until only one, the strongest, survived!
"I found upon counting the skeletons that no less than eleven had
tenanted this ice-bound prison.
"The Indian assured me that in seasons of very severe frost such an
occurrence is not rare. At such times the ice forms so rapidly, that
the animals--perhaps not having occasion to go out for some hours--find
themselves frozen in; and are compelled to perish of hunger, or devour
one another!
"It was now near night--for we had not reached the lake until late in
the day--and my companion proposed that we should leave farther
operations until the following morning. Of course I assented to the
proposal, and we betook ourselves to some pine-trees that grew on a high
bank near the shore, where we had determined to pass the night.
"There we kindled a roaring fire of pine-knots; but we had grown very
hungry, and I soon found that of the provisions I had brought, and upon
which I had already dined, there remained but a scanty fragment for
supper. This did not trouble my companion, who skinned several of the
`rats,' gave them a slight warming over the fire, and then ate them up
with as much _gout_ as if they had been partridges. I was hungry, but
not hungry enough for that; so I sat watching him with some
astonishment, and not without a slight feeling of disgust.
"It was a beautiful moonlight night, one of the clearest I ever
remember. There was a little snow upon the ground, just enough to cover
it; and up against the white sides of the hills could be traced the
pyramidal outlines of the pines, with their regular gradations of dark
needle-clothed branches. They rose on all sides around the lake,
looking like ships with furled sails and yards square-set.
"I was in a reverie of admiration, when I was suddenly aroused by a
confused noise, that resembled the howling and baying of hounds. I
turned an inquiring look upon my companion.
"`Wolves!' he replied, unconcernedly, chawing away at his `roast rat.'
"The howling sounded nearer and nearer; and then there was a rattling
among dead trees, and the quickly-repeated `crunch, crunch,' as of the
hoofs of some animal breaking through frozen snow. The next moment a
deer dashed past in full run, and took to the ice. It was a large buck,
of the `Caribou' or reindeer species (_Cervus tarandus_), and I could
see that he was smoking with heat, and almost run down.
"He had hardly passed the spot when the howl again broke out in a
continued strain, and a string of forms appeared from out the bushes.
They were about a dozen in all; and they were going at full speed like a
pack of hounds on the view. Their long muzzles, erect ears, and huge
gaunt bodies, were outlined plainly against the snowy ground. I saw
that they were wolves. They were white wolves, and of the largest
species.
"I had suddenly sprung to my feet, not with the intention of saving the
deer, but of assisting in its capture; and for this purpose I seized the
spear, and ran out. I heard my companion, as I thought, shouting some
caution after me; but I was too intent upon the chase to pay any
attention to what he said. I had at the moment a distinct perception of
hunger, and an indistinct idea of roast venison for supper.
"As I got down to the shore, I saw that the wolves had overtaken the
deer, and dragged it down upon the ice. The poor creature made but poor
running on the slippery track, sprawling at every bound; while the sharp
claws of its pursuers enabled them to gallop over the ice like cats.
The deer had, no doubt, mistaken the ice for water, which these
creatures very often do, and thus become an easy prey to wolves, dogs,
and hunters.
"I ran on, thinking that I would soon scatter the wolves, and rob them
of their prey. In a few moments I was in their midst, brandishing my
spear; but to my surprise, as well as terror, I saw that, instead of
relinquishing the deer, several of them still held on it, while the rest
surrounded me with open jaws, and eyes glancing like coals of fire.
"I shouted and fought desperately, thrusting the spear first at one and
then at another; but the wolves only became more bold and fierce,
incensed by the wounds I was inflicting.
"For several minutes I continued this unexpected conflict. I was
growing quite exhausted; and a sense of terrible dread coming over me,
had almost paralysed me, when the tall, dark form of the Indian,
hurrying over the ice, gave me new courage; and I plied the spear with
all my remaining strength, until several of my assailants lay pierced
upon the ice. The others, now seeing the proximity of my companion with
his huge ice-chisel, and frighted, moreover, by his wild Indian yells,
turned tail and scampered off.
"Three of them, however, had uttered their last howl, and the deer was
found close by--already half devoured!
"There was enough left, however, to make a good supper for both myself
and my companion; who, although, he had already picked the bones of
three muskrats, made a fresh attack upon the venison, eating of it as
though he had not tasted food for a fortnight."