or Shoulder Basket.—­Venison as food.—­To preserve the overplus of meat.—­“Jerked Venison” Recipe and Process.—­Moose and Bear meat and Fish, similarly prepared.—­How to protect provisions from Wolves.—­The Moufflon and Prong-horn as food.—­“Small game,” Squirrels, Rabbits, and Woodchucks.—­“Skunk Meat” as a delicacy.—­The Buffalo as food.—­Grouse, the universal Food of Trappers and Hunters.—­Various species of Grouse.—­The Sage Cock.—­The Ptarmigan.—­How they are trapped by the Indians in the Hudson’s Bay Country.—­Waterfowl.—­Sea and Inland Ducks.—­Various species of Duck.—­Mallard.—­Muscovy.—­Wigeon.—­Merganser.—­Canvass Back.—­Teal, &c.—­Wild Geese.—­Fish as food.—­Angling and Spearing.—­Salmon Spearing in the North.—­Description of the Salmon Spear used by the Indians.—­Salmon Spearing at night.—­Requisites of a good Spearsman.—­Fishing through the Ice.—­Cow’s udder and Hogs liver as Bait.—­Other Baits.—­Assafoetida and Sweet Cicely as fish Baits.—­Trout fishing with Tip-up’s.—­Pickerel fishing in Winter.—­Pickerel Spearing through the Ice.—­The Box Hut.—­The “Fish Lantern” or Fish Trap.—­Fish Attracted by light.—­Light as Bait.—­How the Fish Lantern is made and used.—­The trapper’s shelter.—­Introductory remarks.—­The Perils of a Life in the Wilderness.—­A Shelter of some form a Necessity.—­The Log Shanty.—­Full directions for building.—­Ingenious manner of constructing roof.—­How the Chimney is built.—­Spacious interior of the Shanty.—­The bark shanty.—­A Temporary structure.—­Full directions for its construction.—­Selection of building site.—­Tents.—­Advantages of their use.—­Various kinds of Tents.—­The House Tent.—­The Fly Tent.—­The Shelter Tent.—­Directions for making the Tent.—­Tent Cloth.—­How to render tents Water and Fire-resistant.—­Valuable recipe.—­Beds and bedding.—­Perfect rest and comfort to the tired Trapper.—­A portable Spring bed for the woods.—­A Hammock bed.—­Bed Clothes.—­The Canton Flannel Bag.—­Hammocks.—­Tent carpeting.—­Spruce and Hemlock boughs as bedding.—­How to cover the ground evenly.—­The Rubber Blanket.

BOOK VIII.

The trapper’s miscellany.

Warning to the Novice.—­Winged Cannibals of the Woods.—­Insect ointments.—­Mosquitoes and Gnats.—­Their aversion to the scent of Pennyroyal.—­Pennyroyal Ointment.—­Recipe.—­Mutton tallow Ointment.—­Tar and Sweet Oil Liniment.—­Recipe.—­Its effect on the Complexion.—­Invasions of Insects by night.—­Their pertinacity and severity.—­The experience of our Adirondack guide.—­The bloodthirsty propensities of the Mosquito admirably depicted.—­The “Smudge” Smoke versus Insect Bites.—­“Punkeys” and “Midgets.”—­Their terrible voracity.—­Painful effects of their Bites.—­Pennyroyal an effective Antidote.—­Depraved [Page xi] appetite of the mosquito.—­A Warning to the Intemperate.—­Use and abuse of Alcohol.—­A