some large nails are also to be desired, and a small parcel containing needles, thread, pins, scissors, etc., will be found indispensable.  “Cleanliness is next to Godliness,” and there are no more luxurious necessities in camp life than a piece of soap and a clean towel.  For light it is advisable to carry a supply of candles, or a lantern with a can of oil.  The latter is, of course, more bulky, and for a campaign wholly on foot is hardly to be recommended on this account.

Each trapper should be provided with a stout jack-knife, pocket-compass, and a supply of matches, a number of these being always carried on the person to provide for the emergencies to which the hunter is always subject.

One of the party should carry a double-barrelled shot-gun and another a rifle, or both may be combined in a single weapon.  A revolver is also a desirable acquisition.  Purified neats-foot oil should be used on the fire-arms, and in lieu of this, some trappers use the melted fat of the grouse for the same purpose.  A good supply of fishing tackle is almost indispensable, and [Page 228] with these valuable equipments the young trapper may defy the wilderness with all its hazards.  With his traps, gun and rod, together with his store of provisions, he may look forward to a larder well stocked and may calculate on an appetite which will do it justice.

The list of portable provisions and cooking utensils best adapted for a campaign are given under their proper title, and will be found to cover all the wants of the most fastidious.  The stove is the most cumbersome article, but trappers generally dispense with its use altogether, looking at it rather in the light of a luxury as well as a nuisance.  The open camp fire will answer every purpose, both for cooking and for comfort in cold weather.

For clothing it is desirable to carry at least two suits, in order to have a “change.”  They should be of woolen, and from the hunter’s point of view, should be of a sombre shade, so as to be as inconspicuous as possible.  The use of high-top boots is to be deprecated, as they are tiresome and unwieldy.  Short boots, with thick, iron-pegged soles, are generally preferred by trappers, and in order to render them soft, pliable, and waterproof they may be soaked or smeared with a hot mixture, composed of one part rosin, two parts beeswax, and three parts tallow.  Simple tallow, or even the fat of the deer, is sometimes used for the same purpose.

Calculating on a successful campaign, a supply of board-stretchers, page 273, will be needed for the curing of the skins, and if our adventurous enthusiasts should extend their experience along into the winter, the toboggan and snow-shoes will come into good use for convenient winter travel.

The trapping season properly commences in October and ends in April.  The pelts of fur bearing animals are in their best condition during this time, and in the winter are in their prime.  The various modes of setting and baiting traps for all our leading animals are clearly set forth in another part of this volume.  And in the accompanying engravings will be found life like representations of each species.