CHAPTER TEN.
A RAT-HUNT.
"Chingawa," began he, "a Chippeway or Ojibway Indian, better-known atthe fort as `Old Foxey,' was a noted hunter of his tribe. I had grownto be a favourite with him. My well-known passion for the chase was asort of masonic link between us; and our friendship was fartheraugmented 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 `OldFoxey' my best friend; and all his `hunter-craft'--the gatherings ofabout sixty winters--became mine.
"I had not yet been inducted into the mystery of `rat-catching,' but theseason for that `noble' sport at length arrived, and the Indian hunterinvited me to join him in a muskrat hunt.
"Taking our `traps' on our shoulders, we set out for the place where thegame was to be found. This was a chain of small lakes or ponds that ranthrough a marshy valley, some ten or twelve miles distant from the fort.
"The traps, or implements, consisted of an ice-chisel with a handle somefive feet in length, a small pickaxe, an iron-pointed spear barbed onlyon one side, with a long straight shaft, and a light pole about a dozenfeet in length, quite straight and supple.
"We had provided ourselves with a small stock of eatables as well asmaterials for kindling a fire--but no Indian is ever without these. Wehad also carried our blankets along with us, as we designed to make anight of it by the lakes.
"After trudging for several hours through the silent winter forests, andcrossing 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 withoutdanger of breaking through.
"We soon came to some dome-shaped heaps rising above the level of theice. They were of mud, bound together with grass and flags, and werehardened by the frost. Within each of these rounded heaps, Old Foxeyknew there was at least half a dozen muskrats--perhaps three times thatnumber--lying snug and warm and huddled together.
"Since there appeared no hole or entrance, the question was how to getat the animals inside. Simply by digging until the inside should belaid open, thought I. This of itself would be no slight labour. Theroof and sides, as my companion informed me, were three feet inthickness; and the tough mud was frozen to the hardness and consistencyof a fire-brick. But after getting through this shell, where should wefind the inmates? Why, most likely, we should not find them at allafter all this labour. So said my companion, telling me at the sametime that there were subterranean, or rather subaqueous, passages, bywhich the muskrats would be certain to make off under the ice longbefore 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 ofthe `houses,' commenced operations.
"The one he had selected stood out in the lake, some distance from itsedge. 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 thewater at will. How then was he to prevent them from escaping by thehole, 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 theice with his ice-chisel about two feet from the edge of the mud. Thatbeing accomplished, he cut another, and another, until four holes werepierced forming the corners of a square, and embracing the house of themuskrat within.
"Leaving this house, he then proceeded to pierce a similar set of holesaround another that also stood out on the open lake. After that he wentto a third one, and this and then a fourth were prepared in a similarmanner.
"He now returned to the first, this time taking care to tread lightlyupon 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, andnot much, bigger than a blanket. This in a most ingenious manner hepassed under the ice, until its four corners appeared opposite the fourholes; where, drawing them through, he made all last and `taut' by aline stretching from one corner to the other.
"His manner of passing the net under the ice I have pronouncedingenious. It was accomplished by reeving a line from hole to hole bymeans of the long slender pole already mentioned. The pole, insertedthrough one of the holes, conducted the line, and was itself conductedby means of two forked sticks that guided it, and pushed it along to theother holes. The line being attached to the comers of the net made itan easy matter to draw the latter into its position.
"All the details of this curious operation were performed with anoiseless adroitness which showed `Old Foxey' was no novice at`rat-catching.'
"The net being now quite taut along the lower surface of the ice, mustof course completely cover the hole in the `floor.' It followed,therefore, that if the muskrats were `at home,' they were now `in thetrap.'
"My companion assured me that they would be found inside. The reasonwhy he had not used the net on first cutting the holes, was to give anymember of the family that had been frightened out, a chance ofreturning; and this he knew they would certainly do, as these creaturescannot 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 thedome; and there, apparently half asleep,--because dazzled and blinded bythe sudden influx of light--were no less than eight full-grownmusquashes!
"Almost before I could count them, Old Foxey had transfixed the wholeparty, one after the other, with his long spear.
"We now proceeded to another of the houses, at which the holes had beencut. 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, onemuskrat alive, and that one seemed to be nearly famished to death. Itsbody was wasted to mere `skin and bone;' and the animal had evidentlybeen a long time without food. Beside it lay the naked skeletons ofseveral small animals that I at once saw were those of the muskrat. Aglance at the bottom of the nest explained all. The hole, which in theother 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 hadtenanted this ice-bound prison.
"The Indian assured me that in seasons of very severe frost such anoccurrence is not rare. At such times the ice forms so rapidly, thatthe animals--perhaps not having occasion to go out for some hours--findthemselves frozen in; and are compelled to perish of hunger, or devourone another!
"It was now near night--for we had not reached the lake until late inthe day--and my companion proposed that we should leave fartheroperations until the following morning. Of course I assented to theproposal, and we betook ourselves to some pine-trees that grew on a highbank near the shore, where we had determined to pass the night.
"There we kindled a roaring fire of pine-knots; but we had grown veryhungry, and I soon found that of the provisions I had brought, and uponwhich I had already dined, there remained but a scanty fragment forsupper. This did not trouble my companion, who skinned several of the`rats,' gave them a slight warming over the fire, and then ate them upwith as much _gout_ as if they had been partridges. I was hungry, butnot hungry enough for that; so I sat watching him with someastonishment, and not without a slight feeling of disgust.
"It was a beautiful moonlight night, one of the clearest I everremember. There was a little snow upon the ground, just enough to coverit; and up against the white sides of the hills could be traced thepyramidal outlines of the pines, with their regular gradations of darkneedle-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 aconfused noise, that resembled the howling and baying of hounds. Iturned 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 rattlingamong dead trees, and the quickly-repeated `crunch, crunch,' as of thehoofs of some animal breaking through frozen snow. The next moment adeer 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 couldsee that he was smoking with heat, and almost run down.
"He had hardly passed the spot when the howl again broke out in acontinued 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 apack of hounds on the view. Their long muzzles, erect ears, and hugegaunt bodies, were outlined plainly against the snowy ground. I sawthat they were wolves. They were white wolves, and of the largestspecies.
"I had suddenly sprung to my feet, not with the intention of saving thedeer, but of assisting in its capture; and for this purpose I seized thespear, and ran out. I heard my companion, as I thought, shouting somecaution after me; but I was too intent upon the chase to pay anyattention to what he said. I had at the moment a distinct perception ofhunger, and an indistinct idea of roast venison for supper.
"As I got down to the shore, I saw that the wolves had overtaken thedeer, and dragged it down upon the ice. The poor creature made but poorrunning on the slippery track, sprawling at every bound; while the sharpclaws of its pursuers enabled them to gallop over the ice like cats.The deer had, no doubt, mistaken the ice for water, which thesecreatures 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 themof their prey. In a few moments I was in their midst, brandishing myspear; but to my surprise, as well as terror, I saw that, instead ofrelinquishing the deer, several of them still held on it, while the restsurrounded me with open jaws, and eyes glancing like coals of fire.
"I shouted and fought desperately, thrusting the spear first at one andthen 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 wasgrowing 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 withall my remaining strength, until several of my assailants lay piercedupon the ice. The others, now seeing the proximity of my companion withhis 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 wasfound close by--already half devoured!
"There was enough left, however, to make a good supper for both myselfand my companion; who, although, he had already picked the bones ofthree muskrats, made a fresh attack upon the venison, eating of it asthough he had not tasted food for a fortnight."