Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 64, No.394, August, 1848

Оглавление

Various. Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 64, No.394, August, 1848

LIFE IN THE "FAR WEST."

PART III

ART – ITS PROSPECTS. CLEGHORN'S ANCIENT AND MODERN ART

KAFFIRLAND

THE CAXTONS. – PART V

CHAPTER XV

CHAPTER XV

CHAPTER XVI

CHAPTER XVII

MODERN TOURISM

EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND TWELVE

A RETROSPECTIVE REVIEW

THE BLUE DRAGOON;

A STORY OF CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE, FROM THE CRIMINAL RECORDS OF HOLLAND

LAURELS AND LAUREATES

THE HORSE-DEALER – A TALE OF DENMARK

BY CHRISTIAN WINTHER

SKETCHES IN PARIS

Отрывок из книги

La Bonté and his companions proceeded up the river, the Black Hills on their left hand, from which several small creeks or feeders swell the waters of the North Fork. Along these they hunted unsuccessfully for beaver "sign," and it was evident that the spring hunt had almost entirely exterminated the animal from this vicinity. Following Deer Creek to the ridge of the Black Hills, they crossed the mountain on to the waters of the Medicine Bow, and here they discovered a few lodges, and La Bonté set his first trap. He and old Luke finding "cuttings" near the camp, followed the "sign" along the bank until the practised eye of the latter discovered a "slide," where the beaver had ascended the bank to chop the trunk of a cotton wood, and convey the bark to its lodge. Taking a trap from "sack," the old hunter after "setting" the "trigger," placed it carefully under the water, where the "slide" entered the stream, securing the chain to the stem of a sappling on the bank; while a stick, also attached to the trap by a thong, floated down the stream, to mark the position of the trap, should the animal carry it away. A little farther on, and near another "run," three traps were set; and over these Luke placed a little stick, which he first dipped into a mysterious-looking phial which contained his "medicine."1

The next morning they visited the traps, and had the satisfaction of finding three fine beaver secured in the first three they visited, and the fourth, which had been carried away, they discovered by the floatstick, a little distance down the stream, with a large drowned beaver between its teeth.

.....

The Apache moved quickly away, and the Taos once more sought the camp-fires of his white companions.

Following the course of the Gila to the eastward, they crossed a range of the Sierra Madre, which is a continuation of the Rocky Mountains, and struck the waters of the Rio del Norte, below the settlements of New Mexico. On this stream they fared well; besides trapping a great quantity of beaver, game of all kinds abounded, and the bluffs near the well-timbered banks of the river were covered with rich gramma grass, on which their half-starved animals speedily improved in condition.

.....