Page:History of Oregon Literature.djvu/77

 Milton and all though I had been on the grand pass of waterfowl on the Illinois River it will not begin to bear a comparison with this thier being probably Half a Million in sight at one time and all appearantly Screaming & Screeching at once.

"Osborne Russell gives an intimate and detailed account of all aspects of the trapper's life, in his Journal of a Trapper which includes the years from 1834 to 1843. Like James Clyman, he had his poetic moments, and closed his Journal with some stanzas which he called "The Hunter's Farewell." He was never married. When he quit his life as a trapper, he moved to the Willamette Valley, was one of the "men of Champoeg," and became a widely respected leader in public affairs. He was a candidate for governor in the first election of 1845, but was defeated by George Abernethy."

Its average size is about two and one-half feet long from the point of the nose to the insertion of the tail.—The tail serves the double purpose of steering and assisting it through the water by a quick up and down motion. The hind feet are webbed and the toe next the outside on each has a double nail which serves the purpose of a toothpick to extract the splinters of wood from their teeth. As they are the only animals known to be furnished with nails so peculiarly adapted to the purpose for which they are used.—The hair is of two sorts, the one longer and courser, the other fine, short and silky. The teeth are like those of the rat but are longer and stronger in proportion to the size of the animals—(there are) four gland openings forward of the arms, two containing oil with which they oil their coats, the others containing the castorium, a collection of gummy substance of a yellow color which is extracted from the food of the animal and conveyed through small vessels into the glands. It is this deposit which causes the destruction of the beaver by the