garbs and accoutrements, and their very horses were caparisoned in
barbaric style, with fantastic trappings. The outset of a band of
adventurers on one of these expeditions is always animated and joyous.
The welkin rang with their shouts and yelps, after the manner of the
savages; and with boisterous jokes and light-hearted laughter. As they
passed the straggling hamlets and solitary cabins that fringe the skirts
of the frontier, they would startle their inmates by Indian yells and
war-whoops, or regale them with grotesque feats of horsemanship,
well suited to their half-savage appearance. Most of these abodes were
inhabited by men who had themselves been in similar expeditions; they
welcomed the travellers, therefore, as brother trappers, treated them
with a hunter's hospitality, and cheered them with an honest God speed
at parting.

And here we would remark a great difference, in point of character
and quality, between the two classes of trappers, the "American" and
"French," as they are called in contradistinction. The latter is meant
to designate the French creole of Canada or Louisiana; the former, the
trapper of the old American stock, from Kentucky, Tennessee, and others
of the western States. The French trapper is represented as a lighter,
softer, more self-indulgent kind of man. He must have his Indian wife,
his lodge, and his petty conveniences. He is gay and thoughtless, takes
little heed of landmarks, depends upon his leaders and companions to
think for the common weal, and, if left to himself, is easily perplexed
and lost.

The American trapper stands by himself, and is peerless for the service
of the wilderness. Drop him in the midst of a prairie, or in the heart
of the mountains, and he is never at a loss. He notices every landmark;
can retrace his route through the most monotonous plains, or the most