228 MAMMALIA — BEAVER. 



furnished with an ice chisel lashed to a handle four or five feet in length , 

 with this instrument he strikes against the ice as he goes along the edge of 

 the banks. The sound produced by the blow informs him when he is op- 

 posite to one of these vaults. When one is discovered, a hole is cut through 

 the ice of sufficient size to admit a full grown beaver, and the search is con- 

 tinued until as many of the places of retreat are discovered as possible. 

 During the time the most expert hunters are thus occupied, the others wjh 

 the women are busy in breaking into the beaver houses, which, as may be 

 supposed from what has been already stated, is a task of some difficulty. 

 The beavers, alarmed at the invasion of their dwelling, take to the water 

 and swim with surprising swiftness to their retreats in the banks ; but their 

 entrance is betrayed to the hunters watching the holes in the ice, by the 

 motion and discoloration of the water. The entrance is instantly closed 

 with stakes of Avood, and the beaver, instead of finding shelter in his cave, 

 is made prisoner and destroyed. The hunter then pulls the animal out, if 

 within reach, by the introduction of his hand and arm, or by a hook design- 

 ed for this use, fastened to a long handle. Beaver houses found in lakes, or 

 other standing waters, offer an easier prey to the hunters, as there is no 

 occasion for staking the water across. 



The Indians inhabiting the countries watered by the tributaries of the 

 Missouri and Mississippi, take the beavers principally by trapping, and are 

 generally supp' ~-d with steel traps by the traders, who do not sell, but lend 

 or hire them, in order to keep the Indians dependent upon themselves, and 

 also to lay claim to the furs which they may procure. The name of the 

 trader being stamped on the trap, it is equal to a certificate of enlistment, 

 and indicates, when an Indian carries his furs to another trading establish- 

 ment, that the individual wishes to avoid the payment of his debts. The 

 business of trapping requires great experience and caution, as the senses of 

 the beaver are very keen, and enable him to detect the recent presence of 

 the hunter by the slightest traces. It is necessary that the hands should be 

 washed clean before the trap is handled and baited, and that every precau- 

 tion should be employed to elude the vigilance of the animal. 



The bait which is used to entice the beavers is prepared from the sub- 

 stance called castor (castoreum,) obtained from the glandulous pouches of 

 the male animal, which contain sometimes from two to three ounces. 

 This substance is called by the hunters bark-stone, and is squeezed gently 

 into an open mouthed phial. 



We meet with beavers in America from the thirtieth degree of north lati- 

 tude to the sixtieth, and even beyond it.* In the northern parts they are 

 very common ; and the farther south we proceed, their number is still found 



* Pennant fixes the soul hern range of the American beaver in latitude 30°, in Louisiana, 

 not far from the Gulf of Mexico ; whilst Say mentions the confluence of the Ohio and 

 Mississippi as their limit, which is about seven degrees further to the northward. Their 

 most northern range is, perhaps, on the banks of the river Mackenzie. — Richardson. 



