BEAVER DAMS. 123 



it in the fall and winter of 1865. There are three 

 lodges upon the borders of the pond, which would 

 give to them, before they were disturbed, twenty-one 

 beaver occupants, by the usual rule of computation. 

 There were also two beaver canals connected with the 

 pond. 



In the year 1862, I heard, through Capt. Daniel 

 Wilson, of a long dam, constructed upon a small brook 

 which falls into Carp River high up on this stream ; 

 and went with him to ascertain its length by measure- 

 ment. This dam is marked No. 19 on the map. It 

 proved to be a fine structure, and of extraordinary 

 length. On careful measurement with a tape-line, 

 following the crest of the dam, we found its total 

 length on a continuous line to be four hundred and 

 eighty-eight feet. For two hundred feet, from its 

 commencement on the left bank of the stream, it is 

 one of the most perfect and artistically formed struct- 

 ures in the Lake Superior region, although not so 

 high, and, for this reason, not equal to that at Grass 

 Lake. The pond was full to the crest of the dam, 

 thus showing that it was occupied by beavers, which 

 fact was afterward further confirmed by opening the 

 lodges upon its borders. It seemed to me to be very 

 desirable to perpetuate this dam in a j)hotograph 

 while in its present perfect condition; not so much to 

 show the best part of the work, as to verify, in a 

 manner that would admit of no future question, the 

 fact of its extraordinary length when considered in 

 connection with the limited physical powers of its 

 architects. This desire was strengthened by the 

 farther consideration that these dams begin to decay 

 as soon as they are deserted by the beavers, and 



