26 Transactions of the 



the English gentleman adorn his head with a skin-covered 

 canister. Now-a-days, however, nous avons change tout cela. 

 The invention of the lighter and cheaper (if less durable) silk 

 hat has caused the Beaver trade to languish and decline. 

 Trapping is no longer a lucrative business, and few are en- 

 gaged in it. The price of Beaver skins has fallen to a mere 

 fraction of its former amount, and the consequence is that 

 every day Beavers become more numerotis, for the cessation 

 of the demand has made the supply xninecessary.' It is curious 

 also to notice how beneficial the discovery of the gold mines 

 in British Columbia has been to the Beaver race. All ac- 

 counts agree that the animals are now rapidly increasing 

 there, for the trappers have found gold digging a more pro- 

 fitable employment than Beaver hunting, and have wisely 

 relinquished their old calling. 



The main object of the Beaver in forming its colonies 

 would seem to be mutual protection and defence. When 

 combined together the little society can more readily prepare 

 for the rigours and dangers of winter than if its members 

 were to dwell separately. So, long before the autumnal days 

 have come, the Beavers begin to associate themselves in the 

 formation of a dam, and even as early as August the work is 

 usually well advanced. By this time the floods of spring 

 have begun to subside, and the task is not so difficult as if it 

 had been commenced earlier. 



Whether the colony is to be placed by lake or creek, the 

 water must at all events be of sufficient depth to prevent 

 even the severest frost from reaching to the bottom. It is 

 clear that the Beaver would find but little safety in its winter 

 home, were it in danger of being locked in on the one side 

 by deep snow, and on the other by solid ice. Hence the 

 necessity of forming a dam, so that the water may be banked 

 up to the requisite depth, and free swimming power secured 

 for the entire winter. The length of the pool thus formed 

 will vary from a few yards to many miles, according to the 

 nature of the place, and not a little of the picturesque suc- 

 cession of lake and waterfall for which Canada is remarkable, 

 must be attributed to the works of the Beaver, though of 

 course the geological structure of the country has been the 

 chief agent in their formation. 



' Beaver was, in the height of the fashion, thirty shillings per lb. The Hud- 

 eon's Bay Company will not give more than 75 to 85 cents for it now. Yet, even 

 when dearest, it was not the poor Indian who reaped the profit. Beavers ' were 

 piled wp on each side of a trade gun until they were on a level with the muzzle, 

 and this was the price ! The muskets cost in England some 15s.'— E. Brown, op. 

 fit. 



