THE BEAVER IN ITS RELATION TO FORESTRY. 27 



extending" iVoin one side of the little valley to the other, here and 

 there worn away, but the course and outline can still be made 

 out. These meadows, each only a few acres in extent, were 

 once catch-basins, or beaver i)onds. whose builders and tenants 

 have long since been destroyed, but evidence of their busy and 

 useful lives and labors survives. In primeval time and in the 

 palmiest days of forest magniticence every brook i\ra\ stream 

 was dotted with ponds, which caught and retainetl a bountiful 

 supply of water right in the heart of the wilderness, wliere its 

 salutary presence was of the greatest value. Try to conceive 

 how many of these forest-embowered lakelets were once to be 

 found on the thousands of brooks and streiinnets which thread 

 every portion of th>- i)rovince. Take an imaginary stand on 

 some hill- top, and, with the telescopic eye of the eagle, swee[t the 

 billow}' sea of green around you, and note the glinting and flash- 

 ing of light from innumerable silver points on the verdant sur- 

 face — a second firmament with its glittering gems. Yoi^i have 

 beneath and around you a })anorama of nature's beauties and 

 utilities, an admirable illustration of how she conserves her pro- 

 ductive energies and makes all her agencies mutually beneficial; 

 a wealth of magnificent trees and tV)rest grandeur encircling- 

 countless ponds and lakelets, every one the hai)py home of 

 busy architects whose lives and labors are being expended in 

 preserving their wood-land home in its wonted attractiveness and 

 beauty. 



It is easily understood that as the long winter wore away, the 

 water in these ponds would diminish in volume, and the o[)ening 

 of spring must find them nearly empty. Then came the melting 

 snow and freshet, and soon every pond was filled to Us utmost 

 capacity. Who can calculate the volume of water th it was thus 

 stored in the heart of the forest, and its beneficial effect on the 

 soil, vegetation, and climate! The efforts of man, along even the 

 wisest lines, must pale into insignificance, when compared with 

 such agencies as these. 



Though a century or more has elapsed since the beaver was 

 nigh exterminated and the ponds made tenantless, the hand of 

 time has not been able to obliterate the traces of their homes. 



