748 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol. xxvm. 



iimddv livers liavini>" their 8(Mirce in oi' beyond the Roeky Mountains 

 and Howin<i- through a sand}' clay soil. The skins of such l)eaver are 

 usually of a dirty rusty brown color, with the inner fur of a lighter 

 hue, and are certaiidy in appearance inferior to those of their cleaner- 

 furred brethren, and must therefore realize lower prices in London. 



The substance contained in tw^o pyriform sacs situated near the 

 organs of reproduction in the beaver, and commercially well known as 

 ''castoreum,"" has always been traded from the natives; and although 

 it is not entei'cd in the aforesaid statement of sales or in the fur cata- 

 logues for ISST, 1!H)2, and IDOr), yet the company's otficers annually 

 shipped to London considerable ([uaiitities of this valual)Ie commodity. 

 "At one time it was largely employed as a medicine for derangement 

 of the nervous system, 1)ut now little used." This, of course, adversely 

 atfected prices, and for a number of yeai's castoreum did not sell well. 

 Latterly, however, owing- to its scarcity and its reported use as a base 

 in the manufacture of perfumery, its value has ])een greatly enhanced. 

 During m\' long stay at Fort Chipewyan, Lake Athal)asca, upward 

 of twenty abnormall\" large examples of castoreum sacs, or ''pods,'' as 

 designated in trade, containing from three to nearly tive times as much 

 of the sulistance as is usually found Avithin averaged-sized specimens, 

 were obtained, for the most part, from animals killed on the Peace 

 River. I also noticed and heard of a few similar "pods" elsewhere 

 in the interior; but in those days AthaV)asca produced the very largest 

 I ever saw. 



From certain documents in my possession I believe we can form 

 some idea of the extent of the castoreum trade of the last century. 

 As a rule the receipt of this article naturally corresponds with the 

 annual catch of Beaver. Mackenzie River District from 1863 to 1881 

 contributed a total of 6,251 pounds weight. From 1858 to 1881, old 

 Athabasca was premier, with 18,904: i)ounds, l)ut in consequence of 

 increasing competition in the north the average of the former for 

 1886, 1887, and 1889, is only 54 pounds, as against 32,918 for the period 

 ending in 188-1. The trade of the latter for the tive years (1885 to 

 1889) gives an average of but 211 pounds as against 700 pounds for 

 1858 to 1884. Its former posts on Upper Peace River had not one- 

 fourth as much castoreum in 1889 as in other years. English River 

 district gave 40 j)ounds for each of the outtits, 1889 and 1890; Cum- 

 berland district onl}' 26 pounds in 1888, and 56 pounds in 1889; and 

 then we have New Caledonia, Bi'itish Columbia, with 113 pounds for 

 each of 1885 and 1886, and 390 pounds in 1887, 390 pounds in 1888, 

 40^ pounds in 1889, and 231 pounds in 1890; all of these results are 

 very much below those realiztnl previous to the advent of (the fre- 

 quently vaunted) "free trade." 



