high above; all around crowded a dense ever- 

 green forest of pine and spruce. A few small 

 swamps reposed in this forest, while here and 

 there in it bristled several gigantic windrows 

 of boulders. A ragged belt of aspens surrounded 

 the several ponds and separated the pines and 

 spruces from the fringe of water-loving willows 

 along the shores. There were three large ponds 

 in succession and below- these a number of 

 smaller ones. The dams that formed the large 

 ponds were willow-grown, earthy structures 

 about four feet in height, and all sagged down 

 stream. The houses were grouped in the middle 

 pond, the largest one, the dam of which was 

 more than three hundred feet long. Three of 

 these lake dwellings stood near the upper mar- 

 gin, close to where the brook poured in. The 

 other five were clustered by the outlet, just be- 

 low which a small willow-grown, boulder-dotted 

 island lay between the divided waters of the 

 stream. 



A number of beavers were busy gnawing 

 down aspens, while others cut the felled ones 

 into sections, pushed and rolled the sections 



21 



