of 



dred and forty-three trees. These made a har- 

 vest pile four feet high and ninety feet in cir- 

 cumference. A thick covering of willows was 

 placed on top of the harvest pile, I cannot 

 tell for what reason unless it was to sink all the 

 aspen below reach of the ice. This bulk of stores 

 together with numerous roots of willow and 

 water plants, which in the water are eaten from 

 the bottom of the pond, would support a num- 

 erous beaver population through the days of 

 ice and snow. 



On the last tour through the colony every- 

 thing was ready for the long and cold winter. 

 Dams were in repair and ponds were brimming 

 over with water, the fresh coats of mud on the 

 houses were freezing to defy enemies, and a 

 bountiful harvest was home. Harvest-gathering 

 is full of hope and romance. What a joy it must 

 be to every man or animal who has a hand in it! 

 What a satisfaction, too, for all dependent upon 

 a harvest, to know that there is abundance 

 stored for all the frosty days! 



The people of this wild, strange, picturesque 

 colony had planned and prepared well. I wished 



66 



