THE BE A VER. 371 



of their dwellings, or otherwise disturb the beavers. Their 

 sense of smell is very acute, and it is the one upon which 

 they chiefly rely for protection. His evenings will be 

 spent in skinning his victims and stretching and dressing 

 the fur. To do this he bends a sapling into a large hoop, 

 and stretches the skin on it like a drum head, lacing it 

 round with the pliant roots of the spruce tree or the bark 

 of the cedar. Having stretched it, he hangs it in the sun 

 or near his camp fire till perfectly dry. In that state it 

 is bought by the trader for 5s. or 6's. a pound ; a good 

 beaver skin ought to weigh about 2 Ibs. The castor and 

 oil bags he carefully preserves. 



Cutting the dams and breaking into the houses is an 

 operation that the trapper seldom resorts to unless the 

 stream is very small and unless he has a comrade or two 

 to assist him. In a large stream, a lake, or a swamp, it 

 is simply labour lost. The beaver has always holes or 

 burrows in the bank in which he takes refuge when his 

 dam or house is attacked. To succeed in this method 

 the greatest caution and patience are necessary, and steel 

 traps are a valuable auxiliary. Whilst the dam is being 

 cut, every outlet must be guarded either by a man or a 

 trap. A breach having been made of sufficient size to 

 drain off all the water, pickets are driven in at such dis- 

 tances apart as to prevent the animals escaping through 

 the gap, except in one small opening where a steel trap is 

 set, or, in default of a trap, a sentry armed with a spear. 

 I have observed that beavers either endeavour to make 

 their escape at the first sound of the axe, or else hide 

 in their holes till nightfall, and then make a run for 

 it. I have never found a full-grown beaver in the camp. 



