84 CANADIAN WILDS. 



also must be taken that the paddle does not rasp 

 the side of the canoe. 



The beavers had built an immense dam 

 across the discharge of the lake, and left a small 

 cut in the middle for the overflow to pass. Here 

 Wa-sa-Kejic placed a No. 4 Xewhouse trap in 

 about 4 in. of water. On a twig 9 in. high and 

 set back about a foot from the trap he placed a 

 small piece of castorum. The smell of this at- 

 tracts a beaver. Then he lengthened the trap 

 chain with three strands of No. 9 twine, tying 

 it to a stout pole, which he planted very, very 

 securely in deep water, out from the dam. 



The beaver, when he finds himself caught, 

 springs backward into the deep water and dives 

 to the bottom; here he struggled to get away 

 until shortness of breath compels him to rise 

 to the surface, and this is repeated until the 

 weight of the trap is too much for his exhausted 

 condition, and he died at the bottom, from 

 whence he is hauled up by the hunter when 

 next visiting his traps. 



After placing the trap on the dam Wa-sa- 

 Kejic opened another ready for setting, tied the 

 poles, and had everything ready; then giving 

 me implicit injunctions not to make the least 

 noise, told me to steer the canoe quietly to the 

 lodge, which was fixed in a small bay out in the 

 lake. When we reached the beaver's house, he 



