CHESELLING AND SHOOTING BEAVER. 141 



that it could be chiselled to advantage. I there- 

 fore returned to the post and left the beaver 

 undisturbed. 



It was fortunate I did so, for the following 

 night all the small ponds and lakes in the vicini- 

 ty were ice-bound only to open again in six 

 months. A few days after an Indian visited 

 the post for an additional supply of ammuni- 

 tion and snaring twine, and I took the oppor- 

 tunity to enlist his services to kill my beaver. 

 I offered him two pounds of tea for a day's work 

 at the lake. Whether he killed the beaver or 

 not, he was sure of the tea. This he agreed to, 

 and I immediately put together the necessary 

 things so as to make an early start. 



As the lake was only an hour's walk from 

 the post we reached it about sunrise, and both 

 knowing our business, set to work at once. The 

 implements necessary for each man are a belt 

 axe, an ordinary socket mortise chisel one and 

 a quarter inch broad. This is handled (gener- 

 ally at the lake) with a peeled spruce sapling 

 from six to seven feet long, and last but by no 

 means least, is a good beaver dog, and almost 

 any Indian dog is good for beaver, as they learn 

 from the older ones and train themselves. I 

 had two at the post and these, of course, accom- 

 panied us. The first thing to do is to visit the 

 discharge of the lake. If this is dammed a trap 



