144 CANADIAN WILDS. 



oeaver by the hind leg gives one strong pull 

 and lands him over his head. The fall on the 

 ice stuns him momentarily, and before he can 

 escape the Indian has dealt him a blow with the 

 head of his axe. The young ones are generally 

 the first killed, as two or three may be together 

 in one "wash." The old ones, as a rule, give 

 much trouble, as they vacate one "wash" for 

 another at the approach of the hunter. Then 

 there is nothing for it but to picket off each 

 "wash" as found, and thus reduce the number 

 of places for him to resort to. 



A hunter with a practiced eye can tell pretty 

 well by the appearance of the shores about a 

 beaver lake if the "washes" are few in number 

 or numerous and guides himself accordingly. If 

 the lake has drained a foot or two since the ice 

 took, it is useless to attempt to chisel, as the 

 beaver can go ashore under the ice anywhere 

 and breathe. In our case all circumstances were 

 favorable; the water was full under the ice, 

 all over, and the "washes" were very few and 

 easily located. 



By three o'clock in the afternoon we had 

 the beavers all killed, two old and four young 

 ones. We really had five by dinner time, so we 

 lit a fire, boiled our kettle and let the last old 

 one quiet down a bit while we ate our lunch. 

 We got him at last in the last "wash," and I 



