THE FORKS OF THE M A cMILLAN RIVER 91 



up from the Pelly, announced that we must load our 

 canoes and proceed as best we could. Before reaching 

 there the boat had been tied to the bank to repair an 

 auxiliary rudder, bent because of his bungling, and we 

 were told to unload. Our destination was a hundred and 

 eighty miles beyond, and to proceed that distance in 

 canoes meant nothing less than the failure of the trip. 

 Consternation rapidly developed into indignation. Two 

 hours were lost in discussion, and finally the boat pro- 

 ceeded. Navigation was better until we tied up near the 

 foot of Kalzas Mountain. 



August 28. After an early start we proceeded all day 

 without much trouble, notwithstanding the captain's con- 

 stant assertions as to the impossibility of advancing. Per- 

 haps we covered a distance of fifty miles. While winding 

 about between the high mountain ranges on both sides, 

 we noticed much "beaver cutting/* and also numerous 

 beaver houses, always situated at the edge of the banks 

 of the river, in an eddy outside the current. Only three 

 beavers, however, were seen during the day. 



From that part of the river up as far as I went on the 

 North Fork, "beaver cutting" was plentiful wherever large 

 balsam poplars grew on the banks. The beavers had 

 felled many of these trees by gnawing around the butt until 

 it assumed the shape of an hour-glass. It is a common 

 notion that the beaver is so intelligent that it deliberately 

 cuts the tree in such a way as to cause it to fall away 

 from the bank. Many of the trees, however, had fallen 

 in the direction of the river, and some over the bank. We 

 cannot, therefore, graft on the marvellous instinct of the 



