-.us 



XA TURA L HIS TOR Y 



extended from Florida north to the limits of trees, and from the Atlantic 

 west to Arizona, California, and Alaska. There were beaver everywhere. 

 It is no wonder then that the opening up of our shores and inland waters 

 gave a new impetus to trade ; and, in fact, to the beaver is due a large 

 portion of the settlement of New York, Canada, and the west. One has 

 but to read the pages of Parkman to see how all-important this animal was 



Fig. 485. — Beaver {Castor fiber). 



to the colony of New France, and how several times the community was 

 in danger of complete wreck because the hostile Indians prevented the 

 beaver-skins from reaching Montreal and Quebec. 



Some of the old superstitions connected with the beaver deserve men- 

 tion. Near the vent are two glandular pouches, which secrete a strong- 

 smellhur substance known as castoreum. In olden times the beaver was 



