246 A JOURNEY TO THE 



1771. in their vaults in the banks. Sometimes they are caught in 

 ecem er, ^^^^^^ ^^^^ -^^ ^j^^ Summer very frequently in traps. In Winter 

 they are very fat and [239] delicious ; but the trouble of rear- 

 ing their young, the thinness of their hair, and their constantly 

 roving from place to place, with the trouble they have in pro- 

 viding against the approach of Winter, generally keep them 

 very poor during the Summer season, at which time their flesh 

 is but indifferent eating, and their skins of so little value, that 

 the Indians generally singe them, even to the amount of many 

 thousands in one Summer. They have from two to five 

 young, at a time. Mr. Dobbs, in his Account of Hudson's 

 Bay, enumerates no less than eight different kinds of beaver ^ ; 

 but it must be understood that they are all of one kind and 

 species ; his distinctions arise wholly from the different seasons 

 of the year in which they are killed, and the different uses to 

 which their skins are applied, which is the sole reason that they 

 vary so much in value. 



Joseph Lefranc, or Mr. Dobbs for him, says, that a good 



[} The eight different kinds of beavers referred to by Mr. Dobbs are rather 

 eight different grades of beaver-skins classified on a strictly commercial basis. 

 His statement is : 



" There are eight kinds of Beavers received at the Farmer's Office. 



" The first is the fat Winter Beaver, kill'd in Winter, which is worth 5s. 6d, 

 per Pound. 



" The Second is the fat Summer Beaver, killed in Summer, and is worth 2s. gd. 



" The third the dry Winter Beaver, and fourth the Bordeau, is much the same, 

 and are worth 3s. 6d. 



" The fifth the dry Summer Beaver is worth very little, about is. gd. per Pound. 



" The sixth is the Coat Beaver, which is worn till it is half greased, and is 

 worth 4s. 6d. per Pound. 



" The 7th the Muscovite dry Beaver, of a fine Skin, covered over with a silky 

 Hair ; they wear it in Russia, and comb away all the short Down, which they 

 make into Stuffs and other Works, leaving nothing but the silky Hair ; this is 

 worth 4s. 6d. per Pound. 



" The eight is the Mittain Beaver, cut out for that Purpose to make Mittains, 

 to preserve them from the Cold, and are greased by being used, and are worth 

 IS. 9d. per Pound." ("An Account of the Countries adjoining to Hudson's 

 Bay." By Arthur Dobbs, London, 1744, pp. 25-26,) 



On a later page, quoting Joseph la f ranee : " The Beavers, he says, are of 

 three Colours; the brown reddish Colour, the black, and the white; the first is 

 the cheapest; the black is most valued by the Company, and in England; the 



