26 CAPTAIN CAETWRIGHT'S 



my return, I fixed up a boat's sail between two 

 trees, at a short distance from the buildings, to 

 keep off the rain, under which Mrs. Selby and I 

 sat watching a bear-path imtil the evening. At 

 that time a large bitch bear^ made her appear- 

 ance, and I shot her through the heart with my 

 Hanoverian rifle ; she had not had a cub this year, 

 and was very poor. We immediately roasted a 

 joint, and, although it tasted rank, it served very 

 well to satisfy a craving appetite, as we had lived 

 very indifferently since we left Fogo. 



Saturday, July 14, 1770. As soon as we had 

 dispatched some plentiful dishes of bear steakes 

 this morning, we took a walk to a pond which lies 

 upon the brook, and not far from the mouth of 

 it, to look at a new beaverhouse, in which the 

 salmoniers had killed four beavers.^ The appear- 

 ance on the outside resembled a heap of earth, 

 stones and sticks; it was built adjoining to the 

 bank, and the crown of it was about four feet 

 above the level of the water. I examined it very 

 strictly, to see if I could discover those marks of 

 sagacity and contrivance, which are related by 

 those authors who have entertained the world 

 with the natural history of these curious animals ; 

 but, for want of a competent knowledge in archi- 

 tecture, I presume, I could perceive only the order 

 of confusion. As to the inside I can say nothing, 

 for we did not open it; but that, I am told, is in 

 the form of an oven. 



* Black bear, Ursus americanus. 



^ Canadian beaver, Castor canadensis. 



