LABRADOR elOURNAL 307 



the pond is frozen, they commonly quit it, and 

 go into the next, either above or below; or they 

 will go into an old house in the same pond, or a 

 small one of their own there, which they generally 

 have besides the one they live in, and it is termed 

 the hovel. If they have been teased much in 

 former years, they will often fly for a very slight 

 disturbance; but should the furrier chance to 

 catch the two old ones at first, the rest of the 

 family will scarce ever quit the pond. So long as 

 the pond is free from ice, the}^ keep adding to 

 their magazine of provisions; but when it is 

 frozen firm, they begin to live upon it. As the 

 sticks which compose their magazine are entan- 

 gled one in another, so as to make it difficult to 

 extract a whole one, they cut a piece off, bring 

 it into their house, and then eat off the bark: after 

 which, they carry it out again and cast it loose in 

 the water. In bringing their food into their 

 house, thev often strike one end of the stick on 

 the bridge of a trap, which the furrier has placed 

 for them in the angle. From this circumstance, 

 many of the ignorant people have positively as- 

 serted, that the sagacity of the beaver induced 

 him so to do, to prevent being caught himself; 

 but if beavers had so much knowledge, very 

 few of them, I am persuaded, would be taken. 

 Whereas, the beaver's safety depends chiefly on 

 the furriers' ignorance, for he who understands 

 his business well, will certainly catch the whole 

 family, nr .'ill the families which are in the same 

 ponr] nr it he not too larg<') in a very few nights, 



