64 ROMANCE OF THE BEAVER 



until they are nearly opposite the lodge or store, 

 when they are immediately steered to where they 

 are wanted. Still further do they go in their 

 practical understanding of water transport, and 

 perhaps I can explain this best by means of the 

 accompanying sketch. It will be observed that 

 the lodge is at a bend in the river on the upper 

 end of a back eddy, so that where the winter 

 wood-pile is placed there is practically no current. 

 The beaver were getting their supply of wood very 

 largely from a small grove of birches on the further 

 side of the pond which had its outlet in the river 

 at a point where the current was flowing rapidly 

 down stream, so that to have taken the wood to 

 the winter pile by way of this opening would have 

 necessitated a long swim against the current. 

 Instead of this, however, the beaver made a road- 

 way across the narrowest part of the neck of land 

 to a place where the return eddy ran toward the 

 lodge. No man could have worked out the 

 problem with greater reason. It might be sug- 

 gested that this is an exceptional example. But 

 such is not the case, for practically similar exhibi- 

 tions of the beavers' engineering skill are to be 

 seen wherever the little creatures are found. In 

 places where there is a high bank separating the 

 pond from the river, they will cut a tunnel through 

 large enough to enable them to swim to the river 

 and carry their branches without difficulty. A 

 short cut would not be of much avail if it meant 



