NOTES ON BEAVERS. 107 



probably owint; to the kittens first appeariiii; in piil)lic about tliat time 

 of the year. 



One fault alone I had to find with my little friends, and that was 

 the apparent extravagance with which they had " ringed" a very high 

 percentage of the standing timber in the enclosure, without intending 

 to promptly finish the work, as evidenced by the stale appearance of 

 the chi[)s. 



Beavers are captured either by ti-apping, drawing, or by storming 

 their fortresses. 



In the first instance an iron trap is set close by the bank in shallow 

 water, but with chain enough to reach into a depth of at least four 

 feet. Upon the bank above a little castoreum, mixed with rum or 

 cinnamon, is spilt ; the beaver is attracted by the scent, and when 

 caught dives into deep water, whei-e the weight of the trap 'a >lds down 

 and drowns it. Should it, by reason of the river having fallen, not reach 

 the deep water, it will bite off its leg at a joint, draw the sinews out of 

 the shoulder, and escape. 



The second method consists in noiselessly removing part of the 

 dam. As soon as the beavers find the water sinking they come out of 

 their houses and holes to repair the breach, and are then shot. 



Thirdly, the Indians search round the beaver pools for the " washes," 

 opposite each of which they make a hole in the ice ; the women then 

 break into the beaver-house, which affords the unfortunate animals 

 the choice of three evils — either to stay under the ice and get drowned, 

 or to stay in the house and be killed by the women, or bolt to their 

 " washes " and be killed by the men, who detect their entrance by the 

 i-ipple in the ice-liole as they pass under, when the aperture is imme- 

 diately staked, the " wash " opened from above, and the poor beast caught, 

 either by hand or with a hook made for the purpose. Sometimes they 

 merely stake the two entrances to the house, break into it, and spear 

 or tomahawk the imprisoned beavers ; or, if it is a lake, simply fri^^hten 

 the beavers out of their houses and shoot them as they come to the 

 surface, as they cannot long exist without air. 



In 1808 the Hudson's Bay Company imported 126,927 pelts, each 

 worth about 19s. ; in 1820 only about 50,000, showing how rapidly their 

 numbers were decreased. 



The fur when shaved off the pelts with a sharp knife was winnowed 

 in a tube to separate the long hair from the wool ; the latter was then 

 kneaded into felt, through which it worked until it appeared as a 

 perfect surface on the other side, and was ready to make into hats. 



As pets in coufinemeuL, beavers are most affectionate and enter- 

 taining. Did time permit I could give you numberless anecdotes of 

 their sagacity ; but the length my paper has already reached pre- 

 cludes any such extension. I trust that in what I have told you there 

 is sufficient to convince you that if we, lords and tyrants of creation 

 as we are, vacated the earth, the lower organisms of which the subject 

 of our paper to-night is a good example, would find their lives far 

 more agreeable, and a wider scope for the exercise of their intelligence. 



