CASTOROI.OGIA. 139 



sides, if they wanted to collect supplies b}^ their own labors, there 

 were plenty of beaver reserves nearer their OW' n homes. 



L,et us suppose that the winter has advanced to its height, that 

 the heavy frosts and storms have come and bound all nature in 

 an icy covering, deep under which the beaver hibernates in its warm 

 nest. In the months of January or February, a change sets in and 

 the weather moderates ; this is the opportunity to replenish the lar- 

 der, and after many weeks of quiet and laziness, the village is all alive 

 and excitement runs high, for a hunting party is being formed to 

 visit the beaver colony. Men, women, children and dogs are all 

 prepared for the start. Axes, spears, nets and clubs form the equip- 

 ment, and the moccasined feet soon tread a pathway through the 

 woods, as the party in " Indian file" follow the chief guide to the 

 scene of the coming slaughter. The first step is to quietly cut a series 

 of holes around each beaver house or lodge, and through these holes 

 place a netting in which the creatures will become entangled when 

 they rush from their nest. This preparation being completed, a 

 sudden onslaught is made on the lodge ; this is the work of the 

 squaws, who quickly demolish the structure, driving the occupants 

 hurriedly off to their washes or burrows in the bank where they seek 

 refuge. A few are killed in the house, others get caught in the net- 

 ting and soon drown, still others escape both of these fates and swim 

 off for the bank, but they are none the less doomed, for the well 

 trained " beaver dog," wild with the excitement of the moment fol- 

 lows over the ice, the course the poor hunted creature takes in the 

 water, and when the beaver enters his burrow, the dog remains bark- 

 ing and scratching at the place. How completely the colony was at 

 the mercy of the Indian, notwithstanding his crude weapons, must 

 clearly be seen, and it was quite in the hunter's power to annihilate 

 the whole colony if he pleased, but in this respect the Indian was 

 very provident, and in recognition of the immense value the creature 

 represented, he never allowed his beaver reserve to be too closely 

 hunted. 



The Baron La Hontan in his valuable " Memoires de FAmerique 

 Septentrionale " says of the division of the spoils consequent on such 



