76 ROMANCE OF THE BEAVER 



which are not very frequently found, there is the 

 very common form found in most beaver colonies. 

 These really can be more properly termed water- 

 ways than canals, as they are in places which are 

 already more or less flooded, but which, owing to 

 the shallowness of the water, and the numerous 

 hummocks, or tussocks, are scarcely passable to the 

 beaver laden with poles or branches. They there- 

 fore cut a way through, tearing down the obstruc- 

 tions, and excavating the mud until there is a 

 sufficient depth of water to allow them to travel 

 without difficulty. Then another form of canal, 

 which has already been partly described, is the kind 

 which is made in order to ensure a short cut either 

 from one pond to another or across a neck of land 

 formed by a sharp bend in the stream or river, or 

 even across a promontory running into their pond. 

 Apparently they consider it worth the labour, and 

 it must be a serious undertaking to cut a canal of 

 considerable size in order to shorten the length of 

 their journeys. 



As a rule the canal work is done before the 

 woodcutting operations are in full swing, so it 

 shows that they actually make fairly complete 

 preparation for what they know lies before them 

 and proves pretty conclusively that the wood- 

 cutting is not a work undertaken on the spur of the 

 moment. Everything points toward such a conclu- 

 sion, the selection of a place where suitable wood 

 is abundant, the building of the dams, and finally, 



