120 ROMANCE OF THE BEAVER 



these new pairs, delighting in their freedom and 

 independence, went away to some new part of the 

 country and began housekeeping according to their 

 own ideas. They were mated for life and there- 

 fore it was only right that they should select some 

 place which would allow the starting of a new 

 colony, with ample room for expansion. Their 

 decision was wise, for had they remained the pond 

 would have been somewhat overcrowded, and that 

 is quite contrary to the rules and regulations of 

 beaverdom. Everything is regulated from the 

 point of food supply, and so according to the 

 resources of the neighbourhood must the growing 

 of a colony be limited. The young pair that 

 remained decided to build their lodge on the little 

 island on which the original one was placed, but a 

 dividing ditch was cut so that each lodge was on 

 its own individual island. The older pair of 

 visitors, not considering it wise to encroach too 

 much on the hospitality of their new friends, made 

 a pond for themselves by damming the smaller 

 stream that flowed into the lake and which had 

 originally joined the main stream. In their newly 

 made pond they arranged to build a lodge on a 

 point of land which they severed from the shore 

 by cutting a broad channel. This seemed an 

 almost unnecessary waste of labour if it was 

 intended as a means of protection, for any animal 

 large enough to be regarded as an enemy could 

 easily jump across. It might, however, prevent 



