FAMINE IN BEAVER-LAND 211 
pond to the heart of the rooty area. Even 
after most of the pond was frozen to the bottom 
they had an open line of communication with 
the root supplies. 
Mutual aid is a factor in beaver life. I do 
not know how many days’ work this ditch re- 
quired; but when one of the beavers in a colony 
work, all work. Since late summer these bea- 
vers had worked at one task after another; 
they had unitedly worked for the welfare of 
each member of the colony. With mutual aid 
beaver colonists achieve much in a short time. 
Their strong love for home, causing them to re- 
main long in one place, and the peculiar work 
which this calls for, makes changes on earth 
sometimes enduring for centuries. 
But they had only commenced to dig out the 
roots on the bottom of the pond when the ever- 
thickening ice froze over this life-saving food 
supply. The water would have been deeper 
over this area but the beavers’ early hard luck 
had prevented their building the dam as high 
as it should have been. 
I do not know how they handled the food- 
shortage, whether or not they went on short 
rations. But no beaver had more than his por- 
tion, for beavers are codperators, they work in 
common, and so long as the food supply lasts 
each has his share. 
