260 THEOUGH THE MACKENZIE BASm 



clear-water streams have a better colour than is the case 

 with the summer inhabitants of very muddy rivers having 

 their source in or beyond the Eocky Mountains and flowing 

 through a sandy clay soil. The skins of such beaver are 

 usually of a dirty rusty brown colour, with the inner fur of 

 a lighter hue, and are certainly in appearance inferior to 

 those of their cleaner-furred brethren, and must therefore 

 realize lower prices in London. 



The substance contained in two pyriform sacs situated 

 near the organs of reproduction in the beaver, and commer- 

 cially well-known as " castorum," has always been traded 

 from the natives ; and although it is not entered in the afore- 

 said statement of sales, nor in the fur catalogues for 1887, 

 1902 and 1903, yet the Company's officers annually shipped 

 to London considerable quantities of this valuable commodity. 

 " At one time it was largely employed as a medicine for 

 derangement of the nervous system, but now little used." 

 This, of course, adversely affected prices, and for a number of 

 years castorum did not sell well. Latterly, however, owing 

 to its scarcity and its reported use as a base in the manu- 

 facture of perfumery, its value has been greatly enhanced. 

 During my long stay at Fort Chipewyan, Lake Athabasca, 

 upward of twenty abnormally large examples of castorum 

 sacs, or " pods," as designated in trade, containing from 

 three to nearly five times as much of the substance as is 

 usually found within average-sized specimens, were ob- 

 tained, for the most part, from animals killed on the Peace 

 River. I also noticed and heard of a few similar " pods " 

 elsewhere in the interior; but in those days Athabasca pro- 

 duced the very largest I ever saw. 



From certain documents in my possession I believe we 

 can form some idea of the extent of the castorum trade of 

 the last century. As a rule the receipt of this article natur- 

 ally corresponds with the annual catch of beaver. Mackenzie 

 River District from 1863 to 1881 contributed a total of 

 6,251 pounds weight. From 1858 to 1884, old Athabasca 



