64 ROMANCE OF THE BEAVER 
until they are nearly opposite the lodge or store, 
when they are immediately steered to where they 
are wanted. Still further do they go in their 
practical understanding of water transport, and 
perhaps I can explain this best by means of the 
accompanying sketch. It will be observed that 
the lodge is at a bend in the river on the upper 
end of a back eddy, so that where the winter 
wood-pile is placed there is practically no current. 
The beaver were getting their supply of wood very 
largely from a small grove of birches on the further 
side of the pond which had its outlet in the river 
at a point where the current was flowing rapidly 
down stream, so that to have taken the wood to 
the winter pile by way of this opening would have 
necessitated a long swim against the current. 
Instead of this, however, the beaver made a road- 
way across the narrowest part of the neck of land 
to a place where the return eddy ran toward the 
lodge. No man could have worked out the 
problem with greater reason. It might be sug- 
gested that this is an exceptional example. But 
such is not the case, for practically similar exhibi- 
tions of the beavers’ engineering skill are to be 
seen wherever the little creatures are found. In 
places where there is a high bank separating the 
pond from the river, they will cut a tunnel through 
large enough to enable them to swim to the river 
and carry their branches without difficulty. A 
short cut would not be of much avail if it meant 
