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, 
