154 ROMANCE OF THE BEAVER 
had relentlessly pursued them from pond to pond, 
and scarcely any remained, notwithstanding the 
fact that they were even then supposed to be 
protected by law. In a big wild country it is far 
easier to make than enforce laws, especially as the 
law prohibiting the killing of the beaver was 
obnoxious to so many whose living depended 
largely on the trapping or selling furs, for of all 
fur-bearers the most easily obtained are the beaver. 
The law was in fact almost a dead letter as very 
few were interested in its being observed. About 
that time in Canada certain men began to realise 
the value of proper game reserves, and be it said 
to their everlasting credit they succeeded in 
influencing the Government to carry out their 
ideas. In the United States, Colonel Roosevelt 
was one of those most active in the work of con- 
servation and in establishing reservations, and if 
he had done nothing else during his strenuous life 
he would be remembered by what he did in that 
direction. In Canada, several great “parks” or 
reserves were established, one particularly I know 
of which was designed for a “fish and game pre- 
serve, health resort and pleasure ground for the 
benefit, advantage and enjoyment of the people 
of Ontario, and for the protection of the fish, 
birds, game and fur-bearing animals therein,” etc. 
Leaving aside all other animals and birds, we will 
see how it affected the beaver. The tract chosen 
was admirably adapted to their needs, and they 
