199 ROMANCE OF THE BEAVER 
beaver in remote places where never had solitude 
seemed to him sweeter—a band of Onneiochronnon 
Iroquois, who had gone thither to hunt men, 
captured this hunter of animals.” This led to 
much trouble which fortunately did not end in 
bloodshed, as by diplomacy and the fairness of a 
chief of the Onnontachronon Iroquois named 
Sagochiendagnté, and the surgeon, after being 
badly frightened, returned to Montreal. 
It is curious that while the Indians killed and 
eat the beaver, esteeming it the greatest luxury of 
the country, that they should regard the animal as 
being in some senses sacred to such an extent that 
under no conditions might the bones be given to 
their dogs, but gathered with the utmost care and 
put into the pond for fear that the beaver spirit 
should be offended. So great was their solicitude 
for the proper treatment of the animals’ bones that 
even when they gave a beaver as a present, Father 
Le Jeune says, it was accompanied by the request 
that the recipient “should be most careful not to 
give the bones to the dogs, otherwise they believe 
they will take no more beavers.” When it was 
not convenient to put the remains in a pond or 
river, they burned them to avoid any possibility of 
their hunting being spoiled. 
Needless to say the pursuit of the beaver led to 
bloodshed in many instances, for not only did 
individuals commit murders, but tribal wars 
resulted in which horrible atrocities were com- 
