370 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS 



we have out down all the trees, making it so wet that 

 no more trees will grow; and rich, tall grass springs np, 

 covering the decayed stumps. House People call these 

 places Beaver Meadows. We do not like the wood of 

 evergreens, and so often we have to search far away 

 from water for our food, and after the trees are cut, 

 they must be carried a weary distance home. We have 

 two ways of doing this : one is to make a straight path- 

 way by felling everything that would interfere with us ; 

 the other is to dig a canal between ponds or streams 

 and, letting in Avater, float our wood home, as House 

 People float their logs from lu"^'^'- .amps to sawmills. 



" ' Having made our canal, inree feet wide and as 

 jnany deep, we must arrange to keep the water deep 

 enough for our Avork. Deep water is a " must be " in 

 the Beaver world, whether in canals or in the ponds 

 and rivers. The water must be higla enough to cover 

 the doorway of the burrows. 



" ' Next comes our work as engineers, for we have to 

 build dams to keep the Avater back and make it stand 

 at the exact depth we wish. 



" ' House People have all seen the dams that keep 

 the water in their mill ponds ; but we build longer, 

 better ones than theirs, sometimes perhaps they may he 

 only a few feet in length, but at others many hundred. 

 Often we begin by interlacing growing bushes Avith 

 sticks, filling the gaps Avith stones and mud on the Avater 

 side, then adding sticks from time to time beloAV, until 

 Ave have made our barrier strong enough. At other 

 times we build over fallen trees, and raise a dam from 

 them of almost solid mud, strengthened Avith tree boughs. 

 We are never Avasteful, and seldom use fresh Avood for 



