THE BEAVER. 
213 
cut through the ice, and the search is con- 
tinued, until as many places of retreat as pos- 
sible have been found. While the most expe- 
rienced hunters are thus occupied, the others, 
'I'ith the women, are breaking into tbe beaver- 
iiouses. The animals, alarmed at this inva- 
sion of their dwellings, take to the water and 
Swim to their retreats in the banks, but their 
doming is betrayed to the hunters, watching 
the holes in the ice, by the motion and dis- 
colouration of the water. The entrance is 
easily closed with stakes, and the beaver, in- 
stead of finding shelter in his cave, is made 
prisoner and destroyed. The hunter then pulls 
^be animal out, if within reach, by his hand, 
cr by a hook fastened to a long handle, 
leaver-houses in lakes or other standing wa- 
ters offer an easier prey to the hunters, as 
^bere is no necessity for staking the water 
^eross. 
The number of beavers killed in the north- 
