3 11 
THE CANADIAN BEAVER. 
Indian tradition ascribes the rescue of the world 
from its aqueous ages to the industry and intelligence 
of the beaver, the animal which first learnt to control 
and turn to account the opposing elements of land 
and water. The beavers were of gigantic size, before 
the Great Spirit smoothed them down to their present 
dimensions, after they had completed his work on the 
unfinished earth ; and they, with their fellow-workers, 
the musquash and the otter, dived and brought up 
the mud, and with it made mountains and lakes, 
caves and cataracts, dividing the land from the waters, 
while the envious spirits of evil pelted the Titan 
beavers with gigantic rocks, which still strew the 
plains and valleys with monstrous boulders of 
misshapen stone. If the legend needed any justifica- 
tion beyond its picturesqueness and simplicity, a 
study of Mr. Martin’s work on The History and 
Traditions of the Canadian Beaver 1 would almost 
bear out the Indian belief, that the intelligence 
and mechanical skill of the beaver were prior 
1 Edward Stanford : London. 
i 
