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1.4

CASTOROLOGIA.

" A subject which has, from the very inception
of colonization, been associated with the in-
dustrial and commercial development, and
indirectly, with the social life, the romance^
and, to a considerable extent, even with the
wars of Canada."

John Reade.

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CASTOROLOGIA

OR Till'.

.;:P

■•*-■

HISTORY AND TRADITIONS

OF THE

CANADIAN BEAVER.

HORACE T. MARTIN, F.Z.S.,&c.

AN EXIIAUSTIVK MONOGRAril, POPULARLY WRITTEN

FULL Y ILL USTRA TED.

-^>*<-^

MONTREAL : WM. DRYSDALK & CO.
No. 232 St. James Street.

LONDON : EDWARD STANFORD,
Nos. 26 & 27 CocKSPUR vStreet, Charing Cross, S. W.

I8Q2.

181231

HoRAcn T. Martin,
in the office of the Minister of Agriculture.

DESBAHAT8 4 CO., ENGRAVERS AND PRINTERS.

•-1.J-

2-31

BV PERMISSION

DKDICATICD

Sir J. Wm. DAWSON, I.I,.D., F.R.S, &c.

IN GRATBFUI, RECOGNITION

OP HIS SERVICES

TO STUDENTS

CANADIAN NATURAI, HISTORY.

!5(

PRKKACK.

A TRADITIONAL knowledge of the beaver' is the birthright
of every Canadian ; yet, as in most cases where tradition
alone is relied on, this knowledge is chiefly remarkable
for its divergence from facts. As the acorn, falling on favorable
soil, sends forth the slender shoot, which time and circumstance
may model into a grotesque fetish for minds ignorant, or forget-
ful of the simplicity of its origin ; so. the facts of science, if
nurtured by tradition, soon lose shape, and multitudes venerate
the fabulous stories of dragon or beaver, with total disregard to
outraged reason. Iconoclasm must, therefore, do its work, dis-
tasteful as its spirit may be ; for rather should we add, than take
away one tittle of our nation's lore ; but such statements as can-
not stand the search-light test of truth, must rank as fable ; and
while our story may lose some of its glamour when studied
rationally, we surely do not need the chimerical to arouse our
interest. .

Canada has been known for nearly three centuries as "the
home of the beaver," and for over two hundred years this animal
contributed to Canada's most substantial advancement : inspiring
adventures, stimulating enterprize, and laying the .strong founda-
tions of our commercial development. Thus has the beaver played
its part in the romance of our early history ; the central figure
around which waged the wars of nations, while powerful corpo-

rations and petty adventurers fought for monopolies few were able
to control.

The history of the beaver in Great Britain, has been concisely
recorded by J. E. Harting ; while an extensive volume, the work
of Morgan and Ely, treats of the beaver in the United States.
Conspicuous for original contributions on the Canadian beaver,
we recognize Cartwright, in I^abrador ; Hardy, in New Bruns-
wick ; Venner, in Quebec ; Wilson, in Ontario ; and Green, in the
Far West ; but all these are eclipsed by Samuel Hearne, the
Hudson's Bay explorer and writer, whose observations will be
worth, for all time, verbatim copy. Dr. Richardson's monumental
tome, though written half a century later, scarcely extends in the
least our knowledge of this subject.

To trace the tangled threads of the earlier chronicles, and to
produce a worthy fabric, requires for every strand a mind peculiar
to the theme — the patience and keen observance of the Antiquary
— the genius of the Historian — the broad knowledge of the Biologist
— all these at least, and with these, the general love for the study
of Nature. This last has been my slender equipment, but I have
easily enlisted sympathetic help from members of the Anti-
quarian Society, the Society for Historical Studies, and the Natural
History Society of Montreal. To the Hon. Edward Murphy and
to Mr. P. S. Murphy I am indebted for antiquarian notes ; for
the elucidation of many historical problems my thanks are due
to Mr. Henry Mott and Mr. Gerald E. Hart ; while for many
kind and valuable services I am deeply grateful to Sir J. Wm.
Dawson. Among my correspondents manj^ have evinced a prac-
tical interest, and I am proud to acknowledge many items from
the fluent pen of Mr. J. M. I^eMoine. During my sojourns abroad
I received most friendly assistance, and acknowledge my obliga-
tions to Mr. T. F. Moore, Derby Museum, Uverpool ; Mr. Chas.
N. Read, Brit. Mus. (Ethnography) ; Mr. Oldfield Thomas and Mr.
A. Smith Woodward, Brit. Mus. (Natural HistorjO ; Mr. A. D.
Bartlett, Regents Park Gardens ; and Mr. P. A. Sclater, Sec'y. Zool.
Society, London ; who made available to me the privileges of those

magnificent institutions. My numero„« ™ j-
friends have, with a marvellons parncrenduredle' """"'"^
my demands for informations =„^ ", / , ^^ """^ >'"='>™

my greatest eneonraglent ' "" 'he.r sympathy has been

so — ri^urd^x^the^tron-^nitr^^^^^^^^^^^^^ '>-

public this, my initial volnm! '^^^!P''"^''''^'t>' °f bringing before the

which make ou gelt Domlnio^^^^^^

totem. '<the beavef.'' ^''"^ '° °^"" ^^ ^^s national

Horace T. Martin.

MONTREAI., February, i8g2.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Introduction ^^^^

, . I

CHAPTER I.

MYTHOtOGV AND FOI^KLORE

CHAPTER n.
Mammoth Beavers

CHAPTER HI.
The European Beavkr

CHAPTER IV.
The More Important American Rodents

CHAPTER V.

Life History of the Canadian Beaver

CHAPTER VI.

Geographicai, Distribution

, . 49

CHAPTER VII.

Engineering Accomplishments

• • «■ . . . 61

CHAPTER VIII.

Economic Considerations

CHAPTER IX.

Chemico-Medicai. Properties

•••••-..... 09

CHAPTER X,
Importance in Trade and Commerce

CHAPTER XI.

Uses of the Beaver in Manufactures

■ ■ ■ "9

XIV

CHAPTER Xir.
Hunting the Bravbr

^33

CHAPTER Xni.
Experiments in Domestication

153

CHAPTER XIV.

Anatomy-Osteowcv-Taxidermy

171

« ^ CHAPTER XV.

THE Beaver in Heraldry ...

189

APPENDICES.

APPENDIX— A.
Photo-Copies erom Orioinai, DocuMENTs-1721-17.6

' 207

APPENDIX— B
Samuel Hearne's Account of the Beaver

219

APPENDIX— C
Plaptypsyllus Castoris

235

UST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE

A Scene in the Laurentides Frontispiece

Figure of a Beaver from the earliest known Monograph 4

Amie des Hurons 6

Wonders of the New World 11

The Beaver and His Famous Lodges (from an old print, 1755) 14

Fiber Zibethicus — Castor Canadensis — Castoroides Ohioensis 21

Lower Jaw of Trogontherium Cuvieri (half natural size) after Owen ... 24

Lower Jaw of the European Beaver, from Peat Moss, Newbury, England . 30

Fiber Zibethicus — The Musk Beaver 34

Myopotamus Coypus — The South American Beaver 36

The Largest Existing Rodent — Hydrochaerus Capybara 40

The First Work of the Beaver Kitten 43

Stump Showing Cuttings from Various Levels of Snow 47

The Large Yellow Pond Lily (Nuphar Advena) 48

Beaver Hunting Grounds of the Iroquois 54-55

Map Showing Distribution of Beaver — about 1850 • 58

The Advance of Civilization 60

LeBeau's Marvelous Vision 65

Stump Showing that Methods of Cutting Disagree 68

The Beaver Canal, from " The American Beaver and his Works " .... 73

Beaver Chips 78

Fur Traders "Squatting" on the Prairie near Fort Garry, 1876 82

Beaver Tooth Chisel, from a Specimen in the British Museum ..... 87

Title Page of the Original Castorologia 93

Lower Incisor Tooth of the Beaver 96

Dried Castoreum Pouches — " Bark Stone," or " Beaver Castors " ... 98

Tally for Five Beavers 106

The Hudson's Bay Company's Beaver Token 108

The North West Company's Beaver Token 112

XVI

A Trapper and Trader of the Old R^'gime 115

From "Illustrated Montreal," by permission J. McConniff.

Lake Superior, or The Spirit Land 118

Beaver Fur, Magnified 50 Diameters 122

St. .Clement, Patron Saint of the Hatters 123

Modifications of the Beaver Hat 125

The Hood, or Beaver Hat in its First Form 128

Beaver Fur, Magnified 250 Diameters 132

Diagram of a Beaver Hunt — 1704 137

The Beaver Hunting Country of the Six Nation Indians — 1749 141

Beaver Trap, with Clutch 146

Quick wahay — The "Beaver Eater" 149

The Deadfall (as now used for Mink or Sable) 152

The Marquis of Bute's Beaver Enclosure — July 1889 163

" No Person Allowed Within the Beaver Enclosure " .• . . . 170

Beaver's Head (Study from Still Life) 175

Tail of the Beaver — Direct from Nature 179

Skulls Showing the F'eatures on which the Specific Difference is based . 183

Artistic Taxidermy Applied to the Beaver 186

This group has been presented to the Redpath Museum, McGill
College, in the name of the late Roswell C. Lyman.

Taxidermic Monstrosities 188

Postage Stamp, issued 1851 ... 192

Seals of the New Netherlands 195

Coat of Arms of the City of Montreal 196

Early Arms of Canada (unauthenticated) 199

Suggestion for a Complete Coat of Arms for the Dominion of Canada . . 201

Platypsyllus Castoris 235

INTRODUCTION.

SALUTATION FROM THE KING OK BRAVERvS.

Uy Georc.h Martin.

" Welcome to tlie kindly home
Wliere wo shape the wattled dome,
Where, in moonlight's silver calm,
My faithful subjects build the dam ;
The land whose maple leaf conveys
A prophecy of sweetened days.

We're grateful for the honor given
To beaverhood, since nearer heaven
This great Dominion raised our name,
Emblazoned on the scroll of fame ;
A choice that to the world attests
The base on which its greatness rests,
Our one transcendent, special gift : — •
Persistency of honest thrift."

> ^

INTRODUCTION,

CANADA offers to the naturalist an exceptional invitation, in
her grand possessions of primeval forest, trackless prairie,
mountain ranges, lakes and rivers. Nature's domain is,
however, so vast, that the mind is perplexed with the endless
beauty of the panorama, and instead of boldly pressing on nature,
for the unfolding of her secrets, the observer pauses before the great
chain of interdependent phenomena. The subject as a whole, being
beyond the grasp of most minds, contentment will be found in
selecting a minor feature, and devoting to it close study.

The early adventurers in the New World met with many novel-
ties and the interest manifested in these discoveries called forth
accounts concerning them. Though the temptation to startle the
Old World readers by fabulous tales, was frequently yielded to, all
the early records are valuable, as containing the germs of our cur-
rent traditions.

The discovery of the Canadian Beaver was coincident with the
discovery of Canada. From the earliest days, the animal was recog-
nized as of great importance to Canada, and this association has
given her the beaver as a national symbol. The name of the Indian
village, Hochelaga, visited by Jacques Cartier in 1536, is an Algon-
quin word, .signifying "beaver- meadows," and as colonies of beavers
were not unusually found in the immediate vicinity of the Indian

'..:!

CASTOROLOGIA.

settlements, we may reasonably infer that much of the present site
of the city of Montreal, was then occupied by them.

It was not, however, till the establishing of the fur-trading post
at (Juebec in 1604, and at Montreal in 161 1, that the connnercial
importance was taken advantage of, and the destruction of the
beaver hosts began. Though the beaver trade of Canada .soon
assumed proportions commanding the attention of Parliament, it

FIGURK OK A BEAVER FROM THE EARLIEST KNOWN MONOGRAPH— 16S5.

was two centuries later, before science manifested any interest. In
1820, Kuhl published a description of a Canadian beaver, then in the
British Museum, and named it Castor Canadensis, thus creating a
specific name in contradistinction to Castor En ropcnts^Wxe. European
beaver. In size the creatures were much alike ; in color the Kuro-
pean was not .so dark, but no difference of any moment was detected,
till, in 1825, Frederick Cuvier pointed out a difference in the skulls,
which has since been recognized as establishing the species. Kuhl's,
being the first distinctive name published to science, by the rules of

CASTORuuOGIA.

ht
il
le

scientific noincnclature takes i>receclence, hence we have, fixtcl be-
yond dispute, the scientific binonien, Castor Canadensis, giving the
popular form, the Canadian heaver.

The Kuropean beaver had formerly been widely spread over the
Old World, and it had earned a conspicuous place in the thoughts of
men, as early as the days of Heredotus, 420 to 480, B.C. The
Greeks called it Castor, ironx gastro — the stomach, having reference
to the appearance of the animal ; while in Latin, we find many
records of it under the names, " fibre," " fil)er " and " fibir ; " cor-
rupted from Jibnim, and signifying that the animal dwelt on the
banks or edges of the rivers and streams. There is also a Latin
form, "beber," with which there is evident connection in the Ger-
man "biber," the old French "beavre," and the Anglo-Saxon
"beofer," "befer," and "beaver." As the determining of scientific
names rests absolutely on the rule of priority, regardless of correct-
ness or .suitability, many gross anomalies occur ; but in the present
case no alteration or improvement could be wished for, as the
scientific name admits of translation into terms fairly descriptive of
the creature and its habits.

With this general introduction, enquiry may now be made
regarding the antecedents of the beaver, and though the Old World
records date very early, the traditions of the North American
Indians, which associate the beaver with the creation of the world,
merit first consideration.

Ar)ne des Hurons.

I ■ i I

MYTHOLOGY AND FOLKLORE.

" vShould you ask me, whence these stories?
Whence these legends and traditions,
With the odors of the forest,
"With the dew and damp of meadows.
With the curling smoke of wigwams, .
I should answer, I should tell you,
' From the forest and the prairies,
From the great lakes of the Northland,
From the land of the Ojibways,
From the land of the Dacotahs, . .
I repeat them as I heard them
From the lips of Nawadiha,
The musician, the sweet singer. '

Should you ask where Nawadaha
Found these songs, so wild and wayward,
Found these legends and traditions,
I should answer, I should tell you,
* In the birds'-nests of the forest.
In the lodges of the beaver,' " .

— The Soug of Hiawaiha.

■'•,i

CHAPTER I.
Traditions Coxcrrning thk Bkavicr and tiik World's Crkation —

rRODIGIICS ASCRIUKD TO EaR1,Y MKMBERS — TnE BEAVER AS THE

Progenitor ok Man — Supposed Influence oe Beaver Ghosts —
Reverence with which the Beaver is Treated — Beaver Fables
— Early Colonial vSuperstitions Regarding Animal Life.

Before relating what may be called the sacred legends of the
beaver, it may be well, first, to consider the people in whose minds
the stories originated. It is generally admitted that climate has a re-
markable effect on character, and with all the varieties from tropical
to arctic, included in the original habitat of the Indians, a great
diversity of character might be expected. In fact, they cannot be
studied as one people, any more than could the present inhabitants
of Europe, be descril^ed in one simple phrase. T'uis, to the South,
there were the " Digger " Indians, and the "Fishing" tribe.s — in-
different and unprogressivc — and with them, the robber bands who
preyed upon them. Further to the North a sturdier race, the great
warriors, distracting their neighbours, north and south, making
captives and generally playing the part of a military nation ; while
on this plane would be included settled and industrious tribes, such
as the Hochelagans. Still higher in latitude the hardy fur-hunters,
whose dealings with the Hudson's Bay Company for over two
centuries, furnish ample ground for the conception of the noble
possibilities of the " redniau ; " and with such names as Pontiac,
Tecumseth and Brant, illuminating the pages of our history, we
need not choose tj-pes from the poor wretches who have fallen heir
to our vices only.

Then may we hold more respect for our red-skinned ])rother, and
treat with reverence those traditions which to him were most sacred.

CASTOROLOGIA.

While the Indian cannot justly be classified among the spirit-
worshippers, though he had clear conceptions of spirits and a spirit-
world, yet he is much above the range of fetishism, and may most
properly be considered as a nature-worshipper. Being of a medita-
tive mind, he reasoned far beyond the visible world, though he
based his belief on material evidence. It was a logical process of
reasoning that brought him to face the problem of tb ; world's
creation. He believed the world was all covered with water in the
beginning, and he peopled it with the beaver, the musquash and
the otter, whose aquatic habits we can easih' understand must have
impressed him. But, as the building of the world was a prodigious
task, these animals were all of gigantic size. They dived and
brought up the mud with which the great spirit — the Manitou —
made the earth. Then the features of the earth, the mountain
ranges, cataracts and caves, were all the works of the giant beavers ;
and the erratic boulders, which, in many places, stand so conspicu-
ously in our landscape, were the missies thrown by enraged spirits
at offending beavers.

?!i

When the world became ready for the introduction of man, the
Indian pliilosophy solved the problem in a way that was curious and
masterly. The animals were said to have been endowed with
speech, and seemed to have used the gift even as v.'icked mortals
often do, accordingly, the great Manitou woul''^ frequently be vexed,
and his wrath caused him at times to slay the evil-doer. Then, by
a beautiful adaptation of the idea of the transmigration of spirits,
man came forth as the spirit of the departed animal, and bore hence-
forth a likeness in character to the animal from which he sprang.
Tiie Amikonas, or " People of the Beaver," an Algonquin tribe of
Lake Huron, claimed descent from the carcass of the great original
beaver, or father of the beavers ; and the beaver was one of the eight
clans of the Iroquois. In the wonderful totem-poles of the Queen
Charlotte Islanders, a prominent place is afforded the beaver, and
doubtless the Hochelagans, or "Indians of the Beaver-Meadow,"
held the creature in high esteem.

The Manitou was good to man, and to make him chief among

* i!i

if^:

CASTOROLOGIA.

all living things, the Good Spirit "smoothed with his hand the giant
beasts, making them gradually .smaller," and then he deprived them
of the power of speech. Though animals were thus subjected to
man, both were accountable to the Manitou ; and even the animals
and their departed spirits had powers affecting man. Many records
relate the petitions of the Hunter before starting for the chase,
which invariably included the promise of all reverence to be paid
his victims. In this respect, the beaver, as the most valuable con-
tributor to the social economy of the Indian, was the object of special
regard, and roasted beaver was the highest desire of the Indian.
After the feast the sacred bone was raised to its altar, an evidence
of honor paid to the departed beaver, and then the remains were
gathered with care and returned to the water, so that the dogs
touched none of it. Woe to the luckless hunter who did dishonor
to the bones of the beaver, and thus displeased the spirits ; the
beavers at once became shy, and in vain might he lay his traps.

Many of these matters may seem childi.sh and unworthy serious
repetition, but surely they are of more profit than the fabulous
accounts of the beaver which practically constitute the popular
range of beaver literature. The animal itself has been represented
in forms the most grotesque, some of which are selected as the
illustrations of this chapter ; and his works have been exaggerated
beyond all recognition. The dam has been described as formed of
stakes five or six feet long driven into the ground in rows, with
pliant twigs wattled between "as hurdles are made;" and the
lodge has been extended to a five story building with windows and
other conveniences ; while in the erection of these, the tail has been
converted into a vehicle for conveying the materials, a pile-driver
for placing the stakes, and a trowel for plastering the house. In
fact as Hearne wrote in 1771, the only thing that remained to make
their natural history complete, was the adding of " a vocabulary of
their language, a code of their laws, and a sketch of their religion "

Either from a misinterpretation of the Indian legends, or a mis-
use of the imaginative faculties, or from both, there exists univer-
sally in the early colonial writings the most astonishing references

CASTOROI.OGIA.

to the Wild annuals of the co,i„tr>'. and the following quotation will
show the extreme to which these fancies reached : "On the borders
of Canada, animals are now and again seen resembling a horse- they
have cloven hoofs, shaggy manes, a horn right out of the forehead
a tail like a wild hog."

This creature was figured by Arnoldus Montanus, in 1671 with
some of the other animals of the New World, including the braver,
and will easily be recognized in the accompanying group of chim-
eras, which IS reproduced from the copy in the Documentary^ His-
tory of New York.

THH BEAVER AND HIS FAMOUS I.ODGES.

FROM AX OLD PRINT, 1755.

i 1

MAMMOTH BEAVERS.

ill

Ml'

" To the beavers l^-xw-PuVi-Keewi?

Spake entreatiii-.;, said in this wise :
' Very pleasant is your dwelling,

O my friends ! ai;d safe from danger ;

Can 3'ou not with all your cunning,

Al! your wisdom and contrivance,

Change me, too, into a beaver? '
' Yes,' replied Alimcek, the beaver.

He the king of all the beavers,
' Let yourself slide down amon;rr -a^

Down into the tranquil water.'

ffi

' Make me large," said Paw-Puk-Keewis
' ]Make me large, and make me larger,
Larger than the other beavers. '

* Yes,' the beaver chief responded,

* "When our lodge below }-ou enter,
In our Wigwam we will make you
Ten times larger than the others.' "

— T/ie Himtivg jf Paw-PuK-Keewis.

►

CHAPTlvR II.

Indian Li;gknds of Giant Beavers— DiscovivRY of TRoooNTHKRirM,
Ci"\'iKR's Gigantic Bicaver— A Sicarcii van the Fossil. Bkavkr op
North America — Castoroides Oiiioicnsis— Ricflections on the
Form and Characteristics of these Animals — The Changes of
Fauna in Recent Times.

\¥

We have alread> told how the Indians, basing their arguments
on material phenoin -na, reasoned as to the formation of the various
features of the earth, and by introducing the industrious beaver,
they explained many of the characteristics of the landscape which to
them appeared like the beaver's work ; but, the proportions being
so disparaging as to necessitate the conception of animals with more
power and knowledge, we find a belief in the Indian mind concern-
ing giant beavers and their herculean work. Many of these stories
occur in the Eskimo legends, and the range may be said to extend
over the whole of North America, and to occupy a foremost place
in the thought of all its varying inhabitants. Pitetot records a
legend of the West, wherein the tooth of the great beaver was made
into an adze for hollowing out logs of wood for canoes. In the
Algonquin Legends of New England, Clias. Leland introduces Quah-
beet, the giant beaver, the clapping of whose tail made the thunders;
and with all the strength of local coloring is told its various accom-
plishments towards shaping the earth. The Micmacs recognized
the site of a beaver-dam which once flooded the Annapolis Valley ;
and they say the bones of the beavers who built this dam may still
be found, and the teeth are six inches across. According to a tra-
dition of the Ojibways, there was an immense beaver in some part
of Lake Superior. The Indians point out an island in the lake,
about two miles long, and one and a third broad, and say that the
beaver spoken of was the same size. Another stor>' relates how

'/ ^k

CASTOKOI.OdlA.

Nanahho/.lio went ojie morning to I^akc Superior for the purpose of
catching a heaver for his breakfast, lie succeeded in dislodging a
young heaver and cliased it towards the Sault Ste. Marie ; a stone,
thirty feet in diameter, to be seen to-day on the shores of Lake
Michigan, was a missile used by Nanahbo/.ho in this chase. The
heaver was eventually caught in the Ottawa, and its head was
dashed against the rocky banks of the river where the Indians say
the marks of blood are still to be seen.

In 182S, an English scientist, Mr. Charles Fothergill, made a
short sojourn in Montreal preparatory' to vi.siting our great lone
lands. During his stay in our city, it happened that the Natural
IILstory Society had invited essays on the subject of the "Quadru-
peds of British North America," offering a prize for the best contri-
bution. !Mr. Fothergill became a party to the contest, thus eviden-
cing his knowledge of our fauna, and in the course of his paper he
makes the extraordinary admission that he has visited Canada with
a view of searching our great North-Western Provinces, if perchance
he might still find living evidence of " the Mammoth, the great IClk
of the Antideluvians, and the giant Beaver; especially," says
Mr. Fothergill, "as the Indians have many legends concerning
these mammals, and Indian legends are seldom without some truth
for their foundation." The essay is a most interesting and valuable
survey of our mammals, and such faith had the essayist in the
objects of his search, that he enumerates, among Canadian animals
the Great Beaver, and says : —

"I have been induced to name the Great Beaver in this cata-
logue because there is pretty certain evidence of the existence of
such an animal in various parts of the interior towards the North-
West. The Indians of many tribes firmly believe in its existence,
and assert they have often seen it. I will take, or endeavour to take, an
early opportunity to lay before the society such evidences as are in
my possession to prove the fact ; in the meanwhile, I will merely
remark that the skull which was found on the banks of the Dela-
ware nearly forty years ago — which induced the naturalists of the
United States to create a new genus under the title of Asteopcra —

CASTOROLOdlA.

ntul which skull is still prcscn-ed in the Philadelphia Museum, in
my mind belonged, beyond all doubt, to this animal, which is still
in existence in our remote lakes and rivers in the interior."

Surely the essayist could not have known of the accomplish-
ments of Sir Alexander Mackenzie, the discoverer of the Mackenzie
River, in 17S9 ; and of David Thompson the geoj^rapher of the North
West Company, whose knowledge of the further north-west became
the basis of all later surveying. It is easily possible to conjecture
the fate of such a .scheme, in di.scus.sion before the members of the
" Beaver Club," for among them could be counted those who were
personally accptainted with the greater part of the "fur-country,"
and their accumulated experience may be .said to have exh.austed the
barest ])o.ssibility of the existence in the flesh of the Great Beaver.

A close relationship may, however, be traced through the liuro-
pean fossil which was first discovered by M. Gothelf de Fi.scher, in
the sandy borders of the Sea of Azof ; and which has since been
found at Ostend, Belgium ; and at Cromer, and Walker's Cliff in
Norfolk, Kngland, together with the bones of the ^lammoth and
the Rhinoceros. The animal was named after Cuvier, the eminent
Palaeontologist ; Trogonihcriiini Ocvicri, or Cuvier" s Gigantic
Beaver. A figure of the fossil was sent to Cuvier, who claimed for
it so close an affniity with the beavers as to rank in the same genus,
and he proposed the name Castor Trogonthcrium. He says that
' ' the teeth and all the forms of the head bear the character of the
beaver ; and it could not be di.stinguished from the head of the adult
beaver of Canada if the fossil were not one-fourth larger. How-
ever, as it is not certain that w^e pos.sess the skulls of the.se existing
beavers which attain the largest size ; and since the beaver formerly
inhabited, and .still, perhaps, inhabits the shores of Kuxine ; .since,
also, nearly all the borders of the Sea of Azof, are but vast alluvial
formations, — I think one ought to know precisely the matrix of the
.skull in question before deciding it belonged to an extinct animal."
These remarks appeared in 1S12, and again in a second edition in
1823 ; and may possibly have been the in.spiration under which Mr.
Fothergill set out to discover the American representative.

) > i

CASTOROLOGIA.

:( '.

'1 i

For those who were conversant with the traditions of the giant
heaver, and, who, hke the essayist quoted, beheved that the Indian
legends were based on fact, a triumph was close at hand. In 1837,
in the Report of the Geology of Ohio, Mr. J. \V. Foster called the
attention of .science to the discovery of a fossil, suggesting an extinct
animal of the Order Rodentia ; and in 1S38 he t^ave a description of
the lower jaw, which he had found at Xa.shport, Licking County,
Ohio, under tlie name of Castoroidcs Ohiocnsis. Ten years later the
nearly perfect skull was obtained by the Rev. Benjamin Hale, of
Geneva College, and on this specimen a monograph was pre;>ared
by IMessrs. Hall & Wyman, which appeared in the Boston Journal
of Natural History in 1847. Since then specimens have been found
at Clyde, Wayne Count}-, New York ; Memphis, Tennes.see ; neur
Charleston and Schawneetown, Illinoi^ ; ahso in Michigan, Missi.s-
sippi, Loui.siana, Texas and South Carolina ; giving a known
habitat extending from the vStates of New York and South Carolina,
westward to Michigan and Texas. These fragments do not, how-
ever, give any knowledge concerning the general form and charac-
teristics of the animal, for they are all parts of the skull only, and
are mainly but pieces of the teeth. Ivnougli, however, has been
determined to alh' the animal closely with the beaver, and it is
popularly called the " Fossil Beaver of North America." Though
it is po.ssible to recognize a likeness in dentition and cranial char-
acter with the genus Cas/or, it must not be implied that its habits
and form were identical with the beaver as we know it to-day ;
a glance at the accompanying plate shows that the brain capacity is
smaller than the beaver, and this alone indicates essential diflfer-
ences of cimracter ; in fact there are some features more clearlj-
resembling the Cajn-bara, and yet there is enough difference from
either to constitute a new genus.

The age to which both these fossil animals belonged is a
matter of importance, as also, is the fact that they lived within
historic times, and were, doubtless, well known to the early
races of men. The period is comprehended in geologic terms, as
the "Quaternary, or Age of Man," and though it is .spoken
of geologically as recent, anj' calculation in years would be stupen-

[

lit' '

CASTOROI.OGIA.

dous, as a passing stud)- of the age will show. Dana says : " America
in the Quaternary era was inferior to Europe in the number of
its Carnivores, but exhibited the gigantic feature of the life of
its time in its species. In Xorth America the mammals in-
cluded an elephant {Elcphas Amcricanus) as large as the Euro^/ean,
besides the Asiatic, {Elephas Primcgenius) in the more northern
latitudes ; a mastodon (^Mastodon Americatiiis) of still greater mag-
nitude ; horses much larger than the modern ; species of ox, bison,
tapir, gigantic beavers, etc."

In the " Handbook of Canadian Geology," Sir William Dawson
divides the Quaternary into Pleistocene and Modern ; and the latter
is again divided into two periods and treated as follows : —

" I. The Post Glacial. The climate was temperate but some-
what extreme. All the modern mammals, includin man, seem to
have been in existence, but several others now extinct, as the Mam-
moth, the Tichorhine Rhinoceros and the Cave Bear, lived in the
Northern Hemisphere, .... This period was terminated by a
submergence or a series of submergences which with their accom-
panying physical changes proved fatal to many species of animals
and to the oldest races of men, and left the continents at a lower
level than at present, from which they have risen in the recent
period . . .

"2. The Recent or Historic Period. This dates from the settle-
ment of our continents at the present levels after the Post-Glacial
subsidence.

I - I'

" I have called this the Historic Period, because in some regions
history and tradition extend back to its beginnings. The historical
deluge is in all likelihood identical with the movements of the land
above referred to, 1)y which this age was inaugurated ; though in
certain localities, as in America, the beginning of the historic period
is very recent. In this age man co-exists wholly with existing
species of mammals, and the races of men are the same which still
survive. The whole forms geologically one period, and the distinc-

CASTOROLOGIA.

tions made by antiquarians between stone, bronze and iron ages, and
under the former between palaeolithic and neolithic, are merely of
local significance and connected with no physical or vital changes of
geological importance. The real geological distinction is that of
Palseocosmic, Post-glacial or Antediluvian man on the one hand
and Neocosmic, Recent or Post-diluvian on the other. The Palaeo-
cosmic men have been divided in two races, the Canstadt or Nean-
derthal type and the Engis or Cromagnon type. Both of these were
contemporaneous with the mammoth, the Tichorhine Rhinoceros
and other Post-glacial animals now extinct. It is probable that they
may be ultimately identified with the ruder tribes of the historical
antediluvian period, and that the physical changes by which they
and some other animals seem to have been destroyed, were the same
with those recorded in the ancient history and traditions of all the
older races of men."

While yet there are many fascinating problems which geology
might solve, we must pass on to consider the changes in recent
fauna brought about by the advance of civilization, and for the pre-
sent we very reluctantly leave the facts and the fables concerning
the Great Beavers.

:£?*'"* ^

I.OWKR JAW OF TROGONTHERIUM CUVIKRl.

(half NATITRAL SIZK) AFTER OWEN.

THE EUROPEAN BEAVER.

I,
r

" More famous long ngone, than for the salmon's leap,
For bevers Tivy was, in her strong banks that bred,
Which else no other brook of Britain nourished ;
Where nature, in the shape of this no>v perished beast.
His property did seem t' have wondrously express'd
Being body'd like a boat, with such a mighty tail
As served him for a bridge, a helm, or for a sail,
When kind did him command the architect to play.
That his strong castle built of branched twigs and clay ;
Which, set upon the deep, but yet not fixed there.
He easily could remove as it he pleas'd to steer
To this side or to that ; the workmanship so rare.
His stuff wherewith to build, first being to prepare,
A foraging he goes, to groves or bushes nigh,
And with his teeth cuts down his timber ; which laid by,
He turns him on his back, his belly laid abroad,
When, with what he hath got, the other do him load ;
Till lastly, by the weight, hiu burden he have found.
Then with his mighty tail his carriage, having bound
As carters do with ropes, in his sharp teeth he grip'd
Some stronger stick ; from which the lesser branches stript.
He takes it in the midst ; at both ends the rest
Hard holding with their fangs, unto the labour prest.
Going backward tow'rds their home their loaded carriage led.
From whom, those first here born, were taught the useful sled.
Then builded he his fort for strong and several fights ;
His passages contriv'd with such unusual sleights,
That from the hunter oft he issu'd iindiscern'd,
As if men from this lieast to fortify had learned,
Whose kind, in her decay'd, is to this isle unknown,
Thus Tivy boasts this beast peculiarly her own."

— Dray Ion.

1 I

CHAPTER III.

Thk 1'"ormkr Distribution- of Castor Kurop^us— Its Kxtkrmination
Coincident with thk Spread of Civhization — The Beaver
Extinct in Britain within Historic Times.

When we consider that the age of the European beaver extended
back to the days of the gigantic creatures spoken of in the last
chapter, and that its distribution once included all luirope, the
greater part of Asia, and northern Africa, we wonder, that we are
not better acquainted with it. The fact, however, that for over
two centuries, the hunting of l^eavers in America, yielded fortunes
to the monopolists who controlled the traffic, would naturally attract
the attention of the masses to the quarter of the world where these
riches were being gathered. Canada was justly called the home of
the beaver, but very incorrectly has it become popularly understood
that Canada was the only home.

The peculiar association of the beaver with Solomon's wisdom,
which will be referred to hereafter, indicates reasonable grounds for
asserting that the beaver should have been mentioned in sacred writ ;
its remarkable characteristics had been noted long before the Chris-
tian era, and references to it are found in the hieroglyphics of the
Egyptians.

The beaver has gradually disappeared before the spread of civili-
zation, which first settled along the shores of the Mediterranean. As
each wave covered more of Europe, the range wherein the beaver
existed perceptibly narrowed and the several stages through which
it has already passed in America, have all been witnessed in
Europe. Undoubtedly the animal was formerly very c- /Undant in
Europe ; the next stage was the alarm caused by an apparent scar-

!PK

mmmmmmimm

CAST0R0I,001A.

city, and the effort to prevent careless slaughter and thus prolong the
existence of the last few colonies, by framing protective laws and
granting exclusive privileges of hunting ; but this resulted only
in heightening the ingenuity of the hunters and actually hastened
the extinction of the animal. In a German charter in 1103, the
right of hunting beavers was conferred along with other huntings and
fishings ; and a Bull of Pope Lucius III, in the year 1182, bestowed
upon a monastery the property in the beavers within their bounds ;
while we read of beaver-reserves in Poland in the i6th century and
know of some late settlements in France. A Prussian royal edict,
dated 20th January 17 14, concerned the beavers in the Elbe, while
one subsequent, issued at Berlin on the twenty-fourth day of March,
1725, insisted on the protection of the beavers, under a penalty of
no less than a sum equalling two hundred dollars. But the laws of
man made little difference to the laws of nature, and no artificial
device could prolong appreciably the life of the Beaver in unnatural
surroundings, for to-day it is a matter of amazement that a few colo-
nies yet remain in the remote wilds of Scandinavia, and it seems re-
markable that Siberia should still send a few beaver skins to market.
A study of the history of the beaver in the British Isles will serve to
illustrate more fully this question of beaver extermination, and the
lesson studied here on a small scale may be applied to more impor-
tant issues.

Archaeologists, through their researches, have made known so
perfectly the conditions of the primitive inhabitants of Great Britain
that their day comes almost within historic range, and we can claim
nearly as intimate acquaintance with their habits and manners as if
they had left written histories. The remnants of the " dug out "
canoes and the discovery of the teeth of the beaver alongside of the
rude stone implements, is strong evidence of a condition of things in
England very similar to what was found existing in Canada only
three centuries ago, and survivals of which may even yet be found
among some of our Indian tribes. The fact that bones of the beaver
have been discovered in so many parts of England and Scotland,
shows a very wide distribution, and doubtless, the animal ranged
formerly over the whole of Great Britain. Gradually civilization

CASTOROLOGIA.

spread from the south and the east, and as surely did the beaver
vanish in these quarters, till history records it remaining only in the
upper waters of W^I'^'S and the highland lakes of Scotland. The
beaver was, of course, regularly hunted, but the objects of the chase,
according to existing records, differed curiously from the incentives
which have prompted the wasteful slaughter of the American beaver,
for in the early and mediaeval days of Europe, the greatest value was
placed on the supposed medicinal properties, though the meat, espe-
ciall)' the tail, was even then in much repute, and the wool was
esteemed for its fineness. In England the beaver had served its day
of domestic economy to the natives, furnishing food and clothing ;
then came a period, about the twelfth century, when the animal was
closely hunted for castoreum and the skin ; the large collection of
.skins made this an article of export to the continent, where beaver-
felt was greatly in favor. Soon, however, we read that, " Tivy
boasts this beast peculiarlj' her own," and then followed a few
spasmodic efforts of husbanding the beaver, till finally the creature
passed from the records in 1526 and henceforth without opportunity
of studying the habits of the animal, tradition enlarged the unwritten
history, till we have the popular mind prepared to credit the most
fabulous stories concerning the American beaver, though both
species were singularly alike, and gave but little excuse for the
extravagant accounts which are so freely accredited to them.

! I 1

Africa has long been without a sign of its former associations ;
Europe claims one or two colonies as a matter of wonder ; Asia,
from the district of the Obi River alone, continues to furnish a few
skins for the fur market ; while North America remains the last
stage on which are witnessed the scenes of a doomed creature, whose
daj'S have been lengthened to the present, only by contributions
levied upon the musquash and the coypu whose numbers have been
heavil)' taxed, and whose history has thus become a necessary' part
of the present monograph.

LOWER JAW OF THE EUROPi^AN BEAVER, FROM PEAT MOSS,
NEWBURY, ENGI^AND.

^NATURAL SIZE.)

THE MORE IMPORTANT AMERICAN RODENTS.

|,|

I! '•

1 1

ill

Is n

"The rodeiitia constitute by far the largest
order of mammals, and one of the most impor-
tant from an economic standpoint. Though
the species are mostly small and apparently in-
significant, their relations with man are of much
moment."

—F. V. Hayden.

"Some have gone hack to the water and
imitated the fish in their ocean home ; and
others, smaller and feebler, have lived on by
means of their insignificance, their rapid multi-
plication and their power of hiding."

— Arabella B. Buckley.

CHAPTER IV.

Thk Ordrr Rodmntia— Tt.s Distribution— Modkrn Amkrican Ricprk-

SENTATIVKS— Fi11I;R ZlIlKTHICUS, TIIK MuSK BKAVICR— Till', COYPU, OR

South American Ukavkr— Thk Capyhara or Watkr-hoc; — Tin?

CaNAIHAX IJlvAVKR, TIIK TVPIi RODKNT— ITS SPliCIl" IC CHARACTERS—
NOTAHLK N'ARIETIIiS.

The gnawing animals — the Order Rodentia or Glires — are unmis-
takably characterized by their dentition, a form most familiar, which
is thus technically described :

" Incisor teeth, two in each jaw, very large, with sharp cutting
chisel-shaped edges, fitted for gnawing. Xo canine teeth, but a
wide space between the incisors and the molars."

From the character >f the teeth, we learn the nature of the food
the animal is best pr( ded to consume, and in the case of the
Rodents the natural diet the harder vegetable substances — stalks,
roots, seeds and fruits. Representatives of the order are found in
all parts of the world, but America contains nearly as many species
as all the rest of the world put ^o; ether. Thus America may appro-
priately be called the home of the Rodentia, for not only has it
the numerical advantage, but the four representatives selected for
treatment in this chapter — the i..usquash, coypu, capybara and
beaver, all American species — are the largest and most valuable of
the Order.

The Musk beaver, or Musquash of the Indians, though the
smallest of the four, and less than one-fourth the size of the Cana-
dian beaver, is second only to it, in commercial importance and
historic lore. The musquash is the sole representative of the Genus

i' I

CASTOROI.OGIA.

Fiber, and its habitat is confined strictly to North America ; had it,
however, been distributed more broadly its fame might have eclipsed
that of the beaver, as it certainly will survive for generations after
the last beaver has forever passed away ; for the musquash relies,
not only on aquatic habits, but on ' ' rapid multiplication and the
power of hiding."

FIBER ZIBETHICUS— THE MUSK BEAVER.

The musquash possesses a brain both of large size and of relatively
high development, it builds a home, which might easily be mis-
taken for the much boasted lodge of the beaver, and it is even a
greater burrower. It shares with other aquatic animals much pro-
minent, e in Indian mythology, and has been a great favorite in his
fables.

The collection of musquash skins amounts to millions annu-
ally, and being comparatively inexpensive forms an important item

CASTOROLOGIA.

it,
sed
fter
ies,
the

(^.

is-

•o-
lis

u-
m

in manufacture. The meat is regularlj' marketed in season and
furnishes quite a palatable dish. Formerly the fur was used simply
as a substitute for beaver in hat-making, the skin went through
similar processes and furnished a good imitation at a greatly reduced
price ; but latterly the science of fur manipulation has made the
musquash one of the most staple of all American furs ; and to-day
we have imitations of seal, otter and mink, produced from the mus-
quash. The animal is, perhaps, best known to us as the muskrat,
but this name does not carry sufficient dignity for a creature so
closely related to the beaver ; the vSpecific name applies to the secre-
tion contained in two small pouches which in the spring contain a
thick fluid with a decidedly musky smell.

The River rat, or Coypu, as it is called by the natives, is in many
ways the intermediate species between the musquash and the beaver,
and having been known as the "Castors of La Plata," might appro-
priately be named the South American beaver. It inhabits chiefly
Brazil, Chili and La Plata, where it is very numerous ; it is the
only known representative of the Genus myopotamus, and attains
nearly half the average size of the beaver, and like the musquash,
the coypu is very prolific.

Its introduction to commerce was very recent though of great
importance, and the fact should not be overlooked that but for its
contribution to the hatters, our Canadian beaver would not have
survived so long. All accounts from North America during the
latter half of last century, which made reference at all to the fur
trade, agree in stating that the beaver would soon be extinct ; but,
about 1820, the immense demand was relieved b}' this nev.' fur, called
nutria — (from the Spanish, nuira^ the otter.) The fur was plentiful
and cheap, and sufficiently fine to supplant the beaver for all hatters'
purposes, but had the discovery of silk been longer delayed it is
doubtful whether the increasing demand could have been sustained
for many years. When the silk hat succeeded to the enviable posi-
tion which the " beaver" for centuries had monopolized, it became
necessary to find other outlets for the skins which hitherto had been
consumed almost exclusively by the hatters' trade. We therefore

f I

CASTOROLOGIA.

find the furriers introducing the manufacture of the tanned or dressed
skins into their business, and nutria, the skin of the Coypu, is to-
day among the best imitations of beaver, otter and seal.

MYOPOTAMUS COYPUS— THE SOUTH AMERICAN BEAVER.

Before considering the relative features of the beaver, which are
now in order for a comparative review, it may be better to glance
for a moment at the curiously anomalous " Water hog," which from
the standpoint of size is first auiong rodents, and though he is pos-
sessed of large incisor teeth, he lacks power of jaw, exhibits no
engineering skill, and cannot worthily be chosen as typical of the
Order. His affinities are evidently more with the pachj'^derms, and
his external features denote much appropriateness in the popular

issed
s Id-

CASTOROLOGIA.

are
nee

oin

)()S-

uo
the
ind
liar

name ; the body is massive, the legs moderately long, the toes partly
webbed, and 'the skin is scantily covered with rough hair of a brown-
ish color. Its economy to man seems to be limited to the value of
its meat as a food supply and it is reputed to be very palatable.

Having thus reviewed the relative qualities of those members
most conspicuous in the Order, we can now safely say that none is
so important to man, none embodies the characteristics more com-
pletely, and hence, among living representatives none can so well
sustain the claim of being the type rodent, as the Canadian Beaver,
In size it almost equals the largest, its "chisel-shaped incisors " are
perfect models, its engineering skill surpasses the marvelous, its fur
is most valuable, and its meat is counted a iuxur>'. It is unique in
all the animal kingdom in its possession or che so called "paddle-
shaped" tail, covered with scales instead of fur, and as BufFon, the
great French naturalist, says : "If we consider the anterior parts,
no animal is more perfectly adapted for terrestrial life, and none so
well equipped for an aquatic existence, if we look only at the poste-
rior portions. " The contrast of the fore and hind feet is almost
incredible, the latter being about eight times larger than the former
and embodying a development peculiar alone to the beaver. All
these particulars will be carefully treated hereafter, meanwhile we
will only mention some of the varieties occasionallj- met with, which
properly, may now be considered before studying in further detail
the normal type.

The tendency to discover differences, apparent or real, on which
to base new species, is not the highest service of the monographer ;
but, rather, the effort to harmonise the varieties of nature. That a
clearer conception maybe formed regarding the terms "species"
and " varieties," we will refer to the scholarly treatment given this
point by Dr. C. Claus. The definition of species, formerly accepted
by investigators, was that of Unna^us : "Tot numeramus .species
quot ab initio creavit infinitum ens," and was based on the idea of
"independently created units." The great lessons, however, of
Embryology, and the researches of Charles Darwin have made unten-
able any such fixed statement, and now we have a more comprehen-

CASTOROLOGIA.

sive definition, and understand the word species to include " all
living forms which have the most essential properties in common,
are descended from one another and produce fruitful descendants ;"
though all the facts of natural life cannot be arranged agreeably to
this conception, and a compromise has often to be effected by the
creation of a sub-species as a grade between species and variety, where
difficulties arise in attempting to draw a sharp line; for varieties
which have arisen from one species ma}^ differ more from one another
than do distinct natural species ; thus the absence of a positive test,
leaves the matter to the individual judgment of the observer to decide
between species, sub-species and varieties. The higher groups of
systematic zoology are of course freer from these confusions, thus
the ' ' order ' ' comprises all the genera which conform to a simple
character, (as for instance, that set forth at the beginning of this
chapter), and the "genus" is an assemblage of species having fur-
ther points of structure in common, Carl Linnaeus ( 1 707- 1778,) was
the greatest systematizer of zoology, and to him also we are indebted
for the present form of nomenclature, by which every animal receives
two names taken from the Latin language, the generic name, which
is placed first, and the specific name, which together indicate that the
character of the animal has been sufficiently defined to place it in a
scientific arrangement with the whole system of life.

With this digression, we have become ready to appreciate the
value of the following varieties of the Canadian beaver. They are
best recorded in Dr. John Richardson's '' Fauna Boreali Americana"
where they are treated in the inverse order of rarity. The first
variety, "nigra" — the black beaver, and although these are not
accounted rare, they are only found in the proportion of one to ten
thousand of the normal color. It should here be remarked that the
natural color is very variable and is most correctly described as of a
chestnut brown, ranging towards the south to a pale yellowish brown,
and in the north approaching a blackish brown. The black beaver,
however, has more than a mere relative coloring and is unquestion-
ably an evidence of melanism — an excessive development of pigment
in the skin and its appendages. Hearne recognised the beautiful
gloss of the fur, and the shading must be described as bluish rather

CASTOROLOGIA.

than brownish. No difference in other respects is discernible and
though apparently local and said to be found more plentifully at
Churchill, Hudson's Bay, than at any other point, these specimens
can scarcely constitute a constant variety.

Next in order comes the spotted beaver — varietj'- " varia,"
which Dr. Richardson considered more rare than the preceding, but
this might be perhaps based on his personal ob.serv^ation which could
not, necessarily, have been very extensive. He reports that he
never met with a specimen, which seems rather remarkable as
the white spotted beavers are not unfrequenily met with even
now, among Hudson's Bay beavers ; although having no special
beauty there does not exist the same demand, which tempts the
capture of the black beaver, whose pelt always fetches a high price.
The variety " varia " is doubtless a " sport " inclining to albinism,
the white spots generally occur on the throat or along the sides, but
all other characteristics correspond exactly with the normal type.

The white beaver — variety, "alba," is incomparably the rarest,
though it is evidently nothing but an albino condition of the type
Castor Canadensis. The Indians attach much value to these rare
skins, which the lucky hunter converts into a medicine bag, and
although this fate befalls albino skins of many other animals, such
as the otter, the skunk and the musquash, those of the beaver seem
to be held in more than ordinary esteem by the Indians, owing per-
haps to their extreme rarity. Samuel Hearne saw but one in the
course of twenty 3'ears, though Prince MaximilHan, in 1843, speak-
ing of beavers found upon the Yellowstone River says, " Yellowish-
white and pure white are not unfrequently caught on the Yellow-
stone." About twenty years ago, Mr. Harrison Young, of Montreal,
then connected with the Geological Survey of Canada, while travel-
ling in the neighbourhood of Little Slave L,ake, secured nine pure
white beaver skins in one parcel. The occurrence, though without
parallel in Natural History records, suggests the possibility of per-
petuating a race of white beavers, for the discovery of so large a
number in one locality would .scarcely indicate an ordinary freak of
nature, but rather implies hereditary qualities.

i 11

CASTOROLOGIA.

Interesting as these speculations may be, the history of the beaver
in its now familiar form is a matter of much greater importance, and
with the slight introduction of the subject afforded in this chapter,
we will proceed to a study of its social life.

THE r.ARGEST EXISTING RODENT-HYDROCIL<ERUS CAPYBARA.

)

eaver
, and
pter,

if
I

2^^^S^*

/J=.-

LIFE HISTORY OF THE CANADIAN BEAVER.

■n

TIIK BEAVKR.

T.'p in llie North if Ihou sail with mc,
A wonderful creature I'll show to thee,
As gentle and mild as a lamb at ]ilay,
.Skipping about in the jnonth of May,
Yet wise as any old learned sage,
Who sits turning over a musty page.

And yonder the peaceable creatures dwell

Secure in their watery citadel ;

They know no sorrow, have done no sin ;

Happy they live 'niong kith and kin,

As happy as living things can be,

Kach ni the midst of his family ;

Ay, there they live, and the hunter wild

Seeing their social natures mild,

Seeing how they were kind and good,

Hath felt his stubborn soul subdued ;

And the very sight of their young at play,

Hath put his hunter's heart away ;

And a mood of pity hath o'er him crept,

As he thought of his own dear babes and wept.

I know ye are but the beavers small.
Living at ])eace in your mud wall ;
I know that ye have no books to teach
The lore that lies within your reach.
But what ? Five thousand years ago
Ye knew as much as now ye know ;
And on the banks of streams that sprung
Forth when the earth itself was young.
Your wondrous works were formed as true
For the All-Wise instructed you.

But man ? How hath he pondered on,

Through the long term of ages gone ;

And many a cunning book hath writ ;

Of learning deep and subtle wit ;

Hath encompassed sea, hath encompassed land.

Hath ])uilt up towers and temples grand.

Hath travelled far for hidden lore,

And known what was not known of yore.

Yet after all, though wise he be,

He hath no better skill than ye.

—Jfcrv Ilowitt.

'< ■•

:-(

>•

I— t

f ■

— A

:•

CHAPTER V.

Tiiiv Family oi- Rahy Beaykrs — Tiik I5kavku Kittrn— Summicr Wandku-

INGS — Till-; CotONY RKASSKMHIJiS — WoRK ON tUK DAM AND LOIK'.K.'.—

Providing SurPLiKS for thk Winter— Wintkr Experiences.

ii^

With the melting of the snow and the disappearance of ice from
the lakes and ponds, the family of baby beavers are first introduced
to the wonders of nature which surround them. Earlier than this,
they can only remember the warm nest in the dark lodge, where,
like all other little babies, they were fed on milk. But now they
are strong enough to toddle about, and they are taken for a .swim in
the pond, and allowed to crawl upon the banks. The young family
usually consists of three or four, and a happ^' time they have play-
ing in the water and roaming about the banks in search of dainty
green slirubs. It is not long, however, before they are led up the
stream to another pond, and still higher up to others, where fre.sh
delights await them in the increasing variety of fruits and plants.
As the time wears on the weather gets warmer, and their bed is a
tuft of soft grass exposed to the silvery light of the moon, from it
they plunge to the cool depths of the great lakes for refreshing baths,
while the woods afford an endless assortment of luxuries on which
the beavers fatten. There is no work to be done and life is a round
of pleasure; for dreams of the hunters are unknown to the little ones,
nor do the old ones drcid them at this sea.son. Thus the sununer
passes and the little beavers now grown to kittenhood think of the
cosy lodge down the stream, for the nights are chilly. Soon a start
is made, and after a long journey the familiar neighbourhood is
reached. Caution is now most necessary, and the young ones learn
the cunning ways of the trapper, who sets great store on a fat
" Ah-wa-nesha," as the Indians call the beaver kitten, for perhaps
some of the happy babies who splashed in the quiet old pond have

;'l

CASTOROLOGIA.

already enriched the hunter. Cireat changes have taken place since
the family left in the spring ; the ice has carried away part of the
d:ini, and the lodges show sad need of repairs. After a careful
survey of the surroundings for signs of danger, the work begins,
and the kittens learn to employ more usefnlly their sharp cutting
teeth. The old beavers cut down great trees, which fall with fear-
ful cra.shing, the noise echoing through the quiet woods, and driving
the workers into shelter till all danger is passed ; the young ones now
set to cutting the smaller liranches and swim away with them to the
dam, where they are placed to advantage and plastered over with
mud, roots and grass ; while stones are added to keep all tight and
firm.

)>i!

The dam has first to be rebuilt and strengthened, so that the water
will rise to the required level to enable the colony to swim comfor-
tably under the ice, and to allow for the storing of a good supply of
branches. Then the lodge is repaired ; the old bedding cleaned out,
and together with a supply of l)ranches is heaped upon the roof of
the lodge and a fresh covering of mud-plaster, the same as used for
the dam, is laid over all, and thus the home is prepared for the long,
cold winter. The retreats in the banks — the burrows or " washes"
— are enlarged or increased in number, and a full supply of branches
having been cut and laid in the deep pools near the lodges, all is
read}- for the coming frosts, which soon put an end to work and lock
the beavers completely under the heavy covering of ice. For some
time afterwards the beavers swim about under the ice prospecting
for food, pulling up the great roots of the water-lilies and dragging
them to the bitrrows, there to enjoy the feast ; but even this occa-
sioupl treat gets monotonous and the confinement has its effect on
the beavers, who sleep much longer and do less travelling as the
winter advances.

Towards the spring the food will sometimes become exhau.sted,
and it is then necessary for the old beavers to seek a fresh .supp^-
An outlet through the ice has to be effected, and then follow
very difficult and dangerous undertaking of travelling c
and felling some trees ; all the enemies of the beaver are , lUg wi.

CASTOROI.OOIA.

keenest expectancy, for his first appearance in the spring, the car-
nivorous animals are ravenous after their lonj^ fast, and the trapper,
knowinj^ that just now the beaver's coat is iti its JK-st condition, in
his rounds throut^h the woods his trained eye will quickly discover
the work of beaver, and the foot marks in the snow tell him what
little it is necessary to add to his experiences in beaver-trapping.

\ i

STUMP SHOWING CUTTINGS FROM VARIOUS LEVELS OF SNOW.

III

I .

Ill

'ifiiThtftiiiiiiiif wmiiii'iw*!

CASTOROLOGIA.

The hungry animal will come a^rain to repeat his labors, but it
must be cunning, indeed, if it would overcome the devices of the
professional trapper.

Should the Guardian Spirit of the beaver kitten protect its life
through the experiences of two more years, the parental nest is left,
when the creature completes its third year ; and the age of maturity
brings its responsibilities involving the building of another lodge,
and the repetition of the various phases of life, which for generations
have gone on ; though each year not only are the families thinned,
but whole colonies are mercilessly slaughtered in the efforts to
satisfy the whims of fashion or a thoughtless greed for wealth.

' h\ \ t\

THE I-ARGE VEHOW POND I.II.Y.
(Nuphar Adveiia.)

SHOWING THE RHIZOMK t)K KOOT-STKM ON WHICH THK IlKAVKR FEEDS.

'•

*! >

ill.-

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION.

1 1,

" Wlien we had proceeded more than half
•way over the dam, which was a full mile in
length, we came to an aged Indian, his arms
folded across his breast, with a pei:stve count-
enance looking at the beavers swimming in the
water, and carrying their winter's provisions to

their houses He invited us to j^ass

the night at his tent which wa.- close by ; the
sun was low and we accepted the offer."

" I have told you that we believe in years
long passed away, the great spirit was angry .
with the beaver, and ordered Weesaukejauk
(the hatter) to drive them all from the dry land
into the water, ind they became and continue
very numerous ; but the gveat spirit has been
and now is very angry with them, and they are
now all to be destroyed. About ten winters ago
Weesaukejauk showed to our brethren the
Nepissings and Algonquins the secret of their
destruction ; that all of them were infatuated
with the love of the castoreum of their own spe-
cies, and more fond of it than we are of fire
water. We are now killing the beaver without
any labour ; we are now rich, but shall soon be
poor, for when the beaver are destroyed we have
nothmg to depend on to purchase what we want
for our families ; strangers now overrun our
countn- with their iron traps, and we and they
will soon be poor. "

— MS. Notes by David Thompson, ijgf.

CHAPTER VI.

North America the Former Habitat of the Indian and the Beaver —
The Hudson River, the St. Lawrence Rivkr and Hudson's
Strait, the Three Avenues ok AssAUi/r — The Coasts op the
1'acieic and the Arctic Discovered — Graduai, Retreat of the
Beaver to the Upper Tributaries — His Last Home, The Quiet
Pooi<s AtoNO THE Heights of Land.

The distribution of the beaver in North America was greater than
that of any other animal, and might be considered as co-extensive
with that of the Indian. The southern boundaries were the Gulf of
Mexico and the Rio Grande, while from the Atlantic to the Pacific
it ranged northwards to the region of perpetual snow. Of course
within this vast territorj' there were places, such as the desert and
prairie country, where the creature was but little known, while also
there were the great water districts of the Hudson's Bay and the
Saskatchewan River, the St. Lawrence River and the Mississippi
where the beavers overran the country. The adventurers who
braved the Atlantic in early times, did so not to hunt or traffic, but
to gather gold and other concrete riches, and the presence of fur
bearing animals more or less plentifully, was a matter of small con-
cern to them. .

Coincident with the period of the Renaissance in Europe,
however, commerce revived, and new life quickened enterprises of
many kinds, among which was the project to discover a short route
to Carthay. The market was thus ready for fresh fields of supply
and companies were soon orr mized to collect the rich peltries offered
by the newly di.scovered world. E^ngland entered on the north bj-
Hudson's Strait and planted her colonies over the North-West ;
France colonized the St. Lawrence, while the Dutch made the Hud-
son River their approach to the interior. The Indian had been the

CASTOROLOGIA.

prudent liusbander of the beaver, and by early accounts the two
seemed to have lived on remarkably intimate terms, as it is stated
that frequently colonies of beavers would be found within a short
distance of the Indian villages. It was easily possible for the Indian
to supply all his wants both of food and clothing from the near
beaver colony without disturbing them at all, for there would always
be those who wandered from the colony far enough to permit of
their destruction without giving the least alarm to their companions.

The opportunity of obtaining from the white man a choice of his
best possessions in return for the discarded beaver coat, or for anj'
surplus beaver skins then about the car ), was an era exceeding
even the dreams of life in the "land of the setting sun." Imagine
what it meant to the Indian to become the owner for the first time
in his history, of a knife, a file, or even a needle ; and when he could,
in exchange for the easily gotten beaver-pelt possess not only some
of the wonderful manufactures of civilization, but clothe him-
self in the gorgeous scarlet cloth which to his mind was a robe
fit to appear in Ijefore the Manitou on the day when he would join
the departed spirit* of his tribe ; nor should we be surprised that the
credulous Indian thought his white brother a demi-god, to bring such
treasures and ask so little in return. The carving of the wampum
bead and the laborious shaping of implements from the ill-adapted
bone or stone, were soon doomed to be lost arts. But above all other
acquisitions, however, was the introduction of the gun which so far
surpassed the arrow and the spear, that these soon became the toys
for the prattling child, while the sire displayed the magic contrivance
which embodied the very spirit of death, What to him were a hun-
dred beaver skins compared with the possession of a gvn, though
even then the white man held fast the ke}'- and claimed goodly toll
for powder and shot. Alas, that the avaricious trader should not
have been satisfied with the control he exerci.sed in this way over the
Indian, but among his good gifts should have brought a curse so
dreadful in its records, that, while a red-skinned brother lives, we
should never cease the attempt to redress the awful wrong our race
has done, by using the fatal ''ifluence of " fire water" to obtain a
little worldly gain.

►

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V i'

CASTOROI.OGIA. 57

The great slaughter began with the estabhshment of the first fur
trading post in 1604, when Champlain planted his colonists at Que-
bec, and followed with other settlements on the St. lyawrence, which,
from subsequent experience proves to have been the natural highway
to the richest fields on the continent.

[

I^p the Cataraqui to the chain of lakes — " Ontario, or Fronte-
nac," " Krrie, orDeConti," and the lakes of " the Plurons" and " the
Ilinois" — the trappers and traders pressed ; and though, as appears
in the accompanying map, the country contained many beaver-
reserves of the Iroquois and other tribes friendly to the French, these
must soon have been depopulated.

The Dutch from New Amsterdam and the neighborhood of the
Hudson River, traded also into the lake district, and helped mate-
rially to thin the numbers of the beavers, from which followed
contention and conflicts with those who tried to control the Indian
trade in the rich peltries.

On the north, the Company of Adventurers Trading into Hud-
son's Bay held absolute sway over an immense district, till the de-
creasing profits resulting from competition on the Cataraqui route,
suggested a search for new fields ; when from Montreal expeditions
were furnished, which, byway of the grand river of the " Outawas,"
pressed westward to the Pacific, and northward to the Arctic Ocean,
thereby extending the operations of the beaver hunter, and greatly
increasing the profits of the traders, who found many quarters still
in a state of primitive savagery, though all had been indirectly en-
riching the Hudson's Bay Company.

n ii

Now arose the struggle to break the monopoly, which had so
long been undisputed, and the worst conscciuences followed the
efforts to win the patronage of the Indians ; for not only was a
reckless slaughter of the beavers instituted, but robberies and blood-
shed frequently accompanied the riotous meeting of rival traders.
No toleration, no sense of justice, no thought of the inevitable re-
sults which would follow their open policy of extermination ; though

CAST0R01.0GIA.

many posts were scarcely established before the entire neighbour-
hood was destitute of beavers, and the position was abandoned as
useless. The jieriod of the fiercest contest was the first sixty j'ears
following the British possession of Canada- — 1760 to i82(j — and these
six decades, representing the sovereignty of George III, embody the
true romance of our history, when the heterogeneous elements of our
country wore away past differences and settled into peaceful, loyal,
national life. The range of beavers though still vast, had become
unprofitable as compared with former days, and compromises were
now effected, whereby the old policy of extermination disappeared,
and an intelligent supervision of the requirements necessary to per-
petuate the animal, was instituted by the Hudson's Bay Company,

MAP SHOWrxi*. IJISTRIIU-TION OF BKAVKR— ABOUT 1850.

CASTOROLOGIA.

who again became the great monopolists of the beaver trade. But
the height of fame had been reached, and the demand, once depen-
dent solely on the beaver, was now snpplied from several sources,
if not altogether supplanted by the introduction of silk.

Some colonies still linger in the I'nited States, on the slopes of
the Rocky Mountains, and are sparcely scattered over the continent,
— occupying mostly the upi)er tributaries of our great waterways —
as shown by the shaded portion on the foregoing map.

The question is often asked, " Where, to-day, are beavers to be
found in their primitive state?" and the answer i,> not difficult to
give, for the beaver is of slow locomotion on land, and its habits
confine it very closely to the neighborhood of its birtli ; it keeps to
the water courses, and as the hunters follow, it recedes fartht;r up the
streams, till on the height of land, the quiet lakes and pools offer a
last retreat, but alas, no sanctuary ; and the white man with his
" fire waggon" dashes through the woods, changing as if by magic
the country through which he passes, with utter disregard for the
quiet denizens of the forest.

As to the ultimate destruction of the beaver no possible question
can exist, and the evidences of approaching extermination can be
seen only too plainly in the miles of territory exhibiting the decayed
stump, the broken dam and deserted lodge. The passing bear or
wolverine tears open the lodge, partly in the vain hope of finding a
meal, partly from habit ; the rising waters float the logs away, while
the drifting ice in fall and spring gradually destioy the dam till
within a decade, where once the busy colony spent their happy
domestic lives, no sign remains of all their wondrous toil.

nm>

t . 1

*')

Along the watershed, between the Hudson's Bay and the St.
Lawrence ; in the upper waters of the Frazer and Peace Rivers, and
along the Rocky Mountain range may be considered the last homes
of the beaver.

THE ADVANCE OF CIVILIZATION.

■

ENGINEERING ACCOMPLISHMENTS.

Iji

:;l

It'.'

" Most remarkable among rodents for instinct
and intelligence, unquesiionably stands the bea-
ver. Indeed, there is no animal — not even ex-
cepting the ants and bees — where instinct has
risen to a higher level of far-reaching adapta-
tion to certain constant conditions of environ-
ment, or where faculties, undoubtedly instinc-
tive, are more puzzlingly wrought up with facul-
ties no less undoubtedly intelligent."

" It is tru''y an astonishing fact that animals
should engage in such vast architectural labors
with what appears to be the deliberate purpose
of securing, by such very artificial means, the
special benefits that arise from their high en-
gineering skill. So astonishing, indeed, does
this fact appear, that as sober-minded interpre-
ters of fact we would fain look for some expla-
nation which would not necessitate the infer-
ence that these actions are due to any intelligent
appreciation, either of the benefits that arise
from the labor, or the hydrostatic principles to
which this labor so clearly refers."

■•«*■

—George J. Romanes, M.A., LL.D., F.A\S.

CHAPTER VII.

Tree Felling and Log Rolling — The Construction op the Lodge and
BiRRows — Varieties oe Dam, and Methods ok Building — The
Canal, its Development and Uses.

If no exaggerations had ever appeared in connection with the
beaver, except those referring to his performances in felling trees,
the stock of these alone wonkl have been sufficient to damage the
reputation of Natural History writers ; for the accomplishment of
applying their cutting teeth to the trunk of a tree, in much the same
manner as a rat will cut the corners of cupboard doors, has been
magnified and embellished beyond recognition. The beaver is sup-
posed to be able to fell the tree in any direction he chooses, thus
overcoming the laws of gravitation, and great stress is laid on the
fact that " he always makes the tree fall towards the water ;" yet,
it is generally overlooked, that trees Throwing near water naturally
incline with the sloping of the banks towards the waters, and that
the development of branches and foliage is greater in the direction
of the open space over the water.

The most elaborate details concerning these statements are to be
found in a little volume, published in 1738, entitled " Avantures du
Sr. C. LeBeau." It is utterly incomprehensible how such accounts
could have had birth ; and when those who are supposed to record
actual experiences, write such fabulous nonsense, can it be won-
dered that the masses who never haw had the opportunity of dis-
proving the statements, have accepted them for what they claim to
be, that is, the evidence of an eye witness.

LeBeau, not satisfied with giving his pen absolute license, has
given equal latitude to the pencil, and the accompanying plate re-
produced from the original engraving, shows clearly that the artist

• ' I

.jmamiyiiJE

— "iWilSffJBSISMKWw*""

CASTOROLOGIA.

lacked not the power of illustrating. It is almost necessary' to point
out some of the nice details to ensure an appreciation of the work,
hence the following short explanation :

The three mounds in the distance are supposed to represent
beaver lodges, for the accommodation of say half a dozen beavers
each, and the highly finished surface, intended to show the result of
plastering, is overdone in a most exaggerated degree. Of the various
expressions given to the beavers as they sport about in the water
(not to speak of those in the foreground) it is only necessarj' to quote
LeBeau's description of the appearance of the animal : "Its body
much longer than thick, is nearly the size of our large teirier dogs,
with its stomach flattened ; the shape of its head is like that of the
rat, having eyes and ears, if they were not flattened, almost like
that of a cat, and about three times as large as the latter ; it has also
the cheeks and mouth of a hare."

The dam naturally forms a very important feature in the picture,
and the marvellous trellis work which divides the distant from the
near water, is intended to enlighten those who seek for first-hand
information, whereas nothing could be more remote from the truth.
As to the group in the foreground, we will let LeBeau tell the storj'
himself: —

" One hour was spent while our repast was being prepared,
whilst I decided against the wishes of my savages to go for a walk
on the banks of the river, in the hope of perhaps seeing some beavers
at work there.

" I was not mistaken in this idea, but, in order to approach
more closely a place where on landing I had remarked some large
trees half cut through, I advanced quietly on. all fours, to see with-
out being seen, these beautiful born architects, of whom I had heard
so many mar\'els. I was already quite close when a certain noise
that I heard, exciting m^' tariosity more and more, induced me to
stand upright behind a large tree, to see more at my east what
caused it.

O
>

w
n

i • 1

siil

CASTOROLOGIA.

*' It was then that without moving from my place, I saw (^uite a
hundred of these animals occupied on a work as admirable as it was
surprising. There were a dozen of them, who pressing close to
one another and standing on their hind feet were sawing, or rather
cutting with their teeth a large tree about 12 feet in circumference,
whilst more than fiftj- others were occupied in cutting and trim-
ming the branches of another tree already fallen.

" It was a pleasure to me to see the cleverness with which they
conducted these branches by swimming. One moment I saw them
jumping and rolling over these materials, then I could no longer
see either branches or beavers, and in some few moments, I per-
ceived them in still greater numbers on the surface of the waves,
holding as if in anger these same branches which had fallen to them,
and with which they dived to the bottom of the river.

" The most amusing part to me was to see two seated on their
tails, solely occupied in watching the workers and in preventing
an3' advance on the side that the tree which they were cutting
ought to fall. Several others a little farther off, seemed to me to act
as inspectors or overseers to direct the work, it might be in hurrying
the idle, or helping to roll away stones or take away the cuttings
which sometimes impeded the workers too much, or in reloading
those who let the mortar fall, while others finally who represented
masons, prepared this same mortar mixed with rich earth which
others had brought to them from the bottom of the river, and a
little gravel collected on the bank.

,'•*

" This gravel well hardened, or beaten together in this clay as
much bj' their tails as by their feet, would afterwards become hard
and keep sound at the bottom of the water as a cement capable of
strengthening their dams, and a mortar fit to build their lodges
with.'"

The exactness with which the various processes are here recounted
is distressing to those who have watched in vain to see the beavers
at work, for they are intenselj' shy; but the statement that " after

CASTOUOLOGIA.

viewing the tree from every side the animal advances and begins
cutting at the side opposite to that on which it is to fall," is
hardly borne out by the curiously carved stump illustrated in
this chapter. Then accounts are so frequently repeated that " the
beaver never allows a tree to ' fork ' in falling," that there appears
to be some novelty in the discover>' within a small area, of three

STUMP SHOWING THAT METHODS OK CUTTING DISAGRKK.

CASTOROLOGIA.

is
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trees coinpletelj'- cut through by the beaver, yet so interlocked
in the branches of neighboring trees, as to preclude the possibility
of their falling. Cases have even been obser\'ed where the beaver,
not undaunted by a first failure to secure the tender branches
and young twigs, has cut the tree through a second time, only to
experience another failure. Apart from the audacity of so small
an animal attempting to fell trees having a circumference of from
thirty to fifty inches or more, and towering in the forests, even
to a hundred feet in height, there is less that is mar\'elous in
this than in any of his other works. Mr. A. D. Bartlett, the careful
guardian of the nianj' interc ling occupants of the Zoological Gar-
dens, Regent's Park, London, England, whose residence is next to
the beaver's enclosure, has recorded with the utmost exactness the
methods of tree-felling, in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society
of London, November, 1S62, and his observations are so invaluable
to a just appreciation of the skill exercised in this, the first and sim-
plest performance of the beaver, that it might be well to give his
remarks at length. He says : —

" During one of the heavy storms of wind and rain that prevailed
during the last month a large willow-tree was parth' blown down.
The limbs and branches of this fallen tree were given to many of the
animals, and to them proved to be a very acceptable windfall. To
the beaver, however, I wish to direct especial attention, as this ani-
mal has exhibited in a remarkable manner some of his natural habits
and intelligence. One of the largest limbs of the tree, upwards of
12 feet long, was firmly fixed in tlie ground, in the beaver's enclo-
sure, in a nearly upright position, at about twelve o'clock on Satur-
day last. The beaver visited the spot soon afterwards, and walking
round this large limb, which measured 30 inches circumference,
commenced to bite off the bark about 12 inches above the ground,
and afterwards to gnaw into the wood itself The rapid progress
was (to all who witnessed it) most astonishing. The animal labored
hard, and appeared to exert his whole strength, leaving off for a
few minutes apparently to rest and look upwards, as if to consider
which way the tree was to fall. Now and then he left off and went
into his pond, which was about three feet from the base of the tree,

CASTOROLOGIA.

as if to take a refreshing bath. Again he came out with renewed
energy, and with his powerful teeth gouged away all round the
trunk. This process continued till about four o'clock, when sud-
denly he left off and came hastily towards the iron fence, to tlie
surprise of those who were watching his movements. The cause of
this interniption was soon explained : he had heard in the distance
the sound of the wheelbarrow, which, as usual, is brought daily to
his paddock, and from which he was anxiously waiting to receiA'c
his supper. Not wishing to disappoint the animal, but at the same
time regretting that he was thus unexpectedly stopped in his deter-
mination to bring down this massive piece of timber, his usual
allowance of carrots and bread were given to him ; and from this
time until half-past five he was engaged in taking his meal and
.swimming about in his pond. At half-past five, however, he returned
to his tree, which by this time was reduced in the centre to about
two inches in diameter. To this portion he applied his teeth with
great earnestness, and in ten minutes afterwards it fell suddenly
with great force upon the ground.

" It was an interesting sight to witness the adroit and skilful
manner in which the last bite or two were given on the side on which
the tree fell, and the nimble movement of the animal to theopi^osite
side at the moment, evidently to avoid being crushed beneath it.
Upon examining the end of the separated tree, it was found that
only one inch in diameter was uncut ; and it was of course due to
the nearly erect position in which the tree was put into the ground
that it stood balanced, as it were, upon this slender stem. After
carefully walking along its entire length as it lay on the ground,
and examining every part, he commenced to cut off about two feet
of its length, and by seven o'clock the next morning he had divided
it into three pieces : two of these he had removed into the pond, and
one was used in the under part of his house.

" The beaver, the subject of the foregoing remarks, was presented
to the Society by the Hudson's Bay Company, in the autumn of
1861, and was probably then about six months old. It is, no doubt,
less vigorous than the large wild animals of this species, who would,

CASTOROLOGIA.

« I fl

in all probability, bring down trees of much larger dimensions in a
shorter time. In fact, it was evident that our beaver was a novice
in the undertaking, as he more than once slipped and rolled over on
his back in his eagerness to accomplish the task. It was impossible
to witness the actions of this animal without being struck by the
amount of skill and intelligence exhibited. When the space cut
through towards the centre was too narrow to admit its head, its
teeth were applied above and below so as to increase the width from
the outside towards the centre, until the remaining parts above and
below formed two cones, the apices of which joined in the middle.
Again and again the animal left off gnawing, and, standing upright
on its hind legs, rested its front feet on the upper part cf the tree,
as if to feel whether it was on the move. This .showed clearly that
the creature knew exactly what it was about. ' '

Another keen observer was Captain Bonneville, who among his
adventures in the Rockies and F'ar West, records his observations
on the beaver, and refers thus to the subject : —

" I have often seen trees, measuring eighteen inches in diameter,
at the places where they have been cut through by the beaver, but
they lay in all directions and often very inconveniently for the after
purposes of the animal. In fact, so little ingenuity do they at times
display in this particular, that at one of our camps at vSnake River,
a beaver was found with its head wedged into the cut which it had
made, the tree having fallen upon him and held him prisoner until
he died."

i n

It will naturally be surmised that the chips cut during the tree-
felling, must be in some cases of considerable size, but one can
scarcely realize that many of the largest measure nine inches in
length. These doubtless, are the work of fully adult beavers, whose
knowledge of felling w^ould be thoroughly matured. The stump in
such cases is simply marvelous to contemplate, for the cutting power
exhibited by so small an animal seems scarcely credible. Cuts many
inches in length, sharply marking the width of the teeth give evi-
dence of their wonderful adaptability, for no better work could be

I ill

ill

CASTUR(JI,C)GIA.

fi ;

accompHshed by ;i most highly finished, steel cutting tool, wielded
by a muscular human arm.

The primary object of felling trees is to secure a supply of branches
for the winter, when no other vegetable substance is obtainable.
The fallen tree is stripped of its branches, and the .stem is then cut
into sections and rolled in good lumbering fashion into the pond ;
the .site of the roll-way is generally a well marked feature in the
landscape. The use to which these logs and the " whittle sticks"
are turned, introduces the next accomplishment, the building of the
lodge.

The beaver lodge is generally included in the list of marvels re-
.served for the investigation of those who visit beaver districts, and
yet no greater disappointment awaits the enquirer than the first
inspection of one. Somehow the minds of all lovers of Natural
History become affected by the fabulous accounts concerning this
structure, and it is a shock to stand for the first time before a pile of
twigs, branches and logs, heaped in disorder on a small dome of
nuid, and to learn that this constitutes the famous lodge. Of course
the superficial glance does not convey all that can be Liarnt in con-
nection with, this work, but it does most completely disillusionize
the mind. On breaking through the upper walls, the interior is
found to be similar to the general type of an animal's sleeping apart-
ment, and lias scarcely a distinguishing characteristic.

The theory is now generally accepted that the lodge is a deve-
lopment of the burrow or "wash" in the banks, and this gives
another evidence of a close relationship 1)etween the beaver and
the musquash. Starting with the simple burrow, the next step is
the accumulation of logs and branches about its entrance, form-
ing what is called a " 1)ank-lodge." In places wdiere the water
is shallow towards the shores, a great advantage would be derived
from extending this artificial covering of brush-wood, so that in
time a natural evolution of the lodge disconnected entirely from
the shore would take place, and form an independent and
very convenient refuge from its landward enemies. Before leav-

'■\

111

'III

THIC I5EAVKR CANAL.

FH-^Jt LEWIS II. MORGAN'S "TIIK AMERICAN HKAVKR AND HIS WORKS.'

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CASTOROLOGIA.

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ing the subject we will quote the remarks of Mr, S. F. B lird,
one of America's best informed naturalists ; he says : "In mj' ob-
servations I have never seen the beaver lodge assume the marvelous
features usually ascribed to it, and any I have met with can only be
described as resemblin j an irregular pile of wood cuttings. ' ' Cer-
tainly anything approaching the exquisite beauty of workmanship
which the common birds of our neighborhood display, need not be
looked for, and in comparison with the nest-building accomplish-
ments exhibited by the Oriole {/c/crns Baltimore), the domestic
arrangements of the beaver must be ranked among the ordinary
works of lower intelligence.

But there are still points to consider in which the character of
the beaver becomes most dignified, and the closer these matters are
studied, the more admiration and wonder they excite. A beaver
dam examined in the most matter of fact way, introduces a chain of
thought dest. id to raise our esteem of the animal to the highest
degree. Why should a dam be constructed at all ? Undoubtedly,
the object of the dam is to secure more water, and to preserve it for
use through seasons when a natural supply cannot be relied on, and
simple as the case may appear, it involves some most interesting
points of hydraulic engineering, and presents not a few problems for
discussion.

In the first place the beaver's power of transporting materials is
decidedly limited, and therefore the dam must be built mainly of
such stuff as the locality readily affords ; so that besides the familiar
form constructed chiefly of branches (as in the beaver enclosure on
the Marquis of Bute's estate), there are grass, sand and mud struc-
tures, the last of which is depicted in the frontispiece of this volume.

{

The best explanation of what might have constituted the primi-
tive form, is the circumstance of the felled tree blocking the stream,
and in itself practically forming a dam, for the ordinary drift of the
stream would soon fill in the smaller interstices, and thus the level
of the water would be raised and maintained, answering every re-
quirement of the colony. But there is an immense advance on this

CASTOROLOGIA.

;

theory in the construction of a mud-dam, for in this case the whole
plan has to be conceived and perfected by the beaver. Every particle
of material employed in a work needing hundreds of cubic yards, is
gathered and placed by the small, though nimble fore feet of the
beaver, and to complete the task, requires the highest skill and
all the perseverance the animal has ever been supposed to possess.
To enumerate the various forms assumed by the dam would be to
catalogue almost every change of landscape eflFect, for the beaver
always adapts himself to his situation, and most particularly in the
case of the dam. -i

Mr. Lewis H. Morgan in his book " The American Beaver and
his Works, ' ' gives special prominence to the various forms assumed
by the dam, and devotes over fifty pages to this feature alone, his
treatment being most interesting, yet by no means exhausting all
that could be said.

One other accomplishment, which by some is considered more
extraordinary than all the other works, is tne formation of the canal.
The evolution of this is, liowever, more easily traced and understood,
nor does it involve such difficulties, nor exact such skill as the build-
ing of the lodge and the construction of the dam, though the perse-
verance of the animal is clearly exhibited in this undertaking.

Admitting the fact that the beaver continually tises the same
path from the water to the woods, both going and returning, and
thus cuts or wears away the bank into a regular rut or path, into
which the water follows and helps to wash away a little earth every
time the path is used, the possible beginnings of the canal may be
seen. It must not, however, be supposed that this explanation
exhausts all the skill necessary to account for the canal ; it only
siiggests a rational origin for the work, and when it is known that
in the log roll- way (referred to at the commencement of this chapter),
the beaver carefully clears away every obstruction of stick or stone,
it is only applying the same idea on a larger scale to the pathway
which he invariably uses and which soon becomes a waterway or
canal. , .

CASTOROLOGIA.

\ m

Though the beaver-canal is not so popularly linown, and is
more easily reconciled with instinct, it must not be supposed that
it is a minor feature in the performances of this animal ; it is
almost incredible that a work so apparently artificial, could have
remained unnoticed till 1868, when Mr. Morgan published his
valuable notes, so amply illustrating the works of the American
Beaver.

i I'

i I

In 1885, was added the testimony' of the Marquis of Lome,
who, more perhaps than any of our Governors, made himself ac-
quainted with our Dominion, and acquired an admiration for the
Canadian Beaver. In his beautifully edited volume, " Canadian
Pictiires, with Pen and Pencil," he devotes .several pages to the
beaver, and therein records his personal observations of the beaver-
canal. He says ;

" In reaches containing islands, I have seen the island cut clean
through 1 y a water-ditch, so that the animals and their young,
could swim from the pool on one side of the island to that on the
other."

A slightly different form is that in which a waterway is kept
open through the beaver meadows, but this is doubtless accounted
for by the same faculty for cleaning the roll-ways and paths. When
the colony has been settled quietly for many years and has cut all
the desirable trees close at hand, and further supplies are sometimes
hundreds of yards away, the necessity for clear roll-ways and good
canals is obvious.

{■

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BEAVER CHIPS.

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ECONOAriC CONSIDERATIONS.

:^ I

I).

THE BEAVER IMKADOW.

'Tis a meadow green as an emerald's heart,

In the heart of an emerald wood,
And a crystal stream doth idle and dart,

Through the sun-swept solitude.
The orioles glance like flashes of fire

From foliaged limb to limb.
And the harsh frogs pipe in a ceaseless choir

From the marsh when day grows dim.

When the grey cold dawn in her robes of mist,

O'er meadow and wood and stream,
T.ooks forth from her tower of amethyst.

She sees the wild duck gleam
In the slender reeds that have waded out,

Far out in the sinuous brook.
And she hears the loon, like a wary scout,

Shrill keen from some secret nook.

Long years ago, when our fathers first, \

Fearless and full of hope,
With love of venture and wealth athirst,

O'er river and mountain slope
To this woodland came, a lakelet lay

As bright as a burnished shield.
Where now the rivulet waters pla}',

And the loud frogs pipe concealed.

And a wondrous town with its sunward domes

And wonderful people stood
Where these deep-mouthed frogs have now their homes

And the wild ducks lurk and brood.
Not the carven fronts nor the lordly halls

Of the ancient Aztec sway,
IMore wonderful were than the stately walls

Of this town now passed away.

I I

ff-*?-.

• CASTOROLOGIA.

Not a listless brain, nor an idle hand

Was there in all that town,
I5ut strong defenses the people planned

And hewed the great trees down.
The rippling river, with wondrous art,

In barriers huge they pent
And niade their homes in the new lake's heart

And dwelt therein content.

But woe to the town and its people all,

Rarth givetli no deathless joy !
Wherever the white man's foot doth fall

The weak it doth destroy.
The merciless, covetous Spanish horde

Who came to the Aztec land
Put its people and chiefs to the ruthless sword,

Its towns to the blazing brand.

And here in this northern wilderness

This wonderful beaver town
That baffled the elemental stress.

Before our sires went down.
Its stately domes and its barriers vast.

Its siiuious streets, its lake
The hunters destroyed and overcast

For a little riches sake.

They slaughtered the noble beaver kings

And loosened the fettered stream,
And now the reeds, like a thousand strings,

With nmsic as in a dream
In the night wind mourn the departed lake

And the stately beaver town,
While the rippling waves in the rushes break.

As the stream goes eddying down.

And musing here, on the grassy site

Of the beaver colony,
My soul is carried in fancy's flight

To the site of Ville-Marie,
Where the Hochelagans, or " beaver race

Of Indians" dwelt of old.
Their name renowned from their mountain's base

To where the ocean rolled.

J'i

[■

CASTOROLOGIA.

1;:

" Ilochelaga," tho beaver meadow meant,

And where the beaver dwelt,
Later, the Frenchman pitched his tent

And before heaven knelt.
The wondrons skill and the council sage

And the beaver's love of toil
Became as well his heritage,

As the broad and fertile soil.

vSo honor be to the beaver's name,

And praise to the beaver's skill,
And in the labors that make for fame

May we all be beavers still.
This emerald mead in the emerald heart

Of a fair umbrageous grove,
Of the nation's life is a glorious part,

And merits its purest love.

— ^hi/iiir IVeir.

'^J>-.: , ii.',iki!i\\ fi^iW-

FUR TRADERS " SQUATTING " ON THE PRAIRIE NEAR
FORT CARRY, 1876,

NOW THE CITY OF WINNIPEG.

• t

CHAPTICR VI r I.

Bkavkr Meat, a Staple Food Supply — Beaver Coats, Mittens and
Moccasins — Thi-; Fat as an ointment — Luxurious uses oe Cas-
TOREUM — Beaver Chisels— The Valuk op the BEAVER-roNo, and
Beaver-Meadow— Beaver Trade the Foundation oe our Pre-
sent CoMJiERCiAi, Greatness.

Man's first and constant need is food, and in all times and places,
the question as to food supply must be settled before other concerns
are entertained. The lower animals almost invariably exhibit a
complete disregard in the matter of preserving supplies ; they con-
sume at sight, all that it is possible for them to do, even to glutton-
ous waste, and then, are prepared to face starvation before another
gorge is obtainable. In this respect we find the lower orders of
mankind very similar, and it marks the advancing scale of develop-
ment, when any race shows signs of storing food or preserving a food
supply. The Indian of North America makes an exceedingly inter-
esting ethnological study, for his ways are singularly typical, and
amply repay investigation. Though constituting one grand race, the
many varieties of climate and circumstance with which he has had
to contend, produce marked difference of character. We have already
referred to some of the distinguishing characteristics of the Indian
tribes, and those which now claim our attention are the settled tribes
of the northern districts. It is of these that writers have recorded
the fact of their settlements being in close proximity to the beaver
colonies, and the great economy of the beaver to them is a subject
of much importance.

Man as an omnivorous feeder requires a varied diet, and while
the vegetable kingdom contributes very largely to his sustenance, he
has ever been dependent on herbivorous animals for a sufficient pro-

CASTOKOLOCilA.

portion of meat to keep him healthy and help to develope his
strength. This was the cause why primitive man was almost invaria-
bly a hunter, and the uses he has made of the skin and other parts
have been incidental to his first want, that of meat. It must then be
evident that those animals which most conveniently supply the im-
perative demand for meat are of first importance to man, and in this
category we find the beaver serving pre-eminently the wants of the
Indian and the early travellers in America. It is well to remember
that the highways of America were until very lately her waterways ;
the birch bark canoe having accomplished the long journey from
Montreal to the Arctic Ocean, by way of the Ottawa and French
rivers, the Saskatchewan and the Mackenzie ; and it is not too much
to assert that this and many other similar accomplishments depended
for their success on the supply of beaver meat obtainable by the way.

Testimony is so universally favorable as to the excellent quality
of the meat, that it would be heresy to dispute its merits, particu-
larly as its reputation was earned centuries ago in Europe, and in
America there exists a kind of proof which is very convincing.
It is said, in regard to the methods of preparing the dish for
table, that the favorite plan was to roast the animal in the skin, and
when there were plenty of beavers to be had, it did not seem to have
attracted the attention of the traders, that a few skins were thus
destroyed by their " couriers ;" but in later days, when competition
increased as the beavers decreased, every skin was in eager demand,
and consequently we find frequent mention of the difiiculty to prevent
the destruction of the skin, by roasting it together with the carcass.

The meat is tender, and at most seasons very sweet tasted, not
unlike pork ; and so generally esteemed, that even now, it is often
sold at our markets and not infrequently it appears on the " bill of
fare " in country hotels. In earlier times it was dried and pounded
to meal or powder, for convenience of carriage and preservation.

The members of the " Beaver Club " in Montreal, used to serve a
roasted beaver at their banquets, with all the dignity observed in
serving the royal dishes in the old baronial days of England. The

CASTC)ROU)C;iA.

early missionaries foinul in the beaver a valuable addition to their
" Lt-nteu dietary,' but it is a pity that this privilej;e should have
re(|uired the belief that the animal lived on fish, for many a one
has been destroyed, and the attractions of his skillful labor been
effaced, under the supposition that it was necessary to exterminate
the beaver in order to preser\'e the fish.

Thus far the meat generally, has been referred to without re-
garding the delicious morsel which the tail affords. To recognise
the high degree in which this dish was appreciated, it is necessarj'
to imagine the limited choice of food, to which the trader was forced
to submit while away from civilization, and also to nmke allowances
for the stimulating effect an open-air life would have on the ap-
petite. The flavor and appearance resemljle that of the choicest
bacon, and it is worthy to rank with most modern luxuries, while it
may safely be said, that the forests do not furnish its equal as a
delicacy. It now oidy remains to add that in .several ca.ses it
has happened among the men of trading parties, whose provi-
sions were all exhausted, that the bales of beaver skins, have
been opened and divided as rations, and when roasted, they
appeared to furnish not only sustenance, but were even regarded
as a palatable meal.

When the question of food was a settled matter, the next con-
cerns were clothing and .shelter, and in both these aspects the beaver
has been an important factor. Frequent reference is found to the
leather made from the skin of the beaver, which is descriljed as
being very tough and strong, and eminently suitable for the making
of moccasins and mittens, though it was ofcour.se applied, generally,
to such purposes as the making of the "mattas" or leather stock-
ing, waist belts and fire-bags, shoulder belts and quivers ; while the
toughness of the leather made it very useful when cut into thongs.
In places such as the country of the Hurons, where the beaver sup-
plied all the wants of the tribe, it is but natural to suppose that its
leather would be converted into the " tepee " or tent covering, as in
the Buffalo districts where the tents were invariably made of
Buffalo leather.

'"Pj

CASTOROLOGIA.

ll !

All these purposes required the leather alone with the hair re-
moved, but there were also ways of tanning the skin with the hair
on, the result being an article which for general utility has not been
surpassed in all time. The quantities of " Coat- Beaver " and of
' ' Mitten-Beaver, ' ' gathered and exported to Europe, show how much
the article was used in this way by the Indians until the introduction
of the blanket from Europe, which has remained in fashion among
them to this day, while it is doubtful if a beaver coat or " foggey " of
the old style, has ever been seen by the present generation. It
consisted of several skins, dressed softly, and then sewn together,
making virtually a beaver blanket, and in many cases the leather
side o' this wrap was gorgeously decorated with designs painted or
colored with native dyes, or in the case of the elders of the tribes,
the decoration consisted of embroideries in porcupine quills or even
wampum beads.

The Indians made an ointment from the fat of the beaver which
was supposed to have many curative and medicinal properties, not
the least among which was its power to prevent frost bites, by being
applied to the exposed parts of the body, which thus anointed would
not be affected by the most extreme cold. This quality alone
would have made the beaver of great economic value.

Nothing, however, has made the animal so prominently import-
ant as its castoreum, which, through the entire history of the Indians,
has been highly valued, for in addition to its medicinal value it was
also frequently used as a luxury. It is an historical fact that the
North American Indian was a great devotee of the pipe, and his
mystic conception of its high office in social affairs, is clearly de-
monstrated by the great importance attached to the ceremony of
smoking at council meetings the stone pipe or calumet — the " Pipe
of Feace." Tobacco was not always to be obtained, and at times
recourse was made to various other vegetable substitutes, thus the
inner bark of trees was much used in the North West, and was
called ' ' killikinic, ' ' while each locality would furnish its variety
sometimes changing with the seasons. In such cases castoreum
was used to add flavor to the compound, and it was supposed that it

CASTOROLOGIA. 87

imparted a peculiarly soothing effect to the mixture ; be that as it
may, it is easily conceivable that the palate could become much at-
tached to the pungent flavor which castoreum affords.

Of all the uses of the beaver to the Indian, none was more indis-
pensable before the advent of the white man, yet none was more
immediately or more completely supplanted, than the beaver-tooth
chisel. The tooth v/as well adapted for the uses to which the Indian
applied it, and he could easily keep up the supply. The North
American Indian never used, iron, nor did he even possess the pol-

III

BEAVER-TOOTII CHISEL.

FROM A SPECIMEN IN TIIIC liKITISH MUSECM.

ished flint implements which distinguish the Neolithic races. Copper,
obtained superficiallj' from the rich deposits on the shores of Lake
Superior, was used in a very limited way, mostly as decorations,
and the Indian seems to have contented himself with wood, horn,
bone and chipped flint ; all of which, with the exception of the flint,
yielded freely to his very hard and sharp beaver-tooth chisel. The
early accounts of the trade, preserve to us the list of articles which
were offered to the Indian in exchange for his peltries, and the
merest glance at them suffices to show how rich the Indian must have
become in his possession of knives, hatchets, awls, and in fact every-
thing that his primitive life required. Though his native ingenuity
was such as to produce the birch-bark canoe, the snowshoe, mocca-
sin and other adaptations, with the help of bone implements alone,
yet we can imagine he was not slow to replace his crude tools for
the highly finished outfit so readily obtainable, and the beaver
chisel may be held as the most interesting example of the past econ-
omy of the beaver.

CASTOROLOGIA.

Incidental to the uses of the beaver we must not overlook its ser-
vices in preserving a water supply. Water is as indispensable to the
beaver as It is to man, yet the former was better adapted to preserve
it, than the early settler. The dams were often a mile in length and
constructed to form reservoirs comparable only to great lakes, and it
was impossible to break away these dams without materially alter-
ing the local aspect. Droughts and parched lands soon followed in
districts where once were beautiful lakelets and abundance of veget-
ation. On the banks of the Rocky Mountains where now our settle-
ments are quickly being planted, it is reported that the beaver has
been protected expressly to preserve the water supply.

Where beaver colonies had lived for many years undisturbed,
the shallow waters above the dam became gradually overgrown with
vegetation, and this with the accumulation of chips, branches, leaves
and other vegetable refuse, has given us many a rich acre. It is an
interesting fact of local history, that the name of the Indian village
which occupied the present site of the city of IMontreal, is equivalent
to the English " Beaver Meadow," while, both in the eastern and
western suburbs of Montreal, the evidences of beaver meadows are
unmistakable, and where now is the busy thoroughfare known as
Craig street, once was the beaver canal.

Indeed, it is not asserting too much for the past greatness of the
beaver trade, to say, that where the early traders halted and built
theii trading posts or forts, there civilization has progressed, and
thus unconsciously, the foundations of our magnificent cities were
laid, while some can claim a gradual development, direct from the
early beaver colony.

"^.

CHEMICO-MEDICAL PROPERTIES.

■'**>"*"■

^" .i.',""t'-;i'aww!^^www»iwii»wmii— )n

" You may take sarza to open the liver ;
steel to open the spleen ; flowers of sulphur for
the lungs ; castoreum for the brain ; but no re-
ceipt openeth the heart but a true friend, to
whom you may impart griefs, joys, fears, hopes,
suspicions, counsels and whatsoever lieth upon
the heart to oppress it, in a kind of civil shrift
or confession."

— Bacon.

CHAPTER IX.

Castoreum Alone Valued Formeri^y— A Panacea in Early Medicine-
Composition OF European and American Varieties — Early
Treatise on the Medicinal importance of the Beaver— The
Secret of Solomon's Wisdom.

The earliest references we have to the beaver in history date
back to 500 B.C., when Hippocrates mentioned it in connection
with the medical uses of castoreum, and from the fact that Pliny
wrote that the creature's life was spared on the surrender of the
valuable pouches of castoreum, we gather that it was for these alone
that the animal was hunted. We know for certain that a thousand
years elapsed before the felting property of the fur was discovered.

In 1685, a treatise on the medico-chemical uses of the beaver ap-
peared, and from it we learn that all the various parts of the animal
were accepted specifics for most of human ills, and with the great
value attached to its curative powers, we can understand how keenly
it must have been hunted. When some of the supposed medicinal
powers are reviewed, it will seem ridiculous that such ideas could
ever have been seriously entertained, but the belief in the miracu-
lous properties of the castoreum is still shared by so many, that the
crude article is even now regularly sold in our drug stores, and its
value steadily increases, so that quotations of from ^8.00 to $10.00
per pound are current for rough Canadian ' ' Castors, ' ' as the pouches
are sometimes called, while the Russian article is even more valu-
able. About six pairs of pouches weigh a pound, and in size and
appearance they are well described as resembling dried and withered
pears. The following analysis taken from Watt's "Dictionary of
Chemistry " shows how greatly the two differ :

fv. A

CASTOROLOGIA.

ANALYSIS.

Russian
Castoreuin.

Volatile oil i.oo

Castoreum resin ^3-^5

Cholesterin

Castorin 0.33

Albumin 0.05

Glutinous substance 2.30

Extract sol. in water and alcohol 0.20

Carbonate of animoniuni 0.82

Phosphate of calcium 1.44

Carbonate of calcium 33'6o

Sulphates of potassium, calcium, niagnes : . . 0.20

Gelatinous subst. extracted by potash .... 2.30

Gelatinous subst. extracted by potash ")

solul)le in alcohol j " "

Membranes, skin, &c 20.03

Water and loss . 22.83

98.95

Canadian
Castoreum.

2.00

58.60

1.20

2 50

1.60

2.00

2.40

0.80

1.40

2.60

8.40

1.60

3-30
11.70

100.10

Other special analytical tests have found traces of many other
substances, but not, however, in any appreciable quantity.

In the treatise above referred to, it is stated that the animal was
hunted for " its skin, its fat, its blood, its hair, its teeth, and especi-
ally for its pockets or tumours which are placed in the groins, and
experience has shown that there is no part without its uses in medi-
cine. ' ' Then follow in order the various remedies attributed to each
part, and though the whole volume is of intense interest, only a
summary of its contents can be given here.

" The skin of the beaver is of great utility in colic, in madness,
and in spasms ; it cures bed sores ; and consumption in children.

" The fat of the beaver is of no less utility in medicine, and it is
efficacious in all maladies which affect the nerves. It is useful
in epilepsy, and prevents apoplexy and lethargy ; stops spasms and

J F*

CASTOROLOGIA

expl'icans

Caftoris animalis naturam Sc ufum

mcdico-chemicum
Antidhac

i!ii

({

JOANNEMARIO

Bollcnfi &: Phyfieo Ulmanopoftca Augu^

fiaoo celeberrimio laboriiofolito

fubjefla.

jam vera

Ejusdcm AiKfloris &c aliorum Medicoriim ob-

fcrvacionibut luculentis incditis , adfcdibus

omilHs, Sc propria experientia pariii

laboreauda

JOANNE FRANCO-

S. Chryfoft. intJHatth*
JtividtA femper fibi efi immica. ; nar,i ^»i invidet, Jthi
igHominiam facit j illi AHtem CMt invidet , ^/*«
riiimparit.

^ August M Vindel* mdc lxxxt.
Tjpis Koppmayerianify
Impenfis FidH4 Theophili gabiUi,

(PHOTO. -COPY OF TITLE PAGE OF THE ORIGINAL CASTOROLOGIA.)

V r,

CASTOROLOGIA.

convulsions, and is of great help in giddiness, toothache, asthma,
dysentery and strains.

' ' The blood of the beaver is an efficacious remedy for epilepsy,
for on giving it to a beggar boy who was subject to this malady, he
was free from it for six days. I made him take some of it a second
time, and I have never seen him since, which has made me believe
that he was perfectly cured.

"The hair of the beaver is employed to stop hemorrhages of
some kinds, as I have lately proved after a surgeon had uselessly
employed styptics.

" The teeth of the beaver are attached to the necks of children to
facilitate the cutting of their teeth. They are also reduced to powder
and given with much success in cases of pleurisy, and they preserve
children from epilepsy if taken in some soup.

" Castoreum is a proved remedy for earache, and is not less effi-
cacious in deafness. It disperses abscesses when applied externally,
and is the most powerful remedy that we have for the pains of gout.

' ' Castoreum is a very useful remedy in headaches ; and is not
less efficacious in epilepsy, provided that it be employed immediately.
Those who are subject to colic or pains, receive solace from it, and it
is a useful remedy for toothache. I have very often employed cas-
toreum with success in headache, and I have been surprised at the
promptitude with which it relieved it. Castoreum also alleviates
tumours of the liver, being applied externally, as I have the oppor-
tunity of proving for myself every day.

" The wife of a ' mender of old clothes ' was so much inconveni-
enced by sciatica, that she could get no rest ; I had, however, the
happines of curing her with castoreum.

" Nothing is truer than that it is very difficult to arouse a leth-
argic person from his stupor ; I can, however, boast of having hap-

CASTOROLOGIA.

pily cured this malady with castoreutn. Nobody is ignorant of the
numerous maladies the spleen can cause in the human body by its
swelling and painfulness, which I have often dispersed with the
same remedy.

" A girl whose memory was completely lost through a malignant
fever, recovered it again with the help of castoreum, to the great as-
tonishment of her parents, who thanked me a thousand times.

LOWER INCISOR TOOTH OP THE BEAVER.

" Castoreum does much good to mad people ; and those who are
attacked with pleurisy give proof of its effect every day, however
little may be given to them. Castoreum destroys fleas ; is an ex-
cellent stomachic ; stops hiccough : induces sleep ; prevents sleepi-
ness ; strengthens the sight, and taken up the nose it causes sneez-
ing and clears the brain.

"Although authors who have written of venemous animals, put
castoreum under the head of poisons, it is used as an antidote to the
sting of scorpions, spiders and the Tarantula, the bad effects of op-
ium and even against the pestilence.

"As all these remedies have a limited virtue, and can even some-
times become injurious, one ought not to be surprised if castoreum
does not always produce the anticipated result.

CASTOROI.OCIA.

"These are now the uses of castoreum in .^fcdicinc, and I have
myself witnessed most of the effects of which I have spoken, thus I
give it no more praise than it merits. The doctors of Ausbourj; have
introduced it into thirty of the hest compositions of the Pharnia-
coptcia.

"A Jew of my acquaintance who visited me occasionally, know-
ing that I studied this work, comnuuiicated to me a secret which he
had learnt from his ancestors, who, themselves got it from Solomon
who had proved it. He assured me that in order to acquire a pro-
digious memory and never to forget what one had once read, it was
only necessary to wear a hat of the beaver's skin, to ml) the head
and spine every month with that animal's oil, and to take twice a
year, the weight of a gold crown-piece of castoreum.

"As this has much affinity with my subject, I did not wish to
omit it, though I allow everyone the liberty of believing what he
will conce: ling it. ^

" If the reader find some fault in my work, let him remember
that I am but a man, and my knowledge is imperfect ; and if he dis-
covers in it anything useful, let him return thanks to Him from
whom all our knowledge comes."

DRIKD CASTOREUM POUCHKS,

POl'ULARLY CAI-I-KO
" l-.AKK STONT " OK " UEAVER CASTORS.'

iirai iiMM^tMa— ■awMttitan^

ar*!

IMPORTANCE IN TRADE AND COMMERCE.

"111 1693 the collection of Beaver at Fort
Michilimacinac was safely brought to :Montreal
under heavy convoy and thus saved the country
from utter poverty

"In the eighteenth century Canada exported
a moderate quantity of tinihe-, wheat, the lierl)
called ginseng, aiul a few other commodities ;
hut from first to last she lived chiefly on beaver
skins. ■'

—KiugsfonVs I/isluiy of Canada.

■•iiilrillMiHHMiMilW

«.

CHAPTER X.

Early History of the Fur Trade-The French Regime in America,
i6o3-i67o-Ne\v Netherlands-Formation of the Hudson's Bay
Company -Franco-British Struggle, 1670-1760- Beavers the
MEDIUM of Exchange-Beaver Tallies and Beaver Tokens-
Anarchic Period, 1760-1784-ORGANizATioN of the North-West
Company -Anglo-Canadian Rivalry, 1784-1821 -American Fur
Trading Companies-The Reign of the Great Monopolists, 1821-
1869-THE Usefulness of the Beaver Completely Supplanted.

Though primitive man the world over clothed himself in furs,
and retained his preference for this covering until he was semi-civil-
ized, it was only at a very late date that his admiration of the rich
colors and soft textures of furs returned.

Fur trading as an established industry dates from the fourteenth
century, when Italy led the world in her mercantile resources and at
that period commanded a boundless traffic.

Attempts were made to establish a traffic in furs with America in
1549, but it was not until 1603, that a regular system of trade under
Royal Charter began ; and until 1626, the development of the trade
was much retarded by the entire privileges being controlled by an
exclusive company, headed by M. de Chanion, whose sole object
was personal gain. Northern Asia was at that time the chief supply
market of Europe.

In 1623, the Dutch settlements in America (New Netherlands)
had so far appreciated the importance of the traffic, as to a.lopt the

; \

I02

CASTOROLOGIA.

beaver in their first public seal, and it was present continually
through all the political alternations to the reign of George II.

In New France a change was made in 1628, and a larger company-
was formed, entitled "The Company of the One Hundred Partners,"
who with trifling change? directed this enormous interest until 1663.
The first regular fur trading establishment was set up at Tadousac on
the River Saguenay in 1603 ; the next at Stadacona (Quebec) 1604,
then Three Rivers, and lastly Ville Marie (Montreal) in 161 1. For
many years Three Rivers was a much more important post than
Montreal, but about 1640, the change set in, and from that date
to the present, Montreal has unquestionably been recognized as the
mercantile capital of the country, and thither for many years most
of the inhabitants of the continent carried their furs.

The mission and the beaver were too frequently associated by the
early missionaries. They made the fur trader and the proselytizer
one. Denonville writes "I receive letters from the mo t distant
quarters, . . . where they propose wonders to me by establishing
posts for the Mission and lor the beavers which abound the re. ' '

On the second day of May 1669, His Majesty Charles II. granted
Royal Charter to the Governor and Company of Hudson's Bay;
whereby the company at their own cost and charges having under-
taken the '* discovery' of a passage into the South Sea," were made
masters of the ' ' Lands, Countries, and Territories ; Coasts and Con-
fines of the Seas, Streights, Bays, I^akes, Rivers, Creeks and Sounds,
together with the whole Trade and Commerce of these parts," for
which privileges the adventurers promised to give yerirly "Two
Elks and Two Black Beavers, whensoever, and as often as We, Our
Heirs, and Successors, shall happen to enter into the said Countries,
Territories and Regions hereby granted."

Thus originated one of the grandest commercial enterprises
America has ever known, and there are features in its history which
have never been surpassed, at any time, in any country. They
most faithfully attempted to perform their contract with the British

}

ii;u,-,,iipjujuw,™m

)

CASTOROLOGIA.

103

Throne — the discovery of the North West passage — as the fate of
vSir John Franklin will ever attest ; and in addition reaped hand-
some rewards, from the rich traffic in peltries.

To gather some idea of the universal importance of the beaver in
those days, the condition of affairs can be easily reviewed by refer-
ence to some of the early documents, from which we find that not
only was all merchandise valued in beaver skins, but that all other
skins obtained in the country which were offered in barter, were also
reduced to the value of beaver skius, so that beavers were the only
medium of exchange. In 1774, Arthur Dobbs published " An Ac-
count of the Countries Adjoining to Hudson's Bay, in the North-
West Part of America," the principal object of which was to sug-
gest certain measures for a better control of the trade, " whereby the
French will be deprived in a gieat measure of their Traffick in Furs,
and the communication between Canada and the Mississippi be cut
off. ' ' The following notes are from this valuable source :

" Beaver being the chief Commodity received in Trade, in these
Parts, it is made the Standard to rate all the Furs and other Goods

by.

3 Martin Skins as i Beaver

2 Otters " I or perhaps 2

I Queequeehatch " lyi

1 Fox " I unless ext. then 2

I Cat "2

1 Moose "2

2 Dear Skins " i

I Wolf "I

I Pound Castoruni ......." i

ID Pound Feathers " i

S Pair Moose Hoofs " i

4 Fathom Netting ........'* i

I Black Bear ...,..,..." 2

1 Cub •■ I

I Weejack '• i

i !

I04

CASTOROLOGIA.

STANDARD of TRADE carried on by the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany at Alban}' Fort, Moose River, and the East Main, as it stood
in the year 1733, Beaver Skins being the STANDARD.

Beads le Milk yi pound for

Do. coloured }i "

Kettles, Brass i

Lead, black i "

Gun-Powder i>^ "

Shot 5

Sugar 2 "

Tobacco, Brazil i "

Ditto Leaf i>< "

Ditto Roll xYi "

Thread i " "2

Vermillion i^ ounce " i

Brandy i gallon " 4

Bropd Cloth I yard " 2

Blankets i "6

Bays I yard

Duffels I

Flannel i "

Gartering 2 "

Awl Blades 12

Buttons 12 Dozen

Breeches i Pair

Combs 2

Egg Boxes 4

Feathers, red 2

- Fish-Hooks 20

Fire Steels 4

Files I

Flints 20

Guns I " 10, II

Pistols I "4

Gun-Worms i "4

Gloves, Yarn i " i

Gogles 2 " I

Handkerchiefs i " i!

Hats, laced i "4

Hatchets 2 " i

Hawk Bells S " i

Ice Chizils 2 " r

Knives 8 " i

Beaver

12, Beavers

Beavers

CASTOROLOGIA. I05

Looking-Glasses 2 for i Beaver

Mocotagaus 2 " i "

Needles 12 •[ {i* ^- f ^- '' " i

Xet-Lines 2 " i

Powder Horns 2 " : "

Plain Rings 6 " :

Stone ditto 3 " i " "

Runlets i)i " i or i '2 Beaver

Scrapers 2 " i Heaver

Sword Blades 2 " i "

Spoons 4 " I "

Shirts ^{check'cf}^"'''^''^^''^''

Shoes I Pair " r "

Stockings i " '' i '+' "

Sashes, U^orslcd 2 " i "

Thimbles 6 " i "

Tobacco Boxes 2 " : "

Tongs 2 Pair " i

Trunks i "2

Twine i Skane " i

Note. — That the standard at York Fort and Churchill is much
higher, the French being not so near these places, and therefore
can't interfere with the Company's Trade so much as they do at
Albany and Moose River, where they undersell the Company, and bj-
that means carry off the most valuable furs."

The number of beavers gathered and exported annually by the
Hudson's Bay Company at this time was estimated at about 15,000
beaver coats and 175,000 skins, and with regard to the supply col-
lected b}' the FVench, we quote M. d'Auteuil, who valued " the ex-
port from Canada, in 17 15, of over 100,000 skins, as amounting to
two million francs," the trade being then in the hands of the " Com-
pany of Canada."

Farther south, complaints were made of the contest that existed
between the governments of Canada and of the Province of New
York " about the Beaver trade," notwithstanding which, the collec-
tion exported from New York amotmted, at a mininuim, to 80,000

io6

CASTOROLOGIA.

skins annually. Governor Thomas Dongan having au eye to the
income derived from this source, suggested that "It will be very
necessary for us to encourage our young men to goe a beaver-hunt-
ing as the French doe," and in the same report he fixes " the custom
or duty upon every beaver skin commonly called a whole Beaver,
ninepence."

"And that all other fur and peltry be valued accordingly,
that is, for two half beavers, ninepence ; for four lapps, nine-
pence, &c., and all other peltry to be valued equivalent to the
whole beaver exported cat of the province, (bull or cow hides
excepted)."

These rates were much lower than formerly when the ex-
port duty had reached "one shilling and threepence on beaver
skins and other peltries proportionally," and it should be re-
membered that money in those days was relatively
^ ij of much greater value.

Fabulous prices apparently paid for beaver were
really bribes for Indian patronage, and gave rise to the
Indian expression " underground " or secret presents.

The custom of valuing all skins in their equivalent
to beavers, led to the habit of marking each package
with its relative value, by attaching a small tally-stick
such as shown in the accompanying engraving, and
thus indicating, for the convenience of barter, which
packages should be turned over to the trader in settle-
ment of purchases ; so effective has this system been,
that in many places to-day in the interior or far distant
trading posts, it is still followed.

At some points the entire collection of furs is at once
assumed by the company, for which they give beaver
tokens, and these in their turn are soon transferred to

TALLY FOR . , . . ,

FIVE BEAVERS, the company, for the various wants of the trapper.

CASTOROI.OGIA.

107

The exact details of this method of trading, form part of the re-
cords of an enquiry instituted many years ago, to ascertain how the
Hudson's Bay Company could do justice to the Indian, and still pay
dividends of over fifty per cent, per annum. It was explained that
the Company put only a fair advance on the cost laid down in each
"Post," " Fort" or " Factory" of all such goods as came under
the heading of necessaries; but for luxuries they felt justified in
charging all the Indian could afford to pay, so that they did him no
injustice by taking a beaver skin, worth twelve shillings in ex-
change for a colored cotton handkerchief, which originally onl}' cost
a couple of pennies. The records describe the mode of trading as
follows :

"An Indian arriving at one of the Company's establishments
with a bundle of furs, which he intends to trade, proceeds, in the
first instance, to the trading room ; there the trader separates the
furs into lots, and, after adding up the amount, delivers to the In-
dian a number of little pieces of wood indicating the number of
made-beaver to which his hunt amounts. He is next taken to the
store room, where he finds himself surrounded by bales of blankets,
slop-coats, guns, knives, powder-horns, flints, axes, &c. Each ar-
ticle has a recognized value in made-beaver. A slop-coat, for ex-
ample, is twelve made-beavers, for which the Indian delivers up
twelve of his pieces of wood ; for a gun he gives twenty ; for a knife,
two ; and so on, until his stock of wooden cash is expended."

" Made-beaver " and " whole-beaver " were local technical terms
employed to denote the fixed unit of the locality, and were asso-
ciated with beavers in the sense that a skin from an adult beaver,
prime in quality and in perfect condition was the actual unit or
"made-beaver," while in practice, beaver skins themselves were
converted into "made-beavers," varying with the generosity of the
buyer or the demands of the seller, so that in some cases two small
beaver skins would equal only one " made beaver."

In some instances a difficulty was experienced in arranging for
the fractional parts of the "made-beaver," as the tally sticks or

io8

CASTOROLOGIA.

tokens in existence did not provide for such sub-divisions of value,
and in 1854, Mr. George Simpson McTavish, then in charge of
Albany Fort, suggested the issue of metal tokens to meet the re-
quirement. With the suggestion which was forwarded to London,
Mr. McTavish sent sketches of the proposed tokens, bearing on the
obverse, the coat of arms of the Company, — a shield quartered, with
a beaver in each quarter, a fox for the crest and two stags as sup-
porters ; underneath, the motto " Pro pelle cutem ; " the whole sur-
rounded by a wreath of oak leaves ; and on the reverse the mono-
gram H. B. ; the initials E. M., for the district "East Main," for
which they were specially required ; then the fractional divisions

THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY'S BEAVER TOKEN.

}i, /i, Yz, and also i, for the full unit; below which, in the orig-
inal design appeared the letters M. B., in monogram as it was cus-
tomary to write them, thus ^B, signifying "made-beaver" The de-
sign was approved of, the dies ordered, and in due course the tokens
were forwarded for distribution among the posts in the East Main
district, when with disappointment it was found that the monogram
M.B., had been misinterpreted by the die-cutters as the separate
letters N.B., incorrectl}^ drawn. This curious error has led to the
belief that the ' ' made beaver ' ' was sometimes called a ' ' natural
beaver," but this was not the case.

The extreme value attached by numismatists to the beaver tokens
of the North West Company, prepared the way for the following ex-
traordinary piece of fraud. Some years after the circulation of the

CASTOKOLOGIA.

109

Hudson's Bay tokens, a specimen reached Quebec in the possession of
the captain of a trading schooner from Labrador. As usual, the cargo
contained many valuable furs, and in bargaining for these, the token
passed over to a young fur merchant of Quebec. No .special value
being attached to it in his hands, it was not a difiicult matter for a
perjjevering acquaintance to beg it, and become its owner, which,
however, was only accompli.shed by misrepresentations ; then in
Montreal it was exhibited, with a wonderful story as to its anticiuity
and rarity, and finally it was sold to a member of the Numismatic
Society for $1 10.00, being the fir.st specimen ever seen and .suppo.sed
to be unique and to date back earlier than the North West tokens.
Whole .sets of the Hudson's Bay tokens are not unconnnonly met
with now, but they are always valued as among .scarce examples.

In 1664, the English had dis-po.s.se.ssed the Dutch of their Ameri-
can provinces, and thus encroached on both sides of Canada, or New
France, allying with the Indians, and interfering materially with
the plans of the French monopolists. Much exclusiveness on the
part of those autocrats had driven many of the traders to .settle
among the English, where trade was more free, and the profits
greater. The French government took cognizance of the superiority
New York was acquiring, and changed the manner of carrying on
the fur trade. Decrees emanated from the French Court, which di-
rected the grading and fixed the prices to be paid for the several
assortments of beaver ; and the Court also undertook the manage-
ment of the trading posts at Frontenac (Kingston), Niagara and
Toronto. As a result, all refuse, un.saleable furs and .skins taken in
summer, became the property of the King, and these furs, &c.,
"bought without examination, were carelessly deposited in ware-
hou.ses, and eaten up by the moths." The fur trade of Canada con-
tinued for vSome time in this way ; brandy was working havoc
among the Indians, and the preparations were perfect for the petty
warfare soon instigated by the jealousy between the Engli.sh and
French traders, The PVench had already crossed by way of Lake
St. John, and attacked the Hud.son's Bay Companj^'s forts, and the
English had attempted the capture of Quebec ; when in 1688, the
Revolution in England tempted Frontenac, Governor of Canada, to

CASTOROLOGIA.

undertake the entire overthrow of the English in Hudson's Bay, and
for years the warfare was maintained, till in 1696, the luiglish Gov-
ernment gave assistance to the Hudson's Bay Company and the
struggle became of national interest.

The treaty of Utrecht brought about peace in America, as it did
in Europe, and the fur trade began to increase rapidly and to
return enormous profits. The annual returns from Prince of Wales
Fort alone reached 20,000 beaver skins, and though at that time
the exports included a long list of valuable articles, the quantity
of beaver skins represented two-thirds of the entire value. A most
extraordinary crisis was reached in the year 1700; for some time
prior to this, the collection of beavers liad been so excessive as to
partly glut the market, but in the year mentioned, the number of
beaver skins collected at Montreal was so enormous, that three-
fourths of the collection were burned, to make the other portion
v\ jrth exporting. '

1 1

The methods of handling, and the kinds and names of beaver
skins in those days, were totally different to anything met with to-
day. Happily these details were all preserved, and a description
can be given, not onl}' of each kind, but also of the prices current
one hundred and fifty years ago.

\ :
'.1

; 'i ;
1 1

" There are eight kinds of beavers received at the Farmer's Office.

"The first is the fat Winter Beaver, killed in Winter, which
is worth 5^. 6d. per pound.

' ' The .second is the fat Summer Beaver, killed in Summer, and is
worth 2s. 9</.

"The third, the dry Winter Beaver, and fourth, the Bordeau, is
much the same, and are worth 35. 6d.

" The fifth, the dry Summer Beaver, is worth very little, about
IS. gd. per pound.

CASTOROLOGIA.

Ill

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o-
)n

"The sixth is the Coat Beaver, which is worn till it is half
greased, and is worth 4^". 6(/. per pound.

"The seventh, the Muscovite dry Beaver, of a fine skin, covered
over with a silky hair ; they wear it in Russia, and comb away all
the short down, which they make into stuffs and other works, leav-
ing nothing but the silky hair ; this is worth 4^. 6d. per pound.

"The eighth is the Mittain Beaver, cut out for that purpose to
make Mittains, to preserve them from the cold, and are greased by
being used, and are worth is. <.)d, per pound."

The sale of beaver skins by the pound was a very early custom
which has survived until now, and arose thus. Beavers were for-
merly used exclusively for hatters' purposes, and in a "Report
upon the Petition Relating to the Manufacture of Hats," presented
to the British government in 1752, indirectly we gather some most
valuable hints concerning the traffic in beaver skins. The hatter, of
course, used only the beaver wool or fur which had been removed
from the skin and separated from the long, coarse, outer hairs — the
" King" hairs — and was worth in this state from twenty to forty,
and sometimes, even fifty shillings per pound. But the steadily ad-
vancing price of beaver seems to have reduced the profits of the first
dealers to such a degree that recourse was had to the fatal plan of
adulterating the wool, with materials sufficiently like it to make a
passable mixture, but not without its effects on the quality. To
overcome the possibility of this fraud the raw skins were purchased
directly by the hatters, who estimating the quantity of wool rela-
tively by the weight of the entire pelt, naturally established this
method of dealing. Further there was an evident difficulty in de-
terming a basis of value for the "Coat Beaver" and "Mittain
Beaver " on any other plan. The average weight of beaver skins is
from a pound and a half to a pound and three quarters each.

A change suddenly took place in 1760, when Canada was handed
over to British rule and the entire continent recognized the sov-
ereignty of the British Throne. A greedy rush, to gather the crop

112

CASTOROI.OGIA.

of peltries ^vhic■h the Iiuliatis had hitherto passed through the
French hands immediately followed. Among the first to reach the
west by the newly opened route was Alexander Henry, an account
of whose adventures, which extended over sixteen years, forms a
unique volume in our bibliography. Ilis graphic description of the
intertribal game of " Bagawatin " — le jeu de la crosse — followed by
the massacre of the Knglish inhabitants of I'ort Michilimakinac,
gives this book extreme value. During this time the great wars
of the Revolution were taking place, whereby Britain lost, in 1776,
more than .she had added so .short a time before. The whole of this
conflict had its influence over the Indians, who became the allies

THE NORTH WEST COMPANY'S BKAVKR TOKEN.

I', f i j

pro ion of the highest bidder, and the more domestic avocation of
fur-hunting was neglected for many j-ears. It was not till 17S4
that any organized attempt was again made to control the fur trade
of Canada, when the formation of "The North West Company of
Montreal," marked an epoch in Canadian history, of which we may
be justly proud. With regard to the importance of the Beaver in
their estimation, it would almost appear that they cared for little
else. The Governor lived in " Beaver Hall," a name still perpetu-
ated in Montreal ; the members, only sixteen originally, formed a
social club as distinguished as it was exclusive and named the
" Beaver Club ; " and finally the Company issued a " Beaver Coin-
age," specimens of which realise fabulous prices to-day, as only
about seven pieces are known to exist.

CASTOROI.OGIA.

113

From small beginnings the organization developed rapidly till
its army of employees rose to upwards of four thousand. The men
conspicuously associated with this Company stand in our country's
history as powerful, brave and energetic examples of Scotch Cana-
dians, and we admire the names, Mackenzie, McGillivray, McTa-
vish, the McGills, Frobishers, Simpsons, and others, though one
important name has been curiously omitted from its share of glory,
and that is the name of David Thompson, whose achievements
have been of national importance, yet but little popular reputation
has he gained.

Thus the declining years of the last century saw the North West
Company enjoying an amount of prosperity which elevated the
shareholders to the dignity of merchant princes, and the importance
of the trade eclipsed all other projects for many years.

Early in the present centur\' a spirit of enterprise seemed to have
awakened in the United Stat*. uid in 1804 Messrs. Lewis and
Clarke, fitted out by the Ameru Government, accomplished the
task which Messrs. Carver and V worth had projected as early as
1774 ; this being no less than a nuuch across the continent, by way
of the Missouri, and the water courses of the eastern slope of the
Rocky Mountains, thence over the mountain peaks, by the hazard-
ous and treacherous passes, all unknown to the explorers, till the
fertile Pacific slopes were reached.

John Jacob Astor was then a young man, full of pluck and enter-
prise, and his attention being attracted to the new fields, he organized
in 1810, the famous "Pacific Fur Company." He outfitted one contin-
gent for crossing the continent, and another by ship to round Cape
Horn, to carry supplies for the proposed settlement of Astoria and
for the further purpose of pursuing trade with the natives along the
coast. The story of this enterprise as told by Washington Irving
is among the classics of our literature, and a more enchanting his-
torical romance America has never produced.

Now we have the three avenues more actively employed than

114

CASTOROI.OGIA.

ever before, every corner of the continent being ransacked for
beavers ; the Hudson's Bay Company on the north, the Pacific Fur
Company on the south, and the North West Company by way of
the St. Lawrence, or the central route. Of course the boundaries of
these corporations were quite undefined, and in fact there seems to
have been most honor in the breach of mutual respect, for the ac-
counts of the attempted subterfuges to gain advantage, reflect dis-
credit on corporations of such wealth and magnitude. So fiercely
did competition run, that bloodshed at last followed and left a ruined
trade, as the natural consequence of successive efforts to outdo pre-
vious methods of sharp practice, wherefore, defeated by its own ob-
jects, and to save further difficulties which threatened, an amalgam-
ation of the two northerly bodies was effected in 1821, from which
date a new era in the fur trade began.

Just at this time, it will be remembered, the Nutria fur was in-
troduced to relieve tlie excessive demand for beavers, and a few
years later, when silk was adapted to hat making in imitation of the
" old beaver," we may say the question of the beaver extermination
was indefinitely postponed. Of course the hunt was not completel}-
abandoned, only such quarters were neglected as required too great
an outlay of energy for the few beaver skins obtainable, and in a few
years in some of these districts the animals became very plentiful
again.

The absorption of the North West Company also lengthened the
history of the Hudson's Bay Company, a.s far as regards its fur in-
dustries, and the extraordinary magnitude! of their operation has
certainly been without parallel in our day. For nearly fifty years
the gathering of the annual fur crop, and its subsequent disposal at
auction, in I^ondon, has been a regular chapter in the growing his-
tory of the Empire. But in 1869, the Dominion of Canada was com-
pelled to take over the reins of power from the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany, giving a monetary consideration and recognizing certain
veiy considerable land possessions, which latterly have become of
the first importance to the Company, and placed the beaver trade
forever among the past glories of our history.

A TRAPPER AND TRADKR OI- THE OIJ) REGIME.

Uii

CASTOROLOGIA.

117

•>

From an indispensabie source of food and clothing, we have seen
the beaver advance in importance till nations waged wars for the
monopoly of its rich traffic, and now it has become so insignificant a
factor in trade that there is scarcely a single field left, in which it
does not find a succissful competitor. Its value as food is never
considered, now that the means of carriage have so annihilated dis-
stance, that the luxuries of the most favored nations are obtainable
in cities which have sprung up in wilderness and prairie, while from
these centres radiate every modern means of conveyance. Where
a dozen years ago the rickety, creaking Saskatchewan cart followed
wearily the slow footed ox, to-day the trains rush with mimic flashes
of the lightning which urges their career. Beaver leather, like
beaver wool, has lost its recognition among the requirements of pro-
gressive manufactures, and, as the beavers disappeared before ap-
proaching civilization, their places have been more than supplanted
by the domestic cow and the sheep, which furnish so completely our
wants of food uud clothing.

One other aspect alone remains to consider, that of the uses
of the beaver skin to the furrier. This field was opened about
the beginning of the century, when nutria and silk filled the
demand, which for generations had relied almost solely on the
beaver, and had threatened the extermination of this valuable
animal. In texture the fur of the beaver is very appropriate for all
smaller articles of apparel such as caps, collars, victorines, culTs,
mufFs and gauntlets, and fashion has even gone the length of mak-
ing it into entire garments for both ladies' and gentlemen's wear, but
for these latter the weight may be considered an objectionable fea-
ture. For all these purposes the leather is dressed or tanned — a
simple process for reducing the weight of the skin and extracting
the fat and grease — and then the long coarse hairs are usually
plucked out by hand, or sweated and pulled by a heavy knife on a
beam. When dressed only, the skin is said to be " natural,", it is
usually of a brownish color, and the appearance is rather rough and
meets with limited favor ; but when the coarse top hairs have been
removed it is known as " plucked beaver," and in this state is very
familiar in the trade. The appearance is generally a soft woolly fur

mamm

ii8

CASTOROLOGIA.

from half an inch to nearly an inch in depth, and bluish or silvery-
grey in color. There is no special utility in the fur, and it has
many rivals which tend to make it less esteemed than it otherwise
would be ; and to the unpractised eye there is a general resemblance
to it in the plucked otter, plucked nutria, and plucked raccoon.

In the report of the Hudson's Bay Company for this year, pub-
lished in London, July 14th, announcement is made that "owing to
the state of trade the Directors had closed a number of their posts."
The beaver hunter finds his occupation usurped by every villager who
can procure a trap or gun, and who sallies into the woods intent on
the destruction of whatever comes in his way. The ' ' voyageur ' '
has long lost his usefulness now that steamboats throng our waters,
and the old institutions of the once famous beaver trade are one by
one passing into the mists of oblivion, so that to Mrs. Hopkin's
beautiful portrayal of the "Brigade of voyageurs crossing Lake
Superior" we may appropriately apply the alternative title, and
fancy that we witness the actual passing of the old regime into ' ' the
Spiritland."

- 4

r-s ' '

LAKE SUPERIOR, OR THE SPIRIT LAND.

USES OF THE BEAVER IN MANUFACTURES.

(i,

"Aristotle said in his chapter on hats, that
the history of his indispensable finish to dress
would never b • complete. Undoubtedly, some
serious writers learned men of the first order,
have not hesit. ted in our day, in instituting an
inquiry into the principal historic periods of
fashion, to spend some time over the Petasus,
that head covering as indispensable to the
health of man as to the dignity of his bearing.
But these are far from summt^ry indications of
a work in accord with the importance of the
subject. Let us hope that the prophecy of the
ancient philosopher will not be verified, and
that one day all the documents on this subject
will be collected with care. That which in our
eyes is only a fragment, drawn by chance from
an interesting commercial case, will become a
paragraph of an honorable quarto."

A Paragraph in the History of Beaver Hats— 1634.

-Ano7iymoHs.

I.,

CHAPTER XI.

ThK NaTURK op FKI.T— PROPERTIKS which MaDK THU BKAVKR VAt,UAltIJ-;

— The WoNDEREut, Esteem ok Old " Reavers " — I^egislatiox
CoNCERNiNG Beaver Hats— Processes ok Manukacture — Beaver
Wool Adulterated and Finally Supplanted.

The history of hats in different ages and different climes, would
convey a great fund of information, and would doubtless mark the
stages of civilization more clearly than the study of any other fea-
ture of our dress. At what time felted wool was first emploj'ed in
making hats, it would be difficult to say, though it is known to have
been used in Western Europe since the fourteenth century, when
felted hats were articles of luxury, and worn only by the rich.
How felting was discovered may ever remain a secret, as history af-
fords us only the traditions concerning St. Clement, which, though
of much simple beauty, would scarcely satisfy a scientific enquiry.
The story tells how St. Clement, a devout and generous priest, be-
coming weary and footsore while intent on one of his charity mis-
sions, found his sandaled feet so galled, that to proceed on his jour-
ney seemed impossible. He sought rest by the roadside, but his
attention was distracted by the bleating of lambs, while beyond the
hedge he beheld a fox chasing a lamb. With characteristic pity,
obeying the impulse of his good heart, he cleared the hedge, fright-
ened away the fox and saved the lamb, wherefore the grateful little
creature crouched lovingly at his feet, and expressed its gratitude in
eloquent glances. While fondling the lamb, St. Clement observed
some loose wool which he gathered and examined. The texture
was so lovely, that an inspiration suggested applying it to his lacer-
ated feet. He bound his wounds with the soft wool, and was able
to resume his pilgrimage. Reaching his destination, he removed
the sandals, and instead of the fine soft wool, he discovered a piece
of felted cloth.

!.i

122

CASTOROLOGIA.

This interesting story accounts for the first principles of felting,
and moreover, St. Clement has become the patron saint of the
"Hatters' Guild." In Ireland and Roman Catholic countries the
festival of St. Clement is celebrated each year on the twenty-third
day of November.

BKAVER FT'R
MAGNIFIED 50 DIAMETERS

No further knowledge of felting was obtained till the microscope
was introduced into manufactures, and the structure of fibres and
tissues, both animal and vegetable became clearly understood.
Place a single particle of beaver fur under the microscope, and with
a power giving magnification of about fifty diameters, the struct-
ure at once is discernible. Over the entire
surface a series of scales appear to overlap
each other, and the edges of these lying all
one way, give the fibre the impulse to travel
in the opposite direction, for the " .staple" —
as the edges are called — catches when pressed
against, and forces the fibre onward, the dis-
engaged edges lying flat the while ; yet so
firmly do they interlock, that the fibre will
be invariably broken in the attempt to with-
draw it. A quantity of fur or wool having
this "staple" is pressed and worked together, especially with the
assistance of steam or hot water, and the result is a piece of felted
cloth, ready to be stretched into the shape of a hat or a boot , and
dyed black, or colored to fancy. What is generally called fur is the
woolly undercoat, the warm, soft covering supposed to be universally
present on animals, and this wool is more or less stapled. The
beautiful fur of the beaver is most perfectly constructed for felting
purposes, and very early was this property discovered, in fact, so
universally was beaver-wool esteemed, that two hundred and fifty
years ago, when the introduction of rabbit's fur and other adulter-
ations affected the beaver trade, Parliament stepped in to prevent
the abuse, and tried to maintnfn the purity of the beaver felt.

The interesting document, from which the introductory sentence
is selected, gives some idea of the former importance of the beaver

CASTOROLOGIA.

123

to the hatting trade. It is a decree of the Court of France for the re-
duction in price of beaver hats, in which prayer is made "that the ap-
plicant (lyiberti) may be permitted to give information of the treaties
and conventions secretly acquired by monopoly between the master
hatters who work in beaver, and Mathier d'Ustrelo, a foreigner ; the
said d'Ustrelo not to sell beaver skins, except to them, and in re-
ciprocation they have promised the said d'Ustrelo, not to buy beaver
skins except from him. And to give information likewise of frauds

ST. CLKMEXT.

I'ATROX SAINT OF THE HATTHRS.

:JUB&«<ni!SMiiS<l«'

124

CASTOKOLOGIA.

perpetrated in the manufacture of the said hats, putting first a
layer of beaver, which makes the inside of the hat, then a second,
which is only English rabbit's hair, and above that a third, which is
l)eaver. And again, in order that all may conform to a general rule,
that the master hatters will be forced to make a declaration if they
wish to work in beaver, or in wool and rabbit's hair, and forbidden
to work against the terms of their agreement, and that it will be en-
joined on the master hatters who have made the choice of working
in beaver, to put on each hat their particular mark before they are
put in the dye, according to the statutes and decrees under penalty
of confiscation and fine. And further, that it may be permitted to
the said Liberti to continue in the Hopital de la Trinite, or such
other place as it may please the Court to designate, the manufac-
ture of beaver hats by all the masters and journeymen, who choose
to work there, and will be qualified for the offers which the said
Liberti makes to furnish them with prepared 1)eaver, and to pay
them for the workmanship of each hat well and duly made (which
is the work of half a day) the sum of forty cents (quarante sols), and
to supply for the present, fine and well made hats, to the pulilic for
the sum of quarante-quatre livres (about $S.8o), and in the month
of January next, to give them for quarante livres (ai)out $8.00), and
according to the quantity which will be forthcoming in the follow-
ing years, to moderate the price in proportion ; that the said Liberti
may be permitted to seize and hold in the hatter's shops, as well as
in other places, beaver hats which they may find mixed, defective,
falsified, and not marked with the customary marks of the masters
who may have made them, and that the penalties and fines will be
awarded, half as the profit of the plaintiff, and the other half as
the profit of the poor children of the Trinite, the costs deducted, and
in addition, to ordain such rule for the public as it may please the
Court of the one part, and the sworn master hatters of the town of
Paris, appellees and defendants, of the other.' "

Four years later than this — in 1638 — the British Parliament is-
sued a proclamation, strictly forbidding the use of any material for the
making of hats, excepting " Beaver stuff"" or "Beaver wool," and we
learn that in 1663, a good beaver hat was worth ^4 5^., which very

.!::

!■

"CnNTlNKNTAL

COCKED HAT.
(■776)

ARMY. (1S37)

(the WELLINGTON.)
(1812)

(the d'orsay.)

(1820)

civil,.

"NAVY"

COCKKD HAT.
(1800)

CLERICAL.

(Kightcentli Century)

(THB PARIS BEAU.)
(ISI5)

(THE REGENT.)

(r825)

MODIFICATlONvS OF THE BEAVER HAT.

I 1

CASTOROLOGIA.

187

positively indicates the high esteem in which they were then held.
Beaver hats had been introduced into general wear in the reign of
Queen Elizabeth, but in that period they assumed all maimer of
shapes and variety of color. Shortly afterwards brims were nuich
broadened, and hung down when in wear. These broad brims con-
tiiuic'd to be worn, but the inconvenience of the wide flapping edge,
led to the turning up of first one and then two flaps, until in the
reign of Queen Amie, a third flap was turned up, and the regular
" cocked hat " or "continental hat " was formed. In various styles
the "cocked hat " remained fashionable during the whole of last cen-
tury, and with the present century, came in the conventional " stove
pipe " shape, which with infinite variety, has lasted to our own day.
The shape of the hat was the fancy of a season, and even the most
fractional variation in width of brim or height of crown, was suffi-
cient to satisfy the demand for novelty. The general conception of
a beaver hat is the well known model adopted for civil use, but the
pliable beaver felt has been subject to almost every modification a
head covering could possibly assume. In the accompanying plate
we illustrate several well known shapes, all typical examples of the
use of the pure felted beaver, yet exhibiting a wide field of con-
sumption and perfect adaptability in each case.

Though apparently different, these several types all conform to
one general system of manipulation, and as the introduction of ma-
chinery has brought about so many changes, as to place the manu-
facture of the old felted beaver among the lost arts, it will be inter-
esting to follow briefly, the processes through which each of them
has passed, and perhaps learn more to admire the dignity once at-
tached to a " Beaver." The nature of the pelt, as it came from the
trader, in the raw state, has been already implied ; it was a rough,
greasy skin, covered with coarse brownish hair, under which was
the fine rich fur or wool. The skin was first shaved clean of both
hair and fur, and consigned at once to distinct industries, so that for
the moment we leave it, and consider the several stages through
which the other parts were passed. To separate the coarse hair from
the wool, was managed in a very simple and effectual manner ; this
was done by means of the ' blowing machine," into which the mixed

128

CASTOROLOGIA.

THE HOOD,
OR BEAVER HAT IN ITS FIRST FORM.

bins, while each succeeding grade of finer material was sorted and
deposited each with its kind, and practicrilly divided, so as to show
every variety of quality contained in the original fleece. The finest
and most valuable fur was, owing to its lightness, blown to the ex-
treme edge of the casing, and freed from every impurity.

This simple contrivance achieved what apparently is bej'ond the
appreciation of our most delicate mechanism, and this process
practically determined the consequent quality of the finished article,
as the next stages will show. Taking the grade of wool required
for the inside layer of the hat, to the "hat formiug " machine, and

'W'

I H

material was placed, and treated as follows: — A revolving fan, work-
ing at great speed, drove a current of air through the receiving box
and thence along an enclosed casing about a hundred feet in length.
The force of the air carried the mixed material from the receiving
box along the casing, but as the force of the draft diminished, the
power of gravitation took the work upon itself of separating every
fibre according to its weight, thus the heavy coarse hair a.id any
foreign substance mixed with it, fell soonest, and was gathered into

CASTOROI.OGIA.

129

W--

laying on the feeding apron, the necessary quantity, this was gradu-
ally supplied to rollers, revolving at, say four thousand per minute,
and the fibres were thus separates and thrown towards the outlet of
this machine, opposite to which was a slowly revolving copper-cone.
This cone was about three feet high, and was finely perforated, while
within it an exhaust fan caused a current of air to pass from the out-
side through the perforations. By this means the fibres were drawn
on to the cone and held in place till a delicate covering of fur over-
lapped the whole form, when a fine spray of boiling water turned on
to this fur and cone caused the fur to " set " or commence felting,
holding together sufficiently to allow the delicate form to be handled
and removed from the cone, furnishing the hood, or beaver hat, in
its first form, and the remainir g stages were merely to shape and to
dress the surface. By repeated applications of warmth, moisture
and pressure, the felting was continued till the texture became firm
and tough, and was ready to draw over a block or mould, on which
the material was worked until it had taken the desired shape. This
process required considerable skill as the hat should be completely
shaped before the hood lost the warmth and moisture necessary to
keep it pliable ; it stilTened when cold as a nature of the felt, but to
produce a harder bod}--, shellac was forced into the hood from the
inner side. Then taking some of the finest fur and spreading it
over the surface of the "bodj'," by the application of warm water
and careful manipulation, the staple was worked in so as to give the
effect of fur growing all over the roughly-formed hat, and in this
shape it passed into the dye-room.

It need scarcely be stated that the machinery introduced in this
description was comparative!}^ of recent dnte, and that every advance
in mechanical appliance thrust into disuse the earHer manual tools.
Thus the blowing machine supplanted the old ' ' bow ' ' ; and prior
to the introduction of the hat-forming machine, the hatters' leather
and the palm of the hands accomplished in a tedious way .similar
results. The process of felting by hand had the result of hardening
the cuticle till the hatter's hand was quite corneous.

The dyeing is not peculiar to the texture, but is the same as ap-

is/m

mmmm

tmmmmm

The old habitant in our back country cherishes his " chapeau
de castor," which, carefully wrapped up the six Godless days, he
unfolds on the seventh, and covering his grey hairs he totters
to the village shrine, there to commune for a short hour with the
old companions of his youth. One by one they drop out of the
ranks and claim their small portion of the village churchyard.
Their few worldly possessions are soon divided among a numerous
progeu}', but none care for the legacy of the once treasured chapeau,
and moths and vermin soon reduce it to dust.

130

CASTOROLOGIA.

plied to any woollen fabric, and though we are familiar to-day with
only the sombre black and an occasional variety of shade in the case
of natural wool, in olden times a great deal of taste was displayed
in the matter of color.

To "dress" the hat it was placed on a revolving block, while
the finisher applied brushes, irons, sandpaper and velvet polishers,
till the surface was so smooth, that an old fashioned "beaver"
would shine as brightly as a modern silk hat, while it had the ex-
quisite beauly of the long velvety pile or fur. The trimming and
binding were minor operations, though they helped to give the
hat much of its style, and when the trimmer had done his work, the
hat had received the finishing touch.

Simple as these various processes maj' seem, the making of a
beaver hat was almost a lost art in the trade, when the fashion for
beaver hats for ladies revived a score of years ago, and in conse-
quence the manufacturers had to search the workhouses and alms-
houses for old hatters, and called once again to the bench the feeble
hands which so long had been unemployed, yet whose training in
the severe apprenticeship of olden days, had made the special work of
each a matter of second nature, so that genuine "old beavers" could
again be produced ; but when the demand ceased, the trade again
fell into decay, and if the call for old hatters should ever again arise
where shall they be found ?

Though not strictly within the scope of this volume, it certainly

i»

CASTOROI^OGIA.

131

will help the appreciation of both articles if the diiference between
the old " beaver ' ' and the present silk hat be explained. The latter
depends on a woven silk plush for its outside cover, and this fabric is
weaved in lengths, having both the appearance and much of the
character of a loose velvet. The ' ' body ' ' or form of the hat is made
of layers of hatter's cotton, a vSoft open texture, which coated with
shellac, is bound on the block or form, and being thoroughly pliable
while warm, is nicely adjusted to the desired shape, and then
allowed to cool and harden. The silk plush is then cut ; a circular
piece for the crown, a broad band for the sides, and an open circle
for the brim ; these are carefully sewn together, drawn over the
* ' body ' ' and finished after the fashion of a " beaver. ' '

About the middle of last century the hatting industry seems to
have been in a very unsatisfactory state. In France, a law forbid-
ding the export of beaver skins, had the effect of establishing an
artificial advantage in favor of the French manufacturers. England
then allowed a drawback of duly on all exported beavers, which
stimulated an export trade, w'hile a gradual decrease in importation
made prices too dear for the manufacture of pure beaver felts, and
we read of mixtures of "cofwy wool, goaf's zcool and other materials ^^
in the efforts to produce a hat at a fixed price.

It should be observed here, that there existed a demand for
beaver wool for felting purposes other than the uses in the hatter's
trade, and there seems to have been a limited quantity employed in
Russia, in making cloth and other fabrics.

To return to the skins from which the fleece had been taken : — -
the quantity of these must have been very considerable for many
years, consequently, it is not su'^:)rising that a profitable commercial
outlet was discovered. The trappers knew that from the cleanings
and scrapings of beaver skin, a glue was obtainable, and they saved
the scrapings of the skins to boil down for this purpose, applying it
to their canoes or wherever a reliable glue was necessary. In
Europe, the skins were turned over to the glue-makers, and though
the article may have answeret., the purpose well, and may have been

132

CASTOROLOGIA.

' i

It i

sufficiently cheap and otherwise desirable, it is not a matter of loss
to this industry that so few skins are now offered, as the enormous
supplies of horns and hoofs must easily compensate for any shortage
consequent on the altered uses of the beaver skins which to-day, the
furrier claims as well as the fur. It is hard to admit that the use-
fulness of the beaver has passed, and the world unsympathetically
banishes it without a thought of the wonderous value in has been.
But this is an unsentimental age, and progress is no respecter of per-
sons or animals, so we must face the matter squarely and prepare to
pay our tribute to the last of the great beaver host which will soon
leave us forever.

BEAVER KUR,

MAGNIFIED 250 DIAMETERS.

From rhoto-micrograph by Mr. Albert Hoklen, Vice-President Montreal Camera Club.

rfi^

HUNTING THE BEAVER.

LABRADOR.

♦

A POETICAI, EPISTI.E.

" Fond, in the Summer, on young twigs to browse.
The social Beavers (juit their Winter's house.
Around the Lake they cruise, nor fear mishap,
And sport unheedful of the Furrier's trap.

September comes, the Stag's in season now ;

Of Ven'son, far the Richest you'll allow.

No Long-legg'd, Ewe-neck'd, Cat-hamm'd, Shambling Brute ;

In him strength, beauty, size, each other suit.

All this is pleasure ; but a IMan of sense.

Looks to his Traps ; 'tis they bring in the Pence.

The Otter-season's short ; and soon the frost

Will freeze your Traps, then all your Labour's lost.

Of Beaver too, one Week will yield you more,

Than later, you can hope for, in a Score.

The Furrier now, with care his Traps looks o'er
These he puts out in paths, along the Shore,
I'or the rich Fox ; although not 3-et in kind.
His half-price Skin, our Labour's worth we find.
And when the Beaver lands, young Trees to cut,
Others he sets for his incautious foot.
On Ru1)bing-places, too, with nicest care, ^

Traps for the Otter, he must next p'-epare.
Then Deathfalls, in the old tall Woods he makes,
With Traps between, and the rich Sable takes.

Now cast your Eyes around, stern Winter see.
His progress making, on each fading Tree.
The yellow leaf, th' effect of nightly frost,
I'roclaims his Visit, to our dreary Coast.
Fish, Fowl, and Ven'son, now our Tables grace ;
Roast Beaver too, and e'ery Beast of chase.
lyUxurious living this ! who'd wish for more?
Were QuiN alive, he'd haste to L.\brador ! "

-George Caytietight — //p.

CHAPTER XII.

Methods Empi,oykd «v thk Indian — Introduction ok the Steel-Trap

— Discovery oe the Castoreum Bait — vSystematicali.y Kxter-
minating the Beaver — The " Beaver Eater " and other Enemies

— Hunters' Stories.

The Indian in his primitive state could scarcely with justice be
called a " beaver hunter," though in the effort to procure food and
clothing, he doubtlessly destroyed many of these animals. The ac-
counts of the life and habits of the North American Indian vary so
much, that many facts have to be considered which reflect only side-
lights on the stories, and as testimony, add no more than circum-
stantial evidence. Think for a moment of the means the Indian
employed to kill or capture his quarry, and then compare the crude-
ness of these, with the cunning awakened in the beaver when the
most ingenious snares of the white man were used. Aboriginal
tribes the world over have left as types of their native ingenuity,
the arms they invented for use in warfare or the chase. The
" Boomerang " suggests to the mind the distinct type of the Austral
negro, and the Patagonian with his "Bulla" is widely separated
from the Polynesian with his war clubs and war paddles. The na-
tive weapons of the North American Indian were undoubtedly his
arrow, spear, and tomahawk, the first two were used mostly in hunt-
ing, while the last was the indispensable weapon in war, and the
most typical of the race if taken together with the scalping knife.
The arrow and spear, when in the most perfect state for u.se, were
tipped with horn, which lent itself to nice manipulation even if it
could only be fashioned by the l)eaver-tootli chisel, and flint tips also
were very extensively used. Armed with these, the Indian was
prepared to meet the demands of his household, but would never

.». \

■WHi

MMMf

136

CASTOROLOGIA.

have made much headway against animals by virtue of his weapons
alone, and all writers agree that it was by stealth that he accom-
plished his purpose, whether in war or in peaceful adventures. We
are told that the Indian used to lie in wait for the beavers, as they
came from the water to their work in the woods, and by thus get-
ting within very close range, he was enabled to plunge his arrow
into the soft flank of the animal, and we can easily imagine that
this method of destruction was very slow. It is now difficult to be-
lieve that the "deadfall" was also used, but no doubt the Indian
contrived to make this trap a very perfect imitation of nature, or the
beaver could never have been attracted by it. The nature of the
beaver's food makes it difficult to select a bait, and as castoreum and
its attractive powers were not known to the Indians until long after
the arrival of the white man, we cannot suppose that this plan was
much more reliable than the arrow. These considerations, of course,
have reference to the sea.sons of the year when the waters were open
and vegetation more or less abundant, while an extensive variety of
fish and the flesh of game birds and animals made the tribes less de-
pendent on the beaver. When, however, the autumn came, and
passed rapidly into the severe winter experienced in nearly the
whole of the " Indian-Beaver" territory, when the little vegetation
that remained was shrouded under a deep covering of snow, when mi-
gratory birds, beasts and fishes had abandoned their formei haunts,
then the Indian looked on the beaver colony as a providential ar-
rangement to supply his wants. A few tribes such as the Hochela-
gans, would gather their crop of Indian corn and then face the win-
ter with a feeling of confidence that must surely have aroused the
spirit of husbandrj^ among their neighbors. Unfortunately, how-
ever, there were always predatory tribes, who on the swift snowshoe,
thought it better to steal supplies than to cultivate them, and conse-
quently, existence was never a matter removed fronr care in those
early days. The winter might be more severe than usual and pre-
vent foraging excursions, or it might start earlier and last longer
than usual, so that the proximity of the well stocked beaver colony
was a most important consideration. No wandering band of robbers
would care to plunder this, as the equipments they carried would
not have made it profitable to risk so much time in the woods, be-

DIAGRAM OF A KKAVKR HUNT— 1704.

I ■

CASTOROI.OniA.

139

''.

sides, if they wanted to collect supplies by their own labors, there
were plenty of beaver reserves nearer their own homes.

Let us suppose that the winter has advanced to its height, that
the heavy frosts and storms have come and bound all nature in
an icy covering, deep under which the beaver hibernates in its warm
nest. In the months of January or February, a change sets in and
the weather moderates ; this is the opportunity to replenish the lar-
der, and after many weeks of quiet and laziness, the village is all alive
and excitement runs high, for a hunting party is being formed to
visit the beaver colony. Men, women, children and dogs are all
prepared for the start. Axes, spears, nets and clubs form the eciuip-
ment, and the moccasined feet .soon tread a pathway through the
woods, as the party in " Indian fde " follow the chief guide to the
scene of the coming slaughter. The first step is to quietly cut a series
of holes around each beaver hou.se or lodge, and through these holes
place a netting in which the creatures will become entangled when
they rush from their nest. This preparation being completed, a
sudden onslaught is made on the lodge ; this is the work of the
squaws, who quickly demolish the structure, driving the occupants
hurriedly off to their washes or burrows in the bank where they seek
refuge. A few are killed in the house, others get caught in the net-
ting and .soon drown, .still others escape both ofthe.se fates and swim
off for the bank, but they are none the less doomed, for the well
trained "beaver dog," wild with the excitement of the moment fol-
lows over the ice, the course the poor hunted creature takes in the
water, and when the beaver enters his burrow, the dog remains bark-
ing and scratching at the place. How completely the colony was at
the mercy of the Indian, notwithstanding his crude weapons, must
clearly be seen, and it was quite in the hunter's power to annihilate
the whole colony if he pleased, but in this respect the Indian was
very provident, and in recognition of the immense value the creature
represented, he never allowed his beaver reserve to be too closely
hunted.

The Baron I,a Hontan in his valuable " Memoires de TAmerique
Septentrionale " says of the division of the .spoils consequent on such

140

CASTOROI.OGIA.

an excursion as we have already pictured, that each individual was
allowed to keep to himself all the beavers he dug out of the burrows;
all that were taken in the nets were divided among the whole com-
pany of men, the squaws kept any they killed in the lodges.

The whole Irociuois family, whose various tribes occupied the
richest quarter of the continent, was as dependent on the beaver as
the prairie tribes were on the buffalo, and through all the early records
they are represented pre-eminently as the " Beaver Indians," It will
l)e remembered that the Hurons, a branch of the Iroipiois tribe, who
occupied the shores of Lake Huron, were among those who claimed
descent from the great cosmic Beaver and used its effigy as their
iotcm. By referring to the map used in Chapter \'I., to show the
former distribution of the beaver, it will be seen how extensive were
the "Beaver reserves of the Iroquois" and of " The allies of the
French" — " Chasse de Castor des Iroquois;" " C basse de Castor
des amis des Francois." The accompanying map from the " Docu-
mentary History of New York " is of special local interest, as it re-
calls the fact that where now populous settlements live in peaceful
husbandry, and where many a busy manufacturing town now stands,
not long since was the home of the beaver ; and that though not a
representative remains now in all the neighbourhood, the site was
once so thronged that the wisdom of the Indians selected it as a
" Beaver Hunting Country " — 'Pais dc Chasse dc Castor.'" No more
interesting feature can be found in the whole study of the beaver
economj', than that afforded hy the beaver hunting reserves. In
some cases in the interior of our country, near the height of land,
these hunting grounds are still recognized as the rightful property
of certain Indian families, and curiously, the line of descent is on
the mother's side, so that travellers relate how many an old de-
crepit squaw is honored and propitiated for favors from her beaver
reserve. These reserves were held with as much exclusiveness as a
freehold estate in Ftip-linrl ul to trespass or to poach on them
meant to jeopnrdi' s The question of ownership involved

all the ni} ' '• -1 social career of the Indian — genealo-

gies, trib; anu. ues is of caste and preference; but also

rested great. ^ in thv lirst instance on the right of might j as their

■

<>,

o
>— <

l-H

H
/^

•mm

mimmmmmm

CASTOROLOGIA.

143

war-path was invariablj- the court of appeal among the Indians.
Let us consider briefly the " Co ugh sag rage,'' or the Beaver Hunt-
ing Country, on the accompanying map, and trace its history. We
have already .seen how the early settlements of Europeans kept,
of necessity, close to the great waterways, and from many accounts
of the early writers it can be fully ascertained how powerful, and
sometimes how cruel the Indians were ; how, at times, their malice
led them not only to individual assaults, but even prompted tliem to
butcher whole communities, as in the case of the Lachine Massacre,
in 1689. It will thus be seen that certain deference towards the
laws of the Indian was exacted from these early settlers, and among
these laws, that relating to the rights of beaver hunting would be
carefully regarded ; so that, while the white man held his tempting
stock of merchandise the Indian controlled the hunting of the beaver.
The district now under consideration was a very rugged, wild and
mountainous territory (a portion of the Adirondacks), well watered
and well wooded; and at that period (1749) in a primeval state,
offering a paradise for beavers ; a small territory, yet one in which
almost any stream or lake could support a colony. Into this dis-
trict the Indians made their excursions, and great festivals must
have followed their occasional hunts, for there was the trader, wait-
ing with his varied store to make exchange for every pelt, and by
some small gift, trying to urge another visit to the reserve.

When the fur trader went first among the Indians, the beavers
were very plentiful and the wants of the Indians comparatively few;
but gradualh' the trader overcame the provident nature of the In-
dian, till when "fire-water " had become a regular article of barter,
he was so changed that no thought seemed to possess his mind but
the desire for more liquor, and he became debauched and debased,
and completely under the power of the white man, for losing his
self-control, he hunted expressly to try and satisfy a ceaseless thirst,
and drew from a limited fund to meet an insatiable want.

It has been shown that in winter the methods employed in hunt-
ing, placed the beaver entirely at the mercy of the Indian, but when
extreme measures were instituted, the creeks and streams were

144

CASTOROI.OGIA,

closely staked across, a method called "trenching," whereby every
inhabitant of the colony was imprisoned from the first move,
and actual extermination alone satisfied the greed of the hunters.
Soon the vast country of the Iroquois was ruined, and then
the march northward and westward was pressed till the shores of
the Arctic and the Pacific stopped the hasty rush ; "the Iroquois,
once the careful husbander of the beaver, now became the most
inveterate hunter."

In the manuscript of Mr. David Thompson, to which reference
has already been made, a very thoughtful survey of the position of
affairs shows that too much color cannot be given to the period of
1784-1821, designated the period of Anglo-Canadian rivalries.
About the year 1794, the Indians of Canada and New Brunswick,
not satisfied with their achievements in beaver hunting, and observ-
ing the success of the white man in catching foxes, lynx, sables and
other animals with the steel trap, turned their attention to the pos-
sibility of employing this means to augment their store of beaver
skins. The one obstruction in the way was that no bait with suffi-
ciently attractive powers had j-et been discovered, the vegetable diet
of the beaver and its constant and varied supply from the woods
about it, made the case difficult to meet. At first the traps were
placed under water in the run-ways of the beaver, the incipient
canal, but without luring the beavers to the spot. No very decided
advantage was thus gained, while the outlay for the steel traps and
the inconvenience of carrying the heavy outfit for miles through the
the woods, had certain disadvantages compared with the awkward
wooden trap, which cost nothing but a few moment's work on ma-
terial which everywhere was close at hand.

Experiments were made, mixtures of various kinds were tried,
till at length it was found that those compounds into which " cas-
toreum " had been introduced, filled more than the mo.st ardent ex-
pectations, and what "fire-water" was to the Indian, so these cas-
toreum mixtures were to the beavers. Their infatuation was with-
out bounds, and the results which followed cannot be more graphic-
ally told than in Mr. Thompson's own words :—

. .'•asi!«a>.,r-

CASTOROLOGIA.

145

" The secret of this bait was soon spread ; every Indian j)rocured
from the trader four to six steel traps, the weight of one was about
six to eight pounds ; all labour was now at an end, the hunter
moved about at pleasure, with his traps and infallible bait of castor-
eum. Of the infatuation of this animal for castoreum, I saw several
instances. A trap was negligently fastened by its small chain to
the stake, to prevent the beaver taking away the trap when caught ;
it slipped and the beaver swam away with the trap, and it was looked
upon as lost. Two nights after he was taken in a trap, with the
other trap fast to his thigh. Another time, a beaver passing over a
trap to get the castoreum, had his hind leg broken, with his teeth he
cut the broken leg off, and went away. We concluded he would
not come again, but two nights afterwards, he was found fast in a
trap ; in every case tempted by the castoreum. The stick was al-
ways licked or sucked clean, and it seemed to act as a soporific, as
they remained more than a day without coming out of their houses.
The Nepissings, the Algonquins and Iroquois Indians, havfng ex-
hausted their own districts, now spread themselves over thesa coun-
tries and as they destroyed, the beaver moved forward to the north-
ward and westward. The natives, the Napataways did not in the
least molest them ; the Chippeways and other tribes made use of
traps of steel, and of the castoreum. For several years all those
Indians were rich, the women and children, as well as the men were
covered with silver brooches, ear-rings, wampum, beads and other
trinkets. Their mantles were of fine scarlet cloth, and all was finery
and dress. The canoes of the fur trader were loaded with packs of
beaver, till the abundance of the article lowered the London prices.
Every intelligent man saw the poverty that would follow the de-
struction of the beaver, but there were no chiefs to control it ; always
perfect liberty and equalitj-. Four years after almost the whole of
these extensive countries became poor, and with difficulty procured
the first necessaries of life, and in this state they remain, and pro-
bably for ever. A worn out field maj' be manured and again made
fertile ; but the beaver once destroyed cannot be replaced. They
were the gold coin of the country, with which the necessaries of life
were purchased."

While the countrj* was being impoverished in this way, the pro-

146

CASTOROLOGIA.

fits made by the traders were so great that it was reasonably de-
clared that some of the most colossal fortunes of England, France and
America, were founded on the beaver trafiic, Mr. Fred. W. Lucas
in his "Shreds of History," which gives minute details of this period,
after quoting the schedule of barter in beaver skins, says, "these
prices are reckoned to have yielded a profit of 2,000 per cent."

The castoreum bait has never been siiperseded by any other, and
every trapper who now attempts to capture the beaver is provided
with his bottle of "medicine," as it is called, which consists of a
vegetable mixture varying with the fancy of the individual, but in-
variably depending for its merit on the magic power of castoreum.

BEAVER TRAP, WITH CI^UTCH.

At great variance with the former wise method of allowing suffi-
cient beavers to remain in a neighborhood to perpetuate the race, is
the advice given in a "Trapper's Guide," published recently in
New York, in which the author says : — "A full grown family of
beavers, as I have said before, consists of the parents (male and.
female), their three year old offspring, the two year olds, and the
yearlings — four generations of four different sizes — occupying one
hut, and doing business in one pond. When a trapper comes on
such a pond, or one that he has reason to believe is inhabited by a
large number of beavers, his object should be to take them all."
This same writer offers a steel trap armed with a powerful " clutch,"
designed specially to hold the beaver's body, and prevent it tearing
the feet from the trap ; for the legs are so short that the beaver fre-
quently manages to escape. The ordinary style of the beaver trap

CASTOROLOGIA.

147

is illustrated in Chapter X., being that carried by the old " Trapper
and Trader. ' '

In 1 8 14, a letter from a North-Wester at the Mackenzie River
Department, Great Slave Lake, which appears in L. R. Masson's
" Les Bourgeois de la Compagnie du Nord-Ouest, " contains the in-
formation that "the Indians complain at the want of beaver, (the
Iroquois having ruined the country,)" and in a note the author
explains that the Xorth-Westers often took up the Iroquois as
hunters, and "these Indians having no interest in the country,
hunted recklessly and at all seasons. The cry of ' no beaver ' is the
only ground for reducing the number of posts on Peace River, and
relinquishing the whole department of McKenzie's River."

Having thus shown the artificial destruction of the beaver, it
might be well, at this, point, to refer to some of the natural enemies
which helped to thin their colonies ; and among these none have at-
tained such notoriety as the wolverine i^gulo hiscics). From the days
of Olaus Magnus, the " gulus " — or glutton — as it was then named,
has been the object of most damning superstitions, and even to-day
the animal is most popularly known as the " glutton." The Hud-
son's Bay traders called it the " quick hatch," and the French tra-
ders used the corruption "carcajou," both titles having a long list of
variations and both supposed to have arisen from the same source,
the Indian name " quickwahay," which, in J. Long's valuable In-
dian vocabulary, published in 1791, is translated as the "beaver
eater." The animal furnishes many interesting features for .study,
and, on better acquaintance, proves itself b}^ no means deserving of
the unenviable notoriety it has achieved, though all the French tra-
ders held it vso much in disrepute as to call it " enfant du diable " —
"child of the devil." It was only the size of the adult beaver
but proportionately very powerful, and possessed of that blood-
thirsty appetite which distinguishes the weasels, ferrets, and all the
representatives of this family. Consequently the defenceless beaver
was a rich source of supply, and by Ij'ing in wait in the woods, or
assaulting the lodges, doubtless many a victim was secured, and
though the stories concerning the ravages are usually supposed to be

j*~

148

CASTOKOI.OCIA.

much exaggerated, there are grounds for believing that the "beaver
eater " was a very successful competitor with the beaver hunter, and
its distribution and disappearance have been strangely coincident
with that of the beaver.

Besides the wolverine, both the bear and the otter are said to be
enemies of the beaver, and testimony points pretty clearly to the
latter devouring the young beavers. As to the bears, their depre-
dations are most likely to occur in the Spring, when awakening
from their long night's sleep, their appetites are most voracious,
and beaver meat would, probably, be sought for as a necessity as
well as a delicacy ; through the Summer the bear would prefer the
rich variety of vegetable food and the occasional meal of wild honey,
while in the late Fall he fattens on fruits, berries and nuts ; and then
selects his quarters for his hibernation.

It is an unfortunate thing that the greater part of the knowledge
we possess of the habits and manners of animals is based on inform-
ation furnished l)y trappers and fur traders, for as Dr. John D. God-
man saj's, a "hunter's .story" is too often synonymous with an
English word of three letters. In Godman's "American Natural
History" the author devotes seventeen pages to what he calls the
" Fabulous History of the Beaver," which, he introduces by admit-
ting that this part of the subject is richer in materials than any
other; and that there is "one circumstance peculiar to the history
of the beaver which has thrown over it more delusion than in the
case of almost any other animal. To these persons (the fur trader
and trapper) the beaver is a most important object, and regarded
with a degree of admiration and sup-Tstition exactly proportioned to
their ignorance. To become acquainted with the peculiarities of a
species both nocturnal and exceedinglj^ timid and vigilant, requires
j-^ears of patient and assiduous attention." Further on, the author
accuses those who from their circumstances should have acquired a
knowledge of thsse matters, of taking a malicious pleasure in com-
municating "the most false and marvellous relations" and the fol-
lowing note, wonderfully suggestive of the application of salt to a
bird's tail, mav be taken as an example: — "Their tail is covered

{

The Quick Hat ck.or "Wo^t'cne

QUICKWAHA\-'1HK "BKAVER KATKR.

(GULO LUSCVS— TIIK WOLVERINE OK CJLUTTON.)

CASTOROLOGIA.

151

over with scales, being, like a soal, about six inches broad and ten
inches long, which he uses as a rudder to steer with when he swims
to catch fish ; and though his teeth are so terrible, yet when men
have seized his tail, they can govern the animal as they please."

Beltrami, who wrote "La Decouverte des Sources du Mississippi,"
must have provoked his guides sadly before the following admis-
.sions were made. " The beavers are divided into tribes, and some-
times into small bands only, of which each has its chief, and order
and discipline reign there, much more, perhaps, than among the In-
dians, or even among civilized nations. Each tribe has its territory.
If any stranger is caught trespassing, he is brought before the chief,
who, for the first offence, punishes him ad concctioncm, and for the
second, deprives him of his tail, which is the greatest misfortune
which can happen to a beaver, for this tail is their cart, upon which
they transport, wherever it is desired, mortar, stones, provisions,
etc. ; and it is also the trowel, which it resembles in shape, used
by them in building. This infraction of the laws of nations is con-
sidered among them so great an outrage, that the whole tribe of the
mutilated beaver side with him, and set off immediately to take ven-
gence for it. In this contest the victorious party, using the rights
of war, drives the vanquished from their quarters, takes possession
of them, and places a provisional garrison, and finally establishes
there a colony of young beaver. The ' Great Hare,' at Red Lake,
wished to make me believe that, having come to the spot where two
tribes of beaver had just been engaged in battle, he found a1:)OUt
fifteen dead, or dying on the field ; and other Indians, Sioux and
Chippeways, have also assured me that they have obtained valuable
tooty in similar circumstances."

When such accounts were current and accepted, nay, even
expected among the marvellous experiences of those who recorded
their adventures, we can understand that it was " diiTicult for a tra-
veller to publish his travels without speaking of the beaver, although
he should have travelled onlv in Africa, where there are none."

The number of writers on the beaver is legion, while accounts of

152

CASTOROLOGIA.

actual oliservers are so very limited that each record is of great
value, especially now that the opportunities for study are so quickly
passing ; and it is a pleasure to refer to the article by H. P. Wells,
in Harper's Miiirazine for Janiiary, 1889, which furnishes a chapter
on beaver hunting, as carefully written as it is beautifully illustrated.

The next generation must accept our statements as we accept
the accounts of the Kuropean beaver, and must regard our descrip-
tions with the same credulity as we do the vStatement that " beaver
hunting, anciently, was a favorite sport on the continent, if not in
Kngland."

THE DEADFALL
(as now used for mink or sable.)

Aa't--^.- Ji'i. ■'„.' Jfmft-^r^^

.s^Bi

KXPERLAIENTS IN DOMESTICATION.

««.Lv^i.-, a^-sc.«fe-*yf.s^-;ijJB^sws^i«

•I

"We thus recopnize in the heaver, which
has disappeared within recent generations from
so many of its Canadian haunts, and now lin-
Kers in greatly diminished numbers only in the
least accessible waters, the survivor of a species
familiar to man in remote centuries, rendered
popular in the fables of .r:sop, an.l noted by
Herodotus, Hippocrates, Pliny and .Strabo. The
last relics of the extinct Dodo have acquired a
value the living animal never could have pos-
sessed ; and the same reasons that confer an in-
terest on the evidences of the extinction of
species, as illustrating the like process still go-
ing on which geology reveals in the whole past
ec&nomy of life, render the beaver of the Old
and the New World worthy of special notice, as
destined seemingly, like the Aboriginal Indian
of this continent, to pass away from the records
of living nature.

Sir Daniel U'i/son—fS^S.

CHAPTER XITI.

Attkmpts to Prkskrvf, tiik European Beavkr— Tamr Rkavers— Tuic

MARyi'lS OI" lU.TIC'S BKAVKR CoI.OXY — UKAVI'.R IIlNTINt; C'.ROl'NnS

of Thk Indians — Tiiic Hudson's Bay Ukavkr Rkservks — "Bkavkr

1'aRMING"— I,IFE IN ZOOWtWCAI, GaRUIJNS.

From the earliest history of the beaver in the Old World, which
was written at the time when civilization had already made mnch
headway, and was still spreading; over luirope in great waves, over-
whelming barbarism and effacing primeval nature forever within its
limits, we gather that the preservation of the beaver from the de-
struction which appeared imminent, was a matter of mnch moment.

As late as the reign of Frederick the Great, of Prussia, (17 12-
1788), beavers were gathered together for this purpose, but as i?i
every former instance, the enterprise was a failure, and the life of the
European beaver was not in the least extended by this experiment.
Some reason must be found for the failure to protect the beaver satis-
factorily, and investigation into the matter might be profitable.
The 3-oung beaver is easilj- tamed ; beavers are freciuently brought
alive into our settlements, and are often made pets of, and allowed
the liberties usually afforded to our domestic guardian, the dog.
The number of individual cases recorded, if merely .scheduled, would
make a full chapter, and it would fill a portly volume to do justice
to the many eccentric performances of these pets. The legs of tables
and chairs soon attract the beaver as .suitable substitutes for the deli-
cate undergrowth of the forest, and boots and .shoes, brushes, books,
and other small articles, both ornamental and useful, serv'e to dam
up the doorway, or to form a lodge under the bed or some other
article of furniture ; each work .showi'ig distinctly the instinct to
build. vSo little choice of material do they seem to exercise, that

156

CASTOROLOGIA.

on the evidence of Mr. Lewis H. Morgan, we repeat the following
.extraordinary example :—

" In spring, summer and fall, the usual place of setting traps for
beavers, is upon the dam. The trapper avails himself of the well-
known habit of this dam builder to repair, at once, any breach made
in the structure, over which his supervision is constant. Captain
Wilson, before referred to, on one occasion, set three traps in this
maimer on the Grass Lake dam, using stakes instead of the pole
slide, with the following results : Two days afterwards he found,
on going to the traps, the th ■ ;e breaches fully repaired. Two of the
traps held each a beaver, and both drowned ; but notwithstanding
the calamity that had befallen them, other beavers had finished their
work. The third trap had disappeared from sight. He found the
chain still held by the .stake, which showed, on running it up, that
the trap was buried in the breach made in the dam, under the ma-
terials used in its repair. Upon drawing it out, he discovered a duck
in the trap, which had been caught and drowned, and that both the
duck and the trap had been carried by the beavers into the breach
and there buried."

The beaver possesses not only indomitable perseverance, but for
its size has very great strength, and these, togethci >vith its shortness
of limb, make it difficult to hold in a trap. For this reason the
hunter aims either to drown the animal, or to catch it securely by
the hind foot, which is proportionately large. Sometimes the beaver
gets its fore foot into the trap, and instead of rushing into deep water
and drowning, it struggles to escape even if the limb or part of it be
lost in the struggle. When, however, as is not vtnfrequently the
case, the hunter finds the beaver alive in the trap, it is completely
tamed through exhaustion and despair, and may with safety be
handled atid taken from the trap. The beaver in its wild state re-
cognizes man as an enemj^ and constantly seeks to escape from his
presence, and though in captivity this fear is forgotten, yet it must
always be considered moi>t timid and shy.

The great value once attached to the beaver, and the popular

CASTOKOLOGIA.

157

conception of its engineering works, doubtless led to all the early and
most of the recent efforts to preserve or perpetuate the species. The
original life of our domestic animals and pets — horses, cows, sheep,
pigs, dogs, cats and pigeons — furnishes the biologist with problems
of the utmost interest ; while the changes which have followed the
domestication of animals within the range of our times, baffle even
the most advanced speculations. The ostrich and camel in Africa ;
the elephant in Asia ; the reindeer in Northern Europe and America,
and the llama in South America, serve to show how nature accom-
modates her children to altered circumstances. This quality of
adaptation is the fundamental requirement in the matter of domesti-
cation, and implies, firstly, that the animal can thrive in great changes
of climate and environment ; secondly, that it can adapt itself to a
var>'ing food supply; and thirdly, that its nervous system must be
strong and improvable. By applying these tests to the beaver, it
will be found that it does not come within the requirements, for, as
a rule, it does not wander much, though originally it was verj-
widely distributed, and its life is so much dependent on a full supply
of fresh water, that this alone would prevent domestication except
imder very special circumstances. The question of food is also an
important consideration, for though under semi-domestication, the
beaver is found to thrive on most vegetable substances, still nature
prompts the appetite for bark, and to satisfy this, a constant suppl}
of fresh wood of a rather limited kind would be required, and even
when this want is provided for, the condition of the teeth soon fails,
and might be taken as an infallible sign of degeneration under altered
circumstances. Finally, in the chapter on its anatomy, it will be
shown that the beaver ranks singularly low in the scale of Compara-
tive Psychology, and though this may seem contrary to the popular
conception, it must be acknowledged that beavers have never made
themselves conspicuous by any exhibition of acquired performances,
but only display inherited instinct. The plausibility of the following
story is interesting, though its truth is not vouched for. A tame
beaver, around .\ camp, was becoming objectionable through its pro-
pensity fur cutting everything in the camp, until the followers
started it on a rough pile of felled trees ; the beaver was made
perfectly happy, and labored away, keeping its teeth in good .shape

I5S

CASTOROLOGIA.

and also providing the camp \vith abundant firewood. Another ac-
count of a tame beaver, which appears in Wilson's " Early Notices
of the Beaver," is told by a Mr. John Langton, and shows the fate
of most of these creatures. The owner of this beaver had no furni-
ture to gnaw, being an old trader married to a squaw, and living
more like an Indian than a white man. " Plis favourite was quite
tame, and very playful, and though he lived on the shore of Buck-
horn Lake, the beaver seldom took to the water. It used to lie be-
fore the fire as contentedly as a dog ; and it was not till winter set
in that it became a nuisance. Poor old Bill McHugh's house was
well ventilated, an ojjen chink between the logs being thought very
little of by him and his family ; but the beaver was very impatient
of such negligence, and used to work all night at making things air-
tight and comlbrtable without much discrimination as to the mate-
rials it employed. If Bill or his guests went to bed leaving their
moccasins and tichigans drying before the fire, they were certain to
be found in the morning stowed away in some chink or cranny ; and
stray blankets and articles of clothing were torn up by the industri-
ous beaver for the same purpose. The consequence was that the
poor pet was at length sacrificed ; its body went into the old trader's
pot, and its skin to market. ' '

'*i*'

These anecdotes of tame beavers could be much extended if
necessar>', but eiiough has been said to show how thoroughly domes-
iic the beaver becomes, (using this word to imply its adaptability to
a life with man as a member of his household), yet -when beavers
are gathered together in colonies or families, and allowed only par-
tial freedom, they do not thrive. Of the ultimate results of the early
attempts in Russia, Germany and France to preserve ihe beaver,
history only tells us that they failed, but without exact records of
these experiments, they are of no practical v:.lue towards the solution
of the pro1)k'm, why, in the face of powerful leg;islation to preserve
them, did the beavers disappear ? The more recent a'^-^mpt made by
the Marquis of Bute, to establirli a colony of Canadian beavers, near
Rothesay, in vScotland, is a matter of intense interest at this juncture,
and as the story of the foun ling of the colony, together with some
details of its subsequent condition, has been told by Joseph Stuart

CASTOROLOGIA.

159

Black, the Gamekeeper of the Estate, we reprint the following notes
from his report, which bears date 18S7 : —

"In 1S74, the Marquis of Bute having obtained four beavers,
caused a space of from three to four acres in extent to be enclosed in
the wood between Moikle Kilchattan and Drumreach, and placed
them there. These not succeeding, his lordship, on the 6th Janu-
ary, 1875, obtained seven others. Of these, four succeeded so
well that in 1878 I was certain of sixteen being alive, which makes
an average increase of four each season. There is a further increase
this season, but to what extent I cannot say.

"Arriving as they did in midwinter, these little animals, I can
assure you, had a pretty hard time of it. However, after a few days'
rest, laving viewed the situation, they set vigorously to work to
make themselves comfortable, and began to construct a dam* by
forming a dyke or embankment across a small moorland stream
running through the enclosure ; at the same time they comipenced
to build a house to live in.

" The materials of which the dyke is constructed are wood, grass,
mud, and a few stones which are used for the purpose of keeping the
grass and smaller pieces of wood in their place until more is built on
the top of them. They have continued raising this embankment to
a certain extent every 3'ear, until it has now attained the followin;;-
dimensions, viz. : — length, seventy feet ; height in the deepest part,
fully eight feet ; breadth of base at deepest part, from fifteen to
twenty feet, sloped inside, not straight across, but finely arched
against the stream, so that it may the more easily resist the great
pressure of water which it has to bear — perfectly level, so that when
a spate of water comes down it may run evenly over the top from
side to side. So substantialh' have they built it that no material
damage has occured to it from all the floods that have passed over
it. They use a number of the larger pieces of wood as props, b}'
fixing the thick end into the ground and the small end on the top.

* The word "da-rn " is used throughout this account to signify the pool formed b> the
dvke or cmbaukineut.

i6o

CASTOKOLOGIA.

II'

then build on the top of these, so as to fix them firmly. It would
require to be seen to appreciate the great skill displayed in its con-
struction ; as I think it would tax the energies of a Bateman or a
Gale to make a better with the same materials. If any danmge does
occur, they immediately find it out and repair it. I have seen them
swim along the edge of the embankment, carefully examining it to
ascertain the part most needful of repairs, then go to work with a will
to rectify it. The dam is now seventy-eight yards long of still water.

\ >-

"Besides the dam already mentioned, upon which they bestow
great care in its construction, owing to their house being built in it,
they have other seven, some larger, some smaller ; one of them hav-
ing an embankment 105 feet long, and an a\'erage depth of three
feet. Tlie.se serve as places of refuge if the beavers are disturbed
when out roaming about in quest of food or felling the trees, al.so as
a waterway for conveying their food, when storing it past for winter.

" In the construction of their dwelling the same kind of mate-
rials are used. As to how they build it : yoii must understand that
for a considerable distance along one side of the stream or burn the
ground rises in a steep bank, but about twenty- yards above where
thej^ began to build the emljankment for the dam, there was a .small
level spot which they selected. Then at the bottom of the water they
burrowed in three or four feet, rose up eight or ten inches, scooped
out a space large enough to hold themselves, broke a hole in the
surface about six inches in diameter, then began to cover it over
with sticks, grass, and a few stones, always keeping it open in the
centre b}^ placing a few sticks perpendicularly, so as to act as a ven-
tilator, and as the water rose in the dam and the familj- increased
they continued to build and enlarge the house, cutting their way up
and forming their chaml^er or chambers inside, until it had now at-
tained the following dimensions at the surface of the water (which is
here about four feet deep), viz. — height about five feet, length and
breadth about nine feet, having a door at both sides placed at the
bottom of the water so as to prevent their nptural enemies from fol-
lowing them, chief among which is the wolverine, although happily
for lioth them and us there are none of these here to disturb them.

(

CASTOROLOGIA,

t6i

" To secure themselves against the winter storms they connnence
about the middle of September and give their house a coat of mud
all over. It is with the mouth and forefeet, which are formed more
like hands than feet, that they convey the materials of which their
embankment and house are made. They do not use their tail, as was
at one time said, for plastering on the mud, but their forefeet, with
which they very carefully stow it in among the sticks. As to what
they use for a bed to lie on, it is wood shavings, which they ]>repare
in the following manner : after using the bark for food, they place the
stick on end, holding it with both feet a bi<^ apart, then with their
teeth pare it down into fine shavings. They are very cleanly in
their habits, as they often clean out their house, not casting away
the refuse, but using it either on the top of the house or the embank-
ment of the dam to patch up a hole.

•1 .

" Their food in winter consists wholly of the bark of trees ; had
they a choice I have no hesitation in saying they would prefer the
willow and poplar. These not growing in the enclosure, they had
just to adapt themselves to circumstances, and take a share of what
trees the}' could get, consisting of oak, plane tree, elm, thorn, hazel,
Scotch fir and larch. Of the hardwood, they .seem to prefer elm to
plane tree, then oak, of which they eat .sparingly. Of the firs, the
Scotch has the preference ; as for the larch they did not touch it till
earlj' in 1878, since which time they have taken to it very well.
As for the alder and spruce fir, they eat almo.st nothing of them.
Along with all the.se, we have always given them a supply of willow.
In summer they eat freely of the common bracken, likewise grass,
and young .shoots of every description growing in the place. In
autunni they gru1) up and feed upon roots, chief among which is the
tormentil {Potcutilla torment ilia), hitiXs^r known to Scotch people as
" tormentil root," and the young tender shoots of the common spurts
before they appear above ground, at the same time cutting down a
tree now and again and feeding on the bark.

" As to the tree-felling it is all done at night ; the niunber which
they have cut down amoinits now to 1S7 trees from five feet in circum-
ference downwards. These are all forest trees, besides a great many

<►

l62

CASTOROI.OGIA.

smaller bushes. Before cutting clown a tree, they mark it all round
at the height at which they wish to cut it. They begin to cut at
the opposite side to which they intend the tree should fall, invariably
making it fall with the top to the water. Where they grow near
enough, they make them fall across the stream or dam, causing
many to suppose that they are so placed to form a bridge, whereby
they may cross from one side of the water to another. They do not
require a bridge, they can swim, and rather than cross over a pros-
trate tree they dive under it. My impression is they are so placed
to break the current of the water when the stream is flooded ; also if
convenient they take advantage of building a dam where some of the
trees lie across the water. Those lying across in their principal dam
are utilized in storing up their winter food, these stores being built
on the upper side of the trees, so that they cannot be swept away
with the winter floods.

" When cutting the trees they use their teeth, on the same prin-
ciple that a forester does an axe, alwaj's keeping plenty of open space,
so that they can cut past the centre of the tree on one side before
beginning on the other. It is in the latter end of autumn they com-
mence to cut down trees for winter food. Having cut them down
they speedily strip off the branches, cutting them into lengths to
suit their strength for dragging them away to the dam, where they
store them in different places near their house, so that they may
have sufficient food, although the dam may be frozen over, or the
ground covered with snow. What is left of the trunks of the trees
that they cannot drag away, they feed on at leisure, eating the bark.

' ' Besides the work above ground which I have tried to describe,
they have done a great amount of underground work, such as cutting
channels in their dams, and making burrows. These burrows they
make by cutting a road from the middle of the dam for .several yards
into the dry ground, where they scoop out a dome- shaped burrow
from eight to ten inches above the level of the road, then cut a hole
through the surface and cover it over with sticks and grass so as to
act as a ventilator. Here thej^ live and feed in security and content-
ment. Some of the roads to the.se burrows are from fifteen to twenty

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yards long, and so level that the water follows them in the whole
length.

' ' As to the time they bring forth their young, from my own
knowledge I cannot say, I have seen it stated to be January, and
also the beginning cf May. I can say nothing against that, judging
from the size of the young when I first saw them in the second week
of June, the oldest litter being about the size of a full-grown rabbit,
and the youngest not half that size,

"From careful observation, I have good reasons for believing
they have only one at a birth. One tiling I am certain of, they have
two litters in the season. Beavers are a class of animals that are
very timid, their sight, scent and hearing very keen, so much so, that
it is with great caution thej' can be approached near enough to .see
what they are doing. They are under cover all day from seven
o'clock in the morning till seven in the evening. "When one comes
out, it floats on the surface of the water, carefully surveying the
whole scene around, .sniffing the air, and if no danger is appre-
hended it dives and disappears. In two or three minutes, a number
of the colon)' begin to appear and disperse themselves, some to swim
and sport about in the dam, while others go in quest of food. If one
of them espies danger it strikes one sharp, loud stroke on the water
■with its tail, when all of them that are out come tumbling into the
dam and disappear.

" They will allow of no laziness in any member of the colony ; if
any such there be, thej- are beaten and driven out to live as best
they ma}'. These so driven out generally roam about, making a
burrow here and there, where they live for a few months and die."

Such records are most valuable, but unfortunately, errors of ob-
servation or of judgment in recording, necessitate .some comment in
presenting them together with conflicting evidence. A visit to the
"enclosure" in July 1889, gave an impression of a condition of
things quite different to that reported, which may be substantiated
by reference to the accompanying engraving, copied from photo-

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1 66

CASTUROLOGIA.

graphs taken at the time. Mr. Black had died about a year before,
and the beavers were placed under the charge of the game keeper,
Mr. John Wilson, %vho stated that the number of animals, as estim-
ated by the amount of work done, liad been much exaggerated ;
that in 1883, when his lordship wished to send to the Fisheries ICx-
hibition specimens of the beaver (whose tail had been described as
" a true portion of a fish attached to the body of a quadruped "),
the enclosure was completely ransacked before a couple could be
secured. The trees in the enclosure, some measuring over sixty
inches in circumference, covered the ground in all directions giving
the place an appearance of desolation, which at first was most dis-
appointing. Two trees .standing near the railing (shown in the en-
graving) having been partially cut by the beavers, the tops were cut
ofiF to save any damage which might have been cau.sed by them
falling on to the railing ; unquestionably i/icsc Ines would not have
fallen zviih their tops to the icater.

The que.stion of the birth of young beavers is still the cause of
nuich .speculation, and the most opposite opinions are .'■tated with
dogmatic certainty ; yet, no satisfactory proof is offered to establish
the facts, and many interesting points remain to be .s(;ttled. No
scientific proof has ever been offered to substantiate the c:laims as to
whether l)eavers are born with their eyes closed or open, and tes-
timony is about equally divided on this point ; but as to a second
litter in the sea.son, the preponderance of evidence is unmistakably
against the theory, notwithstanding Mr. Black's expressed certainty.

Universally, the beaver stands as the type of industry, and the
works we have described must have given conclusive proof of this ;
but inifortunately, fable has considered it necessary to create a
'^ paresscux " in the beaver paradise, as if for the pleasure of banish-
ing it to outer darkness. Mr. Black saw bcivers wandering about
the enclosure, evidently outcasts from the little colony, yet, he was
utterly without grounds for asserting that these creatures had been
banished because they were lazy.

Cartwright's opinions on the same subject were as follows,

CASTOROLOGIA.

167

" Sometimes a single beaver lives by itself, and is then called a
hermit or terrier. Whatever may have been the cause which has
separated these individuals from society, it is certain that they
always have a black mark on the inside of the skin tipon their backs,
which is called a saddle, and distinguishes them from the others.
This separation from society may arise from their fidelity and con-
stancy to each other, and that, having by some accident lost their
mate, they will not readily pair again. The mark on the back maj'
proceed from the want of a companion to keep that part warm."
Cartwright also claimed to have the advantage of personal observa-
tion, but Dr. Godman says of him, "this actual observer repeats all
the trash of preceding hearsay- writers nearly in their own words."

I^ Pcre de Charlevoix, author of the "Journal d'un Voyage dans
r Amerique Septentrionale' ' (1744), in writing from Quebec, ist March,
172 1, discourses at length on the curiosities of the country, of which
"the most singular thing that is seen is the beaver. The savages
were formerly persuaded — if one were to believe some stories — that
the beavers were a kind of reasonable animal, which had its laws, its
government and its particular language ; that this amphibious peo-
ple made choice of commanders, who, in the common work, distri-
buted to each its task, posted sentinels to give warning of the ap-
proach of an enemy, punished or exiled the idle. These ;.o-called
exiles are apparently those which are called burrowing beavers,
which in fact live separate from the others, do not work, and live
inider the ground, where their sole object is to carefully make a
covered road leading to the water. Vhey can be recognized by the
small quantity of hair that they have on their backs, the result
evidently of rubbing them.selves constantly against the earth. In
addition to this they are thin, the effect of their idleness ; they are
found more frequently in hot countries than in cold."

Knough has been said to .show that mar\'ellous tales were ex-
pected of travellers in those early daj'S, and some, doubtless, have
been forced to build up Iheir stories on a very slight foundation,
while others have evidently recorded their own observations, height-
ening these, however, by deductions of a most imaginary nature.

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The truth concerning the thin idle wanderers who soon die, is most
likely that they are cases of sickness or disease, which would also
account for the poor condition of the fur and might perhaps explain
the mysterious "saddle." In the appendix to this volume an ac-
count is given of the parasite which infests the beaver, — Platypsylliis
castoris — and as it is generally found that animals seriously affected
by parasites become thin and sometimes sicken and die, and that
animals in captivity are more subject to the attacks ot vermin than
when in their native condition, it is possible that Mr. Black's " idle
beavers" were in too unhealthy a condition to care for work. In
1887, the keeper explained that when a beaver was seen swimming
about much in the daytime its dead body was soon looked for, as
they seldom moved about during the day unless they were sickly.

The great difference ])etween these attempts of the white man to
perpetuate the beaver and the method adopted by the Indian is all
the difference between art and nature. The white man has made
artificial enclosures for the beaver ; the Indian reserve was a natural
beaver district, chosen by the animals as a suitable home and
guarded by the Indian from encroachment. Of the regard which
beavers had for certain localities Charlevoix says, ' ' There are some
places that the beavers seem to have such an affection for that they
do not appear able to leave them, although they are always uneasy
there. On the waj' from Montreal to Lake Huron by the great river,
one never fails to find every year at the same place a lodge which
these animals build or repair everj-^ summer ; for the first thing the
voj'ageurs do who arrive there earliest, is to break the lodge and the
dam which provides it with water."

)

The Hudson's Bay Company showed their wisdom b}- adopting
the Indian methods of dealing with nature, and in proportion to the
closeness w ith which they follow these methods so is the measure of
their success. They have .systematically set aside certain islands
along the coast of Hudson's Bay as beaver reser\'es, those favored
most by the beaver being chosen. We have seen how every third
year a family of beaver kittens matures, and the Company considers
it wise to visit these islands every third year and carefully gather

CASTOROLOGIA.

169

a crop of beaver pelts representing the approximate increase based
on the known habits of the animal. This triennial hunt is con-
ducted in the most orderly and scientific manner, so as not to dis-
turb the colonies, and those who have accompanied the parties give
astonishing accounts of the condition of things witnessed, the beavers
having almost completely lost tl eir fear of man, and their works
assume the most elaborate proportions. The time will soon come
when these reserves will be worked over, and then the limitations
will bring about the inevitable result, a sudden disappearance of the
busy hosts. If a single family of beavers, captives on the Isle of
Bute, felled 187 huge forest trees, besides a great quantity of small
bushes, within ten years, imagine the destruction which must follow
the work of a colony of beavers in a well chosen and thoroughly ad-
vantageous locality.

For over a thousand years men have discussed and experimented
upon beaver farming. The accompanying clipping is a very com-
prehensive and typical proposal :

A BEAVER RANCHE.

To the Editor of the Mail :

Sir, — A good deal of attention has been drawn to the beaver ranche project
at Sudbury, and the practicability of the enterprise is generally conceded. The
profits, if successful, will be large ; and the country will be saved the disgrace
of allowing the most intelligent and domestic of the inferior races to become
extinct, as will be its certain fate unless protected by mankind.

The cost of the attempt will be comparatively small, and the result will be
to develop an industry as extensive and interesting as bee culture has already
proven. Some legislation will be required to protect the "infant industry,"
and we trust no undue delay will prevent the success of the enterprise next
spring. In connection with the subject I might suggest the suitability of the
Sudbury district for fish culture — abounding, as it does, in small lakes and
streams, which, if stocked and protected, would satisfy both the sportsman and
the political economist — an inviting field for health, sport and profit.

Yours, etc., H. S. S.
Sudbury, Feb. 2, '87.

It will be clearly observed that sentiment is at the bottom of this
scheme, and that no new treatnient of the animal is proposed. The

lyo

CAvSTOROLOGlA.

facts seem utterly overlooked that the beaver is not yet domesticated
and that innumerable attempts in America and Europe have proved
failures. To be sure, if the beaver is not too closely hunted it will
live the longer in anj' locality, but the question is only one of a few
years at most, and before this century closes we may find the last
survivors within a railed enclosure of some zoological garden, at-
tracting the attention of the populace.

Unfortunately the beaver does not make a very attractive exhibit,
for though its works even in a small enclosure are very wonderful,
its nocturnal habits disappoint the masses who naturally expect to
find it at least cutting down trees, if not building lodges and dams
for the public edification. In close captivity the animals soon be-
come tame, and their nature atfd condition change as the conse-
quence of the sudden alterations — loss of exercise, monotony of
surroundings, and entire no/elty in diet. They seldom are seen ex-
cept towards the dusk of civening, when they come out for food, and
even the older specimens are comparatively shy. Indian corn is a
staple food in many zoological gardens, but cabbage, carrots, and in
fact almost the whole range of culinary vegetables are greedily de-
voured by the captive beavers. Gradually the lustre of the fur dis-
appears, the teeth lose their keen edge and the energy flags, till the
industrious aquatic engineer of popular conception becomes a merely
animated specimen apparently waiting admission to the ''atelier'" of
the anatomist.

"no person allowed within the heaver enclosurb."

ANATOMY— OSTEOLOGY— TAXIDERMY

"The great Master (Cuvier) in whose dissect-
ing rooms, as well as in the public galleries of
Comparative Anatomy, I was privileged to work,
held, that ' species were not permanent : ' and
taught this great and fruitful truth, not doubt-
fully or hypothctically, but as a fact established
inductively on a wide and well-laid basis of
observation, by which, indeed, among other ac-
quisitions to science, Comparative Osteology had

l)een created

To suppose that co-existing differentiations
and specialisations, such as Equus and Rhino-
ceros, or either of these and Tapirus, which
have diverged to generic distinctions from an
antecedent common form, to be transmutable
one into another, would be as unscientific, not
to say absurd, as the idea, which has been bol-
stered up by so many questionable illustrations,
and foisted upon poor 'working men,' of their
derivation from a gorilla ! ' '

—Richard Ozvci, F.R.S.—iSeS.

•' I must enter my protest against the singu-
larly imperfect form in which most of the speci- '
mens in zoological and ornithological museums
are presented, owing to the low level at which
speaking generally, the art of taxidermv re-
mains

While in England good birdstufring is rare and
very dear, in some continental cities, there are
to be found taxidermists who will stuff groups

of birds or animals in such a

a manner as to give

the most spirited representation of what they
were in life."

—Professor W. H. Flower.—

tS68.

CHAPTKR XIV.

Methods or Classification— Former Reliance on I>:xternal Charac-
teristics — The Offices of Comparative Anatomy and Compara-
tive Osteology — Taxidermy as a Fine Art— Museums and their
Functions.

The immense value of zoological gardens to the school of Com-
parative Anatomy is a matter that does not often suggest itself to
the casual visitor to these most popular places of resort in all well
appointed educational centres. The "Jardin des Plantes," and the
" Jardin d' Acclimatization," in Paris, are, perhaps, the mo.st scien-
tific institutions of tliis kind, and therefore, students of natural his-
tory are much benefited by visits to these gardens and the organiza-
tions associated with them.

The zoological garden should be recognized by all thoughtful
observers as the introductory department to the comprehensive
science of Zoology. The school of anatomy relies on a varied sup-
ply of specimens for profitable work, and this .school should leave as
its contribution to the public, who usually support institutions of this
kind, a well arranged gallery of osteology and taxidermy.

From the most superficial reading in our day, one gathers some
crude ideas of the .science of life with all its interdependent relations,
yet, few can pursue the subject beyond the most primary considera-
tions, though all intelligent readers wish to understand the great
principles which connect all living forms.

Confining ourselves strictly to the highest order of living things
— the vertebrates — we all recognise the similarity of structure, and
at the same time the immense diiferences which afford special fitness

^74

CASTOROLOGIA.

for certain ends. The wing of the bird and bat, the fin of the whale
and seal, and the dififerentiation in the anterior limbs of the mole,
the sloth, the cat and the horse, are all simply variations of the one
type — the hand of man. Science concerns itself in arranging in ex-
act order every phenomenon that comes under the observation of the
student, and lays before the mind an harmonious plan of all the
Creator's work, which must ever claim man's highest admiration.

Before the science of Comparative Anatomy was the accepted test
of affinity, the attempts to arrange the Animal Kingdom into satis-
factory order varied continually according to the methods applied.
All tests were more or less superficial, and it is curious to trace the
shifting of some animals from group to group, as science advanced
and the principles of classification were more fully comprehended.
Thus, for example, the wolverine until very recently was classed
with the Ursidcc — the bears — because it walked in the same man-
ner as a bear, that is, it was a plantigrade animal, but to-day the
wolverine is clearly established as a member of the Mustdidtv — the
weasel family.

Up to the year 1700, the beaver, so far as is known, had never
been submitted to the ordinary tests of anatomy or dissected to dis-
cover its characteristics, but in October of that year M. Sarrasin,
Mcdccin die Roi en Canada^ addressed a letter to the "Academic des
Sciences," giving the results of his efforts in this direction. His
notes were carefully recorded and very extensive, but their scientific
value is much impaired by the introduction of statements accepted
on the authority of trappers, who treated him as they have invari-
ably treated other enquirers. He stated that "the largest beavers
are three to four feet long, by twelve to fifteen inches wide from
haunch to haunch. They weigh from forty to sixty pounds, and
live from fifteen to twenty years. The beaver described here was
caught in a small lake about twelve or fifteen miles from Quebec,
and weighed fifty pounds." The external features of the beaver are
among its chief characteristics, beginning with its wonderful teeth
and ending with its perfectly unique tail. The head is not unlike
that of the rat, though the nose is flatter and makes the head appear

warn

CASTOROI,OGIA.

175

shorter and broader. The eyes are dark blue and ver^- small in pro
portion to the size of the animal — about half an inch in diameter is
the maximum measurement — and highly convexed to enable them
to be used under water ; they are, according to M. Sarrasin, fur-
nished with three separate lids. The ears are also small, quite round
and concealed in the fur and hair. When the pellage is prime, that
is in its perfect stage, a shaggy, loose growth of long hair covers the
entire head and bodj' to the butt or base of the tail, diminishing on
the lips, eyelids, feet and legs ; the colors and textures of both hair
and fur or wool have already been discussed. The anterior feet or
hands, as they have not inappropriately been
termed, are so dexterous as to favor compar-
ison with the hands of the monkey ; with
them the creature builds the dam and the
lodge, and excavates the burrow, and they
are also used to convey food to the mouth
in a truly astonishing manner. Though the
front feet are not usually employed in swim-
ming there is a very perceptible web joining
the third and fourth digits, which does not
seem fitted for any apparent purpose, unless it might be to facilitate
the handling of mud in the plastering of the lodges or dams.

beaver's hf.ad.

(study from still life.)

.ilil

The powerful hind feet, with their development of web extending
to the extreme points, afford the perfect model for aquatic life and
may be likened to the feet of the turtle. The large heel-pad and
strong nails enable the creature when on land to stand upright firmly
on the hind feet, a position very generally assumed when at work.
On the second toe there is a most remarkable double claw or nail,
which apparently is only used for combing the fur. Owing to the
inequality in the proportions of the legs to the feet, and also partly
to the fact that the toes have a very appreciable inward curve, the
gait of the beaver is waddling and ungraceful. Its awkwardness
and clumsiness seem heightened by the difficulty in managing its
cumbrous tail, which, though sometimes .slightly elevated or even
curved upwards, is generally dragged along the ground and moves
from side to side at each step.

176

CASTOROLOGIA.

Few authorities agree in their descriptions of the beaver's won-
derful tail. In Bennett's " The Gardens and Menagerie of the Zoo-
logical Society Delineated," (1834), an extended article on the bea-
ver appeared, in the course of which its anatomy was carefully
treated. The whole of this article was reprinted by Mr. Lewis
Morgan in his work on "The American Beaver" but the portions
of greatest value are Mr. Bennett's personal observ'ations, among
which are the following remarks : —

' ' Among the numerous, widely dispersed and prolific tribes of
animals which compose the extremely natural order called by L,in-
nocus and the writers of his .school ' Glires,' there are none perhaps
which pos.sess so many claims on our attention as the well marked
and circum.scribed little group on the history of which we are about
to enter. The first and most essential character of the order is ob-
viously derived from the great development of their incisor teeth ;
and this peculiarity in .structure as might naturally be expected is
connected with a peculiarity in habits equally remarkable. So strik-
ing, indeed, is the propensity to gnawing which distinguishes these
animals that many late zoologists of the French school especially,
have thrown aside the older designation applied to them by Linnaeus,
and adopted in its place the expressive name of ' Rongeurs or
■Rodentia.'

" Of this faculty the beavers appear to exhibit the highest degree
of development ; their powerful incisor teeth contribute, in an es-
pecial manner to supply them both with food and .shelter.

" The beavers may be regarded as almost typical of the order to
which they belong. They exhibit, however, in their external form
several striking modifications peculiar to themselves. Of these the
most remarkable consi.sts in their tail, which differs in structure from
that of every other quadruped, This organ which is nearly half as
long as the body, is broadly dilated, oval, flattened both above and
below, covered at its thickened base alone with hair .similar to that
which invests the rest of the animal, but overlaid throughout the
greater part of this extent with a peculiar incrustation which as-

CASTOROI.OGIA.

177

sumes the form of regular scales closely resembling those of fishes.
It is not impossible that the tail may have the power of absorbing
water, like the skin of frogs, though it must be owned that the scaly
integument which invests that member has not much of the char-
acter which generally belongs to absorbing surfaces."

Mr. Morgan's description, illustrated by the accompanying photo-
engraving (direct from nature), is very exact and the subject may be
concluded by the followiiig extracts from his account : "In form,
structure, and uses, the tail is the most conspicuous organ of the
beaver. It is nearly flat, broad and .straight, and covered with
horny .scales of a lustrous black. These scales, which are such in
appearance only, cover every portion of the .surface both above and
luiderneath. The tail is attached to a po.sterior projection of the
body extending some inches beyond the pelvis, and is furni.shed with
strong muscular attachments, by means of which its movements are
determined. Its principal uses are to elevate or depress the head
while swimming, to turn the body and vary its direction, and to as-
sist the animal in diving. It is also used to give a sign of alarm to
its mates. When alarmed in his pond, particularly at night, he im-
mediately dives, in doing which the posterior part of his body is
thrown out of water, and as he descends head foremost, the tail is
brought down upon the surface of the water with a heavy stroke,
and deep below it with a plunge.

" I have heard it distinctly for half a mile, and think it can be
heard twice or three times that distance under favorable conditions.

" It is capable of a diagonal movement from one side to the other,
and vice versa, and also of assuming a nearly vertical position. This
enables them to use it as a scull, which they do when entirely under
water, and swimming at the most rapid rate. It is most flexible at
the intensection of the tail proper with the posterior projection of the
body to which it is attached. The muscles for its down motion are
several times stronger than for either its upward or lateral move-
ments. He is able to 1 urn his tail under him and sit upon it, or to use
it extended behind him as a prop while sitting upon his hind feet.

I >

178

CASTOROKOOIA.

"The posterior extreinily of the beaver presents a singular form-
ation. The body diminishes in size gradually from the hips, and
terminates in a flat scaly tail, which, measured from the sacrum, is
about 18" in length ; the first 8" being covered with hair like the
rest of the body. The scaly portion commences abruptly with a
width of al)OUt four inches, and terminates with a rounded extremity.
The scaly portion is slightly convex above and below, thin at the
margin, and is covered with a black, tough, scaly epidermis. The
scales are somewhat irregular in form and size, the most usual form
being sub-hexagonal, about 32'" in length, and 12'" in width. They
are arranged transversely in respect to length, in the so-called quin-
cunx form, and they diminish in size toward the end of the tail ;
across the middle of the tail the number is 19 or 20 above, and 20 or
21 on the under surface. A few .short, broken hairs pass out be-
tween the scales.

" The tail is composed largely of a dense fatty tissue, upon this
lies the derm or skin, its outer surface being serrated, with the points
of the serratures toward the end of the tail. Over the serratures is
extended the tough, horny epiderm, which is inflected under the
serratures, so as to present the imbricate appearance."

Some idea of the popular conception of the beaver's tail can be
gathered from early illustrations, and particular attention is called
to the accompanying figure, and also to the several reproductions
which appear in preceding chapters.

The muscles of the entire order of mammals are studied and de-
scribed comparatively to the standard of the human frame. Modi-
fications in connection with certain peculiar functions occur in every
class, and these are the only parts necessary to consider in a mono-
graph such as the present. In the order Rodentia, and in the beaver
pre-eminently we have the development of the ' ' masseter muscle ' '
in its highest degree as it is on this that the creature relies for its
power to cut and grind hard woody fibres. The extraordinarj'- de-
velopment of the muscles to move the jaws gives the beaver's face a
full, rounded appearance, and not only are the tendons connected

„

TAIL OF Tin-: BKAVKR.

(DIRECT FROM NATURli.)

CASTOROLOGIA.

I8l

with the use of the cutting teeth, located here, but also those which
give the lateral or grinding motion necessar>' for the mastication of
the tough bark and vegetable substances. The nuiscles of the whole
system are powerfully developed and their attachment to the skin is
so firm that only an experienced hand can remove the .skin without
leaving great layers of muscle adhering to it. The neck, the tail,
and the limbs are each provided with muscles, strong in proportion
to the unusual amount of work to be accomplished by these
members.

Of the internal organs so many are peculiar to the beaver, that
naturalists are continually disagreeing as to the strict classification of
the genus. The cavity of the mouth and the cheeks shows a pecu-
liar provision for the work the creature is destined to do. The ar-
rangement is such that when the incisors only are being used, the
tender nuicous membrane of the mouth is completely protected from
the rough splinters of wood, etc., which might otherwise injure
these delicate parts. The space between the incisors and the molar
teeth is very narrow and is covered with a hard, dark-colored skin,
while the cheeks are furnished with a Iniing of coarse hairs, suffi-
ciently long to prevent any particle of the chip passing, which would
injure the tender palate, tongue or cheeks.

The stomach of the beaver is similar in most respects to those of
the other members of the order Rodentia, yet has some minor pecu-
liarities. The coecuni (corresponding to the vermiform appendage
in man) is, in the beaver, larger than its stomach, for while the lat-
ter holds but little over three pints, the capacity of the former is
nearly six pints.

In tne beaver, as in all diving mammals and birds, a provision
exists for suspended respiration. It is an enlargement of the
inferior vena cava as it passes through the fissure of the liver,
and constitutes a sinus in which a considerable quantity of blood
may be temporarily arrested. This discovery was communicated
to the Wernerian Society of Edinburgh, by Mr. R. Knox, in the
year 1823.

( ■

l82

CASTOROI.OGIA.

The brain of the beaver contains the insurmountable proof of the
sagacity of the animal, and shows the low mental power with which
it is endowed. The lowest in the scale of mammals is the " Duck-
billed beaver," of Australia, iOmithorynchus Paradoxus) which was
described by Mr. William Sharp, in Harper's Magazine for May,
1890, as "an animal that is part fowl and part beaver." Next in
order are the Marsapial.s or Pouched Animals, with the Kangaroo as
the type ; the only example in America being the Opussum i^Didcl-
pUys Virgmiaiia), of the Southern States. The brains of both these
classes according to Professor Richard Owen, resemble those of birds
in the absence of the corpus callossiim ; and the brains of the Roden-
tia are only one step higher. The average ;veight of brain to body
in the beaver is stated as i to 532 ; the average for the whole class
mammalia according to Leuret, is i to 186 ; and in man it is i to 36.

The secretion which is contained in the castoreum glands, is un-
doubtedly the most peculiar distinction of the genus Castor. This
waxy substance, with its queer odor and questionable economy to
the beaver, is found in two large pockets or sacs situated near the
butt or base of the tail, enveloped in muscles specially fitted to en-
able the di.scharge of any portion at will. They do not appear to be
connected with any other organ, and are akin to the musk glands of
the Musquash or the civet glands of the Civet Cat ( Viverra Civetta).

The following note is taken from Dunglison's Medical Dictionary
(1874) : — " Castor or Castoreum ; a peculiar, concrete matter found
in both sexes of the beaver. Odor — strong, unpleasant, peculiar.
Taste — bitter, subacid. Color — orange-brown. Uses — anti-spasm-
odic." The variation in the analyses of castoreum, constitutes one
of the two points of difference between the European and the Cana-
dian beavers. The other difference is found in a clo.se examination
of the bones of the skull, which is made the grounds of a prolonged
controversy with tedious conflicting evidence, as it is on these two
points alone that the new species is based. As, however, this
monograph is a popular rather than a scientific treatment of the
subject, the details of many purely technical discussions are omitted
but tlie results of all important investigations are recorded.

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CASTOROLOGIA.

185

In the " Memoires de 1' Academie Impcriale des Sciences de Saint-
Petersbourg, 1855," ^^- J- ^- Brandt gave an account of his researches
among the beavers of Russia, which is reprinted and discussed ad
item by Dr. W. \V. Kly, in the appendix to Lewis Morgan's "The
American Beaver." Dr. Brandt's conchisions may be summed up
in the following words : " With respect to the nasal bones, there re-
mains only their more considerable length in comparison with the
skull, as a mark of the European beaver." Dr. Ely's investigations
and comparisons have resulted in an intermediate position, which is
thus stated: ''The extremes of difference, in their aggregate, on
the one side and the other, are sufficiently striking to justify us in
regarding them as varieties of one and the same species ; while the
want of constancy in these peculiarities suggests the inference, that
these variations are due to long separation of the races, and to ac-
cidental causes, rather than to original diversity of the stock."

The skull of the beaver is stronger and more solid than that of
any other rodent. Many rough prominences mark the strong muscle
attachments. The lower jaw is very massive and also shows clearly
the powerful muscular processes. The skeleton has several minor
generic characteristics, but none are really remarkable if we except,
perhaps, the vertebrae, which are divided into seven cervical or neck ;
fourteen dorsal, or back ; five lumbar, or loins ; four sacral (conflu-
ent) forming the pelvis or haunch ; and twenty-five caudal, or tail ;
representing in all fifty- five vertebrcc. In the tail, the bones gradu-
ally dimi:iish in size and lose the vertebral character, " in the eighth
or ninth the spinous processes disappear ; in the tenth the spinal
canal becomes a mere groove ; and toward the end of the tail the
transverse processes lengthen and broaden becoming bifid or double."

The preservation of the skin and the possibility of investing it
with an appearance of animation, are matters under the control of
the taxidermist, whose principal requirement, if these ends are to be
satisfactorily accomplished, is a knowledge of the poisons which
may safely be used to prevent the ravages of vermin ; he must also
possess a knowledge of anatomy and be familiar with the habits of
animals; and in addition to these, be endowed with the genius of the

i86

CASTOROLOGIA.

sculptor, to pose the figure and give expression ; he must, in fact,
be chemist, anatomist, naturalist and artist in one.

A Natural History Museum should never be considered as merely
a public resort for pleasure ; it has no affinity to the " dime museum"
with its monstrosities, and " chamber of horrors " for popular diver-
sion, but should aspire to the level and assume the offices of the art
gallery and the public library ; in a word, it should take the foremost
place among popular educational institutions. It is a manifest mis-
apprehension on the part of the officers of a museum to reject with
indifference a common local specimen, in order to display a parcel of
trash from a foreign country, which, without history or value, has
as its only merit that it has been carried a long way. No stronger
proof of this tendency need be given than the fact that the Museum
of the Natural History and Geological Survey Department of Can-
ada has just secured, as a priceless acquisition, a specimen of the re-
cently exterminated American buffalo {Bison Americamis), which,
we believe, will constitute the only perfect example in all British
North America ; while fifteen years ago, specimens w aid not have
been thought worth the cost of transport. Though it may become
the dignity of a government to enrich the national museum with ex-
changes from foreign countries ; or in the case of university collec-
tions, it may be necessary to obtain comparative types from abroad ;
yet, for local societies to attempt more than the careful collection
and preservation of local specimens, implies losing the substance by
grasping for the shadow ; and though a national museum may
achieve results beyond the aspirations of a local society, the latter,
as a specialist, working the details of a section, would become of in-
dispensable value. The Grosvenor Museum, Chester, under the cura-
torship of Mr. R. Newstead, F. E. S., furnishes a type of all that a
local museum might and should be.

Museums are divided, by Professor Flower, into those intended
for the instruction and the enlightened amusement of the people,
and those intended for advanced students ; and he then defines
a well arranged educational museum as " a collection of instruc-
tive labels illustrated by well selected specimens. ' ' Simple as this

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CASTOROLOGIA.

187

requirement may seem, it implies both patient work and vast
resources. To select typical specimens for the group presented here,
as an illustration of artistic taxidermy applied to the beaver, more
than a score of specimens were rejected, and a search extending over
two years accumulated only enough material to set this one group.
With regard to instructive labels and orderly arrangement, surely it
will never be permitted in the future to mark a case ''For large
specimens generally, ' ' under which the visitor is called upon to ad-
mire a sort of ' ' happy family ' ' composed of the most heterogenous
elements.

Taxidermy, as a fine art, may be said to have originated in our
own day, though the ' ' science of preserving animal tissues ' ' dates
back centuries before the Christian era, when the Egyptians not only
mummified their kings and princes, but also embalmed both cats
and ibises with a thoroughness which was intended to withstand the
ravages of all time. A hundred years ago, taxidermy had scarcely
progressed beyond the idea of preserving the external tissues, for
surely the stuffed caricatures j^et to be seen*, were never meant to
convey a likeness of the living animal.

There are still many opponents to pictorial or artistic taxidermy,
but arguments must be based on other grounds than those of public
instruction, for on this point no difierences of opinion could exist.
The difierence between the display of artistic taxidermy and that
which is not artistic, suggests the title of a recent paper by W. Stanley
Jevons, M.A., LL.D., F.R.S., — "The Use and Abuse of Museums."

The history of the beaver has been told ; but to illustrate it, can
there be any comparison between the specimens which have fur-
nished a still-life study to the artist who engraved the frontispiece of
this volume, and the following sketches taken in public museums in
Europe ? The Rev. H. H. Higgins speaking of the Free Public Mu-
seum, Liverpool, "under the charge of its excellent curator, Mr. T.
J. Moore, Corr. Mem. Z.S.L.," says, " In a public museum, ought it

* lu the Natural History Museum of Edinburgh, Scotland, mammals collected by Samuel
Hearne in America, just a century ago, are still exhibited.

1 88

CASTOROLOGIA.

to be a special aim to illustrate the bcatdy of natural objects ? Such
a question could hardly arise with reference to order, for order is
acknowledged to be Nature's character in chief. Yet, beauty is but
a special form of order, having this peculiarity, that to minds suit-
ably cultivated and disposed, it gives immediate pleasure through
the eye. Nature can be fairly represented only in museums where
due recognition and representation are conceded to phenomena as-
sociated with beauty."

TAXIDERMIC MONSTROSITIES.

THE BEAVER IN HERALDRY.

"vSiC TRAN.SIT GLORIA MUNDI."*

[With npoloKies to Hoo«l.]

T chanced, one day, by a woodland slreani
That threaded it» silvered way, a-j^leani
With dancinjf suidight's mirrored beam,

Amon,'^ its rocks and sedj^es ;
And canopied under n Maple's shade,
Tliat sentniclled the forest glade,
I dreamily watched the ripples that played

Along the river's edges.

Idly dreaming and drinking in

The breath of the woods — sweet Nectar's kin —

Antidote for the fret and din

That age the city craftsman.
When out on the river I heard the thrash
Of falling oars, with their rhythmic plash,
And the chanson's gay and joyous dash

Trolled by some passing raftsman.

At least I thought 'twas this I heard, —
lUit I give you my purest rhyming word.
Although j'ou may doubt and cry "Absurd ! "

On a pine-log there, a-straddle,
A Beaver sat witli his liousehold goods,
Like a chopper returning from the woods.
When work is done on the high spring-floods,

Swinging his tail for a paddle !

Beating time with his paddle's sweep.
He chanted in tones both full and deep
A pitiful lay, 'twould make you weep

To hear its doleful measure.
Seeing me beckoning on the bank,
He steered his raft through the sedges dank,
And beaching her there with a sounding clank,

Demanded to know my pleasure.

" Oh whither away, my friend? " I said ;

" Can you not earn your daily bread.

Here in your home, that your sails are spread

In this truly emigrant fashion ? "
He shook the wet from his jerkin buff.
And wiped away with his furry cuff
The tears that sprinkled his whiskers rough,

And thus claimed my compassion :

* At a session of "The Society for Historical Studies" held iu Montreal, April ist,
1890, the chairman announced, on the authority of the " Herald's College," that the Beaver
and the Maple-wreath had no part in the armorial bearings of Canada, and that their posi-
tion as commonly depicted in the so-called " Dominion Coat of Arms " was unwarrautea.

CASTOROLOGIA.

" I am Icivitif^," he said, "my native laiul,
Though her name he jiroud and her record grand,
Hut ingratitude I never will stand —

Come death hefore dishonour !
My country has taken the fidlest toll,
And levied her taxes on each round poll
Of the Ik-aver clan, till every soul

Hurls maledictions on her.

"To die for one's country is no disfjrace : —
'Monj( the names that honour's bead-roll grace
A grateful country awards a place

To the soldier who dies in action.
Do you wotider I shake my native damp
Prom my dripping coat, and (piick decamp.
When I'm known to fame hy a puslagc-slanip,

A hal, and a party-faction /

"When the Heralds quartered n coat-of-arms,
Of beasts and birds and fishes in swarms,
And I saw my hairy-coat(<l charms

Its blazoned crest adorning,
Contented I was to die ; my name,
I said, shall have undying fame !
But when the news to my castle came

My joy was turned to mourning."

As he ceased, a patter of drops came down
-Vnd showered us over from toe to crown ;
It seemed as if her sorrow would drown,

In tears the Maple was weeping.
In a flood that drenched her shapely limbs
The grief-sapped tears that beauty dims,
Welled from her bird-eye's round red rims,

From out her wreathed locks peeping.

" 'Tis sad, my brother, past all belief,"
She said when sorrow had found relief :
" My life fed yours, we're one in grief

For treatment unprecedented.
I had burned my way to my country's lieart
I thought, I had taxed the painter's art
To limn my charms, and for my part

With this would fain be contented.

" I bore it when my tinted leaves

Were bound and pressed in treasured sheaves

To which the fond collector cleaves

As to some dear possession.
And Fame seemed very near to me
When thou and I were called to be
Twin-emblems in some jubilee

Or St. Jean Baptiste procession.

X9I

"^-WvCvumMZI^

192

CASTOROLOGIA.

"My wreathed chaplet Fame had bound
A grateful country's Arms around, —
I deemed my name would far resound

By Heralds' trumpet bruited.
Alas for fondest dreams of fame ! —
I'd voyage with you and hide our shame —
To native land renounce all claim —

Were my ties less deeply rooted.

i. (

'it

" But take, my brother, a pledge with thee ;
This token of love wear thou for me
In thy lonely travels by land or sea,

Nor d.;em me thus soft-hearted
In wishing to be remembered still ;
Though age may vvdther, and grief me kill,
May kindly fate keep thee from ill

When thou and I are parted ! "

The Beaver kissed the leaflet that fell

In his outstretched paws, while the forest dell

Seemed wrapped about with a mystic spell

That breathed its sad insistence ;—
I helped the Beaver his craft to launch ;
And, straddled aboard its timber staunch-
In his mouth tight-gripped the Maple-branch —

He paddled away in the distance.

—Samuel M. Bay lis.

POSTAGE STAMP ISSUED 185I.

:'\

CHAPTER XV.

The Rise of Heraldry— Totemism and Heraldry— Heraldic Signifi-
cance OF THE Beaver — Canada's Inheritance — Omission from
THE Present Armorial Bearings— Suggestions for a Complete
National Coat of Arms.

Standing before the monuments of ancient Egypt and contem-
plating the curious hieroglyphics by which its history was recorded,
the mind is led to contrast the apparently complicated symbols for-
merly used to depict ideas, with the code now employed, which is so
much more simple and more comprehensive. But the Egyptians did
not rest content with their achievements in "picture-writing ; " they
progressed through the ideographic and phonetic stages, and two
thousand years ago reached a system almost as complete as our
own, indeed, with all our matter-of-fact ways we have not yet dis-
carded the methods that were common in the days of Egypt's great-
ness, for even now do we not sign and seal important documents ?

The * ' seals ' ' in use at the present time are the outcome of the
modern science of Heraldry, and a brief survey of the rise and de-
velopment of this science will serve to show how very general, even
now, is the use of the old art of "picture-writing."

When the princes of Europe joined in the Crusades or Holy
Wars of the twelfth century — the age of purest chivalry — all per-
sons of dignity or rank possessed elaborate armor and weie skilled
in the uses of the sword and dagger, lance, and battle-ax. In the
cap-a-pie armor every possibility of identifying the wearer was pre-
cluded, and a necessity for some means of recognition arose. This
led to the decoration of the shield, which hitherto had been plain,
and the movement soon extended to the decoration of the helmet

'* '

IKV " 'Mil' MUSItitSmm

194

CASTOROLOGIA.

with a distinguishing crest, while all the paraphernalia of pageantry,
especially in tournaments, became a display of personal dignity.
At first the distinction was for knightly fame or valor, but with the
tournament, the purity of the decoration or emblazonment was
abused, and brought about a debased and merely decorative her-
aldry, and the chivalric "bloody dagger" with its "/ mak siccr,''
gave place to flowing plumes and other favors bestowed at the tour-
nament by fair admirers. Many years later, on the establishment of
the Herald's College, a system was promulgated whereby any family
which could trace its connection with one which formerly bore
armorial distinction, was permitted to continue the use, as a family
seal, of the shield, crest, motto and supporters used by its sires.
A method of recording, blending and even creating "coats of arms "
has arisen, which, with the significance attached to each design,
practically constitutes the hieroglyphics of genealogy.

The family or tribal ' ' totem ' ' of the North American Indians
served much the same purpose, though its origin was very differ-
ent. There is no doubt that totemism is much older than her-
aldry, and as the Indians employed the toiem signs extensively in
the ' ' picture-writings ' ' which formerly decorated their robes, they
had i-iobably more affinity to the old Egyptian hieroglyphics than to
the modern heraldic emblem. As the origin and importance of In-
dian totems have been discussed in connection with beaver mythol-
ogy and folklore, it only remains to show the heraldic significance
of the beaver. It is interesting to note that the Indian word
wutohtimoin, of which the Anglicised form is "totem," signifies the
thing with which a person or place is associated.

In Clark's "Introduction to Heraldry" it is stated that "the
Beaver, an amphibious animal, noted for its extraordinary industry
and sagacity, is naturally very frequently met with in heraldry."
In Burke's " General Armory," reference is made to the beaver, as a
crest, granted to Hugh Beaver, Esq. It also is the crest of other
families, a list of eighteen names is given in Fairbank's " Crests of
Great Britain and Ireland." In a window of New Inn Hall, London,
on a silver shield, a beaver (black) stands erect, devouring a fish.

CASTOROLOGIA.

195

Beverley or Before-leag — beaver place — the ancient Anglo-Saxon
designation of the capital of the East Riding of Yorkshire, was situ-
ated in a country abounding with forest and rivers in the olden time;
but the beavers were long ago transferred from their lodges to the
arms of the borough. The seal of the corporation is : Argent;
three waves, Sable ; on a chief, Sable, a beaver statant regardant,
Argent. The oldest armorial bearings of Beverley emblazon Saint
John of Beverley, trampling on the ancient emblem of the town
— the beaver. Biberach or Biberbach, in Germany, also carries the
beaver in its armorial insignia.

(1623-1674) (1710-171S)

SEALS OF THE NEW NETHERLANDS.

In America the all-absorbing interest of the beaver trade made
the adoption of the beaver in the heraldic bearings of corporations
and governments a most appropriate choice. The first public seal
of the province of New Netherlands is thus described ; Argent:
a beaver, proper ; crest : a coronet. This was in u.se from 1623 to
1664 and probably even to the time of Governor Colve in 1673-4.

The warrant for the new seal authorized by King William
and Queen Mary was brought over from lingland by Governor
vSloughter, and bears date 31st May, 1690. It served as the model
for all the great seals of New York, subsequently received from

196

CASTOROLOGIA.

England, and had on one side the effigies of the King and Queen,
and two Indians kneeling, offering, as presents, the one a roll of
wampum ; the other, a beaver skin. Artistic license, however, im-
proved the beaver off the seal, and it never was replaced.

The commercial value of the beaver passed from New Nether-
lands to Canada, which was soon acknowledged to be its chosen
home. Canada lived on the beaver for many years and her very

COAT OP ARMS OF THE CITY OF MONTREAL.

existence at times depended on the forthcoming collection of beavers,
yet when the time came to design a national coat-of-arms, these im-
portant associations were quite overlooked. The beaver is very
dear to the heart of Canadians, and almost universal recognition is
given to the commemoration of its national, its local, and its per-
sonal qualifications. In the Canadian Numismatic and Antiquarian
Journal, volume I., 1872, Mr. Alfred Sandham communicated the

CASTOROLOGIA.

197

following,* concerning the medal of the I^oyal and Patriotic Society
of Upper Canada, 18 12 : —

' ' One hundred pounds were voted to procure as many medals of
silver as it could afford, and the following description was sent to
England: 'Medal to be 2)^ inches in diameter' — In a circle
formed by a wreath of laurel, the words 'For Merit.' legend :
' Presented by a grateful country. ' On the obverse, ' a streight be-
tween two lakes, on the north side a beaver, (emblem of peaceful
industry) the ancient armorial bearing of Canada. lu the back-
ground, an English lion slumbering. On the south side of the
streight, the American Eagle planeing in the air, as if checked
from seizing the beaver by the presence of the lion.' I^egend,
' Upper Canada Preserved.' "

Dr. Robert Bell, of the Geological Survey of Canada, says, "I
have occasionally seen the Indian coat-of-arms representing the
beaver, rudely carved or scribbled on flattened sticks, especially
near lake Huron, about 30 years ago, when their totems were more
visible than now. They were principally on ' head-sticks ' or
' death-sticks ' at graves, or by chance on a scrap of wood or birch -
bark at an old camp. ' '

According to ''Dame Heraldry," General Guy Carleton, in re-
cognition of his successful efforts to withstand the American inva-
sion of 1760, received the following honors: "He became lyord
Dorchester, and after returning to England, was elected a Knight of
the Order of the Bath ; and the beaver, which abounds in Canada,
was given him as his supporters, one wearing a mural crown about
his neck, and the other a naval coronet, in honor of his successful
endurance of the seige at Quebec, and his victories on Lake
Champlain."

J. P.edpath Dougall, of the Montreal " Witness," in 1890, wrote :
' ' I am interesting myself in procuring a simplification of the bear-

* Copied almost verbatim from the " Report of the Loyal and Patriotic Society," published
ill Moutreal, 1817.

"w:^

198

CASTOROLOGIA.

I
1 111

t .

ings of Canada or at least of her flag. The beaver is a well estab-
lished emblem and one equally appropriate to the country in the
fur trading era, to the lumbering period and to the age of industry ;
the animal having been everywhere regarded as a model of industry.
It has also the merit of universally having been in use as an em-
blem of Canada. ' '

Sir William Dawson, in a lecture delivered in 1863, on "The
Duties of Educated Young Men in British America," said, " Canada
has two emblems — the beaver and the maple. The beaver in his
sagacity, his industry, his ingenuity, and his perseverance, is a most
respectable animal ; a much better emblem for our country than the
rapacious eagle or even the lordly lion ; but he is also a type of un-
varying instincts and Old World traditions. He does not improve,
and becomes extinct rather than change his ways. Some of our
artists have the bad taste to represent the beaver as perched on the
maple bough, a most unpleasant position for the poor animal, and
suggestive of the thought, that he is in the act of gnawing through
the trunk of our national tree (the maple). Perhaps some more
venturous designer may some day reverse the position, and represent
the maple branch as fashioned into a club, wherewith to knock the
beaver on the head. ' '

In answer to a special enquiry made at the office of the Domin-
ion Archivist, Mr. Douglas Bry mner writes : "I can find no refer-
ence to the Beaver in the Arms of Canada, nor is it mentioned in the
descriptions of the Great Seal. The first, so far as I can trace, to
make use of the Beaver as a crest, was Sir William Alexander,
raised to the peerage by the title of Viscount Sterling on the 4th
of September, 1630. The original intention was to grant him the
right to the Arms of New Scotland (Nova vScotia) quartered with
his own, whilst the new l^lazon indicated his new title of Lord of
Canada, the new titles being only acquired in June, 1633. The crest
is thus described : ' For his crest on a wreath argent, sable : a beaver
proper.' "

As almost ever>' artist's idea of the way in which the beaver was

CASTOROLOGIA.

199

incorporated in the Arms of Canada differed, it was thought that
the opinion of the Herald's College on this point would settle it sat-
isfactorily, but great surprise followed the announcement that neither
beaver, crown nor wreath pertained to t/e Arms of the Dominion of
Canada. In earlier times the beaver had been adopted in the de-
vSigns for Canadian currency and postage stamps, and the accom-
panying shield with its very curious heraldic beaver is supposed to
have been at one time the Arms of Canada. " Argi. quartered by
cross. Gules, having lion passant, gardt, in centre, Or ; First quarter,
a beaver couchant ; second, saw and hatchet crossed ; third plough ;

EARLY ARMS OF CANADA (CNAUTHENTICATED).

fourth, wheatsheaf ; all of the third, in a chief of the same, a wreath
between two leaves and eight stars, Vert. ' '

In the first number of the "Dominion Illustrated," published
July 7th, 1888, notice was taken of the fact that Canadian Confeder-
ation had just completed its twenty- first anniversary, and the occa-
sion was chosen to suggest a design for a permanent coat-of-arms.
"There is first the shield divided into four quarters, representing
the four races whose bone and muscle, whose brains and toil, whose
pluck and money have made this country what it is, and laid the
foundation of that mightier structure which it is going to become in

fii

20O

CASTOROLOGIA.

the not distant future. These races are the English, French, Scotch
and Irish. Each is represented by its token of national flower — the
rose, lily, thistle and shamrock. The tutelary power of the whole is
represented by the Imperial Crown, at the summit, and the peculiar
and special Canadian character is denoted by a beaver over the
shield and around it a broad wreath of the beautiful Maple leaf.
The legend underneath is simple while it expresses the fundamental
principle of our constitution, that we thrive by union, though severed
by race, creed and tongue. Diversce conjiindcB crescimusy

11; !

Many other suggestions have been made, and each has its merits
and demerits, but surely any design incorporating the beaver will
have this one improvement. Canada's present arms, with all their
complications are very expressive and much admired, therefore,
suggestions should be in the form of additions not reductions. There
yet remains the choice of a crest and national motto, besides which,
supporters to the shield might be added. As the day may not be
far distant when the voice of the people will demand that these
omissions should be repaired, it might be timely to oifer here a de-
sign. For a crest, the Imperial Crown, symbol of membership in the
great Imperial Federation; Motto "Z<? Canada d'abord,'^ a senti-
ment worthy of our magnificent future ; supporters, the Canadian
Beaver resting on Maple boughs, embodying a recognition of our
traditions and early history.

El !'

! 1

■ I
i '

11
i I

May some Hiawatha arise to proclaim our duty and see that in
the modern hieroglyphics of heraldry is commemorated the departed
greatness of our national totem — the Beaver.

" In those days said Hiawatha,
' IvO ! how all things fade and perish !
From the memory of the old men
Fade away the great traditions,

' Great men die and are forgotten,
Wise men speak ; their words of wisdom
Perish in the ears that hear them,
Do not reach the generations
That, as yet unborn, are waiting

SUGGESTION FOR A COMPLKTE COAT OF ARMS
FOR THE DOMINION OF CANADA.

I'.iil

~^Z-itiL*t.'Jl:.riU to'MAM*IM

CASTOROI^OGIA.

203

In the Kreat mysterious darkness
Of the speechless days that shall he !
' On the Krave-posts of our fathers
Are no signs, no figures painted ;
Who are in those graves we know not,
Only know they are our fathers.
Of what kith they are and kindred,
From what old, ancestral Totem,
Be it Kagle, Bear, or Beaver,
They descended, this we know not.
Only know they are our fathers.

' Pace to face we speak together,
But we cannot speak when ahsent,
Cannot send our voices from us
To the friends that dwell afar off;
Cannot send a secret message.
But the bearer learns our secret,
May pervert it, may betray it,
May reveal it unto others.'

Thus said Hiawatha, walking
In the solitary forest,
Pondering, musing in the forest,
On the welfare of his people.

From his pouch he took his colours.
Took his paints of different colors.
On the smooth bark of the birch-tree
Painted many shapes and figures.

And each figure had a meaning,
Each some word or thought suggested.

Gitche Manito the Mighty,
He the Master of Life, was painted
As an egg, with points jirojecting
To the four winds of the heavens.

Mitche Manito the Mighty,
He the dreadful Spirit of Evil,
As a serpent was depicted.
As Kenabeek, the great serpent.

Life and Death he drew as circles.
Life was white, but death was darkened.

':r

li:

|. ill!

004

CASTOROLOGIA.

For the earth he drew a straight line,
I'or the sky n bow above it ;
While the space between for day-time ;
rilled with little stars for night-time ;
On the left a point for sunrise,
On the right a point for sunset,
On the top a point for noon-tide,
And for rain and cloudy weather
Waving lines descending from it.

All these things did Hiawatha
Show unto his wondering people.
And interpreted their meaning,
And he said : ' Behold, your grave-posts
Have no mark, no sign, nor symbol.
Go and paint them all with figures,
Each one with its household symbol,
With its own ancestral Totem ;
So tha iiose who follow after
May distinguish them and know them.'

And they painted on the grave-posts
Of the graves yet unforgotten,
Kach his own ancestral Totem,
Each the symbol of his household ;
Figures of the Bear and Reindeer,
Of the Turtle, Crane, and Beaver,
P^ach inverted as a token
That the owner was departed,
That the chief who bore the symbol
Lay beneath in dust and ashes."

APPENDICES.

! !

APPBNDIX— A.

(PHOTO-COPIUS FROM ORIG.NAI. DOCUMENTS.)

ARREST

DU CONSEIL DESTAT

D U ROY,

A PARIS.
DE L'IMPRIMERIE ROYAL E

At D C C X X I.

1-^

ffWBi

APPENDIX.

209

1^^

^^^^

*«>•" ^^'^i^

ARREST

DU CONSEIL D'ESTAT

D U ROY.

Portant ReJlabHJfement du Privilege Exciuff de la
Vente du Caf/or, enfaveur de la Compagnie des
Indfs.

Du 30. May 1721.
Extrait des Rtgifircs du Confcil d'Efiat.

LE R O y s'eftant fait reprcfenter TArreft rfe Con
ConfeM , rendu fur la Rcquefle dcs Dire^eurs de
la Compagnie des Indes du 16. May 1720. par lequel
Sa Majcfte a ordoiine qu€ le Commerce du Caftor
deracurcroit librc, Et a convcrti le Privilege Exclufif
de ia.Veote dudit Caflor > accordc a iadite Compagni«

3IO

'HI

;'^

APPENDIX.

par Lcllres Pafcntcs du mois d'Aouft 171 7. en uii
Droit (Ic iieuf fols par livre dc Caftor gras, Sc de fix
fols par livre dc Caftor fee, qui doit eflre payea i'Eii-
trce du Royaume au profit de ladite Compagnie pen-
dant toutle temps de Ton Privilege; Et Sa Maiefteayant
reconnu que la iiberte du Ccmmerce dudit Caflor cfl:
egalcment contraire au bien du Commerce general du
Royaume , a celuy des habitans dc la Province du Ca-
nada & Nouvelle France, & aux interefts dela Compa-
gnie des.Indcs; Oiiy le Rapport du S/ Lc Pellctier dc
ia HoufTaje Confeiilcr d'Eflat ordinaire & an Confcil
de Regence pour Ics Finances, Controlleur General
dcs Finances. Sa Majeste fstant en son Conseil,
d& I'avis de Monfieur le Due d'Orleans Regent , a
Rcvoque & revoque la Iiberte dutHommercc du Caf-
tor accorde par I'Arreft de fon Conleil du 16. May
1720. En confequence Ordonne Sa Majefle que la
Compagnie des Indes joiiira du Privilege Exclufif du
Commerce du Caftor, conformement aux Lettres Pa-
t^ntes du mois d'Aouft 1717. portant Eftabliftement
dela Compagnie d'Occident, nommee depuis Com-
j;agtiie des Indes ^ & a I'Arreft du Confcii de Sa Ma-
jefte du 18. Juillet 1718. Sa Majcftc permet aux Ne-
gocians & autrcs particuliers de fon Royaume, qui
peuvent avoir acliclc du Caftor en confequence de
ia liberie de ce Commerce , accordce par I'Arreft de
fon Confcii du 16. May 1720. de Ic vendre & debi-
tcr aux Chapeliers fabriquans avant le premier De-
ccmbre prochain pour tout delay, pafte lequel temps,
Ordonne Sa Majeftc que ccux a qui il en reftera (e-
ront tenus de le declarer & remettre a la Compagnie
des Jncles dans les 15. premiers jours dudit mois de
Pecembrc , laquelle Compagnie ic payera au meme*

APPENDIX.

211

prix qu'ellc I'aura pay^ en Canada pencfant fa prefeii-
te annee : Detfend Sa Majefte tres cxprefTement a
tous fes Sujels dc quelquc qualite & condition qu'ifs
foient, autres que !es Chapeliers fabriquans, de gir-
der aucun Caftor dans le Royaume aprcs Icdit jour
premier Dccembre de la prefentc annee, h peine dc
confifcation du Caftor au profit de la Compagnie &
de Trois miile livrcs d'amende, dont moitic applica-
ble a la Compagnie, & I'autre moitic au denoncia-
teur. Fait au Confeil d'Eftat du Roy, Sa Majefte y
cftant, tenu a Paris ie trentieme jour dc May mil fept
cens vingt-uu. J}gne Phelypeaux.

A PARIS,

DE UIMPRIMERIE ROYALE,

M. D CCXXI.

ii !

1;. !!■ I

APPENDIX.

213

^,^2=^^^ ^^^^7S =T^=4J^=^|

^^^SWh

ARREST

DU CONSEIL DESTAT

D U ROY,

Quifitrfeoit t Execution de celuy du ^o. May r/ir',
qid retablit ,enfaveur de la Compagnie des Indes,
U Privilege Exclufif de la rente du Cajlor,

Du 20. Juillet 1721^
'£xtraii des RegiJIres du Confeil itEJial.

LE ROY ayant juge a propos par les motifs cxpli-
quez dans I'Arreft de fon Confeil du 30. May der-
nier, de reftablir le Privilege Exclufif de la vente du
Caftor en faveur de la Compagnie des Indes ; Et Sa
AIai«lle €ilwt iafojrmee des reprefenu.' jns qui ontcIlQ

Aij

214

APPENDIX.

faitcs par Ics Marchands &. Negocians de la Roclidle,
Et par plufieurs des principaux habitans du Canada
qui fe font trouvez dans ladite Ville pour Icurs affaires;
Lefditcs reprerentations tendahtes a ce qu'il piufl a Sa
Majeflc revoquer ledit Arrefl comme contraire au Com-
mtrce du Royaume en general , <&. a I'interefl de ladite
Colonie, VeA par Sa Majeftc la rcponfe faite par la
Compngnic des Indes aufdites rcprefentations, qui iuy
ont efle communiquces , Enfcmble I'avis des Deputez
au Confeil de Commerce; Oiiy Je Rapport du S/ Le
Pdletier de la Houfliiye Confeiller d'Eflat ordinaire
& au Confeil de Rcgence pour les Finances , Controi-
Icur General des Finances. Le Roy est ant en
SON CoNSElL, de i'avis de Monfieur le Due d'Or-
leans Regent, a Ordonne"& ordonne qu'il fera furfis.a
I'Execution dudit Arrefl du 36. May dernier jufiju a
ce que par Sa Majefle ii en ait efle autrement ordon-
ne. Fait au Confeil d'Eflat du Roy, Sa Majefle y
eflant, tenu a Paris le vingtieme jour de Juillet mil
fcpt cens vingt-un. S/^nf Phelypeaux.

! I

APPENDIX,

215

ARREST

DU CONSEIL D'ESTAT

D U ROY,

Concernant k tommerce & hi qualite du Caflor qui eft
regu dans les Bureaux de la Cowpagnic des hides

en Canada.

Du 30. Mars 1726,
Extrait des Regiftres du Confeil d'Ejlat.

LE R O Y eflant informc que Ic Caflor qui eft rc^i) aux
Bureaux de la Compagniecles Incfcsen Canada, tantgras,
demi-gras, que fee, eft pour la plus grande partie defecfliicux ,
& neantmoins paye au meme prix du bon; le Caftor qui) eft
livTc pour gras, ayant efte engraifle avec des huil.s ou ul la

216

APPENDIX.

graifTc ail lieu qu'il nc cicvroit avoir ccitc qiiaiitc dc gras , qu a-
pres avoir eftc portc loiig-tcmps par Ics Saiivagcs aiifqucls il
icil cl'iiabillemcnt : il cndtde meme clu Caflor dcmi-gras , ic-
qucl nc doit cllrc re9il pour Caftor gras, en execution de i'Ar-
rcft du 1 1. Juillet 171 B. qu'autant qu'il icra de bonne qualitc:
fa plus grandc partie du Caftor fee eft trop charge de cuir 6i
iiicmc de cliair^ de forte que les Chapelicrs qui fe trouvciu
dans la ncceffite de prendre ccs Caftors tels qu'ils font au Bu-
reau de laditc Compagnie a Paris, ^e plaignent qu'ils y trou-
vcnt une pertc; confiderable , particulicremcnt fur le Callor cn-
graiflc, Icquel devenant i'ec en le fabriquant, par la /cparatioii
qui fe fait de la graiffe & liuile doni il a efte frottc , d'avec le
poil , le Chapelier qui I'a paye conime gras , perd non feule-
ment la difference du prix du Caftor gras, au fee, mais encore
le poids de la graiffe qui fort de ce Caftor filfifie, & qu'il luy
eft impoffible de faire de bons chapeaux avec d'auffi niauvaifcs
matieres, ce qui fera tomber Ics Manufadurcs; a quoy cftant
ncceflaire de pourvoir. Oiiy le rapport du Sieur'Dodun Con-
feiller ordinaire au Confeil Royal, ControHeur general desFi-
najiccs,SA Majesty estant en son Conseil, a or-
donnc & ordonnc ce qui fuit.

Article premier.

Les Robes de Caftor gras, 6c les Peaux de Caftor fcc^ dc
bonne qualite, qui feront apportees aux Bureaux jle la Com-
pagnie des Indes en Canada, continucront d'y eftrc replies &
payees, f^avoir la livre poids de marc de Caftor gras, a raifbn
dc Quatre francs, & la livre de Caftor fee, a raifbn de Qua-
rante fols.

11.

Deffend Sa Majefte a la Compagnie des Indes, de rece-
voir aucune Robe de Caftor engraiffc Jii falfifie, pour Caftor
gras :luy deffend, a commencer du premier .lanvier de I'annce
prochaine, de recevoir les Robes de Caftor dcmi-gras pour
Caftor gras.

(

APPENDIX.

217

. 3

111.

Veut Sa Majeftc, que conform^ment a I'Article III. cle
TArreflde fon„Con(eil tlu i 1 . Juillet 171 8. il ne /oit rc^u pour
Caftor fee, qii^ ccluy qui fcra d'hyvcr & dc beau poll.

Pendant la prefcnte annec fculcmcnt , Ics Robes dc Caf-
tor demi-gras, dc Caftor veule & dc Caflor eugraifle, fcront
payees au(dits Bureaux, f^avoir le demi-gras de bonne qualitc,
lur le pied de Soixante fols la li vre ; le Veule , aufli de bonne qua-
lite , a raifon de Cinquanie fbis la livre; Et le Caftor cngraifle,
au mcmc prix que le Caftor fee.

V *

A commencer de lanntc prochaine, les efpcccs d§ Caftor
mentionnees en I'Article precedent, ne feront plus rc^jcs <5c
payees que fur le pied ^y-apres, f9avoir les Robes de Caftor
demi-gras &de Caftor veule, Tunc dans rautrc,de bonne qua-
lity, a raifon de Cinquante fols la livre, pourvu qu'il n'y ait
point cftc mis de graiffeni huile pour en augmenter le poids;
Et les Robes de Caftor engraifle , fur le pied de Trcnte fols
la livre.

■pERMEt aladite Compagnie, de recevoir Ics autres efpcccs
de Caftor rebutees^du gras & du fee, dont on pourra faire
ufige, a condition qu'il en fcra compofe des balots feparez,
& qu'il n'en fera fait aucun meflange avec le Caftor gras &
fee ; lefquels Caftors de rebut feront payez par les Commis de
la Compagnie, aux prix qui feront regicz par I'lntendant du
Canada, fur I'avis des Experts qu'il aura iiommez pour cu.faire
I'examen.

VII.

TouTES les efpecesde Caftor continucront d'cftre payees
a ceux qui les livreront aux Bureaux de ladite Compagnie,
en Lettres de change fuivant I'ufage, qui feront tirecs par Ion
Agent a Quebec, fur le Caiflier de ladite Compagnie a Paris,

.4m

2l8

APPENDIX.

payables, f<;avoir pour la vafetn tics Caflors gras , dcmi-gras
6c vcule, moitic en Janvier &. moitic en Fevricr de I'annec
fuivante; & jwiir ccllc du Caflor fee &. dcs aiitrcs c/jjeccs de
Caftor rcbiit^es du gras & du fee, moitic en Mars & I'autrc
nioitie en Avril aufli de J'annee fuivante; Icfquellcs Lcttrcs
continueront d'eflre acceptccs a leur prefentation, & rcgulic-
rement payees a Jeur ^cheance.

VHl.
Veut Sa Majefle, que les Arrefts de fon Confeil du 1 1.
•Juillet 1718. & 4.. Jiiin 1719. concernant le commerce du
Caftor , foient executez en ce qu'il n'y eft derogc par le prefcnt :
Et enjoint au Sieur Intendant de lanouNciie France, ilc tcnir
la main a I'execution du prefent Arreft, qui (era enregiftre au
Confeil fuperieur de Quebec , lu , public &. affichc par tout
oil befoin fera. Fait au Confeil d'Eftat du Roy, Sa Majefte
y cftant , tenu a Verfailles le trenticme jour dc Mats rail fej)l
ecus vingt-fix. Sigtie Phelypeaux.

A PARIS,

DE l:imprimerie royale.

M. D C C X X V I.

APPENDIX— B.

(BXTRACT KKOM)

JOURNEY

FROM

PRINCE OF WALES'S FORT,

IN HUDSON'S BA Y,

THE NORTHERN OCEAN.

UNDERTAKKN

BY ORDER OF THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY.

FOR THK, DISCOVERY OF

COPPER MINES, A NORTH WEST PASSAGE, &c.

In the Years 1769, 1770, 1771, & 177a.

By SAMUEL HEARNE.

.'/'•/

It'

I'' I

SAMUEL HEARNE'S ACCOUNT OF THE BEAVER.

The beaver being so plentiful, the attention of my companions
was chiefly engaged on them, as they not only furnished delicious
food, but their skins proved a valuable acquisition, being a princi-
pal article of trade, as well as a serviceable one for clothing, &c.

The situation of the beaver-houses is various. "Where the beavers
are numerous they are found to inhabit lakes, ponds, and rivers,
as well as those narrow creeks which connect the numerous lakes
with which this country abounds ; but the two latter are generally
chosen by them when the depth of water and other circumstances
are suitable, as they have then the advantage of a current to con-
vey wood and other necessaries to their habitations, and because, in
general, they are more difficult to be taken, than those that are built
in standing water.

There is no one particular part of a lake, pond, river, or creek,
of which the beavers make choice for building their houses on, in
preference to another ; for they sometimes build on points, some-
times in the hollow of a bay, and often on small islands ; they
always chuse, however, those parts that have such a depth of
water as will resist the frost in Winter, and prevent it from freezing
to the bottom.

The beaver that build their houses in small rivers or creeks, in
which the water is liable to be drained off when the back supplies
are dried up by the frost, are wonderfully taught by instinct to pro-
vide against that evil, by making a dam quite across the river, at a
convenient distance from their houses. This I look upon as the
most curious piece of workmanship that is performed by the beaver ;
not so much for the neatness of the work, as for its strength and

■?

222

APPENDIX.

real service ; and at the same time it discovers such a degree of
sagacity and foresight in the animal, of approaching evils, as is
little inferior to that of the human species, and is certainly peculiar
to those animals.

The beaver-dams differ in shape according to the nature of the
place in which they are built. If the water in the river or creek
have but little motion, the dam is almost straight ; but when the
current is more rapid, it is always made with a considerable curve,
convex towards the stream. The materials made use of in those
dams are drift-wood, green willows, birch and poplars, if they can
be got ; also mud and stones, intermixed in such a manner as must
evidently contribute to the strength of the dam ; but in these dams
there is no other order or method observed, except that of the work
being carried on with a regular sweep, and all the parts being made
of equal strength.

In places which have been long frequented by beaver undis-
turbed, their dams, by frequent repairing, become a solid bank, cap-
able of resisting a great force both of water and ice ; and as the wil-
low, poplar, and birch generally take root and shoot up, they by
degrees form a kind of regular- planted hedge, which I have seen in
some places so tall, that birds have built their nests among the
branches.

It')

Though the beaver which build their houses in lakes and other
standing waters, may enjoy a sufficient quantity of their favomite
element without the assistance of a dam, the trouble of getting wood
and other necessaries to their habitations without the help of a cur-
rent, must in some measure counterbalance the other advantages
which are reaped from such a situation ; for it must be observed,
that the beaver which build in rivers and creeks, always cut their
wood above their houses, so that the current, with little trouble,
conveys it to the place required.

The beaver-houses are built of the same materials as their
dams, and are always proportioned in size to the number of inhabit-

APPENDIX.

223

ants, which seldom exceed four old, and six or eight young ones ;
though, by chance, I have seen above double that number.

These houses, though not altogether unworthy of admiration,
fall very short of the general description given of them ; for instead
of order or regulation being observed in rearing them, they are of a
much ruder structure than their dams.

Those who have undertaken to describe the inside of beaver-
houses, as having several apartments appropriated to various uses ;
such as eating, sleeping, store-houses for provisions, and one for
their natural occasions, &c., niu;«t have been very little acquainted
with the subject ; or, which is still worse, guilty of attempting to
impose on the credulous, by representing the greatest falsehoods as
real facts. Many years constant residence among the Indians, dur-
ing which I had an opportunity of seeing several hundreds of those
houses, has enabled me to affirm that every thing of the kind is
entirely void of truth ; for, notwithstanding the sagacity of those
animals, it has never been observed that they aim at any other con-
veniences in their houses, than to have a dry place to lie on ; and
there they usually eat their victuals, which they occasionally take
out of the water.

It frequently happens, that .some of the large houses are found to
have one or more partitions, if they deserve that appellation ; but
that is no more <han a part of the main building, left by the sagacity
of the beaver to support the roof. On such occasions it is common
for those different apartments, as some are pleased to call them,
to have no communication with each other but by water ; so that in
fact the)'' may be called double or treble houses, rather than different
apartments of the same house. I have seen a large l^eaver-house
built in a small island, that had near a dozen apartments under one
roof : and, two or three of these only excepted, none of them had
any communication with each other but by water. As there were
beaver enough to inhabit each apartment, it is more than -probable
that each family knew its own, and always entered at their own
door, without having any further connection with their neighbours

224

APPENDIX.

than a friendly intercourse ; and to join their united labours in erect-
ing their separate habitations, and building their dams where re-
quired. It is difficult to say whether their interest on other occas-
ions was anyways reciprocal. The Indians of my party killed twelve
old beaver, and twenty-five young and half-grown ones out of the
house above mentioned ; and on examination found that several had
escaped their vigilance, and could not be taken but at the expence
of more trouble that would be sufficient to take double the number
in a less difficult situation.*

~li I'

Travellers who assert that the beaver have two doors to
their houses, one on the land-side, and the other next the water,
seem to be less acquainted with those animals than others who
assign them an elegant suite of apartments. Such a proceeding
would be quite contrary to their manner of life, and at the
same time would render their houses of no use, either to protect
them from their enemies, or guard them against the extreme
cold in Winter.

The quiquehatches, or wolvereens, are great enemies to the bea-
ver ; and if there were a passage into their houses on the land-side,
would not leave one of them alive wherever they came.

I cannot refrain from smiling, when I read the accounts of differ-
ent Authors who have written on the oeconomy of those animals, as
there seems to be a contest between them, who shall most exceed in
fiction. But the Compiler of the Wonders of Nature and Art seems,
in my opinion, to have succeeded best in this respect ; as he has not
onl}' collected all the fictions into which other writers on the sub-
ject have run, but has so greatly improved on them, that little re-
mains to be added to his account of the beaver, beside a vocabulary
of their language, a code of their laws, and a sketch of their religion,
to make it the most complete natural history of that animal which
can possibly be ofiered to the public.

* The difficulty here alhided to, was the numberless vaults the beaver had in the sides of
the pond, and the imineuse thickness of the house in some parts,

APPBNDIX.

225

There cannot be a greater imposition, or indeed a grosser insult,
on common understanding, than the wish to make us beHeve the
stories of some of tlie works ascribed to the beaver ; and though it
is not to be supposed that the compiler of a general work can be in-
timately acquainted with every subject of which it may be necessary
to treat, yet a very moderate share of understanding is surely suffi-
cient to guard him against giving credit to such marvellous tales,
however smoothly they may be told, or however boldly they may be
asserted, by the romancing traveller.

To deny that the beaver is possessed of a very considerable de-
gree of sagacity, would be as absurd in me, as it is in those Authors
who think they cannot allow them too much. I shall willingly
grant them their full share ; but it is impossible for any one to con-
ceive how, or by what means, a beaver, whose full height when
standing erect does not exceed two feet and a half, or three feet at
most, and whose fore-paws are not much larger than a half-crown
piece, can " drive stakes as thick as a man's leg into the ground
"three or four feet deep." Their "wattling those stakes with
"twigs," is equally absurd; and their "plastering the inside of
" their houses with a composition of mud and straw, and swimming
"with mud and stones on their tails," are still more incredible.
The form and size of the animal, notwithstanding all its sagacity, will
not admit of its performing such feats ; and it would be as impossible
for a beaver to use its tail as a trowel, except on the surface of the
ground on which it walks, as it would have been for Sir James
Thornhill to have painted the dome of St. Paul's cathedral without
the assistance of scaffolding. The joints of their tail will not admit
of their turning it over their backs on any occasion whatever, as it
has a natural inclination to bend downwards ; and it is not without
some considerable exertion that they can keep it from trailing on the
ground. This being the case, they cannot sit erect like a squirrel,
which is their common posture : particularly when eating, or when
they are cleaning themselves, as a cat or squirrel does, without hav-
ing their tails bent forward between their legs ; and which may not
improperly be called their trencher.

226

APPENDIX.

So far are the beaver from driving stakes into the ground when
building their houses, that they lay most of the wood crosswise, and
nearly horizontal, and without any other order than that of leaving
a hollow or cavity in the middle ; when any unnecessary branches
project inward, they cut them off with their teeth, and throw them
in among the rest, to prevent the mud from falling through the
roof. It is a mistaken notion, that the wood-work is first completed
and then plaistered ; for the whole of their houses, as well as their
dams, are from the foundation one mass of wood and mud, mixed
with stones, if they can be procured. The mud is always taken from
the edge of the bank, or the bottom of the creek or pond, near the
door of the house ; and though their fore-paws are so small, yet it is
held so close up between them, under their throat, tha. they carry both
mud and stones ; while they always drag the wood with their teeth.

All their work is executed in the night ; and they are so expedi-
tious in completing it, that in the course of one night I have known
them to have collected as much mud at their houses as to have
amounted to some thousands of their little handfuls ; and when any
mixture of grass or straw has appeared in it, it has been, most as-
suredly, mere chance, owing to the nature of the ground from which
they had taken it. As to their designedly making a composition
for that purpose, it is entirely void of truth.

It is a great piece of policy in those animals, to cover, or plaister,
as it is usually called, t^^e outside of their houses every fall with
fresh mud, and as late as possible in the Autumn, even when the
frost becomes pretty severe ; as by this means it soon freezes as hard
as a stone, and prevents their common enemy, the quiquehatch, from
disturbing them during the Winter. And as they are frequently
seen to walk over their work, and sometimes to give a flap with their
tail, particularly when plunging into the water, this has, without
doubt, given rise to the vulgar opinion that they use their tails as a
trowel, with which they plaister their houses ; whereas that flapping
of the tail is no more than a custom, which they always preserve,
even when they become tame and domestic, and more particularly
so when they are startled.

APPENDIX.

227

Their food chiefly consists of a large root, something resembling
a cabbage stalk, which grows at the bottom of the lakes and rivers.
They eat also the bark of trees, particularly that of the poplar, birch,
aud willow ; but the ice preventing them from getting to the land
in Winter, they have not any barks to feed upon during that season,
except that of such sticks as they cut down in Summer, and throw
into the water opposite the doors of their houses, and as they gener-
ally eat a great deal, the roots above mentioned constitute a chief
part of their food during the Winter. In summer they vary their
diet, by eating various kinds of herbage, and such berries as grow
near their haunts during that season.

When the ice breaks up in the spring, the beaver always leave
their houses, and rove about the whole Summer, probably in search
of a more commodious situation ; but in case of not succeeding in
their endeavours, they return again to their old habitations a little
before the fall of the leaf, and lay in their Winter stock of woods.
They seldom begin to repair the houses till the frost commences, and
never finish the outer coat till the cold is pretty severe, as hath been
already mentioned.

When they shift their habitations, or when the increase of their
number renders it necessary to make some addition to their houses,
or to erect new ones, they begin felling the wood for these purposes
early in the Summer, but seldom begin to build till the middle or
latter end of August, and never complete their houses till the cold
weather be set in.

Notwithstanding what has been so repeatedly reported of those
animals assembling in great bodies, and jointly erecting large towns,
cities, and commonwealths, as they have sometimes been called, I am
confident, from many circumstances, that even where the greatest
numbers of beaver are situated in the neighbourhood of each other,
their labours are not carried on jointly in the erection of their differ-
ent habitations, nor have they any reciprocal interest, except it be
such as live immediately under the same roof ; and then it extends
no farther than to build or keep a dam which is common to several

228

APPENDIX.

houses. In such cases it is natural to think that every one who re-
CL /es benefit from such dams, .should assi.st in erecting it, being sen-
sible of its utility to all.

Persons who attempt to take beaver in Winter should be
thoroughly acquainted with their manner of life, otherwise they w'U
have endless trouble to effect their purpose, and probably without
success in the end ; because they have always a number of holes in
the banks, which serve them as places of retreat when any injury is
offered to their houses ; and in general it is in those holes that they
are taken.

When the beaver which are situated in a small river or creek are
to be taken, the Indians sometimes find it necessary to stake the
river across, to prevent them from pa.ssing ; after which, they en-
deavour to find out all their holes or places of retreat in the banks.
This requires much practice and experience to accomplish, and is
performed in the following manner : Every man being furnished
with an ice-chisel, lashes it to the end of n .".mall staff about four or
five feet long ; he then walks along the edge of the banks, and keeps
knocking his chisel against the ice. Tho.se who are well acquainted
with that kind of work well know by the sound of the ice when they
are opposite to any of the beaver' holes or vaults. As soon as they
suspect any, they cut a hole through the ice big enough to admit an
old beaver ; and in this manner proceed till they have found out all
their places of retreat, or at least as many of them as possible.
While the principal men are thus employed, some of the understrap-
pers, and the women, are busy in breaking open the house, which at
times is no easy task ; for I have frequently known these houses to
be five and six feet thick ; and one in particular, was more than
eight feet thick on the crown. When the beaver find that their
habitations are invaded, they fly to their holes in the banks for
shelter ; and on being perceived by the Indians, which is easily done,
by attending to the motion of the water, they block up the entrance
with stakes of wood, and then haul the beaver out of its hole, either
by hand, if they can reach it, or with a large hook made for that
purpose, which is fastened to the end of a long stick.

APPENDIX.

229

In this kind of hunting, every man has the sole right to all the
beaver caught by him in the holes or vaults ; and as this is a con-
stant rule, each person takes care to mark such as he discovers, by
sticking up the branch of a tree, or some other distinguishing post,
by which he may know them. All that are caught in the house
also are the property of the person who finds it.

The same regulations are observed, and the same process used in
taking beaver that are found in lakes and other standing waters, ex-
cept it be that of staking the lake across, which would l)e both un-
necessary and impossible. Taking beaver houses in these situations
is generally attended with less trouble and more success than in the
former.

The beaver is an animal which cannot keep under water long
at a time ; so that when their houses are broken open, and all their
places of retreat discovered, they hav^e but one choice left, as it may
be called, either to be taken in their houses or their vaults : in gen-
eral they prefer the latter ; for where there is one beaver caught in
the house, many thousands are taken in their vaults in the banks.
Sometimes they are caught in nets, and in the Summer very fre-
quently in traps. In winter they are very fat and delicious ; but
the trouble of rearing their young, the thinness of their hair, and
their constantly roving from place to place, with the trouble they
have in pro\dding against the approach of Winter, generally keep
them very poor during the summer season, at which time their flesh
is but indifferent eating, and their skins of so little value, that the
Indians generally singe them, even to the amount of many thousands
in one Summer. They have from two to five j-oung, at a time. Mr.
Dobbs, in his Account of Hudson's Bay, enumerates no less than
eight different kinds of beaver ; but it must be understood that they
are all of one kind and species ; his distinctions arise wholly from
the different seasons of the year in which thej' are killed, and the
different uses to which their skins are applied which is the sole
reason that they vary so much in value.

Joseph Lefranc, or Mr. Dobbs for him, says, that a good hunter

23°

APPENDIX.

can kill six hundred beaver in one season, and can only carry one
hundred to market. If that was really the case in Lefranc's time,
the canoes must have been much smaller than they are at present ;
for it is well known that the generality of the canoes which have
visited the Company's Factories for the last forty or fifty years, are
capable of carrying three hundred beaver-skins with great ease, ex-
clusive of the Indians luggage, provisions, &c.

If ever a particular Indian killed six hundred beaver in one
Winter, (which is rather to be doubted,) it is more than probable
that many in his company did not kill twenty, and perhaps .some
none at all, so that by distributing them among those who had bad
success, and others who had no abilities for that kind of hunting,
there would be no necessity of leaving them to rot, or for singing
them in the fire, as related by the Author. During my residence
among the Indians I have known some individuals kill more beaver,
and other heavy furs, in the course of a Winter, than their wives
could manage ; but the overplus was never wantonly destroyed, but
always given to their relations, or to tho.se who had been less suc-
cessful ; so that the whole of the great hunters labours were always
brought to the Factor>\ It is indeed too frequently a custom among
the Southern Indians to singe many otters, as well as beaver ; but
this is seldom done except in Summer, when their .skins are of so
little value as to be scarcely worth the duty ; on which account it
has always been thought impolitic to encourage the natives to kill
such valuable animals at a time when their skins are not in .season.

The white beaver, mentioned by L,efranc, are so rare, that instead
of being "blown upon by the Company's Factors," as he asserts,
I rather doubt whether one-tenth of them ever saw one during the
time of their residence in this country. In the course of twenty
years experience in the countries about Hudson's Bay, though I
travelled six hundred miles to the West of the sea-coast, I never saw
but one white beaver-skin, and it had many reddish and brown hairs
along the ridge of the back, and the sides and belly were of a glossy
silvery white. It was deemed by the Indians a great curiosity ; and
I offered three times the usual price for a few of them, if they could

APPENDIX.

231

be got ; but in the course of ten years that I remained there after-
wards, I could not procure anot^'er ; which is a convincing proof
there is no such thing as a breed of that kind, and that a variation
from the usual color is very rare.

Black beaver, and that of a beautiful gloss, are not uncommon :
perhaps they are more plentiful at Churchill than at any other Fac-
tory in the Bay ; but it is rare to get more than t-.«elve or fifteen of
their skins in the course of one year's trade.

lycfranc, as an Indian, must have known better than to have in-
formed Mr. Dobbs that the beaver have from ten to fifteen young at
a time ; or if he did, he must have deceived him wilfully ; for the
Indians, by killing them in all stages of gestation, have abundant
opportunities for ascertaining the usual number of their offspring.
I have seen some hundreds of them killed at the seasons favourable
for tho.se observations, and never could discover more than .six young
in one female, and that only in two instances ; for the usual number,
as I have before observed, is from two to five.

Besides this unerring method of ascertaining the real number of
young which any animal has at a time, there is another rule to go
by, with respect to the beaver, which experience has proved to the
Indians never to vary or deceive them, that is by dissection ; for on
examining the womb of a beaver, even at a time when not with
young, there is always found a hardish round knob for every young
she had at the last litter. This is a circumstance I have been par-
ticularly careful to examine, and can affirm it to be true, from real
experience.

Most of the accounts, nay I may say all the accounts now extant,
respecting the beaver, are taken from the authority of the French
who have resided in Canada ; but those accounts differ so much
from the real state and oeconomy of all the beaver to the North of
that place, as to leave great room to suspect the truth of them alto-
gether. In the first place, the assertion that they have two doors to
their houses, one on the land side and the other next the water, is,

933

APPKNDIX.

as I hav^e before obser\'ed, quite contrary to fact and common sense,
as it would render their houses of no use to them, either as places of
shelter from the inclemency of the extreme cold in Winter, or as a
retreat from their common enemy the quiquehatch. The only thing
that could have made M. Du Pratz, and other French writers, con-
jecture that such a thing did exist, must have been from having
seen some old beaver houses which had been taken by the Indians ;
for they are always obliged to make a hole in one side of the house
before they can drive them out : and it is more than probable that
in so mild a climate as Canada, the Indians do generally make those
holes on the land-side*, which without doubt gave rise to the
suggestion.

In respect to the beaver dunging in their houses, as some persons
assert, it is quite wrong as they always plunge into the water to do
it. I am the better enabled to make this assertion, from having
kept several of them till they became .so domesticated as to answer
to their name, and follow those to whom they were ac ustomed, in
the same manner as a dog would do ; and they were as much
pleased at being fondled, as any animal I ever saw. I had a house
built for them, and a small piece of water before the door, into which
they always plunged when they wanted to ease nature ; and their
dung being of a light substance, immediately rises and floats on the
surface, then separates and subsides to the bottom. When the Winter
sets in so as to freeze the water solid, they still continue their cus-
tom of coming out of their house, and dunging and making water
on the ice ; and when the weather was so cold that I was obliged to
take them into my house, they always went into a large tub of water
which I s^t for that purpose : so that they made not the least dirt,
though they were kept in my own sitting room, w^here they were the
constant companions of the Indian women and children, and were so
fond of their company, that when the Indians were absent for any
considerable time, the beaver discovered great sign< jss,

* Tlic Northern Indiaus think that the sagacity of the '
part of their house which fronts the Nortli much thicker t
defending themselves from the cold winds which generalU
the Winter ; and for this reason the Northern Indians gener.
beaver-houses which exactly front the South.

IroMi
hreak o

that

witl w of

,uari (luring

that side of the

APPENDIX.

233

and on their return shewed equal marks of pleasure by fondlinj? on
them, crawling into their laps, laying on their backs, sitting erect
like a squirrel, and behaving to them like children who see their
parents but seldom. In general during the Winter they lived on
the same food as the women did, and were remarkably fond of rice
and plum-pudding : they would eat partridges and fresh venison
very freely, but I never tried them with fish, though I have heard
they will at times prey on them. In fact, there are few of the gran-
ivorous animals that may not be brought to be carnivorous. It is
well known that our domestic poultry will eat animal food : thou-
sands of geese that come to London market are fattened on tallow-
craps ; and our horses in Hudson's Bay would not only eat all kinds
of animal food, but also drink freely of the wash or pot-liquor, in-
tended for the hogs. And we are assured by the most authentic
Authors, that in Iceland, not only black cattle, but also the sheep,
are almost entirely fed on fish and fish-bones during the Winter
season. Even in the Isles of Orkney, and that in Summer, the sheep
attend the ebbing of the tide as regular as the Esquimaux curlew,
and go down to the shore which the tide has left, to feed on the sea-
weed. This, however, is through necessity, for even the famous
Island of Pomona* will not aflford them an existence above high
water-mark.

With respect to the inferior, or slave-bea\'er, of which some
Authors speak, it is, in my opinion, very difficult for those who are
best acquainted with the oeconomy of this animal to determine
whether there are any that deserve that appellation or not. It some-
times happens, that a beaver is caught, which has but a very indif-
ferent coat, and which has broad patches on the back, and shoulders
almost wholly without hair. This is the only fouuuation for assert-
ing that theie is an inferior, or slave-beaver, among them. And
when one of the above description is taken, it is perhaps too hastily
inferred that the hair is worn off from those parts by carrying heavy
loads : whereas it is most probable that it is caused by a disorder
that attacks them somewhat similar to the mange ; for were that

* This being the hirgest of the Orkney Islands, is called liy the inhabitants the Main
Land.

mm.

( ;

234

APPENDIX.

falling off of the hair occasioned by performing extra labour, it is
natural to think that instances of it would be more frequent than
they are ; as it is rare to see one of them in the course of seven or ten
years. I have seen a whole house of those animals that had nothing
on the surface of their bodies but the fine soft down ; all the long
hairs having molted off. This and every other deviation from the
general run is undoubtedly owing to some particular disorder.

<f )

APPENL3IX— C.

: IS
I an
ten
ing
ing
the

PLATYPSYLLUS CASTORIS.

By C. V. RuEY,

' ' A glance at the illustrations which I have prepared will show
the prevailing characteristics of this interesting creature, its general
ovoid and flattened form, and more particularly the flattened semi-
circular head. Dorsally, we notice the rather prominent occiput
fringed behind with short and broad depressed spines or teeth which
form a sort of comb, the prothorax trapezoidal and but very slightly
curved, with side margins strongly grooved. There is a very dis-
tinct scutellum, and the two elytra are rounded at the tip and with-
out venation. Hind wings and eyes are both wanting. The abdo-
men shows five segments, each with a row of depressed bristles."

^w I'Rnm ASit ^'« ►*,it5..w%^V"ir-. (7" *i»*>Br(ivii.wv^T*iiW(i"!iwati«j;,i!^^j^

SYSTEMATIC REI.ATIONS OF PI.ATYPSYLLUS, AS
DETERMINED BY THE LARVA.

By C. V. Riley.

There is always a great deal of interest attaching to organisms
which are unique in character and which systematists find difficulty
in placing in any of their schemes of classification. A number of
instances will occur to every working naturalist, and I need only
refer to Limulus, and the extensive literature devoted during the
past decade to the discussion of its true position, as a marked and
well-known illustration. In Hexapods the common earwig and flea
are familiar illustrations. These osculant or aberrant forms occur
most among parasitic groups, as the Stylopidae, Hippoboscidse,
Pulicidae, Mallophaga, etc. Probabl}' no Hexapod, however, has
more interested entomologists than Platypsyllus castoris Ritsema, a
parasite ^^f the beaver.

During a stay at West Point, Nebr., in October, 1886, I learned
from one of my agents, Mr. Eawrence Bruner, that there was a
beaver in a creek not far from that point, and I at once made
arrangements for him to trap the beaver, and to look particularly for
living specimens of Platypsyllus on the skin, and especially the
earlier stages. He succeeded in capturing the beaver and sent me
some fifteen specimens of the larva and also some imagos, but
neither eggs nor pupae were found. A glance at the lar\'a satisfied
me at once o^ its coleopterous nature ; but as we have, waiting to be
worked up and published, an cmbarras dc richcsscs cntomologiqucs in
the collections of the National Museum, and as circumstances
largely decide the precedence, I should probably not have called
the attention to this lar'v-a for some time, had it not been that at the
last monthly meeting of the Entomological Society of Washington,
Dr. Horn, who was present, announced the finding, the present
spring, by one of his correspondents, of this very larva, and exhib-

238

APPENDIX.

M ^

ited a specimen. Some points about it, and especially the position
of the spiracles, being yet rather obscure in his mind, he requested
me to examine my material, which I have thus been led to do.

As confirmatory of the affinities of Platypsyllus, as here proved,
it may be mentioned that Leptinus testaceus Miill., the only species
of its genus, is known to be parasitic on mice, as it has been found
upon them in Philadelphia by Dr. John A. Ryder, and I have taken
it in the nests of a common field mouse near Washington ; but still
more interesting is the fact that Leptinilhis validus Horn (also the
only species of its ge*^ is) is an associate parasite of Platypsyllus on
the beaver, a number of both having been taken by one of my
agents, Mr. A. Koebele, in San Francisco, from beaver skins brought
from Alaska.

Platypsyllus, therefore, is a good Coleopteron, and in all the
characters in which it so strongly approaches the Mallophaga it
offers merely an illustration of modification due to food habit and
environment. In this particular it is, however, of very great interest
as one of the most striking illustrations we have of variation in
similar lines through the influence of purely external or dynamical
conditions, and where genetic connection and heredity play no part
whatever. It is at the same time interesting because of its synthetic
characteristics, being evidently an ancient type from which we get a
very good idea of the connection in the past of some of the present
well-defined orders of insects.

FINIS.

' the position
he requested
i to do.

here proved,
: only species
s been found
I have taken
:on ; but still
orn (also the
itypsyllus on
J one of my
kins brought

d in all the
^allophaga it
)d habit and
2:reat interest
variation in
)r dynamical
play no part
its synthetic
ich we get a
■ the present