a trapper is always careful not to leave
his scent on the spot. To avoid this he frequently cuts down a tree,
and walks on its branches towards the edge of the path, afterwards
withdrawing it, and plentifully sprinkling water around."

The Indians and Canadian voyageurs eat the flesh of the beaver,
esteeming it, when roasted with the skin on--the hair having been singed
off--the most dainty of dishes. Early in this century, when beaver fur
was much in demand for the manufacture of hats, upwards of 120,000 skins
were exported from Quebec alone in one year. The warfare long waged
against the unfortunate rodents now goes on with somewhat diminished
activity. A change of fashion--the substitution of silk for beaver--has
probably saved them from utter extermination. The scientific name of
their tribe, _Castor_, was long a popular term for a hat; but now that
their fur has ceased to be employed as formerly, the term itself appears
to have gone out of use.

THE MUSK-RAT, OR MUSQUASH.

Voyaging along the margin of a lake, we may see on the shores numbers of
little flattened oval nests composed of reeds and sedges, while numerous
holes in the bank, with quantities of shells, chiefly of the fresh-water
mussel, scattered round, show the entrance to the habitations of the
musquash, or ondatra, called also the musk-rat. As evening approaches,
the creatures may be seen in fine balmy weather gambolling on the
surface, swimming rapidly here and there, or now and then diving below,
apparently fearless of the passing canoe. The little sedge-built hut of
the water-rat is constructed much in the same way as the beaver's larger
mansion. The creature itself looks somewhat like the beaver, and some
of its habits are also similar. It is rather more than two feet in
total length, of which measurement about ten inches is occupied by the
tail. The upper part of the body is of a dark brown colour, tinged in
parts with a reddish hue, while the lower part is ashy grey. Its tail
is flattened, but vertical. Like the beaver, it is furnished with an
undercoat of soft downy fur. Its safety has been provided for by its
peculiar colour, which is so like that of the muddy bank on which it
dwells, that a keen eye can alone detect it. Its hinder feet are
webbed, the imprint on the soft mud being very similar to that of a
duck. With the exception of the flesh of the water-mussel, its food is
vegetable. It is a great depredator in gardens, whi