“According to the Indians, the beaver is much given to jealousy.  If a strange male approaches the cabin, a battle immediately ensues.  Of this the female remains an unconcerned spectator, careless as to which party the law of conquest may assign her.  The Indians add that the male is as constant as he is jealous, never attaching himself to more than one female.

“The most common way of taking the beaver is that of breaking up its house, which is done with trenching tools, during the winter, when the ice is strong enough to allow of approaching them; and when, also, the fur is in its most valuable state.

“Breaking up the house, however, is only a preparatory step.  During this operation, the family make their escape to one or more of their washes.  These are to be discovered by striking the ice along the bank, and where the holes are, a hollow sound is returned.  After discovering and searching many of these in vain, we often heard the whole family together in the same wash.  I was taught occasionally to distinguish a full wash from an empty one, by the motion of the water above its entrance, occasioned by the breathing of the animals concealed in it.  From the washes, they must be taken out with the hands; and in doing this, the hunter sometimes receives severe wounds from their teeth.  Whilst I was a hunter with the Indians, I thought beaver flesh was very good; but after that of the ox was again within my reach, I could not relish it.  The tail is accounted a luxurious morsel.

“One evening, on my return from hunting, I found the fire put out, and the opening in the top of the lodge covered over with skins—­by this means excluding, as much as possible, external light.  I further observed that the ashes were removed from the fireplace, and that dry sand was spread where they had been.  Soon after, a fire was made withoutside the cabin, in the open air, and a kettle hung over it to boil.

“I now supposed that a feast was in preparation.  I supposed so only, for it would have been indecorous to enquire into the meaning of what I saw.  No person, among the Indians themselves, would use this freedom.  Good breeding requires that the spectator should patiently wait the result.

“As soon as the darkness of night had arrived, the family, including myself, were invited into the lodge.  I was now requested not to speak, as a feast was about to be given to the dead, whose spirits delight in uninterrupted silence.

“As we entered, each was presented with his wooden dish and spoon, after receiving which we seated ourselves.  The door was next shut, and we remained in perfect darkness.