Canada -- History -- Periodicals; Canada, Northern -- History -- Periodicals; Hudson's Bay Company -- Periodicals
Both male and female have a pair of glands lying lengthways on the
inside of the skin at the lower extremities, which does not appear to be
controlled as other organs are, but are emptied with the hand by a
downward pressure. The secretion contained in these two bags is a solid
from which oil is extracted and is completely emptied once each year.
Close by every house a handful of dry grass is gathered up and the
castorum deposited, then a few tail-fulls of mud are put on top of it.
What this is done for I am not certain but think it is like a challenge
or a sign that all trespassers will have to fight. When the bags are
emptied in the fall the beaver visit jackpine forests and eat largely of
the gum, I am told by the Indians, for the purpose of replenishing the
castorum supply, and this is likely true, because the odor and character
of the deposit is not unlike pine gum. Castorum has a peculiar
attraction for all wild animals, and the Indians put it to account by
using it as a trap scent. Another advantage it has is that though an oil
substance it is of such a nature that when rubbed on iron traps and set
under water it will not leave the trap and float up like all other oil
substances will do. Commercially it is used as a body in perfumes,
likely also on account of its being able to retain the perfume for such
a long time.
(_To be continued_)
G. L. Bellingham Won Way From Clerkship in Land Dept.
_Assistant Land Commissioner--A Man to Whom Accuracy is Next to
Godliness--Has Earned Continuous Promotion Through 18 Years._
By B. A. EVERITT, _Associate Editor_
Mr. G. L. Bellingham, assistant to the land commissioner, hails from
Wales but he has been so long in Canada and has for so many years dealt
with H.B.C. farm lands that he knows his adopted country possibly better
than his native soil. Mr. Bellingham is so intimately in touch with the
Company's widespread land holdings that he can almost tell one the
value, topography, the soil and the tonnage of wild hay on any H.B.C.
parcel out of several thousand dotted over the prairie maps.
_Likes to See a "Square Deal" All Round_
Mr. Bellingham is keen, active and earnest, with a typical British
temperament, which often reminds one that he is a fighting man all
through--prepared to hold his own in any transaction. Those who know him
best admire his faculty for getting at the "root of things" quickly and
his insistence on absolute justice being meted out to all concerned.
_Insists on Clear Understanding_
Any arrangement made with Mr. Bellingham could not possibly be
misunderstood or confused. His mastery of details and clearcut
registering of all salient points--always followed by a careful
recapitulation--makes issues unforgettable, whether the occasion be the
sale of a section of land or the arrangement of a curling match. He is
as careful in even the most unimportant dealings as if making a legal
contract.
[Illustration]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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