This also, said he, the sables
cannot abide. Alaskan hunters preserve the bones of sables and
beavers out of reach of the dogs for a year and then bury them
carefully, "lest the spirits who look after the beavers and sables
should consider that they are regarded with contempt, and hence no
more should be killed or trapped." The Canadian Indians were equally
particular not to let their dogs gnaw the bones, or at least certain
of the bones, of beavers. They took the greatest pains to collect
and preserve these bones, and, when the beaver had been caught in a
net, they threw them into the river. To a Jesuit who argued that the
beavers could not possibly know what became of their bones, the
Indians replied, "You know nothing about catching beavers and yet
you will be prating about it. Before the beaver is stone dead, his
soul takes a turn in the hut of the man who is killing him and makes
a careful note of what is done with his bones. If the bones are
given to the dogs, the other beavers would get word of it and would
not let themselves be caught.
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