"The third the dry Winter Beaver, and fourth the Bordeau, is much the same, and are worth 3s. 6d.
"The fifth the dry Summer Beaver is worth very little, about 1s. 9d. per Pound.
"The sixth is the Coat Beaver, which is worn till it is half greased, and is worth 4s. 6d. per Pound.
"The 7th 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, leaving nothing but the silky Hair; this is worth 4s. 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 1s. 9d. per Pound." ("An Account of the Countries adjoining to Hudson's Bay." By Arthur Dobbs, London, 1744, pp. 25-26.)
On a later page, quoting Joseph Lefranc: "The Beavers, he says, are of three Colours; the brown reddish Colour, the black, and the white; the first is the cheapest; the black is most valued by the Company, and in England; the white, tho' most valued in Canada, giving 18 Shillings, when others gave 5 or 6 Shillings, is blown upon by the Company's Factors at the Bay, they not allowing so much for these as for the others; and therefore the Indians use them at home, or burn off the Hair, when they roast the Beavers like Pigs, at an Entertainment when they feast together; he says these Skins are extremely white, and have a fine Lustre, no Snow being whiter, and have a fine long Fur or Hair; he has seen 15 taken of that Colour out of one Lodge or Pond." (Ibid., pp. 39-40.)
White Beavers are not often caught. One skin which I obtained from the vicinity of the Winnipeg River, in Eastern Manitoba, had a decidedly pinkish tint.
[100] As dried Beaver skins weigh on an average from one and a half to two pounds, 300 skins would weigh on an average from 450 to 600 lbs., which is a heavier load than most of the birch-bark canoes made by the Chipewyans will carry in addition to the Indians and their necessary baggage and provisions. Dobbs's statement that 100 Beaver skins is a load for an Indian canoe is more nearly correct.
[BA] The Northern Indians think that the sagacity of the beaver directs them to make that part of their house which fronts the North much thicker than any other part, with a view of defending themselves from the cold winds which generally blow from that quarter during the Winter; and for this reason the Northern Indians generally break open that side of the beaver-houses which exactly front the South.
[BB] This being the largest of the Orkney Islands, is called by the inhabitants the Main Land.