A MINER. 3455 
ool-lal, Shu-wal-lal being the name of the robe 
made from the skins; and this is unquestionably 
the word corrupted into Sewellel, and misused as 
the name of the animal. In Puget’s Sound the 
Nesqually Indians call it Show’il; the Yakama 
Indians, Squal-lah; and the Sumass Indians, 
Swok-la. 
A single glance at the conformation of the feet 
would at once convince the most careless ob- 
server that climbing trees was not a habit of the 
Aplodontia. The feet and claws are digging im- 
plements, of the most finished and efficient kind: 
the long scoop-shaped nails, resembling garden 
trowels; wide strong foot, almost hand-like in its 
form; the strong muscular arms, supported by 
powerful clavicles, proclaim him a miner; his mis- 
sion is to burrow, and most ably he fulfils his 
destiny. His haunt is usually by the side of a 
stream, where the banks are sandy, and the 
underbrush grows thickly; his favourite food 
being fine fibrous roots, and the rind of such as 
are too hard for his teeth. He spends his time in 
burrowing, not so much for shelter and conceal- 
ment, as to supply himself with roots. He digs 
with great ease and rapidity, making a hole large 
enough for a man’s arm to be inserted. 
In making the tunnels, he seldom burrows very 
