CASTOR EUROP2XUS. 199 
thing, and leathan, broad; or ‘ Dobran losleathan, the 
Broad-tailed Otter. Dr. Stuart adds that he recollects to 
have heard of a tradition among the Highlanders, that the 
‘“* Beaver, or Broad-tailed Otter, once abounded in Loch- 
aber.” 
The evidence of the existence of the Beaver in Wales, 
within the historical period, is more decisive. Pennant 
cites a passage from a remarkable and interesting document 
of the 9th century, ‘ Leges Wallice,’ or the Laws of 
Howel the Good, (Hywel D’ha,) book ii. § 11, 12, in 
which the prices of furs are regulated. 
The Marten’s skin is valued at 24d. 
The Otter’s (Ddyfrgi, or Lutra,) at 12d. 
The Beaver’s (Llosdlydan, or Castor,) at 120d. 
Which shows that the Beaver had become very scarce 
at that period, but that it was still hunted for its skin, 
which was held in high estimation. 
Mr. Neill, who likewise cites this authority in his Me- 
moir on the Beavers of Scotland, notices the similarity 
between the Welsh and Gaelic names. And then quotes 
the ‘ Itinerarium Cambri’ of Sylvester Giraldus de Barri. 
‘“This writer,” says Mr. Neill, ‘made his journey into 
Wales, towards the end of the 12th century, or about three 
hundred years after the date of the laws of Hywel D’ha, 
as the attendant of no less a personage than Baldwin, 
Archbishop of Canterbury, whose zeal led him personally 
to excite the Welshmen to join in the projected crusades. 
In such company, and on such an errand, Giraldus must 
have had ample opportunities of intercourse with the best 
informed people of the districts through which he passed ; 
and that he was inclined to be an observer of nature, is 
proved by the single fact, that when he arrives on the con- 
fines of the river Teivi in Cardiganshire, he immediately 
