118 NATURAL AND CIVIL 



When the public works arc complctccl, tlicir 

 domestic concerns and ajfuirs next engage their 

 attention. The dam is no sooner completed, 

 than the beavers separate into small bodies, to 

 build cabins, or houses Ibr themselves. These 

 houses are built upon piles, along the borders 

 of the pojid. Tiiey are of an oval form, resem- 

 bling the construction of an haycock ; and they 

 vary in their dimensions, from four to ten fcet 

 in diamctOr, according to tlie number of fami- 

 lies they are designed to accommodate. They 

 iU'e aUvays of two stories, generally of thi-ee, 

 aild sometimes they contain four. Tiieir walls 

 are from two to three feet in thickness, at the 

 bottom; and arc formed of the same materials 

 as their dams. They rise perpendicularly a 

 fevv7 feet, tlien assume a curx^cd form, and termin- 

 ate in a dome or vault, ^vhich answers the pur- 

 pose of a roof. These edifices are built with 

 much solidity, and n.eatness : On the inwai'd 

 side, they are smooth, but rough on the outside ; 

 always impetietrable to . the rain, and of suffi- 

 cient strength to resist the most impetuous 

 winds. The lower story is about tAvo feet 

 high : the second story has a floor of sticks^ 

 covered with mud : the third story is divided 

 from the second, in the same manner, and ter- 

 tninated by the roof raised in the form of an 

 arch. Through each fioor, there is a conmiu- 

 nication ; and the upper floor is always above 

 the level of the water, when it is raised to its 

 greatest height. Each of these huts have two 

 doors ; one, on the land side, to enable them to 

 go out and procure provisions by land ; another 

 under the water, and below where it freezes, to 



