The Hovie of the ]]^olverene and Beaver. 231 



discovered no ferocity, and did not injure any 

 person. His voracity has been as much exag- 

 gerated as his cruelty; he indeed ate a great deal, 

 but when deprived of food he was not impor- 

 tunate. 



"The animal is pretty mild; he avoids w^ater, 

 and dreads horses and men dressed in black. He 

 moves by a kind of leap, and eats pretty vora- 

 ciously. After taking a full meal he covers himself 

 in the cage with straw. When drinking he laps 

 like a dog. He utters no cry. After drinking he 

 throws the remainder of the water on his belly with 

 his paws. He is almost perpetually in motion. If 

 allowed, he would devour more than four pounds of 

 flesh in a day ; he eats no bread, and devours his 

 food so voraciously, and almost without chewing, 

 that he is apt to choke himself." 



Before writing of this animal, I made a visit to 

 the Zoological Gardens, for the express purpose of 

 examining the specimen in the Society's possession. 

 From all I could gather, the account given above 

 by Buffon is correct, except as regards avoiding 

 water, for during the half-hour or so I stood watch- 

 ing the animal he entered a large trough filled with 

 water at least twenty times ; neither did he manifest 

 any dread of the black garments worn by my com- 

 panion and myself. Messrs. Audubon and Bachman 



