BEAVER-MEADOWS. 



257 



artificial swamps, and the river behind silted up against 

 them, forming a sort of natural terrace, while the conse- 

 quent floods destroyed the adjacent forest. Many of the 

 forest meadows or natural clearings found occasionally 

 here and there in the primeval forests of North Ame- 

 rica, own their origin in this way to the labours of 

 the beaver. These places are generally known among 

 American backwoodsmen under the name of " beaver 

 meadows." 



Then again, there are the marks left by the migra- 

 tory movements of game; in some cases these form 

 quite clearly defined roads, worn by their feet as 

 they passed to and fro over them, from generation to 

 generation. Such for instance are the " elephant 

 roads " in Ceylon, made by great herds of these 

 animals in former days across passes among the hills, 

 and along the sides of ravines and other places. Some 

 of these trails are so clearly defined, that there is no 

 reason to suppose they will ever be entirely obliter- 

 ated, unless destroyed by human agency. The buffalo 

 paths through the " bad lands " in America are of a 

 similar character, and often follow the crests of 

 divides for long distances, where their presence is 

 usually regarded by prairie-men as strong evidence of 

 the best line for crossing these sections of country, as 

 the buffalo, like the elephant, almost always selected 

 the best and most favourable passes from one part of 

 the country to another. 



There are also the trails of game, which may be 

 seen seaming the sides of hills and mountains, which 

 though originally formed by the passage of small 

 bands of light animals, such as deer, goats, sheep, or 

 antelopes, passing perhaps at considerable intervals; 



VOL. in. 17 



