390 



AMPHIBIOUS QUADRUPEDS. 



proach the nature of fishes, by having a scaly 

 tail. In other respects, it is about two feet 

 long and near one foot high ; it is somewhat 

 shaped like a rat, except the tail, which, as 

 has been observed, is flat and scaly, some- 

 what resembling a neat's tongue at the point. 

 Its colour is of a light brown, the hair of two 

 sorts ; the one longer and coarser ; the other 

 soft, fine, short, and silky. The teeth are 

 like those of a rat or a squirrel, but longer and 

 stronger, and admirably adapted to cutting 

 timber or stripping bark, to which purposes 

 they are constantly applied. One singularity 

 more may be mentioned in its conformation ; 

 which is, that like birds, it has but one and 

 the same vent for the emission of its excre- 

 ments and its urine; a strange peculiarity, 

 but which anatomists leave us no room to 

 doubt of. 



The beavers begin to assemble about the 

 months of June and July, to form a society 

 that is to continue for the greatest part of the 

 year. They arrive in numbers from every 

 side, and generally form a company of above 

 two hundred. The place of meeting is com- 

 monly the place where they fix their abode, 

 and this is always by the side of some lake or 

 river. If it be a lake in which the waters are 

 always upon a level, they dispense with build- 

 ing a dam ; but if it be a running stream, 

 which is subject to floods and falls, they then 

 set about building a dam, or pier, that crosses 

 the river, so that it forms a dead water in 

 that part which lies above and below. This 

 dam, or pier, is often fourscore or a hundred 

 feet long, and ten or twelve feet thick at the 

 base. If we compare the greatness of the 

 work with the powers of the architect, it will 

 appear enormous; but the solidity with which 

 it is built is still more astonishing than its size. 

 The part of the river over which this dam is 

 usually built, is where it is most shallow, and 

 where some great tree is found growing by 

 the side of the stream. This they pitch upon 

 as proper for making the principal part in 

 their building; and, although it is often thicker 

 than a man's body, they instantly set about 

 cutting it down. For this operation they 

 have no other instrument but their teeth, 

 which soon lay it level, and that also on the 

 side they wish it to fall, which is always across 

 the stream They then fall about cutting 



off the top branches, to make it lie close and 

 even, and serve as the principal beam of their 

 fabric." 



This dike, or causey, is sometimes ten, and 

 sometimes twelve feet thick at the foundation. 

 It descends in a declivity, or slope, on that 

 side next the water, which gravitates upon 

 the work in proportion to the height, and 

 presses it with a prodigious force towards 

 the earth. The opposite side is erected per- 

 pendicular, like our walls; and that declivity, 

 which, at the bottom, or basis, is about twelve 

 feet broad, diminishes towards the top, where 

 it is no more than two feet broad, or there- 

 abouts. The materials whereof this mole 

 consists, are wood and clay. The beavers 

 cut, with surprising ease, large pieces of 

 wood, some as thick as one's, arm or thigh, 

 and about four, five, or six feet in length, or 

 sometimes more, according as the slope 

 ascends. They drive one end of these stakes 

 into the ground, at a small distance one from 

 the other, intermingling a few with them that 

 are smaller and more pliant. As the water, 

 however, would find a passage through the 

 intervals or spaces between them, and leave 

 the reservoir dry, they have recourse to a 

 clay, which they know where to find, and 

 with which they stop up all the cavities both 

 within and without, so that the water is duly 

 confined. They continue to raise the dike 

 in proportion to the elevation of the water 

 and the plenty which they have of it. They 

 are conscious, likewise, that the conveyance 

 of their materials by land would not be so 

 easily accomplished as by water ; and there- 

 fore they take the advantage of its increase, 

 and swim with their mortar on their tails, 

 and their, stakes between their teeth, to the 

 places where there is most occasion for them. 

 If their works are, either by the force of the 

 water or the feet of the huntsmen, who run 

 over them, in the least damnified, the breach 

 is instantly made up ; every nook and corner 

 of the habitation is reviewed, and, with the 

 utmost diligence and application, perfectly 

 repaired. But when they find the huntsmen 

 visit them too often, they work only in the 

 night time, or else abandon their works en- 

 tirely, and seek out for some safer situation. 



a Spectacle de la Nature. 



