32 COMMON BLAVElt. 



hundreds ; living in a kind of families, and build- 

 ing their arched mansions or receptacles. The 

 general method of preparing which is detailed in 

 a very pleasing manner by the Count de Buffon, 

 who seems to have collected the best and fullest 

 information on the subject. 



" The Beavers (says this author) begin to as- 

 semble in the month of June or July, for the pur- 

 pose of uniting into society. They arrive in 

 numbers from all parts, and soon form a troop of 

 two or three hundred. The place of rendezvous 

 is generally the situation fixed for their establish- 

 ment, and always on the banks of some water. 

 If the waters be flat, and never rise above their 

 ordinary level, as in lakes, the Beavers make no 

 bank or dam ; but in rivers or brooks, where the 

 waters are subject to risings and fallings, they 

 construct a bank, and by this artifice form a, pond 

 or piece of water, which remains always at the 

 same height. The bank traverses the river, from 

 one side to the other, like a sluice, and it is often 

 from eighty to a hundred feet long, by ten or 

 twelve broad at the base. This pile, for animals 

 of so small a size, appears to be enormous, and 

 supposes an incredible labour ; but the solidity 

 with which the work is constructed is still more 

 astonishing than its magnitude. The part of the 

 river where they erect this bank is generally shal- 

 low. If they find on the margin a large tree, 

 which can be made to fall into the water, they 

 begin with cutting it down, to form the principal 

 part of their work. This tree is often thicker 



