168 THE BEAVER. 



pairing their houses and dams, or for building others, 

 commencing the latter about the end of August. Such 

 are the strength and sharpness of their teeth that they 

 will lop off a branch as thick as a walking-stick at a 

 single effort, and as cleanly as if cut with a pruning- 

 knife. Large stems they gnaw all round, taking care 

 that their fall shall be towards or into the water. 

 They rapidly fell a tree the shaft of which is as thick 

 as a man's thigh, or thicker, or from six to ten inches 

 in diameter ; and spaces of more than three acres in 

 front of a river have been covered with the timber 

 felled by these animals, though many of the trees were 

 as thick as a man's body. 



" ' The beaver does not attain its full growth before 

 three years; but it breeds before that time. It pro- 

 duces from four to six young at a birth. The flesh of 

 this animal is esteemed by the Canadian hunters and 

 by the natives as a great delicacy, and its fur is very 

 valuable in commerce. It is from certain glandular 

 tubes that the substance called "castoreum," used in 

 medicine, is obtained, and which (procured from the 

 European variety) was well known to the ancients. 



" ' In captivity the beaver soon becomes familiar and 

 sociable, and, if permitted, will even in a room exercise 

 itself in attempts to build, using brushes, baskets, boots, 

 sticks, or, in fact, anything it can get hold of for the 

 purpose.' " 



" I guess that's so," remarked Jake ; " an' I'll jest reel 

 ye off a sarcumstance that happened up to this coon. 



