UAT KIND. 187 



year than any other ; and the marks of the sex 

 seem to appear and disappear in the same man- 

 ner. 



The ondatra in some measure resembles the 

 beaver in its nature and disposition. They both 

 live in society during winter; they both form 

 houses of two feet and a half wide, in which they 

 reside, several families together. In these they do 

 not assemble to sleep as the marmot, but purely 

 to shelter themselves from the rigour of the season. 

 However, they do not lay up magazines of pro- 

 vision like the beaver j they only form a kind 

 of covert way to and round their dwelling, from 

 whence they issue to procure water and roots, upon 

 \vhich they subsist. During winter their houses 

 are covered under a depth of eight or ten feet of 

 snow ; so that they must lead but a cold, gloomy, 

 and necessitous life, during its continuance. 

 During summer they separate two by two, and 

 feed upon the variety of roots and vegetables that 

 the season offers. They then become extremely 

 fat, and are much sought after, as well for their 

 flesh as their skins, which are very valuable. 

 They then also acquire a very strong scent of 

 musk, so pleasing to an European, but which the 

 savages of Canada cannot abide. What we ad- 

 mire as a perfume, they consider as a most abo- 

 minable stench, and call one of their rivers, on 

 the banks of which this animal is seen to burrow 

 in numbers, by the name of the stinking river, as 

 well as the rat itself, which is denominated by 

 them the stinkard. This is a strange diversity 

 among mankind ; and perhaps may be ascribed 



