NORTHERN OCEAN 251 



Hudson's Bay would not only eat all kinds of animal food, 1771. 

 but also drink freely of the wash, or pot-liquor, intended for 

 the [245] hogs. And we are assured by the most authentic 

 Authors, that in Iceland, not only black cattle, but also the 

 sheep, are almost entirely fed on fish and fish-bones during the 

 Winter season. Even in the Isles of Orkney, and that in 

 Summer, the sheep attend the ebbing of the tide as regular as 

 the Esquimaux curlew, and go down to the shore which the 

 tide has left, to feed on the sea-weed. This, however, is 

 through necessity, for even the famous Island of Pomona* 

 will not afford them an existence above high-water-mark. 



With respect to the inferior, or slave-beaver, of which 

 some Authors speak, it is, in my opinion, very difficult for 

 those who are best acquainted with the oeconomy of this 

 animal to determine whether there are any that deserve that 

 appellation or not. It sometimes happens, that a beaver is 

 caught, which has but a very indifferent coat, and which has 

 broad patches on the back, and shoulders almost wholly with- 

 out hair. This is the only foundation for asserting that there 

 is an inferior, or slave-beaver, among them. And when one 

 of the above description is taken, it is perhaps too hastily 

 inferred that the hair is worn off from those parts by carrying 

 heavy loads : whereas it is most probable that it is caused by 

 a disorder that attacks them somewhat similar to the mange ; 

 for [246] were that falling off of the hair occasioned by per- 

 forming extra labour, it is natural to think that instances of it 

 would be more frequent than there are ; as it is rare to see 

 one of them in the course of seven or ten years. I have seen a 

 whole house of those animals that had nothing on the surface 

 of their bodies but the fine soft down ; all the long hairs 

 having molted off. This and every other deviation from the 

 general run is undoubtedly owing to some particular disorder. 



* This being the largest of the Orkney Islands, is called by the inhabitants 

 the Main Land. 



