THE BEAVER. 145 



lie on his back, and was then laden with logs, which 

 he embraced with his legs. Several other Beavers 

 then drew him to the spot where the timber was 

 wanted, and so often was this done that many old 

 Beavers had the skin rubbed quite off their backs. If 

 the community were a recent one, and no old Beaver 

 was to be found, they took possession of the first 

 stranger whom they met, and impressed him into 

 their service. The Beaver was also supposed to be 

 unable to live if its tail were dry, so that if it went on 

 shore, it was obliged to go to the river at short inter- 

 vals, and dip its tail in the water. 



There is now before me an engraving representing 

 a party of Beavers engaged in architecture. Their dam 

 is made of strong stakes driven perpendicularly into 

 the bed of the river, and placed quite parallel to each 

 other. Between tnem are interlaced a number of 

 branches, some of which are so large that they could 

 not have been fixed without the exertion of far greater 

 power than a Beaver can possess. 



The real history of the manner in which the Beaver 

 makes itself a home in the water is admirably given in 

 a paper by Mr. A. H. Green, who has been a practical 

 Beaver trapper for some^ years, and had carefully 

 watched the customs of the animal. The paper was pub- 

 lished in the Journal of the Linnaean Society for August, 

 1869. The following extract is taken from the paper : 



" They begin to build their dams about July or 

 August, as soon as the summer floods begin to subside. 

 For this purpose they generally choose a bend in the 

 stream, with high and clayey banks, and commence by 

 felling a large tree that will reach across the water ; or 



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