LABRADOR JOURNAL 303 



live with tlieir parents until tliey are full three 

 years old; then pair oft", build a house for them- 

 selves, and begin to breed. Yet sometimes, and 

 not imcommonlv, if the\- are undisturbed and 

 have plenty of provisions, they will continue 

 longer with the old ones, and breed in the 

 same house. They are then called a double 

 crew; and that was the case with the family 

 \vhich w^e found yesterday. It oftentimes hap- 

 pens, that a single beaver lies retired, and it is 

 then stiled by furriers, a hermit: they sa}^, it is 

 turned out from the family, because it is lazy and 

 will not work; and what is very singular (for 

 be the cause wdiat it will, the fact is certain) all 

 hermit beavers have a black mark on the inside 

 of the skin u])on their backs, called a saddle, 

 which distinguishes them. I rather think the 

 cause of hermit beavers to be fidelity; as they 

 are very faithful creatures to their mate; and by 

 some accident or other, losing that mate, they 

 eithei' will not pair again, or remain single until 

 thev can tind another hermit of the contrarv sex; 

 and that the saddle ])roceeds from the want of a 

 partner to keei) their back warm. T am sure that 

 supposition is more natuj-.il, tli<-m, that it should 

 be turned out ])ecause it is lazv; for manv of those 

 hermit Ijeavers do so uiucli woi'k that good fur- 

 riers have sometimes been (h'ceixcd, and imag- 

 ined, they had I'onnd a small ci'ew. Whethei' they 

 do, oi" do nol make use of tlicii- 1ails as 1 rowels to 

 plaster llieir bouses with, I cainiol say, ihougli T 

 am inclined to believe they do not; because theii* 



