308 CAPTAIN CARTWRIGHT'S 



be they ever so numerous. If they are caught 

 young, they are soon made tame, and then are 

 very fond of boiled pease. Buffon and others say, 

 that they make use of their tails as sleds to draw 

 stones and earth upon: I cannot contradict their 

 assertions, as I have never seen these animals 

 work; but I do not believe it, because, their tails 

 being thickest at the root and down the centre 

 part, it would be almost impossible for them to 

 keep a stone on it, unless held there by another. 

 Nor have I ever observed, that they had taken 

 any stones oif the ground; but they bring them 

 from the sides and bottoms of the water, and must 

 make use of their hands for those purposes; as 

 they could easier shove and roll them along, than 

 draw them on their tails: besides, the skin of the 

 under part of the tail would be rubbed off by the 

 friction on the ground; which never yet has been 

 observed to be the case with them, and is a 

 stronger proof, that they never do make use of 

 them for that purpose. Those who compare this 

 account with the writings of Butfon ^ and others, 



1 Buffon (translation by William Smellie, London, 1791) says of the 

 beaver: " The form of the edifices is either oval or round . . . some of 

 them consist of three or four stories; and their walls are about two feet 

 thick, raised perpendicularly upon planks, or plain stakes. . . . They are 

 built with amazing solidity, and neatly plastered both without and within. 

 They are impenetrable to rain, and resist the most impetuous winds. 

 The partitions are covered with a kind of stucco, as nicely plastered as 

 if it had been executed by the hand of man. In the application of this 

 mortar, their tails serve for trowels, and their feet for plashing. . . . 

 These retreats are not only very safe, but neat and commodious. The 

 floors are spread over with verdure. The branches of the box and the 

 fir serve them for carpets, upon which they permit not the smallest dirti- 

 ness. The window that faces the water answers for a balcony to receive 



