CASTOR EUROP.EUS. 199 



thing, and leathan, broad ; or ' Dobran losleathan," 1 the 

 Broad-tailed Otter. Dr. Stuart adds that he recollects to 

 have heard of a tradition among the Highlanders, that the 

 " Beaver, or Broad-tailed Otter, once abounded in Loch- 

 aber." 



The evidence of the existence of the Beaver in Wales, 

 within the historical period, is more decisive. Pennant 

 cites a passage from a remarkable and interesting document 

 of the 9th century, ' Leges Wallicse, 1 or the Laws of 

 Howel the Good, (Hywel DTia,) book iii. 11, 12, in 

 which the prices of furs are regulated. 



The Marten's skin is valued at 24e?. 



The Otters (Ddyfrgi, or Lutra,) at \2d. 



The Beaver's (Llosdlydan, or Castor,) at 120^. 

 Which shows that the Beaver had become very scarce 

 at that period, but that it was still hunted for its skin, 

 which was held in high estimation. 



Mr. Neill, who likewise cites this authority in his Me- 

 moir on the Beavers of Scotland, notices the similarity 

 between the Welsh and Gaelic names. And then quotes 

 the ' Itinerarium Cambrise ' of Sylvester Giraldus de Barri. 

 " This writer," says Mr. Neill, " made his journey into 

 Wales, towards the end of the 1 2th century, or about three 

 hundred years after the date of the laws of Hywel D'ha, 

 as the attendant of no less a personage than Baldwin, 

 Archbishop of Canterbury, whose zeal led him personally 

 to excite the Welshmen to join in the projected crusades. 

 In such company, and on such an errand, Giraldus must 

 have had ample opportunities of intercourse with the best 

 informed people of the districts through which he passed ; 

 and that he was inclined to be an observer of nature, is 

 proved by the single fact, that when he arrives on the con- 

 fines of the river Teivi in Cardiganshire, he immediately 



