102 NOTES ON BEAVERS. 



most fiercely ; hardly a skin is withmit scars, aud large pieces are 



often bitten out of their tails. 



The young are born about the end of June, and are about three or 



four in number ; but whether produced in the houses, hovels, or 



amongst the sedge, is not known for a certainty. 



When this interesting event is expected, the old male takes the 



young of last year (for sometimes as many as three generations will 



remain around the paternal abode) and retires several miles up a river, 



considerately remaining there as long as requisite. 



The young at first are called " kittens ; " when twelve months old, 



" small medlars;" at two years, •' big medlars ;" and in the third year, 



when they also have families, •' old beavers."' 



A-bout the months of July and August the male beavers aud last 



year's young, who have been enjoying the spring and summer amongst 



the woods, collect in large numbers on the lakes and watercourses, on 



which they had left their houses and females in the spring, for the 



purpose of uniting into society, and of repairing or adding to their 



villages. 



These villages are very interesting, and consist of hovels, cabins, and 



stores, with the addition, in the case of a watercourse, of a dam, which 



is not required if the village is situated on a lake. 



The following description will give you a good general idea of the 



whole arrangement, to which I will afterwards add some further 



details : — • 



In rivers or brooks where the water is subject to risings and fallings, 

 they build a bank, which traverses the watercourse from one side to 



the other like a sluice, and is often 80 to 100 feet long by 10 or 12 



feet broad at the base. One on the Metapediac in New Brunswick was 

 150 yards long, and by its aid the beavers had converted a stream about 

 15 or 20 feet wide into a pool an acre in extent and 8 feet deep in the 

 middle. This dam was semicircular and convex to the stream. The 

 spot for building it had been chosen with remarkable judgment, and 

 all natural features, such as little islands, rocks, and stumps of trees, 

 had been turned to good account. The centre of this dam was about 

 5 feet high, and so compact that it took two men with axes an hour to 

 cut a 6-feet aperture through it. 



The camp was situated near the centre of the pool, on the original 

 bank of the stream ; it was about the size and shape of an ordinary 

 haystack, a little flattened down; rather more than two-thirds, about 8 

 feet, showed above the water ; internally it contained one large circular 

 apartment about 6 feet 6 inches in diameter ; the roof, which was 

 dome-shaped, being 2 feet 3 inches high in the centre, gradually sloping 

 downwards to the edge; the floor was 10 inches above water mark, and 

 contained four beds, made of chips of wood cut very fine; the walls 

 were from i to 5 feet thick, made altogether of earth and wood. There 

 were three entrances, all under water. 



Close to the camp was the storehouse, an accumulation of fresh 

 logs and branches submerged in the water for winter use. There must 



