Immediately on the arrival of the 

 female beaver the two began work 

 building a house. This was placed on 

 a point of land between the mouth of 

 the river and a shallow bay or slough. 

 The base of the house was about a foot 

 above the normal level of the pond. 

 Straight sticks and crooked branches 

 two to four inches in diameter and about 

 five feet long were placed on the ground 

 for a foundation and were arranged in 

 a circle like the spokes of a wheel. On 

 these were piled other sticks, brush, 

 stones, sod and mud, which latter was 

 used as cement or mortar to bind the 

 other materials together. An open 

 space was left in the center, which grew 

 smaller in diameter as the walls were 

 carried up and was finally arched over. 

 The house when finished was fourteen 

 feet in diameter at the base; it was cone 

 shaped and six feet high. It had no 

 door or entrance visible on the surface; 

 but as the side walls were being carried 

 up one of the beavers dug a round hole 

 18 



