32>i DIVISION' 1. VEKTEBKAL ANIMALS. — CLASS I. MAMMALIA. 



laborers assume a sitting posture. Independent of tlic convenience of tliis 

 position, tlu'V enjo}' the pleasure of gnawing the bark and wood, wliieh is 

 gratefid t(j tlieir taste, and wiiich they prefer to any other diet. 



" ^A'iiile some of tlie most able are employed in felling large timlier, others 

 traverse the banks, and cut down the sin;dler trees, then dress, and shorten 

 them to a convenient length, drag them to the margin of the ri\cr, and eon- 

 vev tluin by water to the place where the building is carrying on. And 

 here it is worthy of observation, that these trees arc uniibrmly of a light and 

 tender kind. One will never see a beaver attack the solid and more heavy 

 timber. Their great object is to select sueii as may be easily barked, cut 

 down, and transported ; and hence they prefer the alder, willow, or poplar, 

 which grow Ijcside the margin of their favorite rivers. They sink stakes into 

 the water, and interweave the branches with similar stakes — an operation 

 which implies the sunisoiuiting of many diiHcullics ; for, in order to dress the 

 stakes, and to pl-ace them at first in a situation nearly perpendicular, some of 

 the laboi-ers must stand upon the river bank, and hold the stakes with their 

 teeth, while others plunge into the water, and dig holes in the bed of the 

 river, to receive the points, in order to place them erect. 



"This dam is their great work. The next care is to construct their dwell- 

 ings. I'hesi^ are uniforndy erected upon piles, near the margin of the pond, 

 and ha\e two o[)cnings, one facing the land, another the water. They are 

 either i-ound or o\al, \arying from five to eight or ten feet in diameter. 

 Some consist of three or four stories, with walls of two feet thickness, and 

 are raised ])crpendicn!arly on plaidis, or stakes, which answer the double 

 purpose of Hoors and Ibundatious ; others consist only of one story, and then 

 the walls are low in prii[i(irtion, curved at the base, and terminating in a 

 dome or vault. But howe\er varying in height, they are imiformly of such 

 solidity, and so neatly plastered both within and without, th.at they are iui- 

 penetrable l>y the rain, and resist the most imjietuoiis winds. The parti- 

 tions, too, are covered with a kind of stucco, as well executed as if by the 

 IkuuI of man, their tail serving tliem for trowels, their feet for plastering. 

 In the construction of these buildings Narious materials are used — wood, 

 stone, and a kind of sandy earth, not easily acted on by water. AVhen fui- 

 ished, they resemble the kraal of a Hottentot, and are carpeted with verdure, 

 or branches of tlie box and fir. The opening that fiices the water answers 

 the purpose of both a l)aleony and liallis ; for here they bathe, enjoy the 

 summer breezes, and delight to spend their leisure hours, sitting half sunk 

 in the water, and looking complacently over the open country. This win- 

 dow is constructed \\ith the utmost care ; the aperture is snfKcicntly raised 

 to prevent it from being stopped up by the ice, which, in the beaver's cli- 

 mate, is often two or three feet tliick. ShouUl this occur, the busy masons 



