CASTOROLOGIA. 1 67 



"Sometimes a single beaver lives by itself, and is then called a 

 jLermit or terrier. Whatever may have been the cause which has 

 separated these individuals from society, it is certain that they 

 always have a black mark on the inside of the skin upon their backs, 

 which is called a saddle, and distinguishes them from the others. 

 This separation from society maj^ arise from their fidelity and con- 

 stancy to each other, and that, having by some accident lost their 

 mate, they will not readily pair again. The mark on the back ma}' 

 proceed from the want of a companion to keep that part warm." 

 Cartwright also claimed to have the advantage of personal observa- 

 tion, but Dr. Godman says of him, " this actual observer repeats all 

 the trash of preceding hearsay- writers nearly in their own words." 



I^e Pere de Charlevoix, author of the "Journal d'un Voyage dans 

 I'Amerique Septentrionale' ' (1744), in writingfrom Quebec, ist March, 

 1 72 1, discourses at length on the curiosities of the country, of which 

 "the most singular thing that is seen is the beaver. The savages 

 were formerlj^ persuaded — if one were to believe some stories — that 

 the beavers were a kind of reasonable animal, which had its laws, its 

 government and its particular language ; that this amphibious peo- 

 ple made choice of commanders, who, in the common work, distri- 

 buted to each its task, posted sentinels to give warning of the ap- 

 proach of an enemy, punished or exiled the idle. These so-called 

 exiles are apparently those which are called burrowing beavers, 

 which in fact live separate from the others, do not work, and live 

 under the ground, where their sole object is to carefully make a 

 covered road leading to the water. They can be recognized by the 

 small quantity of hair that they have on their backs, the result 

 evidently of rubbing themselves constantly against the earth. In 

 addition to this they are thin, the effect of their idleness ; they are 

 found more frequently in hot countries than in cold." 



Knough has been said to show that marv^ellous tales were ex- 

 pected of travellers in those early days, and some, doubtless, have 

 been forced to build up their stories on a very slight foundation, 

 while others have evidently recorded their own observations, height- 

 ening these, however, by deductions of a most imaginar\^ nature. 



