4l6 THE COMMON BEAVER. 



fact seems to be, that Beavers subsist wholly on ve- 

 getable substances, and that they will eat no animal 

 food whatever *. 



The Beavers generally live in associated commu- 

 nities, of two or three hundred ; mhabiting dwell- 

 ings which they raise to the height of six or eight 

 feet above the water. They select, if possible, a 

 large pond ; in which they raise their houses on piles, 

 forming them either of a circular or oval shape, with 

 arched tops, thus giving them, on the outside, the 

 appearance of a dome, while they within somewhat 

 resemble an oven. The number of houses is, in ge- 

 neral, from ten to thirty. If the animals cannot find 

 a pond to their liking, they fix on some flat piece of 

 ground, with a stream running through it. In ma- 

 king this a suitable place for their habitations, a de- 

 gree of sagacity and intelligence, of intention and 

 memory, is exhibited, approaching in an extraordi- 

 nary degree to the faculties of the human race. 



The first object is, to form a dam. To do this, it 

 is necessary that they should stop the stream, and 

 of course that they should know in which direction 

 it runs. This seems a very wonderful exertion of 

 intellect ; for they always do it in the most favourable 

 place for their purpose, and never begin at a wrong 

 part. They drive stakes, five or six feet long, into 

 the ground, in different rows, and interweave them 



* The faculty of tnedlcine at Paris juridically declared the Reaver 

 to be a fish ; and as such it was, in consequence, declared laM'ful to 

 be eaten on maigre days. Charlevoix says, it has been placed in the 

 iiime cli.ss with Muckn-l, \o\. i. 164. 



