ORDER RODENTIA. 65 



when they can, they prefer running waters, so that 

 the wood which they cut above may be carried 

 downwards by the course of the stream to where 

 they please. They keep the waters at an equal 

 height by dams made of various branches of trees, 

 mixed with stones and clay, which they strengthen 

 every year, and which concludes at last by germi- 

 nating, and forming a complete hedge. Each hut 

 serves for two or three families, and has two floors ; 

 the upper is dry for the animals ; the lower, under 

 water, for the provisions of bark, 8fc. This last 

 alone is open, and the entrance is under the water, 

 without any communication with the land. These 

 huts are made of branches twined together and ce- 

 mented with mud. The Beavers have, besides, 

 several burrows along the bank where they take re- 

 fuge when their huts are attacked. It is only during 

 the winter they make use of these habitations. In 

 summer they are dispersed, and live solitarily. 



The Beaver is easily tamed, and accustomed to 

 live on animal substances. The Castor, or Beaver 

 of Canada, is of a uniform reddish-brown. Its fur, 

 as is well known, is in great request for hatting. 

 Some Beavers are of a flaxen colour, some black, 

 and some even white. 



We have been unable to ascertain, after the most 

 scrupulous comparisons, if the Castors or Beavers 

 which burrow along the Rhone* the Danube, and the 

 Weser, are different in species from those of North 

 America, or if they are prevented from building by 

 the vicinity of man. 



