350 AMERICAN BEAVER. 



the mind of childhood, and have been so generally made a part of our 

 education, that we now are almost led to regret that three-fourths of the 

 old accounts of this extraordinary animal are fabulous ; and that with 

 the exception of its very peculiar mode of constructing its domicile, the 

 Beaver is in point of intelligence and cunning greatly exceeded by the 

 fox, and is but a few grades higher in the scale of sagacity than the 

 common musk-rat. 



The following account was noted down by us as related by a trapper 

 named Prevost, who had been in the service of the American Fur Com- 

 pany for upwards of twenty years, in the region adjoining the spurs of 

 the Rocky Mountains, and who was the " Patroon" that conveyed us 

 down the Missouri river in the summer and autumn of 1843. As it con- 

 firms the statements of Hearne, Richardson, and other close observers of 

 the habits of the Beaver, we trust that although it may present little that 

 is novel, it will from its truth be acceptable and interesting to our 

 readers. Mr. Prevost states in substance as follows. 



Beavers prefer small clear-water rivers, and creeks, and likewise resort 

 to large springs. They, however, at times, frequent great rivers and 

 lakes. The trappers believe that they can have notice of the approach 

 of winter weather, and of its probable severity, by observing the prepa- 

 rations made by the Beavers to meet its rigours ; as these animals always 

 cut their wood in good season, and if this be done early, winter is at 

 hand. 



The Beaver dams, where the animal is at all abundant, are built across 

 the streams to their very head waters. Usually these dams are formed of 

 mud, mosses, small stones, and branches of trees cut about three feet in 

 length and from seven to twelve inches round. The bark of the trees in 

 all cases being taken off for winter provender, before the sticks are car- 

 ried away to make up the dam. The largest tree cut by the Beaver, 

 seen by Prevost, measured eighteen inches in diameter ; but so large a 

 trunk is very rarely cut dovim by this animal. In the instance just men- 

 tioned, the branches only were used, the trunk not having been appro- 

 priated to the repairs of the dam or aught else by the Beavers. 



In constructing the dams, the sticks, mud and moss are matted and 

 interlaced together in the firmest and most compact manner ; so much so 

 that even men cannot destroy them without a great deal of labour. The 

 mud and moss at the bottom are rooted up vnth the animal's snout, some- 

 what in the manner hogs work in the earth, and clay and grasses are 

 stuffed and plastered in between the sticks, roots, and branches, in so 

 workmanlike a way as to render the structure quite water-tight. The 

 dams are sometimes seven or eight feet high, and are from ten to twelve 



