AND AMERICAN RURAL SPORTS. 



AUTHENTIC HISTORY.— Continued. 



or at least as many of them as possible. While the princi- 

 pal men are thus employed, some of the understrappers, 

 and the women, are busy in breaking open the house, 

 which at times is no easy task; for I have frequently 

 known these houses to be five and six feet thick; and one 

 in particular, was more than eight feet thick on the crown. 

 When the beaver find that their habitations are invaded, 

 they fly to their holes in the banks for shelter; and on 

 being perceived by the Indians, which is easily done, by 

 attending to the motion of the water, they block up the 

 entrance with stakes of wood and then haul the beaver 

 out of its hole, either by hand, if they can reach it, or 

 with a large hook made for that purpose, which is fastened 

 to the end of a long stick. 



" In this kind of hunting, every man has the sole right 

 to all the beaver caught by him in the holes or vaults; and 

 as this is a constant rule, each person takes care to mark 

 such as he discovers, by sticking up the branch of a tree, 

 or some other distinguishing post, by which he may know 

 them. All that are caught in the house also are the pro- 

 perty of the person who finds it. 



" The same regulations are observed, and the same pro- 

 cess used in taking beaver that are found in lakes and other 

 standing waters, except it be that of staking the lake 

 across, which would be both unnecessary and impossible. 

 Taking beaver-houses in these situations is generally at- 

 tended with less trouble and more success than in the 

 former. 



FICTITIOUS HISTORY— Continued. 



number of avenues, by means of which they enter and 

 quit subterraneously, so as not to be perceived by the most 

 keen and watchful Indian; these all terminate at a distance 

 from their dwelling, and in part of the mound constituting 

 their dike, or in lakes or rivers, near which they usually 

 form their establishments, that they may have it in their 

 power to select that direction which may be most conve- 

 nient and least dangerous in the various incidents and exi- 

 gencies of their lives. 



"Beavers are divided into tribes, and sometimes mere- 

 ly into small bands, each of which has its chief; and order 

 and discipline exist in these distinct societies to a greater 

 extent probably than among the Indians, or even among 

 some civilized and polished nations. 



"Their magazines are invariably fully stored with pro- 

 visions in summer; and no one is permitted to break in 

 upon this stock until the scarcity of winter begins to be 

 experienced, unless circumstances render it imperatively 

 necessary to violate this rule. In no case, however, is 

 any one permitted to enter without the express authority 

 and indeed the presence of the chief. Their provisions 

 consist, in general, of the bark of trees, principally of the 

 willow and poplar species. On some occasions when bark 

 is not to be found in suificient quantities, they collect also 

 the wood of those trees, which they divide into distinct 

 parcels with their teeth. 



(to be continued.) 



GROTTO DEL CANE. 



I believe I did not tell you, in my last, that I made 

 a visit to the famous Grotto del Cane, a visit to me so full 

 of interest, that I cannot help giving you some account of 

 it, notwithstanding the numerous descriptions we already 

 have of that singular place. I was enticed onward, one 

 bright morning, by the numberless curious objects that pre- 

 sent themselves about Naples, till I found myself at the 

 entrance of the Grotto of Posilipo, then at its further ex- 

 tremity, then in the beautiful valley beyond; and being 

 now not far from the Grotto del Cane, set out in earnest 

 for a treat that I had, from the first, been promising my- 

 self. A guide was quickly selected from a set of ragged 

 urchins, who offered themselves along the road. Thus 

 escorted, I soon reached the house of the Custode, or show- 

 man, and a rapid knock and short dialogue having settled 

 the preliminaries, I pushed on towards the Grotto, leav- 

 ing him to hunt up his dog and follow at his leisure. The 



C 



road, which had hitherto obliquely crossed the valley no- 

 ticed above, now approached its edge, and led us among 

 rough, abrupt hills, until suddenly turning to the right, 

 and entering a deep, natural chasm, it brought us in a few 

 minutes to the edge of the Lago dAgnaro. This lake is 

 about four miles in circuit, and evidently occupies the 

 crater of an extinct volcano. My little Cicerone led me 

 along the border of the lake, for about a hundred yards, 

 when pointing to a small door against the side of the crater, 

 a short distance above us, he told me that there was the 

 object of my search. The name Grotto had misled me, 

 and my disappointment was great, when, on the door 

 being unlocked and thrown open, an excavation, of not 

 more than twelve feet in length, and seven or eight in 

 height, made its appearance. To the right, it was the 

 rudest thing possible. The bottom, sides, and top, were 

 of the bare earth, very uneven, and as the cave was shaped 

 much like an egg, it was only at the centre or near it, that 

 a person could stand upright. The floor, and sides to a 



