AND AMERICAN RURAL SPORTS. 



AUTHENTIC HISTORY— Continued. 



FICTITIOUS HISTORY— Continued. 



be procured. The mud is always taken from the edge 

 of the bank, or the bottom of the creek or pond, near the 

 door of the house; and though their fore-paws are so 

 small, yet it is held close up between them, under their 

 throat, that they carry both mud and stones; while they 

 always drag the wood with their teeth. 



"All their work is executed in the night; and they are 

 so expeditious in completing it, that in the course of one 

 night I have known them to have collected as much mud 

 at their houses as to have amounted to some thousands of 

 their little handfuls; and when any mixture of grass or 

 straw has appeared in it, it has been, most assuredly, mere 

 chance, owing to the nature of the ground from which 

 rtiey had taken it. As to their designedly making a 

 composition for that purpose, it is entirely void of 

 truth. 



" It is a great piece of policy in those animals, to cover, 

 or plaister as it is usually called, the outside of their houses 

 every fall with fresh mud, and as late as possible in the 

 autumn, even when the frost becomes pretty severe; as 

 by this means it soon freezes as hard as a stone, and pre- 

 vents their common enemy, the quiquehatch, from dis- 

 turbing them during the winter. And as they are fre- 

 quently seen to walk over their work, and sometimes to 

 give a flap with their tail, particularly when plunging into 

 the water, this has, without doubt, given rise to the vulgar 

 opinion that they use their tails as a trowel, with wbich 

 they plaister their houses; whereas that flapping of the 

 tail is no more than a custom, which they always pre- 

 serve even when they become tame and domestic, and 

 more particularly so when they are startled. 



" Their food chiefly consists of a large root, {niiphar 

 Luteum,) something resembling a cabbage stalk, which 

 grows at the bottom of the lakes and rivers. They eat 

 also the bark of trees, particularly that of the poplar, birch, 

 and willow; but the ice preventing them from getting to 

 the land in winter, they have not any barks to feed upon 

 during that season, except that of such sticks as they cut 

 down in summer, and throw into the water opposite the 

 doors of their houses; and as they generally eat a great 

 deal, the roots above mentioned constitute a chief part of 

 their food during the winter. In summer they vary their 

 diet, by eating various kinds of herbage, and such berries 

 as grow near their haunts during that season. 



"When the ice breaks up in the spring, the beaver al- 

 ways leave their houses, and rove about the whole sum- 

 mer, probably in search of a more commodious situation; 

 but in case of not succeeding in their endeavours, they 

 return again to their old habitations a little before the fall 



was observed several times to come pretty near the labour- 

 ers, as if to examine what passed. As I apprehended that 

 they might run into the woods if further disturbed, I ad- 

 vised my companions again to conceal themselves. 



" One of the Beavers then ventured to go upon the 

 breach, after having several times approached and returned 

 like a spy. He surveyed the place, and then struck four 

 blows, as he did the preceding evening, with his tail. One 

 of those that were going to work, passed close by me; and 

 as I wanted a specimen to examine, I shot him. The noise 

 of the gun made them scamper off with greater speed than 

 a hundred blows of the tail of their overseer could have 

 done. By firing at them several times afterwards, thej r 

 were compelled to run with precipitation into the woods. 

 I then examined their habitations, and under one of the 

 houses I found fifteen pieces of wood, with the bark in 

 part gnawed off, apparently intended for food. Round 

 the middle of this house, which formed a passage for 

 them to go in and out at, I found no less than fifteen 

 different cells. These habitations were made by posts 

 fixed slantingly upwards to a point; and in the middle 

 was the floor, resting firmly on notches in the posts." — Da. 

 Pratz. 



"It seems difficult for a traveller to publish his adven- 

 tures without mentioning the Castor, or Beaver, even though 

 his travels may have been limited to Africa, where this ani- 

 mal is not to be found. I should wish to avoid repetitions, 

 but I do not distinctly recollect any thing that has been 

 stated by these ingenious gentlemen on the subject, or 

 even what Buffon wrote about it in his closet. I will 

 communicate to you only what I have m}"self actually 

 seen, and been from good authority informed of, respect- 

 ing these astonishing creatures. If I mention circum- 

 stances which others have narrated before me, you may 

 consider it as affording additional evidence of what you 

 were previously acquainted with; and if what I advance 

 be new, you will, I hope, give me credit for adding to your 

 information. 



" A small river flows into the lake on the western side. 

 The Beavers have barricadoed the mouth of it by a dike, 

 completed in a manner which would not disgrace a corps 

 of engineers; the water is thus kept back, and forms a 

 pond, in which they have erected their habitations. It 

 is proper to notice that the river in question is never dried 

 up, as otherwise they would not have fixed upon it for 

 their purpose. 



"The stakes fixed in the earth, and the trunks of trees 

 which are laid across them, are of considerable thickness 



