SWIMMERS CONCLUDED 



The beginning usually appears to be the most 

 difficult part of the job, as they begin at the bottom 

 of the stream, and, owing to the buoyancy of the 

 water, probably find considerable difficulty in 

 holding themselves down to their work; for they 

 keep rising to the surface, to all appearances com- 

 pletely exhausted, and float about on the water 

 puffing like toy steam-launches, sometimes rest- 

 ing their chins on any support that offers, — a 

 low-growing alder branch, or the root of a tree, or 

 else they climb ashore to dry their fur in the air. 



As the work progresses, they come up less 

 frequently, until at last you might watch for 

 hours and only see the loose earth and muddy 

 water pushed out of the hole and swept away by 

 the current. The hole is continued high up into 

 the bank, beyond the reach of ordinary freshets, 

 where it ends in a chamber filled with soft grass 

 and rushes. Several burrows often branch off 

 from this chamber, and as a general thing all their 

 openings are under water, those higher up in the 



