MAMMALIA. GL1R.ES. Beaver. zi} 



chofen be broad, and never rifes above its ordinary level, as in lakes, they make no dam or bank; but, 

 as rivers and brooks are fubjecT: to rife and fall, they build a bank to form a pond, or piece of water, 

 which fhall always remain at the fame height : This embankment traverfcs the river, from iide to 

 fide, like a fluke, and is often from eighty to a hundred feet long, by ten or twelve thick at the bale. 

 They generally choofe a {hallow part of the river for this purpofe, or a brook running through a nar- 

 row flat vale ; if they find a large tree on the bank, which can be made to fall in a proper direction, 

 they begin by cutting it down to form the principal part of their work; and, though often thicker than 

 the body of a man, they gnaw it through with their teeth in a very fhort time, and always contrive 

 to make it fall exactly in the direction belt fitted for their purpofe ; they next cut the branches from 

 the trunk to make it lie level, and, while this is carrying on by one part of the community, others are 

 employed in cutting down fmaller trees of various fizes, from that of a man's leg to the thicknefs of 

 the thigh; thefe they drefs and cut into proper lengths for flakes, then drag them to the edge of the 

 river, and afterwards float them to the place where the work is carrying on. Some are employed to 

 place feveral rows of thefe flakes upright in the line of the embankment, as piles to fupport the freight, 

 while others, diving to the bottom of the water, fcrape holes to receive their lower ends : Thefe piles 

 are interwoven with the fmaller branches to add to the general flrength. This wooden frame is then 

 filled up with earth, which they carry in their mouths, and with their fore feet, to the fpot, where it 

 js beat up Into mortar with their feet and tails, and then rammed into all the intervals of the piles, 

 which, towards the lower part of the river, are fixed in a perpendicular fituation, while thofe above, 

 which have to fupport the immediate weight of the water, are fixed in an oblique direction with their 

 upper extremities pointing downwards. Thus, by a patient continuance of their united and aftonifh- 

 ing labours, they complete their folid embankment, which is ten or twelve feet thick at the bafe, and 

 gradually flopes to the top, where it is reduced to two or three feet. At the top of the bank they 

 leave two or three Hoping {hallow gaps, to allow the furface water to efcape ; and they contract or 

 enlarge thefe according to the quantity of water in the river. 



Having completed the embankment, their next operation is to conftruc~t cabins or houfes, which they 

 perform with the fame wonderful ingenuity by which their dam was accomplifhed : Thefe are built 

 on piles, near the margin of their artificial pond, having two doors or openings, one for going to the 

 land, and the other for getting into the water: The houfes are either round or. oval, being conftruct- 

 ed, like the dam, of piles wattled with branches, and filled up with ftones and prepared earth ; the 

 walls, which are two feet thick, rife perpendicular for feveral feet, and are then regularly arched, like 

 the top of an oven. Sometimes the houfes confift only of one ftorey, fometimes of three or four ; 

 and they are of various fizes, holding from two, to eighteen, twenty, and even thirty individuals; and 

 each village, or community, contains from ten or twelve, to twenty, or even twenty-five, cabins: Each 

 cabin has, in its neighbourhood, a magazine of bark and boughs of trees, for winter provifion, kept 

 conftantly under water. The infides of their houfes are neatly plaftered with mortar, fpread and 

 beaten firmly with their tails, and each individual forms its bed of mofs, or of the tender twigs of box 

 or fir. 



The females bring forth about the end of winter, and continue in the cabins, to nurfe and protect 

 their young, for fome weeks, and then go abroad into the woods: The males leave the cabins as foon 

 as fpring commences, and, during fummer, the/ only make occafional vifits to their winter refidence. 

 Should no accident happen to their embankment, or houfes, they continue difperfed through the 

 whole fummer, and aflemble again in autumn, to repair any inconfiderable breaches, and to lay in 

 their winter ftores. If their dam or cabins have been deftroyed, they collect their whole force early, 



and- 



