MAMMALIA, “109 
gancies, is that given by Hearne; and it agrees so exactly with the information I 
received from the Indian hunters, that were I to record the latter it would appear 
to be borrowed almost entirely from that traveller. I therefore prefer giving it 
in Hearne’s own words. 
*« The beaver being so plentiful, the attention of my companions was chiefly 
engaged on them, as they not only furnished delicious food, but their skins proved 
a valuable acquisition, being a principal article of trade as well as a serviceable one 
for clothing. The situation of the beaver-houses is various. Where the beavers 
are numerous, they are found to inhabit lakes, ponds, and rivers, as well as those 
narrow creeks which connect the numerous lakes with which this country abounds ; 
but the two latter are generally chosen by them when the depth of water and other 
circumstances are suitable, as they have then the advantage of a current to 
convey wood and other necessaries to their habitations, and because in general 
they are more difficult to be taken than those that are built in standing 
water. They always choose those parts that have such a depth of water as 
will resist the frost in winter, and prevent it from freezing to the bottom. 
The beavers that build their houses in small rivers or creeks, im which water 
is liable to be drained off when the back supplies are dried up by the frost, are 
wonderfully taught by instinct to provide against that evil, by making a dam 
quite across the river, at a convenient distance from their houses. The beaver 
dams differ in shape according to the nature of the place in which they are built. 
If the water in the river or creek have but little motion, the dam is almost 
straight ; but when the current is more rapid, it is always made with a con- 
siderable curve, convex toward the stream. ‘The materials made use of are 
drift-wood, green willows, birch, and poplars, if they can be got; also, mud 
and stones intermixed in such a manner as must evidently contribute to the 
strength of the dam; but there is no other order or method observed in the dams, 
except that of the work being carried on with a regular sweep, and all the parts 
being made of equal strength. In places which have been long frequented by 
beavers undisturbed, their dams, by frequent repairing, become a solid bank, 
capable of resisting a great force both of water and ice; and as the willow, 
poplar, and birch generally take root and shoot up, they by degrees form a kind 
of regular planted hedge, which I have seen in some places so tall, that birds 
have built their nests among the branches. 
‘* The beaver-houses are built of the same materials as their dams, and are 
always proportioned in size to the number of inhabitants, which seldom exceeds 
four old, and six or eight young ones; though, by chance, I have seen above 
