Travels in North America. 43 



to do, and every Thing is done without Confufion, and with fo 

 much Order as can never be fufficiently admired. Perhaps, after 

 all, we are fo much allonifhed but for Want of looking up to that 

 Supreme Intelligence, who makes Ufe of thefe Beings, who 

 want Reafon, the better to difplay his Wifdom and Power, and 

 to makes us know that our Reafon itfelf is frequently, by our 

 Prefumption, the Caufe of our going aftray. 



The firll Thing that is done by thefe Creatures^ when they want 

 to make a Habitation, is, to aflemble themfelves : Shall I fay in 

 Tribes or Societies ? Itfhall be what you pleafe : But there are 

 fometimes three or four hundred together, making a Tovvn^ which 

 might be called a little Venice, (a) At firft they chufe a Place were 

 they may find Plenty of Provilions, and Materials for their build- 

 ing : Above all, they muft have Water. If there is no Lake 

 or Pond near, they fupply the Defed, by flopping the Courfe 

 of fome Brook or Rivulet, by the Means of a Dyke ; or, as they 

 call it here, a Caufey. For this End they go and cut dov/n fome 

 Trees above the Place where they intend to build : Three or 

 four Beavers fet themfelves about a great Tree, and cut it down, 

 with their Teeth. This is not all : They take their Meafures 

 fo well, that it always falls on the Side towards the Water, that 

 they m.ay have the lefs Way to carry it when they have cut it 

 to Pieces ; as they are fenfible their Materials are not fo eafily 

 tranfported by Land as by Water. They have nothing to do 

 after, but to roll thefe Pieces into the Water, and guide them 

 to the Place where they are to be fixed. Thefe Pieces are thicker 

 or thinner, longer or Ihorter, as the Nature and Situation of the 

 Place require; for one would fay that thefe Architects conceive at 

 once every Thing that relates to their Defign. Sometimes they 

 employ large Trunks of Trees, which they lay flat : Sometimes 

 the Caufey is made only of Stakes ; fome as thick as a Man's 

 Thigh, or lefs ; which they drive into the Earth very near each 

 other, and interweave with fmall Branches ; and everywhere the 

 hollow Spaces are filled up with Clay fo well applied, that not 

 a Drop of Water can pafs through. It is with their Pav/s that 

 the Beavers prepare the Clay ; and their Tail does not only 

 ferve them for a Trowel to build with, but for a Hod to carry 

 this Mortar. To place and fpread this Clay, they firft make 

 Ufe of their Paws, then their Tail. The Foundation of the 

 Dams are generally ten or tv/elve Feet thick ; but they decreafe 

 in Thicknefs upwards : So that a Dam which is twelve Feet 

 thick at the Bottom, is not above two at the Top. All this is 

 done in exaél Proportion, and, as one may fay, according to the 

 Rules of Art ; for it is obferved, that the Side towards the Cur- 



(a) The City of Venice is built in the midft of Waters, 



G 2 rent 



