1 08 Some New Voyages 



the hind-Head, to the root of the Tail. 5 Tis a- 

 bout three Foot and eight Inches round, its Head 

 is feven Inches long, and fix broad j its Tail is four- 

 teen Inches long, and fix broad, and about the mid- 

 dle it has the thicknefs of an Inch and two lines. 

 The figure of the Tail is Oval ; the Scale with which 

 *>is covered, and which performs the Office of what 

 the Phyficians call the Epidermis or Scarf-skin, is an 

 irregular Hexagon. The Beaver carries upon its 

 Tail the Clay, the Earth and other Materials of 

 which they make their Banks and Kennels, or Hutes, 

 by a wonderful Inftind:. Its Ears are fhort, round 

 and hollow; its Legs are five Inches long, its Feet fix 

 Inches and eight Lines, and its Paws are three Inches 

 and a half from the Heel to the end of the great Toe. 

 Ic^ paws are form'd much like a Man's Hand, and 

 they make ufe of 'em in feeding, as Apes do. The 

 five Toes are joyn'd like thofe of aDuck v with a 

 Membrane of a Slate-colour. Its Eyes are of the lef- 

 fer fize, in proportion to the bulk of its Body, and 

 Ixar the figure of a Rats Eyes. Before its Muzzle 

 there are four Fore- Teeth or Cutters, viz. two in 

 each }aw^ as in a Rabbet, befides which it has fix- 

 teen Grinders, that is, eight in the upper, and as 

 many in the lower Mandible. The Cutters are a- 

 bove an inch long, and ^of an Inch broad, being 

 very ftrong and {harp like a Curias; for a Beaver 

 affifted by its Affociates, ( if I may fo call its fellow 

 Beavers ) cuts down Trees as big as* a Hogfhead ; 

 which I could never have believ'd, if I had not ob- 

 ferv'd with my own Eyes, above twenty Trunks of 

 Trees cut down in that fafhion. A Beaver has two 

 lays of Hair j one is long, and of a fhining black 

 colour, with a grain as big as that of Mans Hair ; 

 the other is fine and fmooch, and in Winter fifteen 

 lines long : In a word, the laft is the fineft Down 

 in the World. The Skin of fuch a Beaver as I have 

 now defcrib'd, will fee two pound weight; but the 



