OF THE POLAR SEA. 179 



They keep their provision of wood under 

 water in front of the house. Their favourite 

 food is the bark of the aspen, birch, and 

 willow ; they also eat the alder, but seldom 

 touch any of the pine tribe unless from 

 necessity ; they are fond of the large roots 

 of the nuphar lutea, and grow fat upon it, 

 but it gives their flesh a strong rancid taste. 

 In the season of love their call resembles a 

 groan, that of the male being the hoarsest, 

 but the voice of the young is exactly like 

 the cry of a child. They are very playful, 

 as the following anecdote will show: — One 

 day a gentleman, long resident in this 

 country, espied five young beavers sporting 

 in the water, leaping upon the trunk of a 

 tree, pushing one another off, and playing a 

 thousand interesting tricks. He approached 

 softly under cover of the bushes, and pre- 

 pared to fire on the unsuspecting creatures, 

 but a nearer approach discovered to him 

 such a similitude betwixt their gestures and 

 the infantile caresses of his own children, 

 that he threw aside his gun. This gentle- 

 man's feelings are to be envied, but few 

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