THE BEAVER. 163 
of large trees sometimes cut down in a season, it would 
appear that the performance of this operation cannot 
occupy a very considerable time. As soon as the tree 
is felled they commence lopping off' its branches, which, 
as well as the smaller trunks, they cut into lengths, 
according to their weight and thickness. These are 
dragged in their mouths, and sometimes on their shoul- 
ders, to the water-side, where they are thrown into the 
stream, and towed with the current to their destination. 
Exactly the same materials are employed in the con- 
struction of their habitations. These are built either 
immediately beneath the bank, or, if the pool be shallow, 
at some little distance from it. They begin by hollow- 
ing out the bottom, throwing up the mud and stones 
around it, and intermingling them with such sticks as 
they can procure. The walls having been thus raised 
to a sufficient height, the house is covered in with a 
roof in the shape of a dome, generally emerging about 
four feet, but sometimes as much as six or seven, from 
the water. The entrance is made beneath a projection 
which advances several feet into the stream with a 
regular descent, terminating at least three feet below 
the surface to guard against its being frozen up. This 
is called by the hunters the angle, and a single dwelling 
is sometimes furnished with two or more. Near the 
entrance, and on the outside of their houses, the Beavers 
store up the branches of trees, the bark of which forms 
their chief subsistence during the winter; and these 
magazines are sometimes so large as to rise above the 
surface of the water, and to contain more than a cart- 
load of provisions. 
In all these operations there appears to be no other 
concert or combination among the Beavers than that 
which results from a common instinct impelling them 
to the performance of a common task. The assertion 
M 2 
