BEAVER. 
there, he does not pretend that he ever beheld 
them at work. The truth appears to be, that 
they are, at present, like the Jews, a dispersed 
race all over the known world. 
The Beaver is found, in Europe, from Lap- 
land to Languedoc; is very plentiful in the 
North; and abounds in the Asiatic part of the 
Russian empire: but it is prodigiouslv most 
numerous in the northern parts of America. 
The skins are a great article of trade, being 
the foundation of the hat-manufactory. Up- 
wards of fifty thousand Beaver skins have been 
sold in England, by the Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany, at a single sale. They are distinguished 
by the different names of Coat Beaver, Parch- 
ment Beaver, and Stage Beaver. The first are 
the most valuable, being those skins which 
have had the long rough hair worn off by the 
Indians ; the next receives it's name from the 
resemblance which it bears to parchment on 
the under side; and the last, which is least es- 
teemed, is what the Indians kill out of season, 
in their stages, or journies. Though we sup- 
ply Russia with many Beaver skins, the Rus- 
sian Castoreum is the best, and five times 
dearer than any other. 
