BEAVER — LODGES. 
369 
of the pond or trench, with the exception of the opening at 
their ends. At the places where they were constructed through 
the floor they were finished with neatness and precision ; the 
upper parts and sides forming an arch more or less regular, 
while the bottom and floor edges were formed with firm and 
compacted earth, in which small sticks were embedded. It is 
diflic alt to realise the artistic appearance of some of these 
entrances without actual inspection. 
Upon the floor of the lodge there is constructed a 
house of sticks, brushwood, and mud, in the form of a 
circular or oval chamber, the size of which varies with the 
age of the lodge; for by a continuous process of repair 
(which consists in removing the decayed sticks, &c., from 
the interior and working them up with new material upon 
the exterior) the whole lodge progressively increases in 
size : eventually in this way the interior chamber may 
attain a diameter of seven or eight feet. 
The 4 bank lodges 5 are of two kinds : — 
One is situated upon the bank of the stream or pond, a few 
feet back from its ed^e, and entered by an underground passage 
from the bed of the stream, excavated through the natural earth 
up into the chamber. The other is situated upon the edge of 
the bank, a portion of it projecting over and resting upon the 
bed of the channel, so as to have the floor of the chamber rest 
upon the bank as upon solid ground, while the external wall 
on the pond side projects beyond it, and is built up from the 
bottom of the pond. 
Lastly, the 4 lake lodges 5 are constructed on the shores 
of lakes, which, being usually shelving and hard, require 
some further variation in the structure of the lodges. 
These, therefore, are of interest 4 as illustrations of the 
capacity of the beavers to vary the mode of construction 
of their lodges in accordance with the changes of situa- 
tion. 5 One-half or two-thirds of the lodge is in this case 
4 built out upon the lake for the obvious purpose of 
covering the entrance, as well as for its extension into 
deep water.’ 
All these forms of lodge are, historically regarded , 
modified burrows. 
