24 > COMMON BEAVEE, 
frequented the river Tievi, in Cardiganshire, and 
that they had, from the Welsh., a name, signifying 
the broad-tailed animals * y Their skins were 
valued by the laws of Howel Dda, in the tenth 
century, at the great sum of a hundred and twenty 
pence each ; and they seem to have constituted the 
chief finery and luxury of those days. 
The general length of the beaver is about three 
feet. The tail is oval, nearly afoot long, and 
compressed horizontally, but rising into a con- 
vexity on its upper surface ; it is perfectly desti- 
tute of hair, except at the base, and is marked out 
into scaly divisions, like the skin of a fish. The 
hair is very line, smooth, glossy, and of a chesnut 
colour, varying sometimes to black ; and instances 
have occured, in which these animals have been 
found white,, cream-coloured, or spotted. The 
ears are short, and almost hidden in the fur. 
Like birds, it has but one and the same vent for 
the emission of its excrements and its urine ; a 
strange peculiarity, but which anatomists leave us 
ilo room to doubt of. 
The beavers begin to assemble about the months 
of June and July, to form a society that is to 
continue for the greatest part of the year. They 
arrive in numbers from every side, and generally 
form a company of^above two hundred. The 
place of meeting is commonly the place where 
they fix their abode, and this is always by the side 
of some lake, or river. If it be a lake in which 
the waters are always upon a level, they dispense 
with building a dam ; but if it be a running 
stream, which is subject to Hoods and falls, they 
then set about building a dam, or pier, that crosses 
the river, so that it forms a dead water in that part 
which lies above and below. This dam, or pier, 
is often fourscore or a hundred feet long, and ten 
or twelve feet thick at the base. If we compare 
