Having completed their dam, they proceed to con struct their cabins. These are partly excavations in ; the ground, though their roofs form a sort of vault ed. dome, that rises a little above the surface. They are formed of the same materials as the dams, but, according to Mr Hearne, they by no means exhibit that •neatness and architectural skill for which they have been celebrated by Buffon and other French wri ters. Mr Hearne assures us, that the houses have sel dom more than one apartment, and never more than one floor, which is raised in the middle, to allow of the inhabitants eating and sleeping in a dry situation. entrance and outlet to these houses is next the water, on the very edge of which they are constructed; and the opening always slopes towards the water, till it terminates so far below its surface, as to _,preserve a free communication in the most se vere frosts. Some writers affirm, that this is the on ly opening to the house ; but as the animals cannot live without free air, we must assent to those who describe another, though smaller, opening next the land. The houses are of various sizes, in proportion to the number of their inhabitants, which seldom ex ceeds ten or twelve, though sometimes double that number has been discovered in the same dwelling. Many of these houses stand together along the mar. gin of the water, forming a village of from ten to .thirty tenements.
During the latter end of summer, the beavers cut down their wood, and collect their roots. The for mer is kept in the water, whence they fetch it as oc casion may require. In eating, they sit on their rump like a squirrel, with their tail doubled in be tween their hind legs, and holding their food be tween their paws. When disturbed, they utter a peculiar cry, and plunge into the water, flapping the ground and the water with their tail. This flap
ping of the tail, which is a very common custom with these animals, is considered by some writers as a premeditated signal to their associates.
Beavers are hunted both for their fur, which is very soft and glossy, and for that peculiar drug called Castor, which is not an organ peculiar to the male, as was once supposed, but a particular secreted mat ter, contained in little bags below the tail, and found in both sexes. (See CASTOR.) Winter is the season chosen by the hunters for attacking the settlements of their prey. They either block up the openings next the water with stakes, and enlarge the other opening so far as to admit their dogs ; or they drain off the water by breaking down the dam, and then, securing the holes of the cabins by means of nets, lay them open at the top, and catch the beavers as they endeavour to escape.
Many thousand beaver skins are annually brought to market; and we are told, that not fewer than fifty four thousand have been disposed of by the Hud son's-bay Company at one sale. Those skins are said to be in most esteem which have been worn fo'r some time by the Indians, as the coarse long hair falls off by use, and there is left only the short soft down for which alone the furs are valued.
The fullest account of the manners and habits of the beaver has been given by Buffon in his Natural _History of Quadrupeds, and Du Pratz, in his His tory of Louisiana ; but for the most accurate history of this animal, we may refer our readers to Captain Cartwright's Journal of Transactions, 4c. on the Coast of Labrador, and Mr Hearne's Journey to the Northern Ocean. (f )