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labors are still standing; securely, and
in many instances serve instead of
bridges to the streams they obstruct.
There are few states in the Union in
which some remembrance of this ani
mal is not preserved by such names
as Beaver-Dam, Beaver-Lake, Beaver
Falls, $c.
The dwellings of the beaver are
formed of the same materials as their
dams, and are very rude, though
strong, and adapted in size to the num
ber of their inhabitants. These are
seldom more than four old, and six or
eight young ones. Double that num
ber have been occasionally found in
one of the lodges, though this is by no
means a very common occurrence.
When building their houses, they
place most of the wood crosswise and
nearly horizontally, observing no oth
er order than that of leaving a cavi
ty in the middle. Branches which
project inward arc cut o(T with their
teeth and thrown among the rest.—
The houses are by no means built of
sticks first and then plastered, but all
the materials, sticks,mud and stones,
if the latter can be procured, are mix
ed up together, and this composition
is employd from the foundation to the
summit. The mud is obtained from
the adjacent banks or bottom of the
stream or pond near the door of the
hut. Mud and stones the beaver al
ways carries by holding them between
his fore paws and throat.
Their work is all performed at
night, and with much expedition.—
When straw or grass is mingled with
the mud used by them in building, it
is an accidental circumstance, owing
to the nature of the spot whence the
latter was taken. As soon as any part
of the material is placed where it is
intended to remain, they turn round
and give it a smart blow with the tail.
Ti*e same sort of blow is struck by
them upon the surface of the water
when they are in the act of diving
The outside of the hut is covered or
plastered with mud late in the autumn
and after frost has begun to appear.—
By freezing it soon becomes almost as
hard as stone, effectually excluding
their great enemy, the wolverene,
during the winter. Their habit of
walking over the work frequently du
ring its progress, has led to the ab
surd idea of their using the tail as a
trowel. The habit of (lapping with
the tail is retained by them in a state
of captivity, and, unless it be in the
acts already mentioned, appears de
signed to effect no particular purpose.
The houses, when they have stood for
some time, and been kept in repair,
become so firm from the consolidation
of all the materials, as to require
great exertion and the use of the ice-
chisel or other iron instruments to be
broken open. The laborious nature
of such an undertaking may easily be
conceived, when it is known that
the tops of the houses are generally
from four to six feet thick at the a-
pex of the cone. Heaine relates
having seen one instance in which the
crown or roof of the hut was more
than eight feet in thickness.
The door or hole leading into the
beaver-hut is always on the side far
thest from the land, and is near the
foundation of the house, or at a con
siderable depth under water. This is
the only opening into the hut.
The large houses are sometimes
found to have projections of the main
building thrown out, the better to sup
port the roof, and this circumstance
led to all the stories of the different
chambers or apartments in beaver-
huts. But these larger edifices, so
far from having several apartments,
are either double or treble houses,
each part having no communication
with the other, except by water.—
Upwards of twelve such dwellings
have been seen under one roof, and,
excepting two or three of them, the
whole of the remainder had no com
munication unless by water, each hav
ing its own door into the dam, which
is doubtless well known to the inmates,
who may have comparatively little
intercourse with each other. It is a
fact that the muskrat is sometimes
found to have taken up his abode in
the huts of the beaver; the otter also
occasionally intrudes his company.—
The latter animal, however, is a dan
gerous guest, for if provisions grow
scarce, it is not uncommon for him to
devour his host.
The northern Indians believe that
the beaver always thicken the north
ern walls of their houses much more
than the others, in order more effec
tually to resist the cold. In conse
quence of this belief, these Indians al
ways break into the huts from tho
south side.
All the beavers of a community do
not co-operate in the fabrication of
houses for the common use of the
whole. Those which are to live to
gether in the same hut, labour togeth
er in its construction, and the only af
fair in which all seem to have a joint
interest, and upon which they labour
in concert, is the dam, as this is de
signed to keep a sufficient depth of
water around all the habitations.
In situations where the beaver is
frequently disturbed and pursued all
its singular habits are relinquished,
and its mode of living changed to suit
the nature of circumstances, and this
occurs even in different parts of the
same rivers. Instead of building dams
and houses, its only residence is then
in the banks of the stream, where it is
now forced to make a more extensive
excavation, and be content to adopt
the manners of a musk-rat. More sa
gacity is displayed by the beaver in
thus accommodating itself to circum
stances, than in acy other action it
performs. Such is the caution which
it exercises to guard against detec
tion, that were it not for the removal
of small trees, the stumps of which in
dicate the sort of animal by which
they have been cut down, the pres
ence of the beaver would not be sus
pected in the vicinity. All excur
sions for the sake of procuring food
are made late at night, and if it pass
from one hole to another during the
day time, it swims so far under water,
as not to excite the least suspicion of
the presence of such a voyager. On
many parts of the Mississippi and Mis
souri, where the beaver formerly built
houses according to the mode above
described, no such works are at pres
ent to be found, although beaver are
still to be trapped in those localities.
The same circumstances have been
remarked of the European beaver,
which has been thought to belong to
another species, because it does not
build. This, however, as may readi
ly be inferred from what we have just
stated, is no test of difference of spe
cies.
These animals also have excavations
in the adjacent banks, at rather re
gular distances from each other, which
have been called washes. These exca
vations are so enlarged within, that the
beaver can raise his head above water
in order to breathe without being seen,
and when disturbed at their huts,
they immediately make way under wa
ter to these washes for great
er security, where they are more rea
dily taken by the hunters, as we shall
presently discover.
The beaver feeds principally upon
the bark of the aspen, willow, birch,
•plar. and occasionally the alder, but
rarely resorts to the pine tribe, un
less from severe necessity. They
provide a stock of wood from the trees
mentioned, during the summer sea
son, and place it in the water opposite
the entrance to their houses. They
also depend in a great degree upon the
large roots (of the'nuphar luteum,)
which grow at the bottom of the lakes,
ponds, and rivers, and may be procur
ed at all seasons. It is remarked that
these roots, although they fatten the
beaver very much, impart a rank and
disagraeeable taste to their flesh.
The number of young produced by
the beaver at a litter is from two to
five. Like the young of most other
animals they are very playful, ami
their movements are peculiarly inte
resting, as may be seen by the follow
ing anecdote, related in the narrative
of Capt. Franklin’s perilous journey to
the shores of the Arctic Sea.—“One
day a gentleman long resident in the
Hudson’s bay country, espied five
young beavers sporting in the water,
leaping upon the trunk of a tree, push
ing one another off, and playing a
thousand interesting tricks. He ap
proached softly under cover of the
bushes, and prepared to fire on the
unsuspecting creatures, but a nearer
approach discovered to him such a si
militude betwixt their gestures and
the infantile caresses of his own chil
dren, that he threw aside his gun and
left them unmolested.’
The beaver swims to considerable
distances under \tfater, but cannot re
main for a long time without coming
to the surface for air. They are
therefore caught with greater ease,
as they must either take refuge in
their vaults or washes in the bank, or
seek their huts again for the sake of
getting breath. They usually, when
disturbed, fly from the huts to these
vaults, which although not so exposed
to observation as their houses, are
yet discovered with sufficient ease,
and allow the occupant to be more
readily captured than if he had re
mained in the ordinary habitation.
To capture beavers residing on a
small river or creek, the Indians find
it necessary to stake the streams a-
cross to prevent the animal from es
caping, and then they try to ascertain
where the vaults or washes in the
banks are situated. This can only be
done by those vfho are very experienc
ed in such explorations, and is thus
performed: The hunter is furnished
with an ice-chisel lashed to a handle
four or five feet in length; with this in
strument he strikes against the ice as
he goes along Ihe edge of the banks.—
The sound pioduced by the blow in
forms him when he is opposite to one
of these vaults. When one is discov
ered, a hole/ is cut through the ice of
sufficient sijfe to admit a full grourn
beaver, and ^ie search is continued un
til as many cf the places of retreat are
discovered ai possible.—During the
time the mosl expert hunters are thus
occupied, the others with the women
are busy in ireakiug into the beaver
houses, which, as may be supposed,
from what has been already stated, is
a task of some difficulty. The bea
vers, alarmed at the invasion of their
dwelling, take to the water and swim
with surprising swiftness to their re
treats in the banks, but their entrance
is betrayed to the hunters watching
the holes in the |ce, by the motion
and discoloration of the water. The
entrance is instantly closed with
stakes of woo4 and the beaver in
stead of finding /shelter in his cave, is
rrvde prisonerjand destroyed. The
hunter then puls the animal out, if
within reach, py the introduction of
his hand and aim, or by a hook design
ed for this use', fastened to a long han
dle. Beaver-houses found in lakes,
and other standii^ waters, offer an ea
sier prey to the punters, as there is no
occasion for staking the water across.
Among the Hudson’s Bay Indians
every hunter has the exclusive right
to all the beavers caught in the wash
es discovered by him. Each individ
ual on finding one, places some mark,
as a pole or the branch of a tree stuck
up, in order to know his own. Bea
vers caught in any house are also the
property of the discoverer, who takes
care to mark his claim, as in the case
of the washes.*
The number of beavers killed in the
northern parts of this country is ex
ceedingly great, even at the present
time, after the fur trade has been car
ried on for so many years, and the
most indiscriminate warfare waged
uninterruptedly against the species.—
In the year 1820, 60,000 beaver skins
were sold by the Hudson’s Bay Com
pany, which we can by no means sup
pose to be the whole number killed
during the preceding season. If to
these be added the quantities collect
ed by the traders from the Indians of
the Missouri country, we may form
some idea of the immense number of
these animals which exist throughout
the vast regions of the North and West.
It is a subject of regret that an ani
mal so valuable and prolific should be
hunted in a manner tending so evident
ly to the extermination of the species,
when a little care and management on
the part of those interested might pre
vent unnecessary destruction, and in
crease the sources of their revenue.
The old beavers are killed w'ithin a
short time of their littering season,
and with every such from three to six
are destroyed. The young are often
killed before they have attained half
their growth and value, and of necesi-
ty long before they have contributed to
the continuance tff their species. In a
comparatively speaking, the beaver
has been exterminated in all the At
lantic, and in the western States as
far as the middle and upper waters
of the Missouri; while in the Hudson’s
Bay possessions they are becoming an
nually more scarce, and the race will
eventually be extinguished throughout
the whole continent. A few individ
uals may, for a time, elude the im
mediate violence of persecution, and
like the degraded descendants of the
aboriginals of the soil, be occasionally
exhibited as melancholy mementos of
tribes long previously whelmed in the
fathomless gulf of avarice.
The Indians inhabiting the countries
*Lrwis and Clark relate an instance
which fell under their observation, of one
beaver being caught in two traps belonging
to different owners, it having one paw in
each. The proprietors of the traps were
engaged in a contest for the beaver, when
the above named distinguished travellers
arrived, and settled the dispute between
them by an equitable arrangement.
watered by the tributaries of the Mis
souri and Mississippi, take the beavers
principally by trapping, and are gen
erally supplied with steel-traps by
the traders, who do not sell, but lend
or hire them, in order to keep the In
dians dependent upon themselves, and
also to lay claim to the furs which
they may procure. The name of the
trader being stamped on the trap, it is
equai to a certificate of enlistment,
and indicates, when an Indian carries
his furs to another trading establish
ment; that the individual wishes to a-
void the payment of his debts. The
business of trapping requires great ex
perience and caution, as the senses of
the beaver are very keen, and enable
him to detect the recent presence of
the hunter by the slightest traces. Is
is necessary that the hands should be
washed clean before the trap is hand
led and baited, and that every precau
tion should be employed to elude the
vigilance of the animal.
The bait which is used to entice
the beavers is prepared from the sub
stance called castor (castorcum) ob
tained from the glandulous pouches of
the male animal, which contain some
times from two to three ounces.—The
substance is called by the hunters
bark-stone, and is squeezed gently in
to an open mouthed phial.
The contents of five or six of these
castor bags are mixed with a nutmeg,
twelve or fifteen cloves, and thirty
grains of cinnamon, in fine powder,
and then the whole is stirred up with
as much whiskey as will give it the
consistency of mustard prepared for
the table. This mixture must be
kept closely corked up, and in four or
five days the odour becomes more
powerful; with care it may be pre
served for months without injury.—
Various other strong aromatics are
sometimes used to increase the pun
gency of the odour. Some of this pre
paration, smeared on the bits of wood
with which the traps are baited, will
entice the beaver from a great dis
tance.
During the winter season the beaver
becomes very fat, and its flesh is es
teemed by the hunters to be excellent
food. But those occasionally caught
in the summer are very thin and unfit
for the table. They lead so wander
ing a life at this season, and are so
much exhausted by the collection of
materials for building, or the winter’s
stock of provision, as well as by suck
ling their young, as to be generally at
that time in a very poor condition.—
Their fur during the summer is of lit
tle value, and it is only in winter that
it is to be obtained in that state which
renders it so desirable to fur traders.
The different appearances of the
fur, caused by age, season, or acci
dent, have at times led individuals to
state the existence of several species
of beaver in this country. No other
species, however, has yet been dis
covered, but that whose habit9 we
have been describing.—Beavers are
occasionally found nearly of a pure
white, which is owing to the same
cause that produces albino varieties
of various animals. A specimen of
the albino beaver may be seen in the
Philadelphia Museum. Hearne saw
but one such specimen during a resi
dence of twenty years in the Hudson’s
bay country. This was considered a
great curiosity, and no other was af
terwards procured there during the
ten ensuing years, notwithstanding he
offered a large reword to the Indians
for as many of the same color as they
could procure.
The traits of character exhibited by
heaver in captivity are not 1 resy strik
ingly peculiar, though sufficiently in
teresting. It learns to obey the voice
of its master, is pleased to be cares
sed, and cleanly in its habits. Hearne
states that he has kept various individ
uals about his honse, during his resi
dence at Hudson’s bay, and remarks,
‘ they made not the least dirt, though
they were kept in my own sitting room
where they were the constant com
panions of the Indian women and chil
dren, being so fond of their company
that when the Indians were absent for
any considerable time, the beaver dis
covered great signs of uneasiness, and
on their return showed equal marks of
pleasure by fondling on them, crawling
into their laps, laying themselves on
their backs, sitting erect like a squir
rel, and behaving to them like chil
dren that see their parents but sel
dom.” In general during the winter
they lived upon the same food as the
women did, and were remarkably
fond of rice and plum-pudding. They
would eat fresh venison and pat ridges
very freely, but I never tried them
with fish, though I have heard the?|
will at times prey on them.f ■ ™
fit is well known that our domestic p 0 nL
try will eat animal food; thousands of geei
that come to London market are fattened I
on tallow scraps, and our horses in Hud I
son's Bay would not only eat all kinds nil
animal food, but also drink freely of h.|
wash or pot-liquor intended for the hoes I
We are assured by the best authoriti*
that in Iceland not only black cattle, bm
also the sheep, are almost entirely fed on I
lish and fish-bones during the winter sea I
son. Even in the isles of Orkney, anil
that in the summer the sheep attend the eb-|
bmg of the tide as regularly as the Esqui.l
maux curlew, and go down to the shorel
which the tide has left to feed on the sea-
weed. This, however, is through necensi-
ty, for even the famous island of Pomona
will not afford them an existence above
high water markHearne, 8vo. p. 245.!
It must always be borne in mind that observ-.
ationsmade on the diet of captive animals
will not at all apply to them when thev are
free to follow the dictates of nature. 'It is,
however, highly interesting, to know hoiv
far they can accommodate themselves to
necessity.
From the Charleston Observer.
Mr. Editor—Not long since my
attention was arrested by reading the
following lines mi Eternity, in a dis
course delivered nearly a half century
ago. The writer’s text was Matt.
25c. 41 v. “Then shall he say unto
them on the left hand, depart from me,
ye cursed, into everlasting fire, pre
pared for the devil and his angels.”—
After describing the curse under which
the finally impenitent will hereafter be
shut up, their misery, the punishment
of loss, and of sense in hell, their sorie-
ty that of devils, he considers the E-
ternity of the whole. With the hope,
Mr. Editor, (should you think them
worthy of a place in your interesting
paper,) that they will meet the eye,
and arrest the attention, of some of
your readers, and lead them to reflect,
as it did the writer of these remarks,
on that eternal state before them, and
especially if impenitent, on the eternity
of misery to which they are exposed,
they are copied for the Observer.
ETERNITY.
“ If I could,” says the writer “I
would shew you what eternity is—I
mean the creature’s eternity. But
who can measure the waters of the
ocean, or who can tell you the days,
years, and ages of eternity, which are
infinitely more than the drops of the
ocean! None can comprehend eterni
ty, but the eternal God. Eternity is
an ocean whereof we will never see
the shore: it is a deep where we can
find no bottom; a labyrinth from
whence we cannot extricate ourselves,
and where we shall ever lose the door.
There are two things one rtiay say of
it. (1) It has a beginning. God’s e-
ternity has no beginning, but the crea
ture’s eternity has. Sometime there
was no lake of fire; and those who
have been there for some thousands of
years, were once, in time, as we now
are. But (2) it shall never have an
end. The first who entered into the
eternity of wo, is as far from the end
of it, as the last who shall go thither,
will he at his entry. They who have
launched out furthest into that ocean,
are as far from land, as they were the
first moment they went into it: and
thousands of ages after this, they will
be as far from it as ever. Wherefore,
eternity, which is before us, is a dura
tion that hath a beginning, but no end.
After millions of years past in it, still
it is a beginning. God’s wrath in hell
will ever be the wrath to come. But
there is no middle in eternity—when
millions of ages are past in eternity,
what is past bears no proportion of
what is to come; no not so much as
one drop of water falling from the tip
of one’s finger, bears to all the waters
of the ocean. There is no end of it:
while God is, it shall be. It is an en
try without an outgate, a continual
succession of ages, a glass always run
ning which shall never run out.
“Observe the continual succession
of hours, days, and months, and years,
how one still follows upon another, and
think of eternity, wherein there is a
continual succession without end.—*
When you see a water running, think
how. vain a thing it would be, to sit
down by it, and wait till it should run
out, that you may pass over—look how
new water still succeeds to that which
passeth by you, and therein you will
have an image of eternity, which is a 1
river that never dries up. They who
wears rings, have an image of eterni
ty on their fingers; and they who han
dle the wheel have an emblem of eter
nity before them: for to which part
soever of the ring or wheel one looks,
one will still sec another beyond it.—
’When you look to a mountain, imaging
in yonr hearts, how long would it be,.