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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,.