"or fix Feet in length; and fometimes more, in "proportion to the Afcent of the Slope: They drive "the Extremity of these very near each other into "the Earth, and take care to interlace them with "other Stakes more flender and fupple. But as the "Water, without fome Prevention, would glide "through the Cavities, and leave the Refervoir "dry, they have recourse to a Clay, which they cc presently know how to procure, and with it they "close up all the Interstices both within and with"out; and this intirely prevents all Evacuation; "they continue to raise the Dyke proportionable to "the Water's Elevation and Plenty. They are "likewise very fenfible, that their Materials are not "fo eafily transported by Land as by Water, and "therefore take the Opportunity of its Increase, to "fwim with Mortar placed on their Tails, and "Stakes of Wood between their Teeth, to every "Place where they have occafion for thofe Ma❝terials. If the Violence of the Water, or the "Foot-steps of Hunters, who pass over their Work, "damage it in any degree, they immediately repair "the Fracture, vifit all the Edifice, and with inde"fatigable Application, refit and adjust whatever "happens to be difconcerted; but when they are "too frequently perfecuted by the Hunters, they only "work in the Night, or else discontinue their La"bours.

When the Caufey or Dyke is completed, they "begin to form their Cells, which are round or oval "Apartments, divided into three Partitions, raised one above another; the firft is funk below the Level " of the Dyke, and generally full of Water; the other

66

❝ two

two are formed above it. They raise this Struc"ture in a very folid Manner, on the Edge of their "Caufey, and always in Stories, that in cafe the "Water should ascend, they may remove to a higher "Situation; if they find any little 'Ifland near the "Reservoir, they fix the Dwelling there, which is "then more folid, and they lefs incommoded with "the Water, in which they are capable of continuing "but a fhort Time; but if they are not favoured " with this Advantage, they drive Stakes into the "Earth with their Teeth, to fortify the Building "against the Winds and Water. At the Bottom "they ftrike out two Openings to the Stream; one "conducts them to the Place where they bathe, and "which they always keep very decent; the other is "a Paffage to that Quarter, where they carry out 66 every thing that would foil or rot the upper Apart❝ments. There is a third Aperture much higher, "calculated to prevent their being fhut up, when the

Ice has clofed the Openings into the lower Lodg"ments. They fometimes build their House intirely "on the dry Land, and fink Ditches five or fix Feet

- 66

deep, in order to defcend to the Water. They 66 employ the fame Materials and Industry in the "Structure of their Dwelling, as they use for their Causey. The Walls of the Building are perpendi"cular, and two Feet thick. As their Teeth are 66 more ferviceable than Saws, they cut off all the Pro"jections from the Wood, that stand out beyond the "Perpendicular of the Wall, after which they work 66 up a Mixture of Clay and dry Glass, into a kind of "Mortar, with which, by the Aid of their Tails, "they rough-caft the Out and Infides of the Work.

"The Edifice is vaulted within, like the Handle "of a Basket, and generally rifes in an oval Figure. "The Dimenfions are proportioned to the Number "of the intended Inhabitants. Twelve Feet in "Length, and ten in Breadth, are sufficient for eight "or ten Beavers; if the Number increases, they in"large the Place accordingly. It has been afferted "for a Truth, that there have been found above "four hundred of these Creatures, in different "Lodgments, communicating with one another. "But these popular Societies are very rare, because "they are too unmanageable and tumultuous, and "the Beavers are generally better acquainted with "their own Interests. They affociate to the Num"ber of ten or a dozen, and sometimes a few more: "They are a Set of amicable and fagacious Inhabi"tants, in whofe mutual Society they may propofe "to spend the Winter together in a very agreeable "Manner; they are gifted with a natural Arith"metic, which enables them to proportion the Place "and Provifions to the Neceffities of the Company; "and as it is customary for every Individual to con"tinue in the conftant Poffeffion of his own Cell, "they never charge themselves with unneceffary Ex(6 pences for any accidental Guefts.

"There are fome Beavers, called Terours, who "make their Abode in Caverns dug in a rifing "Ground, either on the Shore, or at fome Dif"tance from the Water, to which they fcoop out "fubterranean Trenches from their Caverns, which "defcend from ten to an hundred Feet in Depth. "Thefe Trenches furnish them with Retreats, fitu❝ated at unequal Heights, and wherein they enjoy a

"Shelter

"Shelter from the Water when it afcends. Their "Beds are made of Chips, which serve them instead "of a Quilt; and of Grafs, which accommodates "them in the Nature of a Feather-bed.

"All these Works, especially in the cold Regions,

are completed in August or September; after which "Period, they furnish themselves with Provifions. "During the Summer Season they regale themselves "with all the Fruits and Plants the Country pro"duces. In the Winter they eat the Wood of the "Afh, the Plane, and other Trees, which they steep "in Water, in Quantities proportionable to their "neceffary Consumption; and they are fupplied with "a double Stomach, to facilitate the Digeftion of "fuch a folid Food, at two Operations. They cut "Twigs, from three to fix Feet in Length; the "large ones are conveyed by feveral Beavers to the "Magazine, and the fmaller by a fingle Animal: "But they take different Ways, each Individual has "his Walk affigned him, to prevent the Labourers "from being interrupted by their mutual Occafions. "The Dimensions of their Pile of Timber are re"gulated in proportion to the Number of the In"habitants; and it has been obferved, that the Pro❝ vifion of Wood for ten Beavers, comprehended "thirty Feet in a fquare Surface, and ten in Thick"nefs. Thefe Parcels of Wood are not piled up in "one continued Heap, but laid crofs one another, "with Interstices between them, that they may the "better draw out what Quantity they want, and

always take the Parcel at the Bottom, which lies "in the Water: They cut this Wood into fmall "Particles, and convey it to their Cells, where the

<< whole

whole Family come to receive their particular "Share. Sometimes they expatiate in the Woods, "and regale their Young with a new Collation. "The Hunters, who are fenfible that thefe Crea"tures love green Wood better than old, place a "Parcel of the former about their Lodge, and "then have several Devices to enfnare them. When "the Winter grows fevere, they fometimes break the "Ice; and when the Beavers come to the Opening, "for the Benefit of the Air, they kill them with "Hatchets, or make a large Aperture in the Ice, "and cover it with a very ftrong Net, and then "overturn the Lodge; upon which, the Beavers, "who think to escape in their usual Way, by flying "to the Water, and emerging at the Hole in the "Ice, fall into the Snare, and are taken.”

Among the Birds, let us take a View of the different Tribes of those which are particularly called Birds of Paffage, who pafs in great Bodies or Flocks from one Climate to another; fome feeking for a cold, others a hot, others a temperate Region: Such particularly, as Quails, Swallows, Wild Ducks, Plovers, Woodcocks, and Cranes *. In the Spring, the Quails pafs from Africa into Europe, to find a more tolerable and moderate Summer than they could enjoy in the Country from whence they came. ward the Close of Autumn, they return over the Mediterranean, to obtain in Barbary and Egypt a gentle Heat, correfpondent to the Climates they abandoned, when the Sun was on the other Side of the

To

Spectacle de la Nature, Dial. 11. p. 48, 49, 50.

Equator.