Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1849-01-27

FURTHER PASSAGES FROM RuxToN's ADvEN-
TuREs IN MExIco AND THE ROCKY
MOUNTAINS.
BEAVER AND BEAVER TRAPPERS IN THE
ROCKY MOUNTAINS.

| BEAVER AND BEAVER TRAPPERS IN THE
| ROCKY MOUNTAINS.
BEAVER has SO deprecated in value with
in the last few years, thas trapping has al
most been abandoned; the price paid for
the skin Of this valuable animal having fall
len from six and eight dollars per pound to
! o:.e .e dollar, which hardly pays the expen-
ses o. traps, animals, anu r:::ent tor the
hunt, and is certainly no adequate remit
neration for the incredible hardships, toll,
and danger, which are undergone by the
hardy trappers in the course of their adven-
turous expeditions. The cause of the great
decrease in value of beaver fur is the sub
stitute which has been found for ii in skins
of the fur-seal and nutria-the improved
| preparation of other skins Of little value,
such as the hare aud rabbit-and, more
than all, in the use of silk in the manufac-
ture of hats, which has in a great measure
superseded that of the beaver. Thus the
course of the trapper is levelled against all
the new-fashioned materials of Paris hats
and the light and (h)airy gossamer of
twelve-and-six is anathemised in the noun
tains in way which would be highly dis
tressing to the feelings of Messrs. Jupp and
johnson, and other artists in the ventila-
ting-gossamer line. ....... ...... .............
Thanks to the Innovation, however, a
little breathng-time has been allowed the
prosecuted castor; and this valuable fur
bearing animal, which otherwise would, in
the course of a few years, have become ex-
tinct, has nova chance of multiplying, and
will in short time again become abund-
ant; for, although not very prolific ami
NAL, the beaver has perhaps, fewer natural
enemies than any other of the ,fera nature,
and being at the same time wise and care
fnl one, provides against all contingencies
of cold and hunger, which in northern cli-
mates carry off so large proportion of their
| brother beasts.
| The beaver was once found in every part
| OF North America from Canada to the Gulf
! of Mexico, but has now gradually retired
from the encroacbments and the persecu-
tions of civilized man, and is met with only
| in the far, Far West, on the tributaries of
the great rivers, and the streams which
water the mountain-valleys in the great
chain of the Rocky Mountains. On the
waters of the Platte and Arkansas they are
still numerous, and within the last two
years have increased considerably in num-
bers: but the best trapping-ground now is
on the streams running through the Bayou
Salado, and the Old and New Parks, all of
which are elevated mountain valleys.
The habits OF the beaver present quite
study to the naturalist, and they are GER
talnly the most sagaciously instructive of
all qradrupeds. Their dams affords les
son to the engineer, their houses study
for the architect of comfortable abodes,
while their indefatigable and unremitting
labor industry are models TO be followed by
the working man. The lodge Of the bea-
yer is generally excavated in the stream,
the entrance being invariably under water
but not unfrequently, where the banks are
flat, they construct lodges in the stream it,
self, of conical form, of limbs and branches
OF trees woven together and cemented with
mud. For the purpose Of forming dams,
for the necessary timber for their lodges, or
for the bark which they store for their win
ter's supply of food, the beaver often fells
a tree eight or ten inches in diameter,
throwing it, with the skill of an expert
woodsman, in any direction he pleases, al.
ways selecting tree above stream, in or
der that the logs NAV be carried down with
it to their destination. The log is then
chopped into small lengths, and, pushing
them into the water, the beaver steers them
to the lodge or dam. These trees are a:
cleanly cut as they could be by a sharp AK
the gouging furrows made by the animals
strong teeth cutting into the very centre o.
the trunk, the notch being as smooth a!
sawed wood.
With his broad tail which is twelve oil
fourteen inches long, and about four il
breadth, and covered with thick scaly
skin, the beaver plasters his lodge, thus ma
king it perform all the Offices of hand
They say that, when the beavers tail be
comes dry, the animal dies, but, whethe
this is the case or not, have myself seeI
the beaver when at work return TO the wa
ter and plunge his tail into the stream, ant
then resume his labor with renewed vigor
and have also seen them, with their bodie
on the bank, humping the water with thei
|. tails with most comical perseverance.
| AHc icNhaie eeiuoiii PIouuCcs iioic tuai
three kittens at birth, but know an in
stance where one was killed with young
having no less than eleven in her. The,
live to a considerable age, and once at
The tail Of an old "man". beaver whose hea'
was perfectly gray with age, and his bear
was of the same venerable hue, notwith
standing which his tail was as tender as
young racoon. The kittens are as playful
as their namesakes of the feline race, and
ishighly amtising to see an old one witt
grotesque gravity melting her young II
J gambol about her, while she herself is en-
gagged about some household work.
The nufrias of Mexico are identical will
the beavers of the northern parts of Nortl
5 America, species Of seal, or, as ! hav
heard it described, a hybrid between tn
seal and the beaver, is called nufria-quit
a distinct animal, however, from the Mexi
can nutria. s.
y The trappers Of the Rocky Mountain
= belong to s.genus'' more approyimatino L