Eastern times., 1854-09-28

with his sons, sons-ln-law, VILE, daughters
and daughters-in-law, and it may be grand
children, sallies forth prospecting the coun-
easy navigation, and having an abundant sup
ply of their favorite food, the silver birch and
poplar. growing as near the river as possible.
Having selected these 'limits, the next step
is to place their dwelling so as to command
the greatest amount Of food. For this pur-
pose they 60 as far below the supplies as the
character of the stream will permit. A pond
Of deep, still water being an indispensable ad-
Junct to their dwelling, this is obtained by the
construction of dam, and few engineers
could select site to produce the desired re-
suit SO efficiently and economically. The
dam and dwelling are forthwith commenced,
the materials employed in both being sticks,
roots, mud and stones-the two former being
dragged by the teeth, and the latter carried be-
tween the fore paws and the chin.
If the dam is extensive, whole trees are
gnawed down, the largest of which are of the
diameter of an ordinary stove-pipe, the stump
being left standing about eighteen inches
from the ground, and pointed like crayon.
Those trees which stand upon the bank Of the
stream they contrive to fall into the water as
cleverly as the most experienced woodsman
those which are more distant are cut up by
their teeth into pieces, which can be dragged
to the water. These trees and branches are
fioated down to the dam, where they are
dragged ashore and placed so that the tops
shall be borne down by the current, and thus
arrest the descending detr1tus, and form
strong and tight DAM Critical parts are
built up by hand,' the sticks and mud, when
placed, receiving smart blow from the bea-
ver's tail, just as bricklayer settles his
work with the handle Of his trowel. The
habitatiOn or hut of the beaver is almost bomb
proof, rising like dome from the ground on
the margin Of the pond, and sometimes six or
eight feet in thickness on the crown The
only entrance is from level of three or four
feet under the water Of the pond. These pre-
cautions are necessary, because, like all en-
terprising animals, the beaver is not without
enemies.
The wolverine, who is as fond of beaver
tail as an old Norwester, would walk into
his hut if he could only get there but having
the same distaste for water as the cat, he must
forego the luxury. 1t is not, however, for
safety that the beaver adopts the submarine
communication with his dwelling, though it is
for that he restricts himself to it, The same
necessity which compels him to build dam,
and thus create pond of water, obliges him
to maintain communication with that pond
when the ice is three feet thick upon its sur
face. Living upon the bark of trees, he is
obliged to provide great bulk for his win
ter's consumption and he must secure it at
the season when the new bark is formed, and
before it commences too dry he must also
store it up in place where it will not become
frozen or dried up. He could not reasonably
be expected to build frost-proof house large
enough to contain his family but if he did,
it would wither and lose its nutriment,- there
fore he preserves his food in water.
But the most remarkable evidence of his in
stinct, sagacity or reason, is one which have
not seen mentioned by naturalists. His pond
we have seen, must be deep, so that it will
not freeze to the bottom, and so that he can
communicate with his food and his dam, in
case of any accident to the latter requiring re-
pairs. But how does he keep his food-which
has been foated down to this pond-from
floating when in it, and thus becoming frozen
in with the ice! said that in gnawing down
a tree the top of the stump is left pointed, like
crayon. The fallen tree has the same form !;
for the beaver cuts like woodman, wide at
the surface and meeting at an angle in the
centre, with this distinction-the four-legged
animal does his work more uniformly, cutting
equally all round the log, while the two
legged one cuts only from two opposite sides
Thus every stick Of provender cut by the
animal is pointed at both ends, and when
brought opposite his dwelling he thrusts the
pointed ends into the mud bottom of his pond
sufficiently firm to prevent their being feated
out, at the same time placing them in posi-
tion in which the water has the least lift upon
them, while he carefully apportions the diff
ferent lengths Of timber to the different depths
of water in his pond. SO that the upper point
Of none of them shall approach near enough to
the surface to be caught BY the winter ice.
When the family are in comfortable cir
cumstances-the winter supply cut and nicely
stored away, the tight dam, and no indications
of wolverine in the neighborhood, the pa
triarch of the hut takes out the youthful green
horns to give them lessons in Typographical
engineering and, in order to try the strength
OF their tails encourages them to indulge in
amateur damming. The beaver works always
by night, and to 'work like beaver is a
significant term for a man who not only works
earnestly and understandingly, but one who
works early and late.
As the supply Of food in the vicinity Of the
dam becomes diminished, the beaver is Obliged
to 60 higher up the stream and more distant
from its banks, to procure his winter stores
and this necessity gives rise to fresh displays
Of his numbering and engineering qualities
In consequence Of the distance and the limited
duration of the high water period favorable to