The beaver (ammisk) furnish the staple fur of the country.
Many
surprising stories have been told of the sagacity with which this animal
suits the form of its habitation, retreats, and dam, to local
circumstances; and I compared the account of its manners given by Cuvier
in his Regne Animal with the reports of the Indians and found them to
agree exactly. They have been often seen in the act of constructing their
houses in the moonlight nights, and the observers agree that the stones,
wood, or other materials are carried in their teeth and generally leaning
against the shoulder. When they have placed it to their mind they turn
round and give it a smart blow with their flat tail. In the act of diving
they give a similar stroke to the surface of the water. They keep their
provision of wood under water in front of the house. Their favourite food
is the bark of the aspen, birch and willow; they also eat the alder, but
seldom touch any of the pine tribe unless from necessity; they are fond
of the large roots of the Nuphar lutea, and grow fat upon it but it gives
their flesh a strong rancid taste. In the season of love their call
resembles a groan, that of the male being the hoarsest, but the voice of
the young is exactly like the cry of a child. They are very playful as
the following anecdote will show:
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