Beavers are natives of North America, and more particularly the north of Canada. They are also found in Europe, and were formerly abundant in many places. Their houses are constructed with earth, stones, and sticks, neatly arranged and worked together by their paws. The walls are about two feet thick, and are surmounted by a kind of dome, which generally rises about four feet above them. The entrance is on one side, always at least three feet below the surface of the water, so as to prevent it being frozen up. The number of Beavers in each house is from two to four old ones, and about twice as many young. When Beavers form a new settlement, they build their houses in the summer; and then lay in their winter provisions, which consist principally of bark and the tender branches of trees, cut into certain lengths, and piled in heaps on the outside of their habitation, and always under the water; though sometimes the heap is so large as to rise above the surface. One of these heaps will occasionally contain more than a cart-load of bark, young wood, and the roots of the water-lily. Beavers are hunted for the sake of their skins, which are covered with long hairs, and a short thick fur beneath, which is used in making hats, after the long hairs have been destroyed. A great many stories have long been believed respecting the Beaver, on the authority of a French gentleman who had resided a long time in North America; but it is now ascertained that the greater part of them are false. The house of the Beaver is not divided into rooms, but consists of only one apartment; and the animals do not use their tails either as a trowel or a sledge, but only as an assistance in swimming. Some years ago a Beaver was brought to this country from America, that had been quite tamed by the sailors, and was called Bunney. When he arrived in England, he was made quite a pet of, and used to lie on the hearth-rug in his master’s library. One day he found out the housemaid’s closet, and his building propensities began immediately to display themselves. He seized a large sweeping brush, and dragged it along with his teeth to a room where he found the door open: he afterwards laid hold of a warming-pan in the same manner; and having laid the handles across, he filled up the walls of the angle made by the brushes with the wall, with hand-brushes, baskets, boots, books, towels, and anything he could lay hold of. As his walls grew high, he would often sit propped up by his tail (with which he supported himself admirably), to look at what he had done; and if the disposition of any of his building materials did not satisfy him, he would pull part of his work down, and lay it again more evenly. It was astonishing how well he managed to arrange the incongruous materials he had chosen, and how cleverly he contrived to remove them, sometimes carrying them between his right fore-paw and his chin, sometimes dragging them with his teeth, and sometimes pushing them