Its power of abstinence is very remarkable, and the strength of its feet so great, that whatever it seizes on cannot possibly be freed from its claws. One that had fastened itself to a pole, and was so suspended across two beams, is said to have remained forty days without meat, drink, or sleep. Being taken from the pole, a dog was let loose at it; but, after some time, the Sloth seized his enemy with his claws, and held him four days, till both perished with hunger.

The Unau is a branch of the same family. The flesh of both kinds is eaten by the inhabitants of South America and of the island of Ceylon, and has not a disagreeable taste.

NATURE seems to have been singularly careful in the preservation of this animal, for she has surrounded him with a coat of armour, to defend him from his enemies. When closely pursued, he turns himself, withdraws his head under the shell, and assumes the shape of a ball; if he be near a precipice, he rolls from one rock to another, and escapes without receiving any injury. The shell, which covers the whole of the body, is composed of several scales, very hard, and of a square shape, united by a kind of cartilaginous

substance, which gives flexibility to the whole. The Manis and Pangolin seem to approach the character of this genus, and all of them to be a link between the quadrupeds and the lizards. They live chiefly on ants and other small insects.

Is an amphibious animal, and pursues his prey much swifter in the water than on land. He is less than a beaver, and resembles him in most parts, except the tail. He is of a brown chestnut colour; the tail is short, and like that of some dogs. Though he lives, as we may say, in the water, yet he is forced to come often to the surface to breathe. Fish are his prey; he catches them with great dexterity, and hoards them up in his den, on the banks of rivers, to such a quantity that the smell becomes soon very offensive, and often betrays the retirement of the owner. When the icy hand of winter has locked up the ponds and rivers, the Otter, reduced to famine, is obliged to change his diet, and feeds upon fruit, roots, and bark of trees. At the great banquet which Nature has spread on the surface of the globe, affluence alone creates superciliousness, and when it fails, hunger seasons every food; and, except a few classes, which are doomed to the use of

one particular nourishment, most of the brute creation know then how to supply the want of appropriate aliment. An Otter may be tamed, and taught to catch fish enough to sustain not only himself but a whole family. Goldsmith states that he saw an Otter go to a gentleman's pond at the word of command, drive the fish into a corner, and seize upon the largest of the whole, bring it off, and give it to his master.

Bewick, in his History of Quadrupeds, states, that a person of the name of Collins, who lived at Kilmerston, near Wooler, in Northumberland, had a tame Otter, which followed him wherever he went. He frequently took it to fish in the river; and, when satiated, it never failed to return to him. One day, in the absence of Collins, the Otter, being taken out to fish by his son, instead of returning as usual, refused to come at the accustomed call, and was lost. The father tried every means in his power to recover the animal; and, after several days' search, being near the place where his son had lost it, and calling it by name, to his inexpressible joy it came creeping to his feet, and showed many marks of affection and attachment.

Is a most industrious creature, and well known for his skill in building apartments for himself and his family, on the banks of narrow rivers, where he watches the

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passing fish, which he brings out of the water, to devour at pleasure. His work begins with cutting a tree that bends over the stream, by its fall to create a mole or dyke, in order to keep the water at the same height: it is said that in the performance of these buildings every one knows his proper business and station; and that they set overseers to beat and punish the idle, and teach or direct the inexperienced young ones. Beaver is about the size of the badger; his head short, his ears round and small, his two fore teeth long, sharp, and strong, well calculated for the business which Nature has destined him to. The tail of this creature answers the double purpose of a wheelbarrow, to carry the mortar and clay, and of a trowel, to beat and shape it. It is of an oval form, and covered with a scaly skin.

The houses are constructed, with the utmost ingenuity, of earth, stones, and sticks, cemented together, and plastered in the inside with surprising neatness. The walls are about two feet thick; and the floors so much higher than the surface of the water, as always to prevent them from being flooded. Some of the houses have only one floor; others have three. The number of Beavers in each house is from two to thirty. These sleep on the floor, which is strewed with leaves and moss; and each individual is said to have its own place. When they form a new settlement, the animals begin to build their houses in the summer; and it costs them a whole season to finish the work, and lay in their winter provisions: these consist principally of bark and the tender branches of trees, cut into certain lengths, and piled in heaps under the water. The houses have each no more than one opening, which is under the surface of the water, and always below the thickness of the ice. By this means they are secured from the effects of frost.

In one of his excursions into the northern parts of

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Louisiana, M. du Pratz (who resided sixteen years in that country) gives us an account of a colony of Beavers, to many of whose operations he was himself a witness. At the head of one of the rivers of Louisiana, in a very retired place, M. du Pratz found a Beaver-dam. Not far from it, but hidden from the sight of the animals, he and his companions erected a hut, in order to watch the operations of these creatures at leisure. They waited till the moon shone bright, and then, carrying in their hands branches of trees, in order to conceal themselves, they went with great care and silence to the dam. M. du Pratz ordered one of the men to cut, as silently as possible, a gutter, about a foot wide, through it, and to retire immediately to the hiding-place. "As soon as the water through the gutter began to make a noise,” says this writer, we heard a Beaver come from one of the huts and plunge in. We saw him get upon the bank, and clearly perceived that he examined it. He then, with all his force, gave four distinct blows with his tail, when immediately the whole colony threw themselves into the water and went to the dam. As soon as they were assembled, one of them appeared, by muttering, to issue some kind of orders, for they all instantly left the place and went out on the banks of the pond in different directions. Those nearest to us were between our station and the dam, and therefore we could observe their operations very plainly. Some of them formed a substance resembling a kind of mortar; others carried this on their tails, which served as sledges for the purpose. I observed that they ranged themselves two and two, and that each animal of every couple loaded his fellow. They trailed the mortar, which was pretty stiff, quite to the dam, where others were stationed to take it; these put it into the gutter, and rammed it down with blows of their tails. noise of the water soon ceased, and the breach was

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