"When daylight came, the mysterious flood was still standing at its full
height. I call it mysterious, for as yet we knew nothing of what had so
suddenly created it. We could think of no other cause than the falling
in of the precipice below. I had determined, as soon as the day fairly
broke, to make my way through the woods, and remove all doubt--for we
still felt some uneasiness in regard to this strange phenomenon.
"Leaving Cudjo with his long spear, and the boys with their rifles, to
guard the camp, I set forth alone. I took with me my gun, as well as a
small hatchet which we had, to clear away a track through the brushwood.
"I struck at once into the woods, and guiding myself by an occasional
glimpse of the sun that had now risen, I kept on in a south-easterly
course. It was my intention to get out on the edge of the flood some
distance below, when I could then skirt around it. After cutting my way
through the brambles to the distance of nearly a mile, I came suddenly
out upon the bank of the rivulet; and guess my surprise, on seeing that
the stream was not only not swollen, but there was even less water than
usual running in its channel! I noticed, however, that the water was
muddy, and that green leaves and fresh broken twigs were floating down
upon its current.
"Of course, I now turned my face up-stream, knowing that the dam must be
in that direction; but, for my life, I could not imagine how any
accident of Nature could have stopped up the channel above. The falling
of trees could not possibly have produced such an effect; and there were
no high bluffs abutting on the rivulet, that could have fallen into its
bed. I began to believe that human hands had been at work; and I looked
for the prints of human feet. I saw none, but the tracks of animals
were numerous. Thousands of them, at least--great broad feet, webbed
like those of a duck, but with sharp claws--were impressed in the sand
and mud, all along the banks of the stream.
"I moved forward very cautiously; for, although I could not discover
their tracks, I was still fearful that Indians, and of course enemies,
were near. At length, I reached a bend in the stream, above which I
remembered that the channel was narrower, and ran between banks of a
considerable height. I remembered it well--for, on first entering the
valley, we had been obliged at this place to draw the wagon out of the
bed of the rivulet, and cut a way for it through the adjacent woods. No
doubt, then, I would there find the obstacle that had so mysteriously
intercepted the current.
"On reaching this bend, I climbed out upon the bank; and, stealing
silently through the underwood, peeped through the leaves. A most
singular scene was before me.
"The stream, as I had rightly conjectured, was dammed up, at the point
where the channel was narrowest, but not by any accident. The work bore
the marks of design, as much as if it had been constructed by human
hands. A tall tree had been felled across the stream--so that the place
where it had been cut through was not detached from the stump, but still
held fast by its crushed fibres. On the other side its top branches
were buried under rocks and mud, so as to render them secure. Against
this tree upright stakes rested; and these again were wattled together,
and firmly bedded in rocks that had been collected around their lower
ends. Behind these uprights were piled other stakes and branches laid
crosswise, and bound together with layers of rocks and mud--so that the
whole structure formed a wall of full six feet in thickness--broad along
the top, and sloping off toward the water. On the lower side it stood
nearly perpendicular, as the uprights were thus set. The top of this
was plastered with mud, and at both sides was left a narrow sluice, or
wash, through which the water ran smoothly off, without wearing away the
breastwork.
"I have said that the work bore the marks of design, as much as if it
had been constructed by human hands. But it was not. The builders of
that breastwork were before my eyes, and apparently just resting from
their labours.
"There were about an hundred of them in all, squatting over the ground,
and along the parapet of the new-made dam. They were of a dark-brown,
or rather a chestnut colour; and reminded me of so many gigantic rats--
except that their tails were pot elongated and tapering like these.
Their backs, however, were arched, and their bodies of a thick rounded
shape, similar to animals of the rat kind. Moreover, I could perceive
that they were armed with the cutting teeth, which distinguish the
family of the _rodentia_, or `gnawers.' These teeth I could see
distinctly--as some of the animals were using them at the time, and they
even protruded when their mouths were shut. I noticed that there was a
pair of them in each jaw, broad, strong, and shaped like chisels. The
ears of the animals were short, and almost buried in the hair, which
although long was not shaggy, but presented a smooth appearance over all
parts of their bodies. There was a tuft of stiff bristles growing out
on each side of the nose, like the whiskers of a cat; and their eyes
were small, and set high up, like those of the otter. Their fore limbs
were shorter than the hind ones, and both had feet with five claws, but
the hind feet were broad and large, and completely webbed between the
toes. It was they, then, that had made the tracks I had observed in
coming up the stream. But the most striking feature of these animals
was the tail. This appendage was entirely without hair, of a dark
colour, and looking as though it was covered with the well-known
substance shagreen. It was about a foot in length, several inches broad
and thick, and not at all unlike a cricket bat--except that it appeared
heavier and more oval-shaped at the end. The animals were somewhat
larger than otters, not so long, but much thicker and heavier in the
body.
"I had never seen such creatures before, but I knew at once what they
were--for although I had neglected my other studies, natural history had
always been my favourite, and I had made some progress in that. I knew,
then, that the strange beings before me were _beavers_--the _castor
fibre_ of the naturalists.
"The whole mystery was now explained. A colony of beavers had migrated
into the valley, and constructed their dam; and this it was which had
caused the sudden inundation.
"I remained for some time, after I had made the discovery, watching
these creatures and their interesting movements. The breastwork
appeared to be quite finished; but this did not follow from the fact
that the animals were no longer at work upon it, as it is only by night
they perform such labour. In fact, they are rarely seen except by
night, in countries where they have been disturbed or hunted; but here
they were evidently unaccustomed to man. They appeared to be resting
after their night's work, it is not likely that they had built the whole
breastwork during that one night, but had only put on the finishing part
which had produced the sudden flood. As the glade above where they had
dammed the rivulet was nearly level, a very small stoppage in the stream
sufficed to inundate a large extent of ground, as it had actually done.
"Some of the beavers were sitting upon the newly-raised work, gnawing
the leaves and twigs that stuck out from the mud; others were washing
themselves, disporting playfully through the water; while others
squatted upon logs that lay along the edge of the dam, every now and
again flapping their heavy tails upon the water, like so many
laundresses beating out their wet linen.
"It was a curious and comical sight; and, after having enjoyed it for
some time, I was about to step forward to witness what effect my
presence would produce, when, all at once, I perceived that some other
object had created a sudden commotion among the animals. One of them,
who had been stationed upon a log at some distance up the lake, and
apparently acting as a sentry, now ran out upon the log, and struck the
water three quick heavy flaps with his tail. This was evidently a
signal; for, the moment he had given it, the animal, as if pursued,
pitched himself head-foremost into the lake, and disappeared. The rest
started as soon as they heard it; and looking around for a moment, as if
in affright, they all ran to the bank, and plunged simultaneously under
the water--each of them striking a blow with his tail as he disappeared!
"I now looked for the cause of this sudden movement. All at once I
perceived, coming around the lake where the sentry-beaver had
disappeared, a strange-looking animal. It moved slowly and silently,
skulking among the trees, and keeping close in upon the water's edge. I
saw that it was making for the new-built dam, and I remained where I was
to watch it. At length it reached the breastwork, and crawled
cautiously along it, keeping behind the parapet--so as not to be seen
from the lake above.
"I had now a good view of it, and a vicious-looking creature it was. It
was not much larger than one of the beavers themselves; and in some
points not unlike them; but in other respects the difference was marked.
It was of a very different colour--being nearly black upon the back and
belly, while a light brown strip traversed both its sides, meeting over
its rump. Its nose and feet were completely black, while its breast and
throat were white, and a whitish ring was around each of the eyes. It
had small ears, with stiff bristles at the nose, and a short and bushy
tail. The hair over its whole body was long and shaggy. Its legs were
thick and muscular, and so short that, when it moved, its belly seemed
to trail along the ground. It appeared rather to crawl than to walk--
but this arose from the fact of its being an animal of the plantigrade
family; and using its feet to walk upon--which in many other animals,
such as the horse, appear to form part of the legs. With the animal in
question the feet were long, black, and armed with white curving claws.
Its whole appearance was that of a carnivorous creature--in other words,
it was a beast of prey. It was the _Wolverene_, the dreaded enemy of
the beavers.
"On arriving near the middle of the breastwork, it stopped; and,
planting its forefeet up against the parapet, raised its head slowly,
and looked over into the lake.
"Although the beaver is an amphibious animal, and spends full half of
his time in the water, he cannot remain long, without coming to the
surface to take breath; and already the heads of several were seen at
different points in the lake. Others, again, had boldly climbed out on
the little islets which here and there appeared above water, and where
they knew that the wolverene, who is not a good swimmer, could not reach
them. None of them, however, showed any signs of returning to the
breastwork.
"The wolverene seemed also to have arrived at this conclusion; for now--
apparently careless of being seen from the lake--he looked around him on
all sides and above, as if he either intended giving up the pursuit of
his prey, or adopting some more effective measure to secure it. At
length he appeared to have formed some resolution, and leaping boldly up
on the parapet, so as to be seen by the beavers, he walked back again
along the water's edge whence he had come. On getting a good distance
from the breastwork, he stopped for a moment; and then, turning away
from the lake, ran off into the woods.
"I was curious to see whether the beavers would now return to the
breastwork, and I resolved to remain a while longer without showing
myself. I waited about five minutes or more, at the end of which time I
saw several of them--who had gone to the most distant islets--plunge
into the water and come swimming towards me. As I was watching them,
all at once I heard a rustling among the fallen leaves near the dam; and
on looking I perceived the wolverene making all the haste he could
toward the breastwork. On reaching it, however, instead of running out
behind the parapet as before, I saw him plant his long claws against a
tree, and commence climbing upward, keeping on that side farthest from
the lake. The branches of this tree stretched horizontally out, and
directly over the breastwork. In a short time the wolverene had reached
the fork of one of these; and, crawling out upon it, he laid himself
flat along the branch and looked downward.
"He had scarcely settled himself on his perch, when half-a-dozen
beavers--thinking from what they had seen that he must have gone clear
off--climbed out upon the breastwork, flapping their great tails as they
came. They were soon under the very branch, and I saw the wolverene
with his legs erected and ears set for the spring. This was my time;
and glancing up the barrel of my rifle, I aimed directly for his heart.
At the crack, the astonished beavers leaped back into the water, while
the wolverene dropped from his perch--a little sooner, perhaps, than he
had intended--and rolled over the ground evidently wounded. I ran up
and struck at him with the butt-end of my gun, intending to finish him;
but, to my astonishment, the fierce brute seized the stock in his teeth,
and almost tore it in pieces! For some time I hammered him with huge
stones--he all the while endeavouring to lay hold of me with his long
curved claws--and it was not until I got a down-blow at his head with my
axe that the fight was ended. A fearful-looking monster he was as he
lay stretched before me, and not unlike the carcajou which had killed
our ox at the camp, only smaller. I did not attempt to take his carcass
with me, as it was a useless burden. Moreover, from the fetid smell
which he emitted, I was glad to part company as soon as I had killed
him; and, leaving him where he lay, I took the shortest road back to the
camp."