OF THE RIVER TEIVI, CARDIGAN, AND EMELYN
THE noble river Teivi flows here, and abounds with the finest salmon,
more than any other river of Wales; it has a productive fishery near
Cilgerran, which is situated on the summit of a rock, at a place called
Canarch Mawr, {105b} the ancient residence of St. Ludoc, where the river,
falling from a great height, forms a cataract, which the salmon ascend,
by leaping from the bottom to the top of a rock, which is about the
height of the longest spear, and would appear wonderful, were it not the
nature of that species of fish to leap: hence they have received the name
of salmon, from _salio_. Their particular manner of leaping (as I have
specified in my Topography of Ireland) is thus: fish of this kind,
naturally swimming against the course of the river (for as birds fly
against the wind, so do fish swim against the stream), on meeting with
any sudden obstacle, bend their tail towards their mouth, and sometimes,
in order to give a greater power to their leap, they press it with their
mouth, and suddenly freeing themselves from this circular form, they
spring with great force (like a bow let loose) from the bottom to the top
of the leap, to the great astonishment of the beholders. The church
dedicated to St. Ludoc, {106a} the mill, bridge, salmon leap, an orchard
with a delightful garden, all stand together on a small plot of ground.
The Teivi has another singular particularity, being the only river in
Wales, or even in England, which has beavers; {106b} in Scotland they are
said to be found in one river, but are very scarce. I think it not a
useless labour, to insert a few remarks respecting the nature of these
animals—the manner in which they bring their materials from the woods to
the water, and with what skill they connect them in the construction of
their dwellings in the midst of rivers; their means of defence on the
eastern and western sides against hunters; and also concerning their
fish-like tails.
The beavers, in order to construct their castles in the middle of rivers,
make use of the animals of their own species instead of carts, who, by a
wonderful mode of carnage, convey the timber from the woods to the
rivers. Some of them, obeying the dictates of nature, receive on their
bellies the logs of wood cut off by their associates, which they hold
tight with their feet, and thus with transverse pieces placed in their
mouths, are drawn along backwards, with their cargo, by other beavers,
who fasten themselves with their teeth to the raft. The moles use a
similar artifice in clearing out the dirt from the cavities they form by
scraping. In some deep and still corner of the river, the beavers use
such skill in the construction of their habitations, that not a drop of
water can penetrate, or the force of storms shake them; nor do they fear
any violence but that of mankind, nor even that, unless well armed. They
entwine the branches of willows with other wood, and different kinds of
leaves, to the usual height of the water, and having made within-side a
communication from floor to floor, they elevate a kind of stage, or
scaffold, from which they may observe and watch the rising of the waters.
In the course of time, their habitations bear the appearance of a grove
of willow trees, rude and natural without, but artfully constructed
within. This animal can remain in or under water at its pleasure, like
the frog or seal, who shew, by the smoothness or roughness of their
skins, the flux and reflux of the sea. These three animals, therefore,
live indifferently under the water, or in the air, and have short legs,
broad bodies, stubbed tails, and resemble the mole in their corporal
shape. It is worthy of remark, that the beaver has but four teeth, two
above, and two below, which being broad and sharp, cut like a carpenter’s
axe, and as such he uses them. They make excavations and dry hiding
places in the banks near their dwellings, and when they hear the stroke
of the hunter, who with sharp poles endeavours to penetrate them, they
fly as soon as possible to the defence of their castle, having first
blown out the water from the entrance of the hole, and rendered it foul
and muddy by scraping the earth, in order thus artfully to elude the
stratagems of the well-armed hunter, who is watching them from the
opposite banks of the river. When the beaver finds he cannot save
himself from the pursuit of the dogs who follow him, that he may ransom
his body by the sacrifice of a part, he throws away that, which by
natural instinct he knows to be the object sought for, and in the sight
of the hunter castrates himself, from which circumstance he has gained
the name of Castor; and if by chance the dogs should chase an animal
which had been previously castrated, he has the sagacity to run to an
elevated spot, and there lifting up his leg, shews the hunter that the
object of his pursuit is gone. Cicero speaking of them says, “They
ransom themselves by that part of the body, for which they are chiefly
sought.” And Juvenal says,
“—Qui se
Eunuchum ipse facit, cupiens evadere damno
Testiculi.”
And St. Bernard,
“Prodit enim castor proprio de corpore velox
Reddere quas sequitur hostis avarus opes.”
Thus, therefore, in order to preserve his skin, which is sought after in
the west, and the medicinal part of his body, which is coveted in the
east, although he cannot save himself entirely, yet, by a wonderful
instinct and sagacity, he endeavours to avoid the stratagems of his
pursuers. The beavers have broad, short tails, thick, like the palm of a
hand, which they use as a rudder in swimming; and although the rest of
their body is hairy, this part, like that of seals, is without hair, and
smooth; upon which account, in Germany and the arctic regions, where
beavers abound, great and religious persons, in times of fasting, eat the
tails of this fish-like animal, as having both the taste and colour of
fish.
We proceeded on our journey from Cilgerran towards Pont-Stephen, {109a}
leaving Cruc Mawr, _i.e._ the great hill, near Aberteivi, on our left
hand. On this spot Gruffydd, son of Rhys ap Tewdwr, soon after the death
of king Henry I., by a furious onset gained a signal victory against the
English army, which, by the murder of the illustrious Richard de Clare,
near Abergevenny (before related), had lost its leader and chief. {109b}
A tumulus is to be seen on the summit of the aforesaid hill, and the
inhabitants affirm that it will adapt itself to persons of all stature
and that if any armour is left there entire in the evening, it will be
found, according to vulgar tradition, broken to pieces in the morning.