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completely repaired. One of the Beavers then struck two blows with his tail, and instantly they all took to the water without any noise, and disappeared." M. du Pratz and his companions afterwards retired to their hut to rest, and did not again disturb the animals till the next day. In the morning, however, they went to the dam, to see its construction; for which purpose it was necessary that they should cut part of it down. The depression of the water in consequence of this, together with the noise they made, roused the Beavers again. The animals seemed much agitated; and one of them, in particular, was observed several times to approach the labourers, as if to examine what passed. As M. du Pratz apprehended that they might run into the woods if further disturbed, he advised his companions again to conceal themselves.

"One of the Beavers," continues our narrator," then ventured to go upon the breach, after having several times approached and returned like a spy. He surveyed the place, and struck four times, as he had done the preceding evening, with his tail. One of those that were going to work, passed close by me; and as I wanted a specimen to examine, I shot him. The noise of the gun made all the rest scamper off with greater speed than a hundred blows of the tail of the overseer could have done." By firing at them several times afterwards, the animals were compelled to run with precipitation into the woods. M. du Pratz then examined their habitations. Under one of the houses he found fifteen pieces of wood, with the bark in part gnawed off, apparently intended for food. And, round the middle of this house, which formed a passage for the Beavers to go in and out at, he observed no fewer than fifteen different cells. The Beaver is common in Canada and in Languedoc, and may be classed among amphibious animals.

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A SINGULAR genus of animals, partaking of the nature of both quadrupeds and birds, appears to be the link which unites these two classes together. The common Bat is much like a mouse, except that he has leathern wings, that will support him in the air for the space of about an hour, after which he must cling to some wall or stump of a tree, to rest himself. Like other quadru peds, the Bat is viviparous; she brings forth from two to five young, and suckles them with her two teats, which, as in the human species, are placed very high on the breast. The eddies and circumvolutions of the Bat's flight around the romantic ruins of some old castle or abbey, on a beautiful summer evening, are amusing to the imagination, and accord perfectly with the melancholy mood of the mind in such places and at such an hour. This creature lives not long, and the most part of its life, short as it is, is wasted in laziness and sleep; it passes the whole winter in a dormant state, and even in summer never ventures out but in a fine and warm evening, being much afraid of being caught in the rain. It is very harmless, and destroys a great quantity of gnats, moths, and other troublesome and noxious insects.

Mr. White, in his Natural History of Selborne, gives the following account of a tame Bat:-" It would take flies," says he, "out of a person's hand. If any thing were given it to eat, it brought its wings round before the mouth, hovering and hiding its head, in the manner of birds of prey when they feed. The adroitness it showed in shearing off the wings of flies, which it rejected, was worthy of observation, and pleased me much. Insects seemed to be most acceptable, though it did not refuse raw flesh when offered; so that the notion of bats going down chimneys and gnawing bacon, seems no improbable story. While I amused myself with this wonderful quadruped, I saw it several times confute the vulgar opinion that Bats, when down on a flat surface, cannot get on the wing again, by rising with great ease from the floor. It ran, I observed, with more dispatch than I was aware of, but in a most grotesque and ridiculous manner."

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THIS amphibious quadruped lives with equal ease in the depth of the seas and on land; he is a link between the inhabitants of the water and the animals that feed on the shore, and may be considered as belonging to

both in the uninterrupted chain of natural beings. The Walrus, improperly denominated "Seacow," is of a very considerable size, being sometimes eighteen feet in length, and twelve in circumference at the thickest part. He has two large tusks in the upper jaw; they are inverted, the points nearly uniting, and sometimes exceed twenty-four inches in length: the use which the animal makes of them is not easily explained, unless they help him to climb up the mountains of ice, among which he takes his abode, as the parrot employs his beak to get upon his perch. However, they are equal for durability and whiteness to those of the elephant, and, keeping their colour much longer, are preferred by dentists to replace, in the mouth of the fair, what age or accidents have destroyed.

The Walrus is common in some of the northern seas, and often attacks a boat full of men. He is a gregarious animal, and shows a great deal of boldness and intrepidity when wounded. They are often found in herds, sleeping and snoring on the icy shores, and when alarmed they precipitate themselves into the water with great bustle and trepidation. They feed on shellfish and sea weeds, and yield a sort of oil equal in goodness to that of the whale. The white bear is its greatest enemy. In the combats between these animals, the Walrus is said to be generally victorious, on account of the desperate wounds it inflicts with its teeth.

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But who the various nations can declare,
That plough with busy wing the peopled air?
These cleave the crumbling bark for insect food,
Those dip the crooked beak in kindred blood;
Some haunt the rushy moor, the lonely woods;
Some bathe their silver plumage in the floods;
Some fly to man, his household gods implore,
And gather round his hospitable door,
Wait the known call, and find protection there
From all the lesser tyrants of the air.
The tawny Eagle seats his callow brood

High on the cliff, and feasts his young with blood.

BARBAULD.

THIS bird seems to enjoy a kind of supremacy over the rest of the inhabitants of the air. The mythologists placed him at the side of Jupiter, and intrusted to

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