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ACCOUNT OF DANISH#LAPLAND BY LEEMS. 419
of a very large and famous lake, which is faid to be twelve miles in circuit. ‘The fame~
lake, as reported, is of animmenfe and almoft unfathomable depth, and in it are many
aehes pol sees ea : 4
lefler iflands. They fay the tooth of this animal is reddifh, crooked, and almolt
fquared. His tail, by the aid of which he is faid to make a houfe for himfelf, is broad,
rough, and full of feales. The wool, or rather hairs, are fold to the Ruflians in common,
and at a good price ; they purchafe alfo the fkin for the covering their under garment
with. ‘The royal governor of this tract of Sweden, the illuftrious Claudius Gagge, or-
dered by his Majetty’s command, Chriftian the IV. of glorious memory, that as many
beavers’ {kins as could be got, fhould be bought for the ufe of his Majefty. The royal
mandate, proclaimed on this bufinels, is dated the 28th of June 1609. ‘The force and
efficacy of the beaver or caftor oil in various fymptoms, is wonderful, too well known
to practitioners in medicine to be mentioned by me. It is faid to be medicinal for the
internal difeafes of cattle; it is faid to be of fervice in frightening and driving away
whales, to whom its very fmell alone is infufferable; for which reafon fifhermen, ap-
prehenfive of harm from this great fifh, are ever provided with the oil of caftor. The
beaver for this reafon is inftinctively led to build his houfe near the banks of lakes and
rivers. They faw with their teeth birch-trees, with which the building is conftructed.
Whichever of the beavers fupplies the place of the fledge, lies upon his back, with his
feet upwards, whilft his companions put the wood between his feet as he lies down,
and holding it with his teeth, he drags it along to the place deftined for building his
habitation, together with the wood laid upon it. In this manner one piece of timber is
carried after another, where they choofe. ‘Lhofe who fupply the place of the fledge,
are eafily known from the reft by the defect of hair, which is rubbed off by conftant
action all along the back. At the lake or river where their houfe is to be built, they
lay birch ftocks or trunks covered with their bark in the bottom itfelf, and, forming a
foundation, they complete the reft of the building with fo much art and ingenuity as to
excite the admiration of the beholders. The houfe itfelf is of a round and arched figure,
equalling in its circumference the ordinary hut of a Laplander. In this houfe the floor is
for a bed, covered with branches of trees, not in the very bottom, but a little above, near
to the edge of the river or lake; fo that between the foundation and the flooring on
which the dwelling is fupported there is formed as it were a cell, filled with water, in
which the ftocks of the birch-tree are put up, on the bark of this the beaver family
who inhabit this manfion feed. Ift here are more families under one rcof, befides the
faid flooring another refembling the former is built a little above, which you may not
improperly name a fecond ftory in the building. The roof of the dwelling confifts of
branches very clofely compacted, and projects out far over the water. You have now,
reader, a houfe confifting and laid out in a cellar, a flooring, a hypocautt, a cieling, and
a roof, raifed by a brute animal, altogether deftitute of reafon and alfo of the builder’s
art, with no lefs ingenuity than commodioufnefs. This too is an extraordinary inftance
of the Divine wildom and goodnefs, which, in addition to the other inflinctive actions of
brute animals ftraying through their haunts, fhould more excite and actuate us to the
admiration, praife, and adoration of the Divine Being. In the faid cell is an aperture,
which ferves for a door, through which the beavers go in and out. When they are all
abroad, the hunters put a kind of a little faftening on that opening or door, in fuch a
manner, that, on the entrance of the firft beaver, it fhould fall and clofe up the whole
aperture as far as it goes. Thus fhut up, the beaver which is within is hindered from
going out, and is taken. But as to what is hitherto related concerning the beaver and
his manners { have not attained by my own experience, nor could [ learn, becaufe
through that whole diftrict where my duty as a miflionary lay, this animal never once
stay came
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