ing the walls and plastering the chimney.

"On the seventh day, we all rested from our labour. We did so because
it was Sunday. We had resolved ever to keep the Sabbath. Though the
eyes of men could not see us--which I fear is too often the reason for
observing the sacred day--we knew that the eye of God was upon us, even
in that remote valley.

"We rose as early as usual, and after eating our breakfast, the Bible
was brought forth, and we offered--the only sacrifice to Him
acceptable--the sacrifice of our humble prayers. Mary had been busy
during the week, and our little ones were dressed out, as if for a
holiday. Taking them along with us, we all walked down to the lake and
some distance around its edge. We saw that the beavers had been as busy
in building as we; and already their cone-shaped dwellings appeared
above the water--some of them near the shore, and others upon the little
islets. There was only one which we could reach, and this we examined
with great curiosity. It stood only a few yards from the shore, but at
a place where the water was deep on its front side. It was nearly
cone-shaped, or rather the form of a bee-hive; and was constructed out
of stones, sticks and mud mixed with grass. Part of it was under water,
but although we could not look into the interior, we knew that there was
an upper story above water-mark--for we saw the ends of the joists that
supported the second floor. The entrance was toward the centre of the
lake and under the water--so that in going out of and into his house,
the beaver is always under the necessity of making a dive. But he does
not mind that, as it seems to be rather a pleasure to him than an
inconvenience. There was no entrance toward the land, as we had often
heard. Indeed, it would be bad policy in the beaver, thus to make a
door by which his enemy, the wolverene, could easily get in and destroy
him. The houses were all plastered over with mud, which, by the
flapping of the tails and the constant paddling of the broad web-feet,
had become as smooth as if the mud had been laid on with a trowel. We
knew that they were also plastered inside, so as to render them warm and
commodious in winter.

"Some of these dwellings were not regular cones, but rather of an oval
shape; and sometimes two were placed, as it were, `under one roof,' so
as to steady them in the water, and save labour in the building. They
were all pretty large--many of them rising the heig