bottom to the top of the leap, to the great astonishment of the
beholders. The church dedicated to St. Ludoc, {135} 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; {136} 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