part of the work. The earth is brought in their mouths, formed into a kind of mortar with their feet and tails, and this is spread over the intervals between the stakes, saplings and twigs, being occasionally interwoven with the mud and slime.

Where two or three hundred beavers are united, these dams are from six to twelve feet thick at the bottom; at the top, not more than two or three. In that part of the dam which is opposed to the current, the stakes are placed obliquely; but on that side where the water is to fall over, they are placed in a perpendicular direction. These dams are sometimes a hundred feet in length, and always of the exact height which will answer their purposes. The ponds thus formed, sometimes cover five or six hundred acres. They generally spread over grounds abounding with trees and bushes of the softest wood,-maple, birch, poplar, willow, &c. and, to preserve the dams against inundation, the beaver always leaves sluices near the middle, for the redundant water to pass off.

When the public works are completed, the beavers separate into small companies, to build cabins or houses for themselves. These are built upon piles, along the borders of the pond. They are of an oval construction, resembling a beehive; and they vary from four to ten feet in diameter, according to the number of families they are to accommodate. These dwellings are never less than two stories high, generally three; and sometimes they contain four apartments. The walls of these are from two to three feet thick, formed of the same materials with the dams. On the inside, they are made smooth, but left rough without, being rendered impenetrable to rain The lower story is about two feet high, the second is formed by a floor of sticks covered with mud, and the upper appartment terminates with an arched roof. Through each floor there is a passage, and the uppermost floor is always above the level of the water. Each of these huts has two doors, one on the land side, to admit of their going out and seeking provisions.. that way; another under the water, and below where it freezes, to preserve their communication with the pond.

(For the Monitor.)

CELESTIAL FIRMAMENT.

There is a SUN of keener ray
Than gilds the silver clouds of day,
When, in their fleecy grandeur, they

Rest on the sky,

And charm, though transient be their stay,

The gazer's eye.

And there are stars of purer light
Than mark the solitude of night,—
Which, bursting on the wanderer's sight

With glorious sheen,

Urge him to view with new delight

The gilded scene.

And they shall circle round the SUN,
In their untiring course begun,
When nature and her works are gone
To swift decay,

And, while eternal ages run,

Ne'er fade away.

N. B. Patrons are referred to the preface for our future arrangement,