The Desert Home: The Adventures of a Lost Family in the Wilderness

by Mayne Reid

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

  THE BEAVERS AND WOLVERENE.

  "When daylight came, the mysterious flood was still standing at its fullheight. I call it mysterious, for as yet we knew nothing of what had sosuddenly created it. We could think of no other cause than the fallingin of the precipice below. I had determined, as soon as the day fairlybroke, to make my way through the woods, and remove all doubt--for westill felt some uneasiness in regard to this strange phenomenon.

  "Leaving Cudjo with his long spear, and the boys with their rifles, toguard the camp, I set forth alone. I took with me my gun, as well as asmall hatchet which we had, to clear away a track through the brushwood.

  "I struck at once into the woods, and guiding myself by an occasionalglimpse of the sun that had now risen, I kept on in a south-easterlycourse. It was my intention to get out on the edge of the flood somedistance below, when I could then skirt around it. After cutting my waythrough the brambles to the distance of nearly a mile, I came suddenlyout upon the bank of the rivulet; and guess my surprise, on seeing thatthe stream was not only not swollen, but there was even less water thanusual running in its channel! I noticed, however, that the water wasmuddy, and that green leaves and fresh broken twigs were floating downupon its current.

  "Of course, I now turned my face up-stream, knowing that the dam must bein that direction; but, for my life, I could not imagine how anyaccident of Nature could have stopped up the channel above. The fallingof trees could not possibly have produced such an effect; and there wereno high bluffs abutting on the rivulet, that could have fallen into itsbed. I began to believe that human hands had been at work; and I lookedfor the prints of human feet. I saw none, but the tracks of animalswere numerous. Thousands of them, at least--great broad feet, webbedlike those of a duck, but with sharp claws--were impressed in the sandand mud, all along the banks of the stream.

  "I moved forward very cautiously; for, although I could not discovertheir tracks, I was still fearful that Indians, and of course enemies,were near. At length, I reached a bend in the stream, above which Iremembered that the channel was narrower, and ran between banks of aconsiderable height. I remembered it well--for, on first entering thevalley, we had been obliged at this place to draw the wagon out of thebed of the rivulet, and cut a way for it through the adjacent woods. Nodoubt, then, I would there find the obstacle that had so mysteriouslyintercepted the current.

  "On reaching this bend, I climbed out upon the bank; and, stealingsilently through the underwood, peeped through the leaves. A mostsingular scene was before me.

  "The stream, as I had rightly conjectured, was dammed up, at the pointwhere the channel was narrowest, but not by any accident. The work borethe marks of design, as much as if it had been constructed by humanhands. A tall tree had been felled across the stream--so that the placewhere it had been cut through was not detached from the stump, but stillheld fast by its crushed fibres. On the other side its top brancheswere buried under rocks and mud, so as to render them secure. Againstthis tree upright stakes rested; and these again were wattled together,and firmly bedded in rocks that had been collected around their lowerends. Behind these uprights were piled other stakes and branches laidcrosswise, and bound together with layers of rocks and mud--so that thewhole structure formed a wall of full six feet in thickness--broad alongthe top, and sloping off toward the water. On the lower side it stoodnearly perpendicular, as the uprights were thus set. The top of thiswas plastered with mud, and at both sides was left a narrow sluice, orwash, through which the water ran smoothly off, without wearing away thebreastwork.

  "I have said that the work bore the marks of design, as much as if ithad been constructed by human hands. But it was not. The builders ofthat breastwork were before my eyes, and apparently just resting fromtheir labours.

  "There were about an hundred of them in all, squatting over the ground,and along the parapet of the new-made dam. They were of a dark-brown,or rather a chestnut colour; and reminded me of so many gigantic rats--except that their tails were pot elongated and tapering like these.Their backs, however, were arched, and their bodies of a thick roundedshape, similar to animals of the rat kind. Moreover, I could perceivethat they were armed with the cutting teeth, which distinguish thefamily of the _rodentia_, or `gnawers.' These teeth I could seedistinctly--as some of the animals were using them at the time, and theyeven protruded when their mouths were shut. I noticed that there was apair of them in each jaw, broad, strong, and shaped like chisels. Theears of the animals were short, and almost buried in the hair, whichalthough long was not shaggy, but presented a smooth appearance over allparts of their bodies. There was a tuft of stiff bristles growing outon each side of the nose, like the whiskers of a cat; and their eyeswere small, and set high up, like those of the otter. Their fore limbswere shorter than the hind ones, and both had feet with five claws, butthe hind feet were broad and large, and completely webbed between thetoes. It was they, then, that had made the tracks I had observed incoming up the stream. But the most striking feature of these animalswas the tail. This appendage was entirely without hair, of a darkcolour, and looking as though it was covered with the well-knownsubstance shagreen. It was about a foot in length, several inches broadand thick, and not at all unlike a cricket bat--except that it appearedheavier and more oval-shaped at the end. The animals were somewhatlarger than otters, not so long, but much thicker and heavier in thebody.

  "I had never seen such creatures before, but I knew at once what theywere--for although I had neglected my other studies, natural history hadalways been my favourite, and I had made some progress in that. I knew,then, that the strange beings before me were _beavers_--the _castorfibre_ of the naturalists.

  "The whole mystery was now explained. A colony of beavers had migratedinto the valley, and constructed their dam; and this it was which hadcaused the sudden inundation.

  "I remained for some time, after I had made the discovery, watchingthese creatures and their interesting movements. The breastworkappeared to be quite finished; but this did not follow from the factthat the animals were no longer at work upon it, as it is only by nightthey perform such labour. In fact, they are rarely seen except bynight, in countries where they have been disturbed or hunted; but herethey were evidently unaccustomed to man. They appeared to be restingafter their night's work, it is not likely that they had built the wholebreastwork during that one night, but had only put on the finishing partwhich had produced the sudden flood. As the glade above where they haddammed the rivulet was nearly level, a very small stoppage in the streamsufficed to inundate a large extent of ground, as it had actually done.

  "Some of the beavers were sitting upon the newly-raised work, gnawingthe leaves and twigs that stuck out from the mud; others were washingthemselves, disporting playfully through the water; while otherssquatted upon logs that lay along the edge of the dam, every now andagain flapping their heavy tails upon the water, like so manylaundresses beating out their wet linen.

  "It was a curious and comical sight; and, after having enjoyed it forsome time, I was about to step forward to witness what effect mypresence would produce, when, all at once, I perceived that some otherobject had created a sudden commotion among the animals. One of them,who had been stationed upon a log at some distance up the lake, andapparently acting as a sentry, now ran out upon the log, and struck thewater three quick heavy flaps with his tail. This was evidently asignal; for, the moment he had given it, the animal, as if pursued,pitched himself head-foremost into the lake, and disappeared. The reststarted as soon as they heard it; and looking around for a moment, as ifin affright, they all ran to the bank, and plunged simultaneously underthe water--each of them striking a blow with his tail as he disappeared!

  "I now looked for the cause of this sudden movement. All at once Iperceived, coming around the lake where the sentry-beaver haddisappeared, a strange-looking animal. It moved slowly and silently,skulking among the trees, and keeping close in upon the wate
r's edge. Isaw that it was making for the new-built dam, and I remained where I wasto watch it. At length it reached the breastwork, and crawledcautiously along it, keeping behind the parapet--so as not to be seenfrom the lake above.

  "I had now a good view of it, and a vicious-looking creature it was. Itwas not much larger than one of the beavers themselves; and in somepoints not unlike them; but in other respects the difference was marked.It was of a very different colour--being nearly black upon the back andbelly, while a light brown strip traversed both its sides, meeting overits rump. Its nose and feet were completely black, while its breast andthroat were white, and a whitish ring was around each of the eyes. Ithad small ears, with stiff bristles at the nose, and a short and bushytail. The hair over its whole body was long and shaggy. Its legs werethick and muscular, and so short that, when it moved, its belly seemedto trail along the ground. It appeared rather to crawl than to walk--but this arose from the fact of its being an animal of the plantigradefamily; and using its feet to walk upon--which in many other animals,such as the horse, appear to form part of the legs. With the animal inquestion the feet were long, black, and armed with white curving claws.Its whole appearance was that of a carnivorous creature--in other words,it was a beast of prey. It was the _Wolverene_, the dreaded enemy ofthe beavers.

  "On arriving near the middle of the breastwork, it stopped; and,planting its forefeet up against the parapet, raised its head slowly,and looked over into the lake.

  "Although the beaver is an amphibious animal, and spends full half ofhis time in the water, he cannot remain long, without coming to thesurface to take breath; and already the heads of several were seen atdifferent points in the lake. Others, again, had boldly climbed out onthe little islets which here and there appeared above water, and wherethey knew that the wolverene, who is not a good swimmer, could not reachthem. None of them, however, showed any signs of returning to thebreastwork.

  "The wolverene seemed also to have arrived at this conclusion; for now--apparently careless of being seen from the lake--he looked around him onall sides and above, as if he either intended giving up the pursuit ofhis prey, or adopting some more effective measure to secure it. Atlength he appeared to have formed some resolution, and leaping boldly upon the parapet, so as to be seen by the beavers, he walked back againalong the water's edge whence he had come. On getting a good distancefrom the breastwork, he stopped for a moment; and then, turning awayfrom the lake, ran off into the woods.

  "I was curious to see whether the beavers would now return to thebreastwork, and I resolved to remain a while longer without showingmyself. I waited about five minutes or more, at the end of which time Isaw several of them--who had gone to the most distant islets--plungeinto the water and come swimming towards me. As I was watching them,all at once I heard a rustling among the fallen leaves near the dam; andon looking I perceived the wolverene making all the haste he couldtoward the breastwork. On reaching it, however, instead of running outbehind the parapet as before, I saw him plant his long claws against atree, and commence climbing upward, keeping on that side farthest fromthe lake. The branches of this tree stretched horizontally out, anddirectly over the breastwork. In a short time the wolverene had reachedthe fork of one of these; and, crawling out upon it, he laid himselfflat along the branch and looked downward.

  "He had scarcely settled himself on his perch, when half-a-dozenbeavers--thinking from what they had seen that he must have gone clearoff--climbed out upon the breastwork, flapping their great tails as theycame. They were soon under the very branch, and I saw the wolverenewith his legs erected and ears set for the spring. This was my time;and glancing up the barrel of my rifle, I aimed directly for his heart.At the crack, the astonished beavers leaped back into the water, whilethe wolverene dropped from his perch--a little sooner, perhaps, than hehad intended--and rolled over the ground evidently wounded. I ran upand struck at him with the butt-end of my gun, intending to finish him;but, to my astonishment, the fierce brute seized the stock in his teeth,and almost tore it in pieces! For some time I hammered him with hugestones--he all the while endeavouring to lay hold of me with his longcurved claws--and it was not until I got a down-blow at his head with myaxe that the fight was ended. A fearful-looking monster he was as helay stretched before me, and not unlike the carcajou which had killedour ox at the camp, only smaller. I did not attempt to take his carcasswith me, as it was a useless burden. Moreover, from the fetid smellwhich he emitted, I was glad to part company as soon as I had killedhim; and, leaving him where he lay, I took the shortest road back to thecamp."