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 within-side a communication from floor to floor,they elevate a kind of stage,or scaffold,from which they may observe and watch the rising of the waters.In the course of time,their habitations bear the appearance of a grove of willow trees,rude and natural without,but artfully constructed within.This animal can remain in or under water at its pleasure,like the frog or seal,who shew,by the smoothness or roughness of their skins,the flux and reflux of the sea.These three animals,therefore,live indifferently under the water,or in the air,and have short legs,broad bodies,stubbed tails,and resemble the mole in their corporal shape.It is worthy of remark,that the beaver has but four teeth,two above,and two below,which being broad and sharp,cut like a carpenter's axe,and as such he uses them.They make excavations and dry hiding places in the banks near their dwellings,and when they hear the stroke of the hunter,who with sharp poles endeavours to penetrate them,they fly as soon as possible to the defence of their castle,having first blown out the water from the entrance of the hole,and rendered it foul and muddy by scraping the earth,in order thus artfully to elude the stratagems of the well-armed hunter,who is watching them from the opposite banks of the river.When the beaver finds he cannot save himself from the pursuit of the dogs who follow him,that he may ransom his body by the sacrifice of a part,he throws away that,which by natural instinct he knows to be the object sought for,and in the sight of the hunter castrates himself,from which circumstance he has gained the name of Castor;and if by chance the dogs should chase an animal which had been previously castrated,he has the sagacity to run to an elevated spot,and there lifting up his leg,shews the hunter that the object of his pursuit is gone.Cicero speaking of them says,"They ransom themselves by that part of the body,for which they are chiefly sought."And Juvenal says,"-Qui se Eunuchum ipse facit,cupiens evadere damno Testiculi."And St.Bernard,"Prodit enim castor proprio de corpore velox Reddere quas sequitur hostis avarus opes."Thus,therefore,in order to preserve his skin,which is sought after in the west,and the medicinal part of his body,which is coveted in the east,although he cannot save himself entirely,yet,by a wonderful instinct and sagacity,he endeavours to avoid the stratagems of his pursuers.The beavers have broad,short tails,thick,like the palm of a hand,which they use as a rudder in swimming;and although the rest of their body is hairy,this part,like that of seals,is without hair,and smooth;upon which account,in Germany and the arctic regions,where beavers abound,great and religious persons,in times of fasting,eat the tails of this fish-like animal,as having both the taste and colour of fish.
We proceeded on our journey from Cilgerran towards Pont-Stephen,{137}leaving Cruc Mawr,i.e.the great hill,near Aberteivi,on our left hand.On this spot Gruffydd,son of Rhys ap Tewdwr,soon after the death of king Henry I.by a furious onset gained a signal victory against the English army,which,by the murder of the illustrious Richard de Clare,near Abergevenny (before related),had lost its leader and chief.{138}A tumulus is to be seen on the summit of the aforesaid hill,and the inhabitants affirm that it will adapt itself to persons of all stature and that if any armour is left there entire in the evening,it will be found,according to vulgar tradition,broken to pieces in the morning.