Zoology. 143 



confine them, and not allow them to come to church. This did very well 

 for the first Sunday or so ; but the dogs not at all relishing to be locked up 

 on a day when they were wont to enjoy themselves, were never to be found 

 on the Sunday mornings to be tied up ; they, by some instinct which I can- 

 not explain, knew the Sunday as well as their masters, and set off before 

 them whither they had been in the habit of going on that day. 



It was now evident to the members of the congregation that this plan 

 would not do, and another scheme was laid before them, which was, to 

 erect a house close to the church, in which they might be confined during 

 divine service. This was adopted, and a kennel was according erected, in 

 which the dogs were imprisoned ; but the animals being more accustomed 

 to freedom than to confinement, took very ill with the restraint put upon 

 their liberty, and set up a most dreadful howling, to the great annoyance 

 of the people in the church. They however persevered in confining them 

 for a considerable time, thinking the animals would get accustomed to their 

 incarceration : but in this they were mistaken ; for, instead of the howHng 

 diminishing, it got worse and worse. So it was agreed they should again 

 be set at liberty and have freedom of access to the place of public wor- 

 ship ; but their manners had been so corrupted that they were with diffi- 

 culty restored even to their former discipline. — J. M. Edinburghy Apnl 8. 

 1830, 



Hares taking the Water. — Havergate Island, in the river Ore, is about 

 a mile in circumference. It is every where surrounded by salt water, the 

 depth of which at low tide is from 20 to 27 ft., the width at the same time 

 being 160 yards. The opposite shore to the east is the shingle bank of the 

 North Weir, thrown up by the sea in the same way as the Chesil Bank of 

 the Isle of Portland, being only eighty yards across, and beyond which is 

 the German Ocean. Havergate is situated exactly as an island would be 

 in the Fleet behind the ChesD. When I was there in the spring of 1828, with 

 Henry Edwards, Esq., of Wood Hall, Sutton, the proprietor of the island, 

 I was surprised to find such an abundance of hares. In so small a space I 

 never saw so many. The island, which was composed of London clay, was 

 then being ploughed up for wheat ; and from the furrows, and from amongst 

 the broken lumps of clay, the hares rose every few yards. On enquiring 

 how they came there, I was told by Mr. Edwards that they swam over 

 fi*om the Orford side, coming down from the preserves of the Marquess of 

 Hertford at Sudborne Hall, and Gedgrave, between which and the Ore is a 

 high sea-wall, like that which surrounds the island. The steward, who lives 

 in the island, and who, besides his family is the sole inhabitant, confirmed 

 the observation, and stated that he had frequently seen the hares swimming 

 to and from the Gedgrave shore in the morning and evening. What 

 induces the hares to leave the snug covers on the main land, save that love 

 of crossing the salt water which seems indigenous to every English animal, 

 I cannot say; but the fact is beyond denial, and they who doubt the 

 emigration-fancies of the hare need only go to Havergate Island to be 

 convinced. 



Not being a fox-hunting or hare-coursing parson, I know little about 

 game ; but I shall add an anecdote which I have from a neighbour who has 

 seen as many hau'-breadth escapes as most gentlemen of his profession. 

 If the Nimrods of the Natural History Magazine think it beneath notice, 

 they must have pity on my adrtiiration of the skill of a little animal which 

 has too hastily furnished a proverb for brainless people. My friend says, 

 he was coursing last year, when a hare closely pressed passed under a gate, 

 the dogs following by leaping over it ; as soon as they had cleared the gate 

 and come up with her, she doubled, and returned under the gate as before, 

 the dogs following over it: and this flirtation Continued backwards and 

 forwards, till the dogs were fairly tired of the amusement, and puss, taking 

 advantage of their fatigue, quietly stole away. This was being hare-brained 



