DIGGERS AND SCRAPERS. 341 



the strong scoop-shaped nail, like a small garden- 

 trowel at the end of each toe, enables him to dig 

 with wonderful ease and celerity. The hind-feet 

 are shaped into a kind of scraper by the toe being 

 curiously bent, and the length of the hind-foot is 

 about two-thirds more than the fore or digging 

 hand. When I come to his habits, as differing 

 from the mole, I shall be able to point out the 

 use of this strange scraper-like form of hind-foot. 



So far I have endeavoured to give you an out- 

 line of his general personal appearance, differing 

 from the shrew in the peculiar arrangement of 

 his feet, and from the mole in having a long hairy 

 tail. His nearest relative (if at all related) is the 

 Condylura, or Star-nosed Mole, whose nose has a 

 fringe of star-shaped processes round its outer 

 edge, about twenty-two in number. The first 

 and only place in which I ever met this strange 

 little fellow was on the Chilukweyuk prairies. 

 These large grassy openings, or prairies, are 

 situated near the Fraser river, on the western 

 side of the Cascade Mountains. Small streams 

 wind and twist through these prairies like huge 

 water-snakes, widening out here and there into 

 large glassy pools. 



The scenery is romantic and beautiful beyond 

 description. Towering up into the very clouds, 



