LETTER VII. 



73 



L >%& 





like an Otter in miniature. I was *& ^' ! " 



very much surprised at his power of endurance. 

 Whenever he rose towards the surface, he saw the dog's nose 

 suspended over the spot where he was about to 

 rise, and down he would dive again to 

 the depths of the pool. — 



Becoming a little ex- 

 hausted at last, the dog 

 dived down after him and killed 

 him. You meet with rats in 

 the most out-of-the-way > 



situations. I have taken them 

 in traps set for birds among the 



hills, and once upon a small island in the middle of a loch. The 

 island is quite bare, and not larger than a table ; so he must have 

 swum out there on a voyage of discovery. 



A few months ago I took a Mallard in a trap, as he was 



frequenting a spot where I could not get near him. When he 



made, in due time, his appearance at table, we found several grains 



of No. 3 quite inside his body, which 



seemed to have been 



there a 



pj^r^& - ■-- --- .«-» 





