MAMMALS OF BERMUDA. 150 



they used to destroy them, but could not prevaile, finding them still 

 increasing against them ; uay they so devoured the fruits of the earth 

 that they were destitute of bread for a years or two; so that when they 

 had it afterwards, they were so wained from it, they easily neglected to 

 eat it with their meat. Besides, they endeauoured so much for the 

 planting tobacco for present gaine, that they neglected many things 

 might more have prevailed for their good, which caused amongst them 

 much weakness and mortality, since the beginning of this vermine. 



"At last it pleased God, but by what meanes it is not well known, to 

 take them away ; in so much that the wilde cats and nmuy dogs that 

 lived on them were famished, and many of them leaving the woods 

 came down to their homes, and to such i)laces where they use to garbish 

 their fish, and became tame. Some have attributed the destruction of 

 them to the increase of wild cats, but that is not likely they should be 

 so suddenly increased rather at that time, than four years before; and 

 the chief occasion of this supposition was because they saw some com- 

 panies of them leave the woods, and slew themselves for want of food; 

 others by the coldnesse of winter which notwithstanding is neuer so 

 great there, as with us in March, except it be in the wind; besides the 

 rats wanted not the feathers of young birds and chickens which they 

 daily killed, and Palmetto mosse to builde themselves warm nests out 

 of the wind; as usually they did; neither doth it appeare that the cold 

 was so mortal to them, seeing they would ordinarily swimme from place 

 to place, and bee very fat even in the midst of winter. It remaineth 

 then, that as God doth sometimes effect his will without subordinate 

 and secondary causes, so we need not doubt, but that in the speedy 

 increase of this vermine, as also by the preservation of so many of them 

 by such weake meanes as they then enioyed, and especially in the so 

 sudden remoual of this great annoyance, there was ioyned with and 

 besides the ordinary and manifest meanes, a more mediate and secret 

 work of God." 



From this description it is evident that the amazing horde of rats 

 which overran the islands at this early date were tree rats which at the 

 present day usually construct their nests in trees, as they appear to have 

 done two centuries and a half ago. But the question may arise, how 

 could so vast a horde suddenly, as it were, come into being, for if we are 

 to place any confidence in the accounts given by Jourdan not a rat was 

 to be seen some five years previous. It certainly appears somewhat 

 mysterious, and we cannot but think that rats existed on the islands 



