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, 
