THE LEMMINGS AND THE CAT. 81 



In the spring of 1863, one of the periodical migra- 

 tions of the lemming from the north of Norway took 

 place. Many made their appearance in the neighbour- 

 hood of Christiania, but they were few, indeed, in 

 comparison with those that made their way over the 

 western fjelds to the coast. I was informed that such 

 incredible numbers perished on their journey in the 

 lakes and fjords, that the smell of their putrefying 

 bodies tainted the air, and that cartloads of them were 

 buried by the inhabitants, in order to prevent an epi- 

 demic. During the migration an amusing scene might 

 have been witnessed early one morning in a gentle- 

 man's garden in the environs of Christiania, a cat 

 was up betimes, and was prowling about in search of 

 small birds. Coming to a retired corner of the garden, 

 Grimalkin suddenly stood still, arched her back, and 

 displayed unmistakable signs of anger, if not of fea.r. 

 A pair of live lemmings were the cause of this state 

 of things ; they were, evidently, animals unknown to 

 the cat. As soon as her astonishment and anger 

 abated a little, Puss made a sudden spring, and put an 

 end to the lemmings. She did not attempt, however, 

 to eat them, but quietly left the spot, and did not re- 

 turn to it again. Neither cats nor dogs will eat the 

 lemmings, although they will kill them. 



The lemming is a fierce and pugnacious little crea- 

 ture. It attacks horses in Norwegian Lapland, and 

 travellers are often, in this way, put to considerable 

 inconvenience, for a horse thus attacked by several 

 lemmings, which jump up at and bite its legs, often 

 becomes ungovernable and runs away at a headlong 

 speed. WheD a human being comes across these di- 

 minutive creatures, they arch their little bodies, bristle 



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