40 RAMBLES OF 



sible, the animal whose works had first fixed my attention, 

 but as I approached the bank of the rivulet something 

 suddenly retreated towards the grass, seeming to vanish 

 almost unaccountably from sight. Very carefully ex- 

 amining the point at which it disappeared, I found the 

 entrance of another gallery or burrow, but of very dif- 

 ferent construction from that first observed. This new 

 one was formed in the grass, near and among whose 

 roots and lower stems a small but regular covered way 

 was practised. Endless, however, would have been the 

 attempt to follow this, as it opened in various directions, 

 and ran irregularly into the field, and towards the brook, 

 by a great variety of passages. It evidently belonged to 

 an animal totally different from the owner of the subter- 

 ranean passage, as I subsequently discovered, and may 

 hereafter relate. Tired of my unavailing pursuit, I now 

 returned to the little brook, and seating myself on a 

 stone, remained for some time unconsciously gazing on 

 the fluid which gushed along in unsullied brightness over 

 its pebbly bed. Opposite to my seat, was an irregular 

 hole in the bed of the stream, into which, in an idle 

 mood, I pushed a small pebble with the end of my stick. 

 What was my surprise, in a few seconds afterwards, to 

 observe the water in this hole in motion, and the pebble 

 I -had pushed into it gently approaching the surface. 

 Such was the fact ; the hole was the dwelling of a stout 

 little crayfish or fresh water lobster, who did not choose 

 to be incommoded by the pebble, though doubtless he at- 



