. I VK NATURAL I 



a fu-ry trinpor, iiii'l mutfh pugn;i ri thcao 



.md wo 



.th has boon told about him. 

 < r two respecting bin name*, which we three 

 .it"uMttirarp. The second of 

 thosci nmtmn to havo been derived from th !! iuni-. 



rig n, " thrower up 



of mould." Lear little fri> :. 



is thus deaignn: il history. 



\Vf vfiitiiro to answer 



11 Oinii-.h K:,'f nd, trllin;? how the first molo 



oamo into exist*!; must not venture entirely to pass 



tory. Tho story must bo well known to 



y not object to a repetition, which 



lition to tho knowledge of others. Bo it then 

 > to till, that many ages ago thcro lived in Cornwall a 



. cnda. She was fair, as became a 

 . t.ill, ami tfififd with a pair of blue eyes of the soft, 



typo. Evqry unmarried gentleman in Corn- 

 to make her happy," of course. But Gwenda was 



.1 of hrr 1 (flinty that she scorned all advances, and for a 

 long time loved her own sweet self only. But at last the hour 

 of her fata came ; she fell in love with a famous knight, by 

 name Sir Aymeric. Will our readers believe tho abounding 

 :fnt, that the gentleman did not re turn tho love ? Perhaps 

 he was looking out for " a good match," and preferred a long 

 purse to beauty ; perhaps ho wanted a learned lady, who would 

 ' study with him in winter evenings the poems of tho bards and 

 the philosophy of the Druids ; perhaps ho wanted a musical 

 lady, who would sing soothing ballads to the knight when out of 

 temper through indigestion, or worried with politics ; perhaps 

 but wo give up guessing. The simple fact was, that the unwilling 

 Sir Aymeric did not return the lovo of Gwenda. She, however, 

 determined to conquer his obdurate heart. Her sole trust was, 

 not in her sense, her education, or goodness, but in her beaiity. 

 A great feast was to be given on a certain day by the Prince of 

 Cornwall, at Tinta^rel, to which Gwenda, her mother, and Sir 

 Aymeric were invited. Tho damsel procured the "most lovely" 

 dross which Cornish taste conld design, and, thus armed for heart 

 conquest, took a last look at her mirror before leaving for the 

 foast. She uttered one exulting exclamation of certain triumph, 

 her mother heard, and "hoped" her beautiful daughter might suc- 

 ceed. " I am suro to conquer," was tho bold and self-confident 

 answer of the haughty lady. What followed ? A piercing scream 

 was heard ; tho startled mother looked round, and lo ! Gwenda 

 iriil vanished. They " sought for her high and they sought for her 

 low," but Gwenda was never seen again. All Cornwall was in a 

 panic ; other fair ladies might disappear in the same unaccount- 

 able manner ; it woe really a serious matter for mothers, dam- 

 sels, and lovers. Was no clue ever discovered ? One day, while 

 tho old gardener was- at work, he picked up a richly jewelled 

 ring, which he knew had belonged to tho long-lost Gwenda, and 

 which she had worn on the night of her disappearance. The 

 ring was discovered close to a hillock from which the gardener 

 often saw a molo emerge, and then run up and down tho garden 

 path with a strangely melancholy cry. A " wise woman " was 

 called in ; she watched for the appearance of the mole, and then 

 declared, in mystic words, that Alice had been turned into that 

 very mole, as a punishment for her pride, by the mighty spirits 

 of Fairy Land. Such was the origin of tho first mole in Cornwall, 

 and this became the mother of all the moles in England. The 

 legend does not inform us where the first gentleman mole came 

 from, and wo must leave this matter in a teazing obscurity. 



Let us now consider the mole's works and ways. Has the 

 reader ever seen one of this animal's castles ? If not, ho knows 

 little of the creature's engineering skill. Its fortress resembles 

 some of those ancient camps found in various parts of England, 

 where a central stronghold is surrounded by two or three circles 

 of earthwork. The innermost homo of tho molo may bo called 

 his citadel ; round this runs the first circular gallery, bored 

 through tho earth by tho active engineer. The central house is 

 connected with thin first gallery by three roads running from 

 tho citadel. Eonnd the first circle stretches a second, and to 

 this four or five roads run from tho first gallery. From tho 

 second circular work seven or eight tunnels extend far under 

 ground, opening np a large hunting domain to the subterranean 



1. Headers will thus see that all th road* i 

 witli tho central hotwo, and f orm one combined h>-u 



of Miaul 



engineering. One " highway" run* airtight from tb fortress 

 to tho oxtrt-i ing ground, and in thie the trap* 



are Mt by the experienced mole^ateher*. Mo*t of these 

 galleries aro just huge enough to allow toe animal to pass, and 

 the spoc-d with which ho can gallop through sneh eloM I minis 

 in amazing. Experiment* ware mmd* on thu point by a French 

 in, named Lo Court, who devoted many yean to the 

 Btudjr of the mole's habit*. He often frightened the creator* 

 when feeding by sending the bhut of a trumpet into iu dining- 

 room. Of COOTM the horrified quadruped Mt off at full epeed 

 towards it* citadel, and those who observed the experiment* 

 declare that the pace was equal to the swift trot of a hone. 

 How could tho speed be ascertained when the animal wa* 

 :- Lo Court and his helpers, having ascertained the 

 direction of tho " highway," inserted bite of straw into the long 

 passage while tho molo was out feeding, and at the top of fifth 

 straw was a small paper nag. As the startled creature dashed 

 along tho gallery each straw was of course foroed aside, and the 

 corresponding motions of the paper banners fndiosjtod tho pace 

 of the little racer. 



Tho mole, we may well suppose, has a nursery, which he doe* 

 not place in the citadel, but at a distance, where a special apart- 

 ment is formed for the education of his five or six babies. When 

 tho infants aro able to run about there in plenty of playground, 

 tho nest being usually at a spot where three or four roads cross. 

 Most readers will now admit the mole to be an engineer ; but 

 they may ask, where aro his tools ? He always goes about with 

 a patent pickaxe, a shovel, and a boring machine, so beautifully 

 made that tho most famous engineers have never been able to 

 equal them. These tools are all combined in one piece, and the 

 reader may see them whenever he takes up a mole. Look at 

 the two fore feet, how like hands they are ; see how they are 

 turned sideways, so that as the earth is scooped ont it is all 

 flung behind, not to impede the animal's work in front. Notice, 

 in the next place, what an admirable miner's dress the mola 

 wears, and how suited it is to his work ! As the passagea 

 through which he moves are but just the size of his body, rapid 

 motion would bo hindered if the earth stuck to the fur. But m> 

 soil con cling to a coat which lias the softness and smoothness, 

 of tho finest \vlvot, combined with a peculiar surface, repelling 

 tho most adhesive mould. The mode in which the fur is 

 inserted in tho skin is worthy of notice. Each hair grows from 

 the skin in such a direction that tho fur will lie even and close, 

 whether rubbed forwards or backwards, without irritating the 

 mole. But while the fur is thus soft and yielding, the skin 

 itself is hard, and so tough that a very sharp knife is needed to 

 out through it. A tender skin would have been liable to con- , 

 stant injury by friction against rough ground. See, then, how 

 well tho little creature is fitted for his work as an underground 

 engineer. A hand or foot adapted for boring, scooping, and 

 shovelling back the earth ; while tho fur and skin are beautifully 

 fitted for subterranean operations. 



Has the mole eyes ? How do our readers answw the ques- 

 tion P Tho ancient Greeks, Bomans, and many moderns, have 

 replied by a " No." Let the reader examine for himself 

 will find two little, black, shining points deeply fixed in the head, 

 and almost hidden by the fur. These are the eyes. But can the 

 creature really see by these minute organs P The same question 

 occurred to Le Court, and he answered in the proper way by an 

 experiment. Some moles were placed in disused water-pipes, open 

 at tho end. If none of the observers stirred, the animals soon 

 made their escape, but if even a finger was pot before the- 

 opening, they instantly retreated. This seemed to prove the 

 existence of vision. How, then, could such a naturalist ae 

 Aristotle deny the possession of sight to the animal ? Tho 

 ixplanation is easy. There is a species of molo in the South of 

 Europe which has the eyelids quite closed, and which is of course 

 blind. The ancients were probably acquainted with this mole- 

 only, and man;,- of the moderns carelessly applied the observa- 

 tions of tho old writers to all kinda of moles. Shakespeare 

 describes the animal aa " blind," following the notions of his 

 age. But what can a subterranean worker want eye- 

 Perhaps one use may be to give notice to the animal of it* 

 approach to the surface, the first gleam of light warning the 

 molo back to deeper recesses. Sometimes, too, our underground 

 labourer does leave his dark caves for a moonlight hn:. 



