316 THE WILD RABBET. 



continue thus for ten or eleven days. The clam 

 suckles them regularly every morning and even- 

 ing, and attends them with the greatest assiduity 

 for six weeks. Whenever she is under the necessity 

 of leaving the nest for the purpose of procuring 

 food, she closes the hole, by means of her hinder 

 parts,, so very artificially, with earth, as even to ren- 

 der the aperture difficult to be found. At the end 

 of about three weeks, when the young are able to 

 go out and feed on the grass, she ventures to leave 

 the hole open : after six weeks, she conducts them 

 to the warren, and they are then out of danger 

 from the male. These animals are supposed to 

 live to the age of eight or nine years. 



It is well known that the fur of Rabbets is a 

 principal substance in the composition of hats. 

 The skins, stripped of their hair, and boiled down, 

 make an excellent size, or glue. The flesh, which 

 is forbidden to the Jews and Mahometans, is a very 

 palatable and delicate food. In order to distinguish 

 a fresh killed from a stale Rabbet, it is to be ob- 

 served, that the former will be stiff, and the flesh 

 will be white and dry : when the Rabbet becomes 

 stale, it will be limber, and the flesh will have a 

 bluish cast upon it. 



The English counties that are most noted for 

 their Rabbet warrens, are Lincolnshire, Norfolk, 

 and Cambridgeshire. Rabbets swarm in the Ork- 

 nies, where their skins form a considerable article 

 of commerce. The Rabbets of these islands are in 



general 



