RATS. 207 



sit in spite of me, and make my ears ring with 

 the sound of his woo-whoop, till the spring of life 

 should cease to bubble in his little heart.' 



It is from Captain Brown's pages that I extract the 

 following : ' A gentleman procured a squirrel from a 

 nest found at Woodhouse, near Edinburgh, which he 

 reared and rendered extremely docile. It was kept in 

 a box below in an aperture, where was suspended a 

 rope by whieh the animal ascended and descended. 

 The little creature used to watch very narrowly all its 

 master's movements ; and whenever he was preparing to 

 go out, it ran up his legs and entered his pocket, from 

 whence it would peep out at passengers as he walked 

 along the streets, never venturing, however, to go out. 

 But no sooner would he reach the outskirts of the city, 

 than the squirrel leaped on the ground, ran along the 

 road, ascended to the tops of trees and hedges with 

 the quickness of lightning, and nibbled at the leaves 

 and bark ; and if the gentleman walked on, it would 

 descend, scamper after him, and again enter his pocket. 

 Whenever it heard a carriage or cart it became much 

 alarmed, and always hid itself till they had passed by. 

 This gentleman had a dog, between which and the 

 squirrel a certain enmity existed. Whenever the dog 

 lay asleep, the squirrel showed its teasing disposition 

 by rapidly descending from its box, scampering over 

 the dog's body, and then quickly mounting its rope.' 



RATS. 



SOME persons profess to think that the Rodents called 

 Rats are beautiful animals ; and I presume that, pre- 



