RATS. 211 



settled, whether the differences which exist in rats were 

 caused by locality, or whether they were so from the 

 beginning. There is now no known spot free from the 

 Norway rat ; and the greater the number, of course the 

 more impudent they become. In Ceylon, I am told, 

 where they are innumerable, they perch on the top of a 

 chair or screen, and sit there till something is thrown 

 at them, at which they slowly retreat. A noise is 

 heard in the verandah close by you, and you see a 

 party of rats disputing with a dog for the possession 

 of some object. A traveller in Ceylon saw his dogs 

 set upon a rat, and making them relinquish it, he took 

 it up by the tail, the dogs leaping after it the whole 

 time. He carried it into his dining-room to examine it 

 there by the light of the lamp, during the whole of 

 which period it remained as if it were dead limbs 

 hanging, and not a muscle moving. After five minutes 

 he threw it among the dogs, who were still in a state 

 of great excitement; and to the astonishment of all 

 present, it suddenly jumped upon its legs and ran 

 away so fast that it baffled all its pursuers. 



One evening, when at Bathurst, St. Mary's, I was 

 sitting at work in an upper room, and in the midst of 

 the stillness heard something breathing close to me. 

 There was no other person in the chamber except my 

 child, who was asleep in bed. Although startled, I did 

 not move ; but casting my eyes round, I saw a huge rat 

 sitting upon the table at my elbow, watching every 

 movement of my fingers. I could scarcely help laugh- 

 ing at his cool impudence, and suppose I had been too 

 much absorbed by thought or employment to notice his 

 approach. I gradually laid down my work, and slipping 

 quietly out of the room as if I had not perceived him, 



