RATS. 213 



One afternoon the commandant of Bathurst was 

 quietly reading, when he heard a violent squeaking and 

 hissing in the room below him, which was even with 

 the ground, and contained stores. He took the key, 

 and, followed by his servants armed with sticks, went 

 to ascertain the cause. On opening the door, they 

 beheld a rat and a venomous serpent engaged in mortal 

 combat. Nothing could be more beautiful than the 

 action of both animals. The rat had retreated for a 

 moment, and stood with flashing eyes ; the head of the 

 serpent was reared to receive a fresh attack ; again 

 and again they closed and separated ; but the reptile, 

 although much bitten, gained the victory ; the rat fell, 

 foamed at the mouth, swelled to a great size, and died 

 in a very few minutes. The serpent glided away, but 

 was afterwards discovered in her nest, with several 

 young ones, in a crack of the store-room wall, close to 

 a staircase which we were in the habit of descending 

 daily, and where in fact I had often seen the serpents' 

 heads peeping out, and had waited till they were with- 

 drawn. 



Of the brown rat Mr. Jesse tells the following 

 story : ' The Rev. Mr. Ferryman, walking out in some 

 meadows one evening, observed a great number of rats 

 in the act of migrating from one place to another, which 

 it is known they are in the habit of doing occasionally. 

 He stood perfectly still, and the whole assemblage 

 passed close to him. His astonishment, however, was 

 great, when he saw an old blind rat, which held a piece 

 of stick at one end in its mouth, while another rat had 

 hold of the other end of it, and thus conducted his blind 

 companion.' 



The amount of destructive force possessed by rats 



