NORTHERN MEMOIRS. 207 



sea ; because having Portus Salutis on the north 

 and by east ; Cambrosia on the south ; and the 

 western parts all guarded with inaccessible rocks 

 and mountains facing the fields of Stranaver. 



Theoph. Here's another Hellespont ; must we 

 cross this also ? 



Arn. Yes surely, we must cross this rugged 

 ferry, especially if intending the bounds of In- 

 nerbrachy, in the cultivated fields in the coun- 

 try of Ross ; where the rocks are undermin'd by 

 the sea quellem, that serves for a filtre to riddle 

 the ocean, and separate her saline brinish taste, 

 from those more sweet and luscious fountains ; 

 where the inhabitants will flatter you with an 

 absurd opinion (an old tradition received from 

 their ancestors) that the earth in Ross hath an 

 antipathy against rats, as the Irish oak has against 

 the spider : And this curiosity, if you please to 

 examine, you may, for the natives do ; but had 

 they asserted there were no mice in Ross, every 

 tongue had contradicted them. Now, mice and 

 rats are cousin-german, every body knows that 

 knows any thing, and for the most part keep 

 house together : But what difference has hapned 

 amongst them here, as to make such a feud in 

 this country of Ross, that the rats in Ross should 

 relinquish their country, and give possession 

 wholly to the mice ; this is a mystery that I un- 

 derstand not. 



