350 



ANIMALS OF 



there is scarce any dog, how swift soever, 

 that can overtake them. 



But it does not always happen that these 

 animals are possessed of one of these external 

 apartments ; they most usually bring forth 

 their young in the warren, but always in a hole 

 separate from the male. On these occasions, 

 the female digs herself a hole, a different from 

 the ordinary one, by being more intricate ; at 

 the bottom of which she makes a more ample 

 apartment. This done, she pulls off from her 

 belly a good quantity of her hair, with which 

 she makes a kind of bed for her young. Dur- 

 ing the two first days she never leaves them ; 

 and does not stir out but to procure nourish- 

 ment, which she takes with the utmost des- 

 patch ; in this manner suckling her young for 

 near six weeks, until they are strong, and able 

 to go abroad themselves. During all this time, 

 the male seldom visits their separate apart- 

 ment ; but when they are grown up, so as to 

 come to the mouth of the hole, he then seems 

 to acknowledge them as his offspring, takes 

 them between his paws, smooths their skin, 

 and licks their eyes ; all of them, one after the 

 other, have an equal share in his caresses. 



In this manner the rabbit, when wild, con- 

 sults its pleasuie and its safety : but those that 

 are bred up tame, do not take the trouble of 

 digging a hole, conscious of being already 

 protected. It has also been observed, 15 that 

 when people, to make a warren, stock it with 

 tame rabbits, these animals, having been unac- 

 customed to the art of scraping a hole, continue 

 exposed to the weather, and every other acci- 

 dent, without ever burrowing. Their immediate 

 offspring also are equally regardless of their 

 safety : and it is not till after two or three 

 generations, that these animals begin to find 

 the necessity and convenience of an asylum, 

 and practise an art which they could only 

 learn from nature. 



Rabbits of the domestic breed, like all other 

 animals that are under the protection of man, 

 are of various colours ; white, brown, black, 

 and mouse-colour. The black are the most 

 scarce ; the brown, white, and mouse-colour, 

 are in greater plenty. Most of the wHd rab- 

 bits are of a brown, and it is the colour which 

 prevails among the species ; for in every nest 

 of rabbits, whether the parents be black or 



Buflbn. 



Ibid. 



white, there are some brown ones found of the 

 number. But, in England, there are many 

 warrens stocked with the mouse-colour kinds, 

 which, some say, came originally from an 

 island in the river H umber, and which still 

 continue their original colour, after a great 

 number of successive generations. A gentlc- 

 man, c who bred up tame rabbits for his amuse- 

 ment, gives the following account of their pro- 

 duction : " I began," says he, " by having but 

 one male and female only ; the male was en- 

 tirely white, and the female brown ; but, in 

 their posterity, the number of the brown by far 

 exceeded those of any other colour : (here 

 were some white, some party-coloured, and 

 some black. It is surprising how much the 

 descendants were obedient and submissive to 

 their common parent ; he was easily distin- 

 guished from the rest by his superior \\ hitc- 

 ness ; and, however numerous (he other males 

 were, this kept them all in subjection. W hen- 

 ever they quarrelled among each other, either 

 for their females or provisions, as soon as he 

 heard the noise he ran up to them with all 

 despatch, and, upon his appearance, all was 

 instantly reduced to peace and order. If he 

 caught any of them in the fact, he instantly 

 punished them, as an example to the rest. 

 Another instance of his superiority was, that 

 having accustomed them to come to me with 

 the call of a whistle, the instant this signal was 

 given, I saw him marshalling them up, leading 

 them the foremost, and then suffering them all 

 to file off before him." 



The rabbit,* 1 though less than the hare, 

 generally lives longer. As these animals pass 

 the greater part of their lives in their burrow, 

 where they continue at ease and unmolested, 

 they have nothing to prevent the regularity of 

 their health, or the due course of their nourish- 

 ment. They are, therefore, generally found 

 fatter than the hare ; but their flesh is, notwith- 

 standing, much less delicate. That of the old 

 ones, in particular, is hard, tough, and dry; but 

 it is said, that in warmer countries, they are bet- 

 ter tasted. This may very well be, as the 

 rabbit, though so very plentiful in Great 

 Britain and Ireland, is, nevertheless, a native 

 of the warmer climates: and has been origin- 

 ally imported into these kingdoms from Spain. 

 In that country, and in some of the islands in 



Mr. Moutier, as quoted by Mr. Buffbn. 



Ibid. 



