142 Studies in Rat Catching [ch. viii. 



wanted to go to bed early, so as to get a 

 good night and yet be up betimes. By eight 

 o'clock next morning, Jack and I were 

 already back from the Denes, after having 

 run out one thousand yards of long nets. 

 The nets are in lengths of about one hundred 

 yards, and two feet six inches high, made of 

 fine string, and each of the top and bottom 

 meshes knotted on to a cord that runs the 

 entire length. To set these nets, they are 

 threaded on to a smooth stick, four feet long, 

 and the stick with the nets on is thrown over 

 a man's shoulder. The man walks off with 

 the nets along the border of the piece of 

 ground to be enclosed, while another, after 

 fixing the end of the first net fast to a start- 

 ing stick, follows behind. As the man with 

 the net proceeds, he lets the net slip slowly 

 off the stick on his shoulder, piece by piece ; 

 and, as it comes down, the man behind picks 

 up the top line, gives the net a shake, and 



