THE COAST RAT AND THE BAY BAMBOO RAT. 197 



or unexpected sound it plunges into its tunnel, and will not again make 

 its appearance until it feels perfectly assured of safety. 



The general color of the Slepez is a very light brown, slightly tinged 

 with red in some parts, and fading into an ashen gray in others. Its 

 total length is about ten or eleven inches, and the tail is wanting. 

 The head is broad, flat on the cro\vn, and terminates abruptly at the 

 muzzle. The feet are short, and the claws small. 



The incisor teeth of the Coast Rat or Sand Mole are even larger 

 in proportion than those of the preceding animal, and those of the up- 

 per jaw are marked by a groove running throughout their length. The 

 fore-feet are furnished with long and powerful claws, that of the second 

 toe being the largest. The eyes are exceedingly small, the external 

 ears are wanting, and the tail is extremely short. 



The Coast Rat is an inhabitant of the Cape of Good Hope and the 

 coasts of Southern Africa, where it is found in tolerable profusion, and 

 drives such multitudes of shallow tunnels that the ground which it fre- 

 quents is rather dangerous for horsemen, and not at all pleasant even to 

 a man on foot. The burrows are made at so short a distance from the 

 surface that the earth gives way under the tread of any moderately 

 heavy animal. Mr. Burchell, the well-known African traveller, nar- 

 rates that in traversing the great sand flats of Southern Africa he was 

 often endangered by his feet sinking into the burrows of the Coast Rat, 

 which had undermined the light soil in every direction. The animal 

 is rather slow of foot upon the surface of the ground, but drives its 

 subterranean tunnels with marvellous rapidity, throwing up little sandy 

 hillocks at intervals, like those of the common mole. On account of 

 this propensity it has received the name of Zand Mall, or Sand Mole, 

 from the Dutch boers who inhabit the Cape. 



The color of the Sand Mole is a uniformly light grayish brown, 

 rather variable in tinting. As it is very soft and full in texture, and 

 can be obtained in great quantities, it might be profitably made a reg- 

 ular article of trade. The Sand Mole is as large as our ordinary wild 

 rabbit, being about fifteen inches in total length, the tail measuring 

 about three inches. 



The Bay Bamboo Rat is one representative of the genus Rhizorays, 

 of which there are several species. 



This animal is a native of Nepal, Malacca, and China, and is very 

 injurious to the bamboos, on the roots of which it feeds. In size it 

 equals a rather small rabbit, and in color it is of a uniform ruddy 

 brown, slightly paler on the throat and abdomen. The long incisor 

 teeth are faced with bright red enamel, which gives them a rather con- 

 spicuous appearance ; the tail is short and marked, and the claws are 

 rather small. The head is of a peculiar form. 



17* 



