126 ANIMALS OF THE 



are naturally fonder of the open country, and are 

 constrained only by fear to take shelter in places 

 that afford them neither a warm sun, nor an 

 agreeable pasture. They are, therefore, usually 

 seen stealing out of the edges of the wood, to 

 taste the grass that grows shorter and sweeter in 

 the open fields than under the shade of the trees ; 

 however, they seldom miss of being pursued, 

 and every excursion is a new adventure. They 

 are shot at by poachers ; traced by their foot- 

 steps in the snow ; caught in springes ; dogs, 

 birds, and cats, are all combined against them ; 

 ants, snakes, and adders, drive them from their, 

 forms, especially in summer ; even fleas, from 

 which most other animals are free, persecute this 

 poor creature ; and so various are its enemies, 

 that it is seldom permitted to reach even that 

 short term to which it is limited by nature. 



The soil and climate have their influence upon 

 this animal, as well as on most others. In the 

 countries bordering on the north pole, they be- 

 come white in winter, and are often seen in great 

 troops of four or five hundred, running along the 

 banks of the river Irtish, or the Jenisca, and are 

 white as the snow they tread on. They are 

 caught in traps, for the sake of their skins, which, 

 on the spot, are sold for less than seven shillings 

 a hundred. Their fur is well known to form a 

 considerable article in the hat manufacture ; and 

 we accordingly import vast quantities of it from 

 those countries where the hare abounds in such 

 plenty. They are found also entirely black, but 



