HARE KIND. 139 



upon liis appearance, all was instantly reduced to 

 peace and order. If he caught any of them in 

 the fact, he instantly punished them, as an exam- 

 ple to the rest. Another instance of his supe- 

 riority was, that having accustomed them to 

 come to me with the call of a whistle, the in- 

 stant 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, * though less than the hare, gene- 

 rally 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 nourishment. They 

 are, therefore, generally found fatter than the 

 hare ; but their flesh is, .notwithstanding, 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 better tasted. This 

 may very well be, as the rabbit, though so very 

 plentiful in Great Britain and Ireland, is never- 

 theless a native of the warmer climates, and has 

 been originally imported into these kingdoms 

 from Spain. In that country, and in some of the 

 islands in the Mediterranean, we are told that 

 they once multiplied in such numbers as to prove 

 the greatest nuisance to the natives. They at 

 first demanded military aid to destroy them ; but 

 soon after they called in the assistance of ferrets, 

 which originally came from Africa, and these, 

 with much more ease and expedition, contrived 



* M. Moutier, as quoted by M. Buffbn, 



