192 ANIMALS OF THE 



extremity of the upper part of the head is black, 

 as are likewise the neck and shoulders, but the 

 rest of the body is reddish, intermixed with small 

 black spots of various figures, as far as the tail, 

 which is not above half an inch long. The eyes 

 are little and black, the ears round and inclining 

 towards the back, the legs before are short, and 

 those behind longer, which gives it a great de- 

 gree of swiftness. But what it is much more re- 

 markable for than its figure, are its amazing fe- 

 cundity and extraordinary migrations. 



In wet seasons all of the rat kind are known 

 to propagate more than in dry ; but this species 

 in particular is so assisted in multiplying by the 

 moisture of the weather, that the inhabitants of 

 Lapland sincerely believe that they drop from 

 the clouds, and that the same magazines that 

 furnish hail and snow pour the leming also upon 

 them. In fact, after long rain, these animals set 

 forward from their native mountains, and several 

 millions in a troop deluge the whole plain with 

 their numbers.* They move, for the most part, 

 in a square, marching forward by night, and 

 lying still by day. Thus, like an animated tor- 

 rent, they are often seen more than a mile broad 

 covering the ground, and that so thick that the 

 hindmost touches its leader. It is in vain that 

 the poor inhabitant resists or attempts to stop 

 their progress ; they still keep moving forward j 

 and, though thousands are destroyed, myriads 

 are seen to succeed, and make their destruction 



* Phil. Trans, vol. ii. p. 872. 



