RAT KIND. 195 



happen to conquer. The two divisions, how- 

 ever, continue their engagements and animosity 

 until one party overcomes the other. From that 

 time they utterly disappear, nor is it well known 

 what becomes of either the conquerors or the 

 conquered. Some suppose that they rush head- 

 long into the sea; others, that they kill them- 

 selves, as some are found hanging on the forked 

 branches of a tree ; and others still, that they are 

 destroyed by the young spring herbage. But the 

 most probable opinion is, that having devoured 

 the vegetable productions of the country, and 

 having nothing more to subsist on, they then fall 

 to devouring each other ; and having habituated 

 themselves to that kind of food, continue it. 

 However this be, they are often found dead by 

 thousands, and their carcasses have been known 

 to infect the air for several miles round, so as to 

 produce very malignant disorders. They seem 

 also to infect the plants they have gnawed, for 

 the cattle often die that afterwards feed in the 

 places where they passed. 



As to the rest, the male is larger and more 

 beautifully spotted than the female. They are 

 extremely prolific; and, what is extraordinary, 

 their breeding does not hinder their march ; for 

 some of them have been observed to carry one 

 young one in their mouth, and another on their 

 back. They are greatly preyed upon by the 

 ermine, and, as we are told, even by the rein- 

 deer. The Swedes and Norwegians, who live by 

 husbandry, consider an invasion from these ver- 

 min as a terrible visitation ; but it is very diffe- 



