THE LEMMING 235 



in the mountains beyond the belt of the firs, where it feeds 

 upon the mountain herbage, roots, &c. Even in winter 

 it does not cease its activity, but burrows under the 

 snow, where it can at least find lichens. 



For a small animal the Lemming is remarkably 

 courageous, not hesitating to bite at the legs of men who 

 approach too closely to its burrows. It must be one of 

 the most prolific of the Murines, for at irregular intervals 

 of ten to fifteen years the creatures descend from the 

 mountains literally in millions. The migration may be 

 caused by an unusual multiplication of their numbers, a 

 deficiency of food, or perhaps by an instinctive knowledge 

 of an approaching severe winter. Either of the reasons 

 is only surmise, but the migration itself is a fact that the 

 inhabitants in its line of march know to their grief. 



The hordes of Lemmings move chiefly at night or in 

 early morning, and no obstacle can deter them. The 

 herbage in their course is licked up as though by flame ; 

 growing crops disappear with heart-breaking rapidity, 

 corn-ricks are reduced to heaps of chaff. They swim rivers 

 and lakes ; they swarm through towns, filling wells and 

 polluting the water, so that frequently after the visitation 

 the people are stricken with a form of typhoid called 

 ' Lemming fever.' All along their route the plague of 

 Rodents is accompanied by clouds of birds and hosts of 

 beasts, which prey upon them without ceasing, and the 

 inhabitants adopt all kinds of plans to lessen their numbers. 

 But on and on the countless pilgrim Lemmings sweep 

 over the land, day after day and week after week, until they 

 reach the coast. This is inevitably the end of the migration ; 

 the final stage is always either the Atlantic or the Gulf of 

 Bothnia. The already lessened host unhesitatingly plunges 

 into the sea, and the Scandinavians know that the costly 

 scourge is at an end. 



In olden times the people superstitiously believed that 

 the Lemmings fell from the clouds, and the clergy were 

 called on to exorcise the myriad-footed demon. The Turks 

 under similar circumstances pin their faith to holy water 

 from Mecca, which is sprinkled on the ground in the hope 

 that it will abate a Vole plague. 



