T^ROLLING. 69 



" Land and Water," or a chapter of some book on 

 field or forest, or, better still, a page in the great 

 book of Nature, passim. Do you see that water- 

 rat ? water- w/<? is his proper designation the sole 

 representative of the ancient race of beavers in 

 Great Britain. He is running along the water's 

 edge, stopping at intervals to wash his whiskers 

 and gaze fearlessly into your face. He is an inter- 

 esting beast to watch, and, when fairly scanned, 

 not so ugly as his long yellow teeth and angular 

 visage might make you fancy ; there is an air of 

 benevolence, too, in the water-rat's face, when you 

 examine it closely, which is expressive of his char- 

 acter, and quite unlike that of his distant cousin 

 "mus rattus" the land rat. Guiltless, or all but 

 guiltless, of animal, food, the water-rat feeds almost 

 exclusively on vegetable substances. He may nibble 

 a dead fish if he find one, but has neither the will 

 nor the power to injure a live one ; therefore harm 

 him not, but watch him as he moves towards you 

 like a clockwork animal, his short legs hidden 

 under his thick body, never diverging from his 

 track, but swimming across the water as he meets 

 it in exactly the same plane so buoyant is his 

 body as that in which he runs. But you look at 

 your watch, and at the movement your cool visitor 

 turns up his inelegant little tail and dives down 



