SOME MAMMALIAN NOTES 343 



over their surprise and the fear of committing trespass. But 

 one morning the lighthouse keeper came to his garden to 

 find that something in the nature of a blight had visited one 

 corner during the night. Somewhat puzzled he replanted 

 the ground, but next night more of his tender vegetables 

 vanished ; and he was still further puzzled. He dug, 

 manured, and planted again, but with like result. He asked 

 the village folk, who smiled, and naturally suggested " rab- 

 bits " ! The keeper watched, and found it was so. He 



complained to H , the lord of the manor, and asked him 



to keep off his rabbits. 



" If you wish to grow greenstuff's," said the lord of the 

 manor, " fence your garden in yourself! " 



This the keeper did not see his way to do, but set to work 

 on a much harder if less expensive plan. He dug a trench 

 two feet wide and three feet in depth all round the garden, 

 hoping that it would be a sufficient barrier against the 

 marauding rodents. 



One morning after he had completed his trench he visited 

 it, and to his great surprise found a large number of rabbits 

 prisoners therein. They had got in but could not get out. 

 I am informed there were over one hundred animals en- 

 trapped. These he managed to kill and find a market for. 



"All right!" said the lighthouse keeper, " this'll do! it's 

 better than a fence." 



And he managed to dispose of nearly seven hundred rab- 

 bits before the lord of the manor discovered his loss, and the 

 cause of the cessation of complaints. 



H was one day surveying his warren when he espied 



the keeper acting in a strange and excited manner, and came 

 up to the edge of the trench. 



" Why, man ! what's this ? " he gasped ; "you're clearing my 

 warren ! " 



" I'm content," replied the keeper, still knocking rabbits on 

 the head, as he pushed a big box in front of him, stowing the 

 rabbits up as he went. " If you want to keep your rabbits, 

 you'd better fence them in ! " 



And so H did, for he immediately ordered some rolls 



of wire-netting, burying three feet of it below the surface, 

 and raising it several feet above, all round the garden ! 



