THE BULL FROG. 6l 



Extraordinary leaps Croaking voice. 



in its swiftest course. In order, therefore, to try 

 how well the bull frogs could leap, some Swedes 

 laid a wager, with a }'oung Indian that he could 

 not overtake one of them, provided it had two 

 leaps beforehand. They carried a bull frog, 

 which they had caught in a pond, into a field, 

 and burnt its tail. The fire, and the Indian who 

 endeavored to get up to the frog, had together 

 such an effect upon the animal, that it made its 

 long leaps across the field as fast as it could. 

 The Indian pursued it with all his might. The 

 noise he made in running frightened the poor 

 frog; probably it was afraid of being tortured 

 with fire again, and therefore it redoubled its 

 leaps, and by that means reached the pond, 

 which was fixed on as their goal, before the In- 

 dian could overtake it. An engraved represen- 

 tation of this well authenticated anecdote, our 

 reader will find accompanies this article. 



This animal is called the bull frog on account 

 of its croaking, which is said somewhat to re- 

 semble the hoarse lowing of a bull ; and when, 

 in a calm night, many of them are making ?i 

 noise together, they may be heard to the distance 

 of a mile and a half. The night is the time when 

 they croak, and they are said to do it at inter- 

 vals. In this act they are either hidden among 

 the grass or rushes, or they are in the water, 

 with their heads above the smface. Kalm in- 

 forms us that, as he was one day riding out, he 

 heard one of them roaring before him, and sup- 



