84 HAUNTS AND HOBBIES 



hollow? There was no passage that led to it except 

 the hole I had dug up, and this was far too small for 

 the toads to pass through. 



Then next, How came the hollow there at all? It 

 could not have been a natural cavity, for these raised 

 paths are all artificially constructed. They are formed 

 of loose earth heaped up, shaped, and allowed to settle ; 

 when finished they are therefore solid throughout. The 

 hollow must then have been the work of some animal, 

 but of what animal? The toads could not have ex- 

 cavated it, for they are unable to dig, or even to burrow, 

 except in the softest mud. At the same time, the 

 hollow did not resemble that of any small burrowing 

 animal that I was acquainted with, and the size of the 

 hole showed that the animal, whatever it was, must 

 have been of the smallest dimensions. The hole would 

 barely have afforded entrance to a field-mouse. 



The only explanation that suggested itself to me 

 was the following ; namely, that the hollow must have 

 been originally much smaller ; that it was abandoned 

 by the animal that constructed it ; that the toads then, 

 when very diminutive, took possession of it and there 

 remained growing till too large to pass out again 

 through the hole ; and, finally, that their further growth 

 enlarged the hollow by pressing back the soft earth 

 that immediately surrounded them. 



The appearance of the hollow gave some colour to 

 this explanation, for in its shape it very much resembled 

 the figure that the toads presented as they lay huddled 

 together. Indeed, in some places, it almost gave the 

 impression of a cast of their bodies taken in earth. 



