412 THE PHILOSOPHt 



rats of this country never touch the provifions laid up fo^ 

 winter, except when they cannot procure nourifliment any 

 where elfe. Thefe rats, hke the Tartars, change their habi- 

 tations. Sometimes they totally abandon Kamtfchatka for 

 feveral years, and their retreat greatly alarms the inhabitants, 

 which they confider as a prefage of a rainy feafon, and of a 

 bad year for hunting. The return of thefe animals is, of 

 courfe, looked upon as a good omen. Whenever they 

 appear, the happy news is foon fpread over all parts of the 

 country. They always take their departure in the fpring, 

 when they aflemble in prodigious numbers, and traverfe riv- 

 ers, lakes, and even arms of the fea. After they have made 

 a long voyage, they frequently lie montionlefs on the fhore, 

 as if they v/ere dead. When they recover their ftrength 

 they recommence their march. The inhabitants of Kamt- 

 fchatka are very felicitous for the prefervation of thefe ani- 

 mals. They never do the rats any injury, but give them 

 every alliftance when they lie weakened and extended on the 

 ground. They generally return to Kamtfchatka about the 

 month of Odlober ; and they are fometimes met with in 

 fuch prodigious numbers that travellers are obliged to ftop 

 two hours till the whole troop pafles. The track of ground 

 they travel in a fingle fummer is not lefs wonderful than the 

 regularity they obferve in their march, and that inftindlive 

 impulfe which enables them to forefee, %vith certainty, the 

 changes of times and of feafons. 



Yv'^ith regard to Birds, their artifices are not lefs nume- 

 rous nor lefs furprifing than thofe of quadrupeds. .The eagle 

 and hawk kinds are remarkable for the fharpnefs of their 

 fight and the arts they employ in catching their prey. Their 

 movements are rapid or flow, according to their intentions, 

 and the fituation of the animals they wifh to devour. Rapa- 

 cious birds uniformly endeavour to rife higher in the air 

 than their prey, that they may have an opportunity of dart- 

 ing forcibly down upon it with their pounces. To counter- 



