SNOW STORMS. 337 



vigorous find their way to these, and subsist on them till 

 other parts of the surface be clear. When, however, 

 the snow falls in continued storms, and especially with 

 the wind from opposite points during the different falls, 

 the sufferings of the creatures are extreme ; first, those 

 that live on vegetables, perish through suffocation or 

 of hunger ; and then the carnivorous ones, which can 

 in general subsist longer without food, follow in their 

 turn ; and when the snow clears away, the raven comes 

 to enjoy the spoils of both. 



These are but a few of the inhabitants of the moor ; 

 but moor means so many different kinds of country, 

 according to the situation in which it is placed, that 

 there is no possibility of including in a short space the 

 characters that are common to all. There are compa- 

 ratively few quadrupeds peculiar to such situations, 

 and the number of insects is not great ; the plants, too, 

 though more abundant and more numerous in their 

 species, are not those that are the most striking in 

 their appearance, or the most interesting in their pro- 

 perties. 



Alpine hares are sometimes found in the more 

 elevated parts of the higher moors, and the common 

 hare in the lower parts of those that are near the culti- 

 vated grounds ; but the only quadrupeds which can be 

 considered as natives, and permanent inhabitants of the 

 moors in any part of Britain, are deer ; and they pro- 

 perly fall into the description of a more limited and pe- 

 culiar description of scenery. We must, therefore, even 

 though the subject be merely begun, close our account 

 of this division of the surface of our country. There are 

 other circumstances connected with it in common with 



