190 BRITISH QUADRUPEDS. 



lifeless. Seeing this, the animals became intimidated, 

 and speedily fled towards a rock hard by, and dis- 

 appeared in its fissures. The gentleman was nearly 

 overcome with fatigue and exhaustion, having been 

 engaged in his struggle with the weazels, as far as he 

 could guess, upwards of twenty minutes j and, but for the 

 timely assistance of my father, he said he must have 

 inevitably fallen a victim to their fury, as he found 

 himself quickly losing strength, from the violence of his 

 exertion. His chief attention was turned to keeping 

 them from his throat, to which they seemed instinct- 

 ively to direct their course. He was a powerful man ; 

 otherwise he must have sunk under their ferocity. He 

 had squeezed two to death, while tearing them from him. 

 His hands were much bitten, and were streaming with 

 blood from the wounds. 



" The account he gave of the commencement of the 

 affray was, that he was walking slowly through the 

 park, when he happened to see a weazel ; he ran at it, 

 and made several unsuccessful attempts to strike it with 

 a small rattan he had in his hand ; on coming near the 

 rock above mentioned, he got betwixt it and the animal, 

 and thus cut off his retreat ; the weazel squeaked aloud, 

 when an instantaneous sortie was made by the whole 

 colony, and the attack commenced." 



