222 BRITISH QUADRUPEDS. 



his surliness was matter of mirth, and in his play he 

 preserved such an air of gravity, and performed his feats 

 with such a solemnity of manner, that in him too I had 

 an agreeable companion. 



" Bess, who died soon after he was full grown, and 

 whose death was occasioned by his being turned into 

 his box, which had been washed, while it was yet damp, 

 was a hare of great humour and drollery. Puss was 

 tamed by gentle usage ; Tiney was not to be tamed at 

 all ; and Bess had a courage and confidence that made 

 him tame from the beginning. I always admitted them 

 into the parlour after supper, when the carpet affording 

 them a firm hold, they would frisk, and bound, and 

 play a thousand gambols, in which Bess, being remark- 

 ably strong and fearless, was always superior to the 

 rest, and proved himself the chief of the party. One 

 evening, the cat, being in the room, had the hardiness 

 to pat Bess on the cheek, an indignity which he resented 

 by drumming upon her back with such violence, that 

 the cat was happy to escape from under his paws, and 

 hide herself. 



" I describe these animals as having each a character 

 of his own. Such they were in fact, and their counte- 

 nances were so expressive of that character, that, when 

 I looked only on the face of either, I immediately knew 



