46 'January 1749. 



ufually lie in hollow trees, and hardly ever 

 ftir from thence, unlefs they be difturbed 

 by men or dogs ; but in the night they 

 come out, and feek their food. In bad 

 weather, or when it fnows, they lie clofe 

 for a day or two, and do not venture to 

 leave their retreats. They do a great deal 

 ofmifchief in the cabbage-fields ; but ap- 

 ple-trees fufrer infinitely more from them, 

 for they peel off all the bark next to the 

 ground. The people here agreed that the 

 hares are fatter in a cold and fevere winter, 

 than in a mild and wet one, of which they 

 could give me feveral reafons, from their 

 own conjectures. The fkih is ufelefs, be- 

 caufe it is fo loofe, that it can be drawn off; 

 for when you would feparate it from the 

 flefh, you need only pull at the fur, and 

 the fkin follows : thefe hares cannot be 

 tamed. They were at all times, even iri 

 the midft of winter, plagued with a num- 

 ber of common fleas *. 



January the 16th. The common mice 

 were in great abundance in the towns and 

 in the country ; they do as much mifchicf 

 as in the old countries. Oldmixon in his 



book, 



* This account fufficiently proves, that thefe hares are' 

 a fpe-cies diftincl from our European rcddifti grey kind, and 

 alfo of that fpecies or 'variety only, which in the northern 

 parts of Europe and Afia is white in winter, with black 

 tipped ears, and has a grey ccat in fummer. Upon a 

 clofer examination naturaliih will perhaps find more cha- 

 racters todiftinguilh them more accurately. F. 



