THE RA T. 



241 



would take off in a body, or disperse amongst the fields, and live 

 upon the tender bark of trees, and upon birds, beetles, and other 

 things which the adjacent ground would afford. 



That they move from place to place in large bodies cannot well 

 be disputed. A respectable farmer, by name John Mathewman, 

 now living in this neighbourhood, has informed me that, as he was 

 returning home one moonlight night, about eleven o'clock, he sud- 

 denly came upon a large drove of rats, near Sandal Three-houses. 

 They were coming up a lane which opened upon the high road, and, 

 as soon as they discovered him, they gave mouth in a general squeal. 

 Those nearest to him rose on their hind-legs, and then the whole 

 body separated, and scampered off in all directions. Probably these 

 adventurers were on the look out that night for better quarters. 



Rats will occasionally attempt to feed on individuals of the human 

 species when they are asleep. In 1824, I went with that excellent 

 American naturalist, Mr Titian Peale, down the Delaware, to the 

 neighbourhood of Salem, in order to make researches in ornitho- 

 logy, and we procured good lodgings at a farmer's house. During the 

 night I was disturbed by a movement in the straw mattress on which 

 I lay, of a somewhat suspicious nature, but being exceedingly tired 

 with our day's exertion, I fell asleep again till about half-past four, 

 my usual hour of rising. At breakfast, " Madam," said I to the 

 farmer's wife, " I could almost have fancied that there were rats in 

 my mattress last night." "Very likely, sir," said she, with the 

 greatest composure ; and then she told me that the year before, 

 whilst she was fast asleep in the bed which I had occupied, a rat 

 began to eat into her shoulder. On saying this, she bared the place 

 to let me have a view of it, and I distinctly saw the marks which 

 the hungry rat had left. " Upon my word, madam," said I, " though 

 I am not prone to make wry faces at a fair allowance of fleas or bugs, 

 still I must own to you that I have not yet quite made up my mind 

 to be devoured alive by rats ; wherefore, if you have no objections, 

 when our breakfast is finished we will go and take a peep into the 

 interior of the mattress." On ripping it up, no rats were found, but 

 out bounced seven or eight full-grown mice. The old lady smiled as 

 they ran across the floor, and I thought I could read in her face that 

 she considered I had raised a false alarm. 



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