288 THE BOOK OF A NATURALIST 



tickles the sense of the ludicrous, and it is good to 

 laugh. His staring eyes, spasmodic gestures, and 

 barking exclamations are almost painful, they are 

 so genuine ; for what an unearthly-looking monster 

 one must seem to him ! He is a gnome who 

 has somehow stumbled out of his subterranean 

 abode, and, like the young mole in Lessing's 

 fable, is overwhelmed with astonishment at every- 

 thing he sees in this upper world. Then there is 

 the agouti, with pointed head, beautifully arched 

 back, and legs slender, proportionally, as the 

 gazelle's ; its resemblance in form to the small 

 musk deer has been remarked — a rodent moulded 

 in the great Artist-Mother's happiest mood. The 

 colour of its coat, relieved only by its pink ears 

 and a broad shining black stripe on the back, is 

 red Venetian gold, the hue which the old Italian 

 masters gave to the tresses of their angelic women. 

 A mild-tempered animal, which may be taken from 

 its native woods and made tame in a few days. 

 Many of the smaller rodents might also be men- 

 tioned, such as the quaint, bird-like jerboa, and 

 the variegated loucheres ; and so on down even 

 to the minute harvest-mouse. Forms and sizes to 

 suit all tastes ; for why should we all have alike ? 

 Let fashion in pets go out with the canines. 



To go back to the other extreme, from low to 

 high, there are the wild cats inhabiting all desert 

 places on the globe. Tigers and leopards made 

 small ; clouded, or with a clear golden ground- 

 colour, pale or red gold or grey, and black-striped. 



