Chapt. xv. A fish rather down in the mouth. 199 



"sorts waiting for him in full force, and with the sub- 

 "limest patience. One sees a frog being sucked down 

 "by a snake in the most deliberate manner imaginable, 

 "the hind legs hanging out and showing signs of life, al- 

 "most long enough for the reading of a three-volume novel ! 

 "One hears a frog up in the air, flying and giving tongue 

 "like mad; looks up, and sees him in the talons of a pass- 

 ing kite. Leading the life of a dog is nothing to leading 

 "the life of a frog. And yet, as I said before, they are 

 "as mischievous and irrepressible as ever, and as jolly 

 "over it as Mark Tapley, getting up tremendous choruses 

 "of their own whenever they have a wet night of it. I 

 "had a lot of them in a bait-can one day, together with 

 "small fish, for bait. Whether he had been in any way 

 "provoked to it by the close quarters in the can, or 

 "whether it was only ordinary behaviour on his part, I 

 "know not; but a frog went at a fish fully twice as long 

 "as his own body, and of course only succeeded in get- 

 "ting one half of it down his throat, the tail sticking 

 "out and wagging lustily the while; but it was no use 

 "wagging, the frog held on imperturbably. I then pulled 

 "the fish all alive out of the frog's mouth, but the frog 

 "went at him again instanter, and again swallowed half of 

 "him. I should like to have seen whether the frog held 

 "on till he had digested the head half, and then swal- 

 lowed the rest, for if that was not what he meant to do, 

 "he was a lunatic to put himself so out of temper, and 

 "hold on as sulkily as he did; but we were just starting 

 "for a fishing-place, and my companion had no idea of 



