Quadrupeds. 785 



creation, that led to his introduction here. I do not say that it was 

 so, but that it may have been so. I believe, however, I shall carry 

 with me a pretty large majority of both gentlemen and farmers, when 

 I express my conviction that the services of Reynard might have been 

 dispensed with ; in plain English, so far as the Isle of Wight is con- 

 cerned, we would rather have had " his room than his company." 



I saw, early in this summer, a curious variety, as I judged it to be, 

 which was trapped by Mr. Hodges, gamekeeper at the Hermitage. 

 The animal was below the average size, though its teeth showed it was 

 not a young one ; neither was it aged ; grey hairs were plentifully 

 scattered over the back and sides ; its brush, which was a very 

 shabby one, wanted the white tip ; indeed, the striking peculiarity 

 was the absence of all white hairs, the parts usually white being of a 

 pale slate colour. 



The Seal, but what species I am unable to say, has occasionally 

 made its appearance on our southern coast. A rock situated be- 

 tween Bonchurch and Ventnor, goes by the name of " Seal Rock," 

 from the fact of a seal having been seen a few years ago basking on 

 its surface. A fisherman, residing at the foot of Luccombe Chine, 

 noticed two seals passing to the westward in 1841 ; and early in the 

 spring of 1843, a seal appears to have remained some days in our 

 neighbourhood. The animal itself was seen but once, but its tracks 

 were seen repeatedly. A curious encounter took place between this 

 seal and one of the coast-guard. The man, being on night duty, was 

 passing the gorge of Shanklin Chine, when he was suddenly attacked 

 by what he supposed to be a large dog, which emerged from beneath 

 a bathing-machine. In self-defence he drew his cutlass, and laid 

 about him; and having driven off his assailant, he quietly proceeded 

 on his beat. Daylight, however, disclosed the real nature of both 

 the animal and the combat ; for tracks of blood and of the splay feet 

 on the sand betrayed the retreat of a wounded seal, and showed that 

 the coast-guardman had unwittingly got between the animal and its 

 native element. Curiously enough, the seal took its nap a second 

 time, a few nights after, beneath this self-same machine, but was not 

 again disturbed. The spot where it reposed was plainly indicated, 

 and its track was distinct for many yards on the sands, which had 

 been left dry by the fall of the tide : the machine was, moreover, 

 close to the cottage which stands at the entrance to Shanklin Chine. 



Tlie Squirrel is abundant in the woods on the northern side of the 

 island, but has seldom been found in the centre, and along the 

 southern shores. 



ii 2 L 



