Crass I. NORWAY RAT. 
are fo bold, as fometimes to turn upon thofe who 
purfue them, and faften on the ftick or hand of 
fuch as offer to ftrike them. 
M. Briffon defcribes this fame animal twice under 
different names, p. 170 under the title of /e rat du 
bois; and again, p. 173 under that of /e rat de 
norvege. M. de Buffon ftiles it le Surmulot; as re- 
fembling the mulots, or field mice, in many re- 
- fpeéts; but exceeding them in bulk. 
I fufpect that this rat came in fhips originally 
from the Eaf Indies; a large brown fpecies being 
found there, called Bandicotes, which burrow under 
sround., Barbot* alfo mentions a {pecies inhabiting 
the fields in Guinea, and probably the fame with 
this. 
* Churchill’s Colls Voy. 204. 
117 
