KIDD'S LONDON JOURNAL. 



culated to touch the finest feelings of the human 

 heart. Perhaps, there is not a village or hamlet 

 in England that has not heard what befel the 

 babes in the wood ; and how poor cock-robin did 

 all in his power for them when death had closed 

 their eyes. I wish it were in my power to do 

 only half as much in favor of some other birds 

 as this well-known ballad of The Children in the 

 Wood has done for poor cock-robin! — Charles 

 Waterton. 



[Second Article.] 

 In our Paper of last week, we inserted 

 some very minute and interesting particulars 

 connected with the total destruction of our 

 choice birds by Rats. We then promised 

 to relate at an early day, how we vanquished 

 the enemy. The subjoined was an amateur 

 contribution to the Gardeners' Chronicle, 

 February 9, 1850. As that paper is quite 

 out of print, and many persons have vainly 

 tried to obtain it, there needs no apology 

 for its insertion here : — 



" jRafs-bane" properly so called — a Settler for the 

 Million. 



" Sir, — When I published, in your paper 

 of January 12, the irreparable loss I had 

 sustained by an army of rats, who had re- 

 morselessly eaten up all save eleven of my 

 large and favorite family of "pet" birds, 

 collected at much cost and with considerable 

 trouble during a period of twenty years — I 

 felt sure that some, at least, if not all of your 

 correspondents would sympathise with me, 

 and assist me to the utmost of their ability 

 in placing the enemy hors de combat. Nor 

 did I reckon without my host. 



" From all parts of the United Kingdom 

 have I received letters of condolence, many 

 of them conveying hints invaluable for my 

 guidance in carrying on the war of exter- 

 mination with certainty and despatch ; and 

 emphatically requesting that the " result " 

 of my proceedings might be made publicly 

 known. In the columns of the Gardeners' 1 

 Chronicle, too, there have appeared each 

 week some very valuable suggestions which 

 I have carefully noted, and for which I 

 hereby tender my best thanks to the kind 

 writers. For the benefit of all who may 

 hereafter fall victims to the rapacity of rats, 

 I will now, as briefly as may be, lay before 

 them my military tactics, and explain how I 

 finally brought up my corps de reserve, 

 which gained me a decisive victory. 



"Instead of commencing hostilities at once, 

 on discovering the extent of the ravages 

 committed — I gave encouragement to the 

 enemy, by throwing in his way divers ar- 

 ticles of food, such as dripping, lard, meat, 

 bones, fish, and other dainties. This gave 



him confidence, and threw him off his guard, 

 so that he revelled unsuspiciously among 

 all the good things of this life, while I Avas 

 secretly plotting his destruction. I took 

 care, meantime, to secure all the hen-houses, 

 and shut the inmates up every night, to 

 protect them from their blood-thirsty foe. 

 The great field-day was Friday last, a day 

 I shall long remember. I devoted it entirely 

 to strategy. 



" Nil actum reputans dum quid super esset 

 agendum, I completed all my arrangements 

 before the hour of dusk, impatiently waiting 

 for the rising sun of the morrow. Poison 

 was my weapon ; fresh herrings and sprats 

 were my aides-de-camp. The poison was 

 common carbonate of barytes, ground to an 

 impalpable powder — and phosphorus. An 

 incision was first made in the backs of the 

 herrings, and the carbonate of barytes well 

 rubbed in. The parts were then, as artisti- 

 cally as possible, reunited. The sprats 

 being smaller than the herrings, and more 

 plastic, were pierced through their sides 

 with a sharp piece of deal wood. Had a 

 knife, a fork, or the human hand touched 

 them, all would have been vain ! The barytes 

 was then " drilled in," and other sprats, not- 

 poisoned, were placed above and below 

 them, so that suspicion was disarmed. " La- 

 tet anguis in herba ! " 



" It should be borne in mind, that the 

 barytes is without taste and without smell ; 

 hence its great value. The Avay in which I 

 applied the phosphorus would take more 

 space to detail than you can well afford 

 in one number of your paper. At a future 

 time I will gladly furnish particulars of this, 

 and other interesting matters, connected 

 with my recent experiments : for I have 

 been both a " sapper " and a " miner ! " 



" When the preparations were all com- 

 pleted, I stationed my trusty messengers in 

 every part of the garden and shrubberies — 

 some under trees, some in flower-pots, some 

 hidden by a brick, others partly imbedded 

 in the garden walks. They " did their 

 bidding" right well. On coming down 

 stairs the morning following, I found the 

 enemy had fallen into the snare. There was 

 a serious diminution of the provisions fur- 

 nished for their repast, and the hand of 

 death was observable on every side. To use 

 an expressive, and most appropriate classi- 

 cal quotation, there was a visible " Decessio 

 pereuntium — successio pefiturorurn" which 

 clearly proved I had won the day. In a 

 word, two days and two nights effectually 

 routed the whole army, and 1 was left 

 master of the field. 



"If it be urged by some, as perhaps it will 

 be, that I am cruel, consider the aggrava- 

 tion ! — an unprovoked and brutal attack 

 upon a large affectionate family of sleeping 



