i8 NATURAL HISTORY oiNORWAT. 



tried, and has allured me of the truth. The only thing that 

 is ufeful in the Otter is his ikin : this is covered with thick and 

 fhort hair, and keeps out water ** 



SECT. XVII. 



Badger. The Badger, Brock or Greving, which is alfb called here Sviiri 



Sok, is like a fmall hog, with long black or grey hair, and fhort 

 and crooked legs : he undermines the ground, and lives on mice, 

 fiiakes and infects. The Badger's bite is bad, and his teeth are 

 very {harp ; where he fixes them he does not loofe his hold, till 

 he hears the bone crack betwixt his teeth. The penis of the 

 Badger is, like the lea- calf's, a hard bone. His enemy the fox, 

 who is too lazy to dig himielf a hole, feizes the Badger's when 

 he is out, and fills it with fuch a ftench, that the owner never 

 cares for it afterwards +. 



SECT. XVIII. 



Porcupine, or The Porcupine, Pindfwiin, which is called by many Bufte- 

 Se e K>dic- <tyvel, is Efficiently known What I have to obferve concerning 

 t i onary tJ c j 113 this creature is only this, that he conveys himielf often into the 



this a Hedge- , ji* \ • « i v • * "« • r t* 



hog as weii as bear s holes ; and, with his numerous prickles, is io troublefome 

 orcupme. to ^ rough hoft, who cannot any way revenge himielf on the 

 impertinent gueft, that he is obliged to do as the badger does to 

 the fox, quit his lodging. 



Mole. The Mole, Muldvarpen, whole proper Norvegian Name is 



Vond, is found in the eaft parts, but very frequently ellewhere : 

 as far as I have been able to find out, 'tis in a manner unknown 

 in this quarter ; probably our rocky ground does not fuit this 

 famous miner. He lives upon worms and infe£h during Summer, 

 and in the Winter they eat nothing ; but, like the porcupine and 

 bear, lie in a ftate of infenfibility, in a trance, or a kind of 

 flumber, 



SECT. XIX. 



& afe . The Rat, Rotter ; of thefe we have feveral kinds, particu- 



larly Foreft or Wood, and Water-Rats; thele are not longer- 

 liv'd in Nord than Helgeland, where they loon die, if brought 



* For feveral years lately Otters fkins have been wanted, in Holland and Germany, 

 more than ever; according to our merchants accounts, who export from lience 

 annually feveral thoufands. 



•f Nature has wonderfully provided thefe creatures with a fucking-hole, under their 

 body, betwixt their hind-legs, into which they, in Winter, run their (harp fnout up to 

 their eyes, and receive nourilhment there, as the bears do from their paws. Hans Frid. 

 Flemming German Huntfman, p, 115. 



there 



