CHARLES WATERT0N, ESQ. xiii 



tention to them during my absence ; but they 

 are now in thorough repair. Every department, 

 from the sty to the stable, has been paved, and 

 the pavement joined with Roman cement. In 

 front of them there is a spacious area all of 

 stone, and behind them a stone walk equally 

 done with cement. The entire drainage con- 

 sists of one master drain and two smaller ones 

 tributary to it, and their mouths are secured 

 by an iron grate, moveable at pleasure. 



I have been particular in this description, 

 from no other motive, but that the reader 

 might know by what process I have been able 

 to banish the Hanoverian rat, for ever I trust, 

 from these premises, where their boldness had 

 surpassed that of the famished wolf, and their 

 depredations in the long run had exceeded those 

 of Cacus, who was known to have stolen all the 

 milch cows of Hercules. The rats have made 

 themselves so remarkably scarce, that if I were 

 to offer twenty pounds sterling money for the 

 capture of a single individual, in or about any 

 part of the premises, not one could be pro- 

 cured. History informs us that Hercules 

 sent the Harpies neck and crop into Stym- 

 phalus ; and that Ferdinand and Isabella of 



