36 
THE RAT. 
wliicli she killed the old rat and all the litter but three, 
which three she carried to her own nest, and suckled them 
with her own remaining two kittens. 
Now this certainly goes far to prove that cats are not sucli 
implacable enemies to rats as is generally believed, or they 
would not, in a state of nature, be so far reconciled, as not 
only to live with them, but actually, from their own choice, 
to suckle them in their infancy. 
At a tavern in Woolwich, there was to be seen a tame 
piebald rat, most curiously marked, which was as docile as 
a puppy, and considered a great natural curiosity. 
A friend of mine informed me, that when at home 
in Edinburgh, he kept a number of rabbits for amuse- 
ment ; and on the floor of the washhouse, where he kept 
them, lay the remains of an old iron pot which had been used 
as a copper ; but, from some cause or other, a piece had flown 
•out of one side, thus rendering it useless. One morning, 
when he entered the washhouse, he saw a beautiful and com- 
modious nest of hay, straw, <fec., built in the old pot, which 
was then quite warm. The neatness of the snuggery so 
•excited his wonderment and curiosity, that he resolved upon 
leaving it alone, thinking he might presently come across 
the owner. Nor was he far wrong ; for on the following 
morning, on going to feed his rabbits, he looked into the 
nest, and there lay fast asleep one of the finest rats he ever 
beheld. He said he could not find in his heart to hurt it, 
as it was such a beautiful, clean, glossy creature. Presently 
it awoke, and, instead of showing any alarm or desire to 
escape, it simply raised its head, and, after looking drowsily 
at him, opened its mouth, and gaped most lustily ; then 
doubled itself up, and went off to sleep again ; thus leaving my 
friend to mind his own business, and not interfere with him. 
This off-handed indifference so pleased my informant, that 
he laid him down some food, and thus left him unmolested to 
finish his sleep. For some time things went on in this way, 
till he proceeded, from feeding, to strokmg him down the 
back, and tickling him with his fingers ; and in this way was 
there a perfect friendliness established between them. How- 
ever, one morning when he went into the washhouse, the rat 
met him half-way, and with tail erect he reared up on his hind 
legs, and opened his mouth with such menacing aspect and 
