PREDATORY HABITS OF THE RAT. 
71 
defence of her young ; and five or six times I have seen cats 
most cruelly bitten and beaten by doe rabbits. 
I shall now give my own sad experience of the voracious 
habits of rats among rabbits, pigeons, &c. 
In my boyish days my father carried on an extensive 
business in London. The house was a corner house, and had 
areas fronting both streets, which led into eight large arched 
cellars, that ran beneath the roads. My father was not a 
wine-bibber, consequently the cellars were not cumbered 
with many pipes of wine, either in glass or wood ; but being 
indeed an honest Yorkshireman, his palate ran more in 
favour of a glass of good home-brewed ale. Suffice it to 
say, that only three of the cellars had lumber and coals in 
them ; the other five, with the exception of a roosting-box 
for my pigeons, were empty. Now, what was to be done 
with these five cellars ? thought I. Immediately my youth- 
ful imagination conceived the idea of turning them into 
a rabbit-warren. The idea was no sooner formed than I sat 
myself down to calculate the means whereby so desirable an 
object could be brought about. First, I must have my father's 
sanction to keep rabbits ; secondly, how were these rabbits 
to be obtained^ since nearly all my money had been expended 
in pigeons. Then came the number that would be necessary 
to stock the warren. I made a moderate calculation, and con- 
cluded that five does and one buck would be sufficient. As 
to wild rabbits, they were out of the question ; so tame ones 
must be substituted in their stead. By this time my very 
heart and soul seemed centred upon a rabbit-warren. I 
shall never forget it ! So to work I went, with all the zeal 
and determination of an enthusiast, to conquer every obstacle 
that might stand between me and the object of my ambi- 
tion. Nor do I believe there is any period of a man's life, 
from the cradle to the grave, wherein his faculties are 
brought into more vivid action than in his youthful days, 
when he is striving to compass some contemplated hobby. 
My small capital was collected together, and every available 
source sounded to increase the sum. My credit was pretty 
good ; nevertheless, when all the moneys were put together 
they fell infinitely short of the sum required. What was to 
be donel Why, there was no alternative but falling back 
upon the oldest i)anker I had, namely, my father. Indeed, 
