160 
THE RAT. 
rat was destroyed in matches before the week was over. 
Their dead carcasses weighed twelve hundredweight. He 
says that he pays the countrymen, (fee, over £200 a year for 
rats ; and both of these rat-destroyers tell me that they 
cannot keep a hundred rats anyhow for less than ten 
shillings a week. 
Here it may be as well to mention that when a match is 
made between two dogs to kill a certain number of rats 
each, or when a dog is matched to kill rats against time, one 
of the articles of agreement mostly is, that one and all shall 
be fair barn-rats ; consequently sewer-rats are wholly ex- 
cluded, except when a greenhorn makes a match with a 
sharper, wherein he backs his dog to kill a certain number 
of rats within a given time, and allows the sharper to find 
the rats unconditionally ; in that case his dog is almost 
certain to lose, as the sharper will take care to provide none 
but the largest sewer-rats, which possess enormous powers 
and daring, and inflict most severe and dangerous wounds. 
Now, I think it a fair conclusion to arrive at, that 
out of the 104,000 rats which are annually destroyed 
in London, 100,000 are genuine country rats, while 
the remaining 4,000 will amply account for all the sewer, 
house, and wharf\ rats that may be destroj'^ed in dog and 
ferret matches. 
There is a person residing in London who is perhaps one 
of the most extensive, as well as one of the most honest, dog- 
dealers in England. It may seem curious to mention the latter 
quality ; but, generally speaking, this class of worthies, like 
Yorkshire horse-dealers, wear their honour so loosely that they 
ought to walk hand-in-hand together. This man informs me 
that some little time since, he sold a bull-dog to a customer of 
his some few miles from town, where he carried on the double 
occupation of farmer and brewer. On the morning after the 
dog's arrival, his new master gave orders to his men to clear 
a certain barn, for the purpose of catching rats, to give him 
a trial. The men set to work right merrily, as there was 
to be some sport ; and without hesitation seized the rats by 
the tails as they came across them. The smaller ones were 
dashed against the walls, while the larger ones were as care- 
fully popped into an upright tub. When all was ready, the 
dog was brought, and put into the tub with the rats ; and, 
