RABBIT. 
133 
of a whistle, the instant this signal was given, I 
saw him marshalling them up, leading them the 
foremost, and then suffering them all to file off be- 
fore him. 
The rabbit, though less than the hare, generally 
lives longer. As these animals pass the greater 
part of their lives in their burrow, where they 
continue at ease and unmolested, they* have nothing 
to prevent the regularity of their health, or the 
due course of their nourishment. They are, there- 
fore, generally found fatter than the hare ; but 
their flesh is, notwithstanding, much less delicate. 
That of the old ones, in particular, is hard, tough, 
and dry ; but it is said, that in warmer countries, 
they are better tasted. This may very well be, as 
the rabbit, though so plentiful in Great Britain 
and Ireland, is nevertheless a native of the w armer 
climates ; and has been originally imported into 
these kingdoms, from Spain. In that country, and 
in some of the islands in the Mediterranean, we are 
told, that they once multiplied in such numbers as 
to prove the greatest nuisance to the natives. They 
at first demanded military aid to destroy them ; 
but soon after they called in the assistance of fer- 
rets, which originally came from Africa, and these, 
with much more ease and expedition, contrived to 
lessen the calamity. In fact rabbits are found to 
love a warm climate, and to be incapable of bear- 
ing the cold of the north ; so that in Sweden they 
are obliged to be littered in the houses. It is 
otherwise in all the tropical climates, where they 
are extremely common, and where they seldom bur- 
row, as with us. The English counties that are 
most noted for these animals, are Lincolnshire, 
Norfolk, and Cambridgeshire. They delight in 
grounds of a sandy soil, which are warmer than 
those of clay ; and which also furnish a softer 
and finer pasture. 
