e matter stood; but when they did find out, an old rat
was discovered dragging one of these clams about with him. It appeared
that this fellow, thinking it would be nice to have a supper from one of
the clams, which he saw open, thrust in his paw, and got caught.

This story reminds me of a French fable about the rat who got tired of
staying at home, and went abroad to see something of the world. "A rat
with very few brains"--so runs the fable--"got tired of living in
solitude, and took it into his head to travel. He had hardly proceeded a
mile, before he exclaimed, 'What a grand and spacious world this is!
Behold the Alps and the Pyrenees!' The least mole-hill seemed a mountain
in his eyes. After a few days, our traveler arrived at the sea-coast,
where there were a multitude of oysters. At first he thought they were
ships. Among these oysters, was one lying open. The rat perceived it.
'What do I see?' said he. 'Here is a delicate morsel for me, and if I am
not greatly mistaken, I shall have a fine dinner to-day.' So he
approached the oyster, stretched out his neck, and thrust his head
between the shells. The oyster closed, and master Nibble was caught as
effectually as if he was in a trap." I believe the moral of this fable
is something as follows: "Those who have no experience in the world, are
often astonished at the smallest objects, and not unfrequently become
the dupes of their ignorance."

In 1776, one of the British ships engaged in the war with this country,
became infested with rats to such a degree, that they at last devoured
daily nearly a hundred weight of biscuit. They were at last destroyed,
by smoking the ship between decks, after which several bushels of them
were removed.

In the Isle of France rats are found in prodigious swarms. There were
formerly so many, that, according to some accounts, they formed the
principal cause for abandoning the island by the Dutch. In some of the
houses, thirty thousand have been known to be killed in one year.

In Egypt, when the waters of the Nile retire, after the annual overflow,
multitudes of rats and mice are seen to issue from the moistened soil.
The Egyptians believe that these animals are generated from the earth;
and some of the people assert, that they have seen the rats in a state
of formation, while one half of the bodies was flesh and the other half
mud.

The following anecdote is related by a correspondent of one of the
English newspapers: "This morni