courageous
little animal, which deserved a better fate. As if aware of my
hesitation, he nodded his head with rage, and stamped his fore paws on
the tree; while in his chirruping, there was an intonation of sound,
which seemed like contempt. What business had I there trespassing on his
domain, and frightening his wife and little family, for whom he was
ready to lay down his life? There he would sit in spite of me, and make
my ears ring with the sound of his woo-whoop, till the spring of life
should cease to bubble in his little heart."

It is from Captain Brown's pages that I extract the following. "A
gentleman procured a squirrel from a nest, found at Woodhouse, near
Edinburgh, which he reared and rendered extremely docile. It was kept in
a box below an aperture, where was suspended a rope, by which the animal
ascended and descended. The little creature used to watch very narrowly
all its master's movements; and, whenever he was preparing to go out, it
ran up his legs, and entered his pocket, from whence it would peep out
at passengers as he walked along the streets, never venturing however to
go out.

"But no sooner would he reach the outskirts of the city, than the
squirrel leaped on the ground, ran along the road, ascended to the tops
of trees and hedges with the quickness of lightning, and nibbled at the
leaves and bark; and, if the gentleman walked on, it would descend,
scamper after him, and again enter his pocket. Whenever it heard a
carriage or cart, it became much alarmed, and always hid itself till
they had passed by. This gentleman had a dog, between which and the
squirrel, a certain enmity existed. Whenever the dog lay asleep, the
squirrel showed its teasing disposition by rapidly descending from its
box, scampering over the dog's body, and then quickly mounting its
rope."

RATS.

Some persons profess to think that the Rodents called Rats are beautiful
animals; and I presume that, prejudice apart, the sleek skin, the sharp
head, the long, slender tail, and the keen look of their bright black
eyes, ought to be attractions; but those who have been annoyed with
these animals as I have been, can scarcely regard them with anything but
dislike. Overspreading the whole world as they do, it is no wonder,
where they are not vigorously checked, and where food is abundant, their
numbers should amount to something frightful. On a visit to Sierra
Leone, I was all day at the Government House, and going to a