e
him by a civil word, though I thought that thus puffed out with air,
they anything but added to the beauty of his appearance.

"They were the cause of my being taken," cried the fierce Hamster, whose
savage complaints had quite silenced the gentler murmurs of the pretty
little Lemmings, and had done more perhaps to make them submissive to
their lot than anything which I could have said.

"How were your pouches the cause of your being taken?" inquired I.

"I can fight savagely-- I will fly even at dogs," replied the Hamster
(no one could have looked at him and have doubted it,) "but I cannot
bite when my cheeks are stuffed full of grain, which was the case when a
German peasant seized me; I had no time to empty them, not a moment, or
wouldn't I have bitten him! oh, would not I have bitten him!"

I felt so much disgusted at the words and manner of this most ferocious
of rats, that I was glad to turn away from his cage; reflecting to
myself how hideous and how hateful any creature is rendered by violent
passion.

A perfume, rather more powerful than agreeable, drew my attention
towards a division occupied by a Musk-Rat, a native of Canada. I saw
within it a creature of the size of a small rabbit, quiet and staid in
his demeanour, who welcomed me with a grave courtesy strangely in
contrast to the rudeness of the Hamster.

"May I venture to look upon you as belonging to the race of Mus?"
I inquired, looking doubtingly at his large size, soft fur, and long
flat tail.

"Well," he replied, good-humouredly, "some naturalists, and I believe
the great Linnaeus amongst them, class me with the Castor or Beaver
race, and dignify me with a very long and learned-sounding name,
Zibethicus. But I am quite content, for my part, to own my relationship
to the race of Mus, and to be known by the simple name Musk-Rat, which
they give me on the lakes of Canada."

"I am delighted," said I, with a wave of my whiskers, "at this
opportunity of paying my respects to so dignified a relation."

"Ah!" replied Zibethicus, "I only wish that I could have received you in
my own house upon the Lake Huron. If you could but have seen the pretty
round dwelling raised by myself and my companions-- the neat dome-shaped
roof which covered it, formed of herbs and reeds cemented with clay.
So prettily it was stuccoed within! A great deal of trouble it cost us,
to be sure, but I often think there's no pleasure without trouble; and
there's nothing in my