ance in search of grass, for the
latter was scanty near the spot; and what there was of it had been eaten
as close to the ground, as if a thousand rabbits had been feeding upon
it! Basil did not hinder his horse from going. He knew that he was too
well trained to run away, and that he could recall him at any moment by
a whistle. He sat still, therefore; now scanning the prairie to the
eastward, and now endeavouring to kill time by examining the strange
little mounds on the other side. Of these there were thousands--indeed,
they covered the plain, both to the north and south, and west, as far as
Basil could see. They were shaped like truncated cones, about three
feet in diameter at the base, and not over two in height. Near the top
of each was the entrance--a hole not much larger than would have been
used by a rat. There was no grass immediately around this hole,
although the sides and tops of the mounds were clothed with a smooth
green turf that gave them the appearance of having been constructed a
long time ago.

The inhabitants of these singular dwellings soon began to show
themselves. They had been terrified by the thundering tread of the
steeds, and had hidden at their approach. All was now silent again, and
they thought they might venture abroad. First one little snout peeped
out, and then another, and another until every hole had a head and a
pair of sparkling eyes looking forth. After a while the owners of the
heads became more courageous, and boldly stepped out-of-doors; and then
could be seen hundreds of these strange creatures. They were of a
reddish-brown colour, with breasts and bellies of a dirty white. Their
bodies were about the size of the common grey squirrel; but their
general appearance partook of the squirrel, the weasel, and the rat--all
three of which they in some respects resembled, and yet were not like
any of them. They were a distinct species of animals. They were
_Marmots_, that species known by the fanciful appellation of
"prairie-dogs," (_Arctomys ludoviciana_). Their tails were very short,
and not bushy as those of squirrels; and altogether their bodies had not
the graceful symmetry of these animals. In a short time every mound had
two or three on its top--for several individuals dwell together in the
same house. Some sat upon all fours, while others erected themselves on
their hind-feet, and stood up like little bears or monkeys--all the
while flourishing their tails and