Swiss Family Robinson

find that he had shot 'a new creature', as he said.
    It was difficult to carry it home, but he very sensibly proposed that we should open and clean the carcase , which would make it lighter. Then, putting it in a game-bag, he carried it till quite tired out; he asked if I thought Bruno would let him strap it on his back. We found the dog willing to bear the burden, and reached Woodlands soon afterwards.
    There we were surprised to see Ernest surrounded by a number of large rats which lay dead on the ground.
    `Where can all these have come from?' exclaimed I. `Have you and your mother been rat-hunting instead of gathering rice as you intended?'
    `We came upon these creatures quite unexpectedly,' he replied. `While in the rice swamp, Knips , who was with us, sprang away to a kind of long-shaped mound among the reeds, and pounced upon something, which tried to escape into a hole.
    `He chattered and gnashed his teeth, and the creature hissed and squeaked, and running up, I found he had got a big rat by the tail; he would not let go, and the rat could not turn in the narrow entrance to bite him, but I soon pulled it out and killed it with my stick.
    `The mound was a curious-looking erection, so I broke it open with some difficulty, and in doing this dislodged quite a dozen of the creatures. Some I killed, but many plunged into the water and escaped.
    `On examining their dwelling I found it a vaulted tunnel made of clay and mud, and thickly lined with sedges, rushes, and water-lily leaves.
    `There were other mounds or lodges close by, and seeking an entrance to one I stretched my game-bag across it, and then hammered on the roof till a whole lot of rats sprang out, several right into the bag. I hit away right and left, but began to repent of my audacity when I found the whole community swarming about in the wildest excitement, some escaping, but many stopping in bewilderment, while others actually attacked me.
    `It was anything but pleasant, I assure you, and I began to think of Bishop Hatto in the Mouse Tower on the Rhine . Knips liked it as little as I did, and skipped about desperately to get out of their way, though he now and then seized a rat by the neck in his teeth.
    `Just as I began to shout for help, Juno came dashing through the reeds and water, and made quick work with the enemy, all flying from her attack.
    `My mother had great difficulty in forcing her way through the marsh to the scene of action, but reached me at last; and we collected all the slain to show you, and for the sake of their skins.'
    This account excited my curiosity, and I went to examine the place Ernest described: where I found, to my surprise, an arrangement much like a beaver dam, though on a small scale, and less complete.
    `You have discovered a colony of beaver rats,' said I to Ernest, `so called from their resemblance in skill and manner of life to that wonderful creature.
    `Muskrat, musquash , and ondatra are other names given to them. They have, you see, webbed feet and flattened tails, and we shall find that they carry two small glands containing the scented substance called musk. The sooner we strip off the skins the better; they will be useful for making caps.'
    We went back to the house, and met Fritz and Jack just returned from their excursion, reporting that no trace of serpents, great or small, had been met with.
    Jack carried in his hat about a dozen eggs; and Fritz had shot a couple of heath fowls, a cock and hen.
    We sat down to supper, Franz eager to partake of his capybara. Even he himself made a face at the peculiar flavour of the meat.
    `It is the musk which you taste,' said I; and I described to them the various animals in which this strange liquid is found; the musk deer, musk ox, crocodile, muskrat of India (also called soudeli , which taints a corked bottle of wine, if it only runs across it) concluding with an account of the civet, also called civet-cat.
    `The civet,' said I, `is a handsome black and white animal, and the perfume obtained from it was formerly considered a valuable medicine; in the present day it is used chiefly as a scent. This odoriferous substance is secreted, i.e., formed, in a double glandular pouch near the tail, and the Dutch keep the creature in captivity, so that it shall afford them a continual supply.
    `The method of removing the civet perfume is ingenious. The animal is very quick and elastic in its movements, and having sharp teeth it is not pleasant to handle. So it is put into a long,