The head-quarters of my mice seemed to be a large closet in one corner of the room, from which they constantly issued, and to which they retreated on the least alarm, for it was always accessible, in consequence of the door not closing properly. They often appeared to me to hold a council, for they would sally forth in a body; not giddily, and as if by chance, but with all the gravity of diplomatic characters, and form a circle, when deliberations commenced. They were carried on in a language between a squeak and a chatter, and occasionally one would rise, and place himself in another part of the circle. I would have given a great deal to have understood what was going on; but as I could not, I occasionally disturbed them by laughing, when they huddled back to the closet; and when I grew stronger, I sometimes dashed a pillow in among them, which made the poor senators breathless with agitation, and scuffle under the furniture, till they thought they might gain the closet in safety. I little imagined the deeds committed in that domicile, or I might not have been so indulgent to them; it was no less than gnawing holes in some valuable antelope, monkey, and leopard skins, which were to have been sent to my friends by the next departing vessel. When I was allowed to eat, my appetite was kindly tempted by dainties sent to me by friends, and which were placed under tin covers, on the top of a chest of drawers. The endeavours of my rodent companions to get at these were excessively droll; but as fast as they clambered an inch or two up the sides, the slippery metal caused them to slide down again; then they thought if they could but get to the top of the cover, they should succeed; so they mounted upon each others' shoulders, and accomplished the feat, but not their purpose; instead of getting inside, down they came in a body again, but they became so used to my laughter, that they did not mind it. Many of them combined together to push the cover off the dish; but it was too firmly retained by the rim to be moved. One day they thought they had triumphed, for the cover was not quite put down in one place. A summons was evidently given, and presently a number of little paws were inserted to raise it still higher; but instead of doing this, the cover slipped on to their paws, and it was very ludicrous to see their pain and mortification. After this they so far abandoned the attempt that only one would be occasionally seen walking round, as if by reconnoitering the fortress again, his genius would suggest a successful termination to the enterprise.