[13] Conservateur Suisse, xlvi. p. 478, vol. xii. It is a curious fact that animals have a wonderful power of anticipating coming catastrophes. When human beings are unaware of danger, they are often warned by the behaviour of animals. Country people sometimes say that they can tell from the birds when the weather is about to change; and there is little doubt but that sea-gulls come inland before rough, stormy weather. But in the case of earthquakes the behaviour of birds, beasts, and even fishes is very striking. It is said that before an earthquake rats, mice, moles, lizards, and serpents frequently come out of their holes, and hasten hither and thither as if smitten with terror. At Naples, it is said that the ants quitted their underground passages some hours before the earthquake of July 26, 1805; that grasshoppers crossed the town in order to reach the coast; and that the fish approached the shore in shoals. Avalanches, it is well known, produce tremors similar to those due to slight earthquake shocks; and there are many stories in Switzerland of the behaviour of animals just before the catastrophe takes place. Berlepsch relates that a pack-horse on the Scaletta Pass, which was always most steady, became restive when an avalanche was coming; so that he was valuable to his owners in bad weather. One day, when near the summit of the pass, he suddenly stopped. They foolishly took no notice of his warning this time; but he presently darted off at full speed. In a few seconds the avalanche came and buried the whole party. If these stories can be relied upon, it would seem that animals are either more sensitive to very slight tremors of the earth, or else that they are more on the lookout than human beings. Perhaps North American Indians have learned from animals in this respect, for they can tell of a coming enemy on the march by putting their ears to the ground and listening.