This was a colony of what Joe called "prairie-dogs." On first beholding them Crusoe uttered a sort of half growl, half bark of surprise, cocked his tail and ears, and instantly prepared to charge; but he glanced up at his master first for permission.

Observing that his finger and his look commanded "silence," he dropped his tail at once and stepped to the rear.

He did not, however, cease to regard the prairie-dogs with intense curiosity.
These remarkable little creatures have been egregiously misnamed by the hunters of the west, for they bear not the slightest resemblance to dogs, either in formation or habits.

They are, in fact, the marmot, and in size are little larger than squirrels, which animals they resemble in some degree.

They burrow under the light soil, and throw it up in mounds like moles.
Thousands of them were running about among their dwellings when Dick first beheld them; but the moment they caught sight of the horsemen rising over the ridge they set up a tremendous hubbub of consternation.