1EIR LIFE AND
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ANIMALS OF TO-DAY
ANIMALS OF TO-DAY
THEIR LIFE AND
CONVERSATION
BY
C. J. CORNISH
Author of 'Life at the Zoo,' ' Wild England'
'Animals at Work and Play,' etc.
WITH SIXTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS
LONDON
SEELEY AND CO. LIMITED
38 GREAT RUSSELL STREET
1898
BWIOGV
UBW1
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PREFACE
THE following chapters were originally contributed to
the Spectator, to the editor of which I have to offer
my thanks for permission to publish them in a collected
form.
I am also much indebted to Mr. Charles Reid, of
Wishaw, our leading photographic artist in the domain
of outdoor natural history, for the choice of many of
the illustrations from his large collection.
C. J. CORNISH.
7123
I. REINDEER AND SNOW-CAMELS
II. GOATS IN CITIES . .
III. THE 'NEW ' PIG ' . .
IV. THE STORY OF THE JERSEY HERD .
V. THE CAT ABOUT TOWN
vi. A 'WOULD-BE' HELPER : THE FRIENDLY PUMA
VII ANIMAL COLONISTS
VIII. IRISH DONKEYS FOR SOUTH AFRICA
IX. SHIRE HORSES AT ISLINGTON . ,
X. THE BEAUTY OF CATTLE
XI. WAR-HORSES . . - ..
XII. THE SPEED OF THE PIGEON-POST ,
XIII. THE LONDON HORSE AT HOME . ,
XIV. MENAGERIE ANIMALS . "'. '\
XV. ANIMALS IN FAMINE . . - ...
XVI. PLAGUE-STRUCK ANIMALS ./ *
XVII. THE ANIMAL * CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS ' .
XVIII. THIRSTY ANIMALS
XIX. THE EFFECT OF HEAT ON ANIMALS
XX. ANIMALS IN THE DARK .
XXI. NATURAL DEATH IN THE ANIMAL WORLD
Vii
PAGE
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9
17
2 5
33
4i
49
57
64
72
80
87
94
1 02
109
117
124
131
138
H5
152
viii CONTENTS
PAGE
XXII. AN'IMALS' ILLUSIONS . . . . . l6o
XXIII. ANIMAL ANTIPATHIES . A . . . l66
XXIV. ANIMAL KINDERGARTEN . . . .174
XXV. THE RANGE OF ANIMAL DIET . . . l8l
XXVI. DAINTIES OF ANIMAL DIET . . . 1 88
XXVII. THE SLEEPING HOMES OF ANIMALS . . J 95
XXVIII. THE CARRIAGE OF ANIMALS . . / - ... . 2C>3
XXIX. TRESPASSING ANIMALS . . ,. .212
XXX. DO ANIMALS TALK ? . , - . " . . 219
XXXI. ANIMALS UNDERGROUND . . . . 22J
XXXII. MAMMALS IN THE WATER . . . . . 235
XXXIII. CROCODILES . . . . . . 243
XXXIV. MARSUPIALS AND THEIR SKINS . . 2 5 J
xxxv. WILD BEASTS' SKINS IN COMMERCE ,. . .258
XXXVI. EAGLES ON AN ENGLISH LAKE . , . 266
XXXVII. THE GREAT FOREST EAGLE . , . -. . 273
XXXVIII. THE PAST AND FUTURE OF BRITISH MAMMALS . 280
XXXIX. THE RETURN OF THE GREAT BUSTARD . .288
XL. BIG GAME ...... 296
XLI. GAME PRESERVATION IN THE UNITED STATES . . 304
XLII. ANIMAL ACCLIMATIZATION AT WOBURN ABBEY . 312
LIST OF
PAGE
A BRITISH BEAVER ..... Frontispiece
GOATS IN A TIMBER-YARD . . . . .12
THE CAT AS WILD ANIMAL . . . . .36
UNWELCOME COLONISTS . . . . .50
ROB ROY'S CATTLE . . . . 1 . .74
HARD TIMES ON EXMOOR . . . . I IO
BEAVER IN THE WATER . . F . . - . I 14
COOL QUARTERS - HIGHLAND CATTLE . . . .142
KITTEN'S KINDERGARTEN . . . . .174
A FIRST-CLASS CARRIAGE, BOSTOCK's MENAGERIE . . 206
A TRESPASSING PARTY . . . . . 2l6
LEAVING THE EARTH . . . . . .228
AN ANCIENT BRITON . . . . . .232
OTTER SWIMMING A STREAM . . , . 236
OTTER ON A LAKE SIDE . 284
AN ENGLISH-BRED GAZELLE . . . . .314
* *
THIRTY years ago it seemed possible that the main
range of animal usefulness, except as supplying food,
might be covered by mechanical contrivance, guided by
human intelligence.
So much had been achieved by inventors that the
old-fashioned animal * helpers and servers ' were at a
discount, and there was a general disregard of animal
life, and a waste of it, both directly and indirectly.
In the last few years a reaction of feeling has taken
place, both in this country and its colonies, and in
the United States. The animal factor is no longer
at a discount. Some of the most practical persons in
the world believe, apart from any promptings of senti-
ment, that it pays to make the best use of the ' machines '
patented by Nature, and the service of animals is taking
a higher place in many of the intelligent combinations
of modern life. Not only are highly - specialized
animals, like the reindeer, the snow-camel, and others,
xii INTRODUCTION
in request for modern enterprise : the more delicate
animal c machines ' guided by organs of sense and per-
ception superior to ours are employed on a great and
increasing scale for naval and military purposes dogs,
for instance, as watchers and messengers in the French,
German, and Italian armies, and the pigeon-post by all
the Western Powers. Recent experiments even indicate
that the bloodhound will be once more used for police
purposes.
How some of the wild animals have managed to
maintain themselves during the bad times of the nine-
teenth century, their shifts and expedients, and per-
sonal idiosyncrasies, and instances of their survival
under difficulties, are set out in many of the following
chapters. Others deal with the wonderful progress of
the domesticated kinds, such as the Jersey cattle, the
shire horse, pig, the goat in cities, and other breeds
whose adaptation to the needs or conditions of this
century has been rapid and astonishing.
I. REINDEER AND SNOW-CAMELS
THE place still held by animals in the practical life of
to-day is well shown by the efforts of the Governments
of Canada and the United States to supply transport
to Klondike during the spring of 1898. To reach
an ice-beleaguered goldfield in the north-western corner
of Arctic America, the Governments of two great
nations, Canada and the United States, were sending
agents to fetch half-wild reindeer, and Lapps, their
half-wild owners, from the north-eastern corner of
Arctic Europe. This astonishing adventure was under-
taken, first, because the reindeer are the only draught
animals which can find food on the journey to
Klondike, and secondly, because in the race against time
there was not an hour to spare in organizing un-
trained herds. Broken reindeer, with their own Lapp
owners and drivers, had to be procured, or the ex-
pedition would have been too late to start from
Dyea in March, when the Arctic days are lengthening.
Meantime, the Canadian Government, at its wits' end to
1 i
2 REINDEER AND SNOW-CAMELS
supply its own police-force on the way to Klondike,
also sent an agent to Norway, who forwarded six Lapps
and a hundred and fourteen deer, and was instructed to
send an equal number as soon as he could get them.
Everyone knows that all this trouble, expense and
hurry to obtain some two thousand five hundred
medium-sized deer from the uttermost parts of the
earth is due solely to one physical fact in natural
history namely, that these deer can find food where
no other beast of burden can. But the exact physical
and local conditions which should make it possible for
the deer to cross where two thousand horses were
already lying dead from starvation are the following.
The road lies mainly beyond the northern limit ot
grass and trees. The reindeer will eat moss, and
prefers it to other food. Moss, as we understand it,
is rather an uncommon vegetable. It would be difficult,
for instance, to find enough moss by an English road-
side to feed one reindeer per diem, not to speak of
hundreds. But once beyond a certain line on the
Arctic fringe, moss is the one common form of
vegetable life. Lichen is the more appropriate name,
for it is a thick, whitish growth, springing up naturally,
and often burnt by the Lapps over large tracts to
produce a thicker crop for the deer, just as Scotch
shepherds burn the heather. It is the natural vegetable
covering of the earth, where earth, and not rock, is on
REINDEER AND SNOW-CAMELS 3
the surface. And the Klondike climate is particularly
favourable to this moss, which lies over the whole
soil, an invisible vegetable lining, between the earth
and the covering snow. It is so thick that even in
summer, when the snow melts, this non-conducting
layer of moss prevents the ground from thawing.
Before the snow melts, the deer would be travelling
over one vast carpet of snow-covered food ; and as
each reindeer, male or female, has a projecting pal-
mated antler, or ' snow-scraper/ with a few sidelong
sweeps of which it can brush away the snow, the herds
have no trouble in reaching their food.
When communications with Klondike were once
more open, it was found that the miners were not in
such straits as was supposed. But the story is evidence
that the animal factor is not yet struck out of the lists
of human needs.
When the purchase of these reindeer was announced,
I received from Mr. Carl Hagenbeck, of Hamburg,
a suggestion of another transport animal for use in the
snows of Klondike. 'The best animal for the Klondike
climate,' he wrote, ' is the big Siberian camel. These
camels transport all merchandise from China to Russia,
and can stand Siberian cold as well as the greatest heat.
They never need shelter, and sleep out in the deep
snow. . . . They can carry from five hundredweight
to six hundredweight, and also go in harness and pull
i 2
4 REINDEER AND SNOW-CAMELS
as much as a big horse. They can cross mountains as
well as level country. As for the difficulty of pro-
curing them, there is none. I can deliver as many as
may be wanted for forty pounds apiece in London or
Grimsby, or sixty pounds, duty paid, in New York.'
The two-humped Bactrian camel, of which Mr. Hagen-
beck speaks, is the only beast of burden, not excepting
the reindeer, of which Englishmen have absolutely no
practical experience. The Russians are, in fact, the only
Europeans who are acquainted with this universal beast
of transport of Northern Asia, while in Europe itself it
has not been seen since the revolt of the Tartars in the
reign of the Empress Catharine.
In that memorable and blood-stained exodus, when
the Tartars fled from the banks of the Volga to the
Great Wall of China, their herds of snow-camels alone
saved the remnant of the people ; and when, after five
months, the flying horde, reduced from six hundred
thousand to three hundred and fifty thousand souls,
together with the pursuing Bashkirs, plunged into the
waters of the Lake of Tengis, ' like a host of lunatics
pursued by a host of fiends,' they were still riding on
the camels on which they had started in the snows of
winter, and crossed the ice of the Russian rivers. < Ox,
cow, horse, mule, ass, sheep, or goat, not one survived,'
writes De Quincey, ' only the camels. These arid and
adust creatures, looking like the mummies of some
REINDEER AND SNOW-CAMELS 5
antediluvian animals, without the affections or sensi-
bilities of flesh and blood these only lifted their
speaking eyes to the Eastern heavens, and had to all
appearance come out of this long tempest of trial
unscathed and hardly diminished/ These ' innumerable
camels' were all of the Bactrian breed, and evidence
of the extremes of cold and heat endured in this
enterprise of the Kalmucks may be found in the fact
that, during the early stages of the flight, circles of
men, women and children were found frozen stiff
round the camp-fires in the morning, while in the last
stage the horde passed for ten days through a waterless
desert with only an eight-days' supply, and yet arrived
* without sensible loss ' of these creatures on the shore
of the Chinese lake.
The constant references to the Bactrian camels made
by De Quincey, and his careful repetition of their
distinctive name, show his appreciation of the part they
played. But in the end he is still under the dominion
of the accepted opinion about camels in general. They
are ' arid and adust ' creatures of the sand and the hot
desert, rather than of the mountain and the cold desert
or steppe, and the South Siberian snows. It is this
distinction of habit and habitat which gives novelty to
Mr. Hagenbeck's suggestion. The physical barrier of
the Himalayas and the Hindoo-Khoosh not only
separates the two species with a completeness not seen
6 REINDEER AND SNOW-CAMELS
in the case of any other breed of domesticated animal,
but has relegated one solely to the use of the yellow
men, and the other to the service of the black or brown
men. The camel of the North, which can endure not
only thirst, but freezing cold, long spells of hunger, and
a bed of snow, is not only the stronger, but the better
equipped species. Before the summer heat it sheds its
coat ; but by September it grows a garment of fur
almost as thick as a buffalo robe, and equally cold-
resisting. It is far more strongly built than the
Southern camel. It does not ' split ' when on slippery
ground, though it falls on moist, wet clay, which yields
to the foot. On ice and frozen snow it stands firmly,
and can travel far, partly because it has developed a
harder foot-pad than the Southern species, partly because
it has a kind of claw-toe projecting beyond the pad of
the foot. Major Leonard states that many years ago
General Harlan marched two thousand Bactrian camels
four hundred miles, crossed the Indian Caucasus in ice
and snow, and lost only one animal, and that by an
accident.
The strongest proof that this is a beast made to
endure not heat but cold, not the hot sands but the
frozen snows, is the method of management adopted by
the Mongol owners of the herds. ' Nothing will
induce an experienced Mongol to undertake a journey
on camels in the hot season,' writes Prejvalski. But
REINDEER AND SNOW-CAMELS ^
from the end of September throughout the winter they
cross deep snow, climb mountains, and perform services
unequalled by any other animal. They carry tea-
chests weighing from four to five hundredweight, can
scale passes twelve thousand feet above the sea-level
Prejvalski's camels crossed eight of these in a journey
of six hundred and sixty miles and are driven in carts
and ridden. In summer they are watered every forty-
eight hours, in winter they can do without water for
eight days. They are not only hardy, but long-lived.
A Mongol camel begins to earn his living at four years
old, and will carry the same burden until from twenty-
five to thirty. Some live to be useful for some years
beyond this limit. In the tea caravans from Kalgan
the camels make two journeys each winter, and earn
seven pounds per camel. As most of their food is
picked up en route, this leaves a good profit to the
Mongol owners. Though these camels are owned in
hundreds of thousands by the tribes of Central Asia,
and are constantly in movement by the caravan routes,
the direction of them is almost universally from East to
West, or West to East, and the caravans do not enter
China beyond the limits of the steppe. This accounts
for their being out of touch with all English trade and
travel, and renders it difficult to understand whence
Mr. Hagenbeck can get as many as he pleases. The
answer is at Tiflis. This is the terminus of the
8 REINDEER AND SNOW-CAMELS
caravan route, and the present Western limit of the
wanderings of the Bactrian camel. There they come
in thousands every year, arriving in the depth of
winter, and leaving before the snows melt on the
southern slope of the Caucasus. There, after the
caravans have unloaded, the camels can be bought
cheap, and be shipped from the Black Sea coast, to
which they are brought either by rail or road.
II. GOATS IN CITIES
THE number of milch-goats exhibited at the last Dairy
Show was larger by one-half than has been entered in
former years. Many of the animals were highly bred
and very handsome creatures, and the quantity and
richness of their milk was greater, relatively to their
size, even than that of the best Jersey cows. The
larger number shown were of the English, Nubian,
and Toggenberg breeds. The finest and most domesti-
cated of all, the goats of Syria, were not represented ;
but those from the herds of Lady Burdett-Coutts and
Sir Humphrey de Trafford, President of the British
Goat Association some black and tan, others pale-
fawn colour, though with very ' goaty ' yellow eyes,
and others of broken colour, but with fine glossy coats
were all well adapted for modern use in England. It
is claimed that the goat is now qualified to be a ' dairy
animal ' as much as the cow, that in Germany five goats
are kept to every hundred of the human population,
and that for poor people, who in rural districts have
9
io GOATS IN CITIES
the greatest difficulty in getting a supply of cow's milk
for themselves and their families, or for persons living
in towns who require fresh milk for children, the goat
is the ideal domestic animal.
It seems probable that in the course of some four
thousand years we have reached a point in civilization
in which the goat, for ages discredited, finds its place
at last. There is nothing in the primitive history of
the breed to contradict this view ; wild goats are no
wilder than wild sheep. But what the old naturalists
quaintly called the ' moral ' differences between sheep
and goats, now known as differences of temperament
surviving under domestication, are inexplicable. Both
the wild goats and the wild sheep frequent by choice
exactly the same regions. That uniformly unattractive
and sterile belt of mountain ranges where trees and
continuous herbage cease to grow, and only tufts and
morsels of vegetation are found, wherever, in fact,
there is the maximum of rock and the minimum of
food, is the natural haunt of wild goats and wild sheep
alike. There are exceptions, such as the markhoor of
the Himalayas, which enters the forest belt ; but the
above holds good of both species when wild, whether
in Corsica, Algeria, Persia, the Taurus range, Cyprus,
or the Rocky Mountains. Yet the sheep, while pre-
serving its hardy habits when desired, as in the case
of all the ' heather sheep ' of Exmoor, Wales and
GO A TS IN CITIES 1 1
Scotland, adapts itself to rich pasture and artificial
feeding, and acquires the temperament, as well as the
digestion, of domestication. The goats, as a rule,
acquire neither ; and though among their various
breeds there are exceptions, the English goat is not
among them. It remains, just as in the days of old
Greece, the enemy of trees, uncontained by fences or
walls, inquisitive, pugnacious, restless and omnivorous.
It is so unsuited for the settled life of the English farm,
that rich pasture makes it ill, and a good clay soil, on
which cattle grow fat, soon kills it. But the goat is
far from being disqualified for the service of modern
civilization by these survivals of primitive habits.
Though it cannot live comfortably in the smiling
pastures of the low country, it is perfectly willing to
exchange the rocks of the mountain for a stable-yard
in town. Its love for stony places is amply satisfied by
the granite pavement of a ' mews,' and it has been
ascertained that goats fed in stalls and allowed to
wander in paved yards and courts, live longer and
enjoy better health than those tethered even on light
pastures with frequent changes of food. In parts of
New York the city-kept goats are said to flourish on
the paste-daubed paper of the advertisements which they
nibble from the hoardings. It is beyond doubt that
these hardy creatures are exactly suited for living in
large towns. Bricks and mortar and paving-stones
12 GOATS IN CITIES
exhilarate them. Their spirits rise in proportion to
what we should consider the depressing nature of their
surroundings. They love to be tethered on a common,
with scanty grass and a stock of furze-bushes to
nibble. A deserted brickfield, with plenty of broken
drain-tiles, rubbish-heaps and weeds, pleases them still
better ; but the run of a London stable and stable-
yard gives them as much satisfaction as the * liberty '
of a mountain-top. They give quantities of excel-
lent milk when kept in this way, are never sick or
' sorry/ and keep the horses interested and free
from ennui by their constant visits to the stalls in
search of food.
Not even the pig has so varied a diet as the goat. It
consumes and converts into milk not only great quan-
tities of garden stuff which would otherwise be wasted,
but also, thanks to its love for eating twigs and shoots,
it enjoys the prunings and loppings of bushes and trees,
which would not be offered to other domestic animals,
but which the goat looks upon as exquisite dainties. In
old Greece it destroyed the vines, and in modern Greece
it has killed off every young tree and bush on the hills
till it has disforested the greater part of the Peloponnesus.
But the same appetite can be satisfied from an English
garden by giving to the goats all the hedge-trimmings,
even those of the thorn fences of which cyclists complain
so bitterly, and all the prunings of the apple, pear and
GOATS IN CITIES 13
plum trees. Feeding goats in their stall or yard is
as amusing as feeding the wild ibexes at the Zoo.
They will stand on their hind-legs and beg, and when
they do obtain the coveted morsel, eat it in a very
dainty and well-bred manner. The list of their
ordinary food when stall-fed includes potatoes,
mangolds, turnips, cabbage-stumps, which they like
particularly, as being woody and tough, artichokes,
beans, lettuces run to seed, and even dead leaves swept
up in autumn, horse-chestnuts and acorns, especially
after they have sprouted. Most weeds are eaten by
goats, while ivy, and even the long-leaved water-
hemlock, which will kill a cow, do not hurt them.
When kept in towns, they give large quantities of
milk if fed on oats, hay and bean-meal ; and in the
Mont d'Or district in France they are supplied
with oatmeal porridge. With this varied range of
diet and plenty of salt, the goat is scarcely ever ill,
never suffers from tuberculosis (so that young children
are far safer from risk of contracting consumption
when fed on goats' milk than on that of cows), and
will often give of this milk ten times its own weight
in a year.
In our temperate climate, and on the growing quantity
of small ' parcels ' of land spoilt by building and town
areas, there is probably room for as many goats as the
patrons of the British Goat Society could desire, even
i 4 GOATS IN CITIES
though the conditions are not the same as those in
Switzerland, Italy and Greece, where they form an im-
portant part of the livestock. That they would have
been used here in very early times, had really good
breeds been obtainable, as a c second string ' to the dairy,
seems evident from the old custom of milking ewes,
practised as late as Camden's time on Canvey Island at
the mouth of the Thames.
Mr. Lockwood Kipling considers that the goat is a
thoroughly Mahommedan beast, and quotes a saying of
Mahomet : * There is no house possessing a goat but a
blessing abideth therein ; and there is no house possess-
ing three goats but the angels pass the night praying
there.' The British Goat Society are right in desiring
that these advantages shall not be limited to Moslems.
But far the best breeds belong to the East, and it is
strange that the Crusaders never brought back some of
the really first-class goats of Palestine and Syria to this
country. The difference between the best breeds ot
sheep and goats of Palestine is far less than might be
supposed from the wording of the New Testament.
Both have pendulous ears, both are often black in
colour, and both follow the shepherd in place of being
driven. The goats of Syria are the best of all. The
hair is long, with good close under-wool ; they are
perfectly domesticated, and are excellent milkers.
Instead of sending his milk round to customers in a
GOATS IN CITIES 15
can or cart, the Syrian dairyman leads his obedient flock
of goats down the street, and after receiving an affirma-
tive answer to the Syriac equivalent for the call of
* Milk-ho ?' selects his goat, and milks it in the street
before the customer's door. If the purchaser fancies
milk from one animal more than another he has only
to mention his preference.
The Cashmere shawls made of the finest goat's
hair are not manufactured from that of Cashmere
goats pastured, as is often believed, near the rose-
gardens * where the nightingales sing by the calm
Bendemeer.' The precious wool is the under-fur
of a breed kept in Thibet, and by the Khirgiz in
Central Asia, from the slopes of the Alatau Mountains
to the bend of the Ural north of the Caspian. Only a
small quantity, averaging three ounces, of the precious
wool is produced yearly by each goat, and the material
is collected by middlemen, taken to Cashmere and sold
in the bazaars, where it is purchased by the makers of
the shawls. M. Jaubert in 1819 imported some of
these animals into France, and after crossing them with
the Angora breed, obtained an average of thirty ounces
instead of three ounces of equally fine wool. Recent
experiments in acclimatizing the vicuna in France have
met with considerable success, and both the Cashmere
and Angora goats were found to do well on the Swiss
Alps, though as they gave no milk they were not
16 GOATS IN CITIES
popular with the farmer. Welcome as a new form of
butcher's meat would be in England, the flesh of the
goat, or even of kids, has never been highly praised ;
but there is a future for the goat as a minor dairy
animal both in villages and towns.
III. THE < NEW ' PIG
RECENT Agricultural Returns, encouraging in other
respects, disclose a very sad falling-off in the pig popula-
tion of the United Kingdom. In 1897 there was a
decrease of more than half a million, and though it is
maintained that the figures do not include those kept on
' occupations ' of less than half an acre, and should not
be taken to heart too seriously by the great number of
persons interested in pigs, either as objects of pleasure
or profit, there is no doubt that they are temporarily
under a cloud. In the phrase of the market, ' pigs are
quiet/ and unless the price of grain continues to drop
they are likely to remain so for some time.
Nothing could be more timely, in this partial eclipse
of an animal so long and justly prized, than the appear-
ance of Mr. Saunders Spencer's treatise on modern pigs,*
which not only does full justice to their many admirable
qualities, but also gives a very interesting account of
their recent history and development, and treats their
* t Pigs : their Breeds and Management.' By Saunders Spencer.
London : Vinton and Co.
17 2
i8 THE 'NEW PIG
idiosyncrasies, whether in health or disease, with a sober
and serious sympathy which is highly practical and,
incidentally, most entertaining. The history and im-
provement of our famous breeds of cattle is a grander
theme ; it deals with archaic types, ancestral herds, and
the efforts and expenditure of great landed proprietors.
The story of our pigs runs on a humbler level. The
peasant, and not the great proprietor, has raised the
modern pig to its present perfection. Its recent de-
velopment limits its interest to the naturalist. There
is a lack of individuality in the appearance of different
breeds of British pigs. Any stranger who visits the
Smithfield Cattle Show is struck with the great variety
of shape, colour, and size in the cattle * classes/ But
to appreciate the differences in pigs one must be * in the
fancy,' except in the case of a few breeds which retain
traces of colour or form due to ancient environment.
Thus Mr. Spencer mentions with disapproval an aquatic
and detrimental pig which formerly haunted the Fens
and the valley of the Ouse. Some of these may still be
found in parts of the Fens ' far removed from railways
or the beneficial influence of a good herd of pure-bred
pigs.' The ' Tarn worths ' are the offspring of what are
commonly believed to be the original forest pigs which
Gurth the swineherd fed for Cedric the Saxon. They
hailed originally from the * Ivanhoe ' country near
Sherwood Forest, whither they were sent in droves in
THE <NEW> PIG 19
autumn from the country round, just as they were in
the New Forest. These pigs were rufous, sandy, or
mahogany coloured animals, just matching the dead
leaves of beech and oak in autumn and early winter.
In the beginning of the century the Forest was rapidly
enclosed, and the farmers found that the independent
pig, who expected his autumn holiday regularly, and
' saw that he got it/ by breaking out of his sty and
taking to the woods, was rather troublesome. So they
crossed him most appropriately with the Neapolitan
pig, who is the laziest of all pigs, and produced the
Tamworth, a * golden ' pig, resembling the forest swine
in shape and colour, but having the love for the dolce
far niente inherited from his Neapolitan ancestors.
Berkshire pigs, the Marge white pigs/ originally bred
in Yorkshire, middle whites, and small whites, complete
the pedigree list, and it is interesting to note that,
though few in number, they are unequalled in quality.
England has provided Berkshire pigs for the model
farms of the Austrian Government in Bosnia and
Herzegovina. It has exported Tamworths and * large
whites ' to Argentina, Illinois, and the Sandwich Islands,
and reclaimed by intermixture many relapsed and im-
perfect breeds of pigs in Germany and Austria.
In England, during recent years, the great ham
question has much enhanced the difficulties of breeders.
To produce an animal from whose body good bacon
2 2
20 THE ' NEW PIG
can be made, and whose legs are perfect for hams, has
been found almost beyond the resources of art. Even
Mr. Saunders Spencer admits that to adumbrate the
proportions of the ' perfect pig ' is beyond the scope of
his imagination, and to hope to produce one in the
concrete is to strive after the unattainable. The
omission of all the half-acre plots from the Agricultural
Returns casts a slur on a very highly esteemed and
numerous class, the ' backyard ' pigs. There are, it is
believed, more pigs kept in cottage-gardens and back-
yards in the North than in farms. But after making
every allowance for omissions, the United Kingdom
makes a poor figure compared with the United States.
One year with another, we rear three million pigs. In
the maize-growing States of the Union the present
number is estimated at forty millions, and this is
thirteen millions less than the highest figure reached
by the pig population of the States. The number
of pigs kept by the colliers and artisans of the North
fluctuates with the price of coal and yarn. In good
times every collier keeps a live animal of some sort,
and, though dogs, guinea-pigs, cage-birds, and homing-
pigeons are attractive, his ' fancy animal ' is usually a
pig. He admires this on Sunday afternoons, and
groups of friends go round to smoke their pipes and
compare pigs, and bet on their ultimate weight. They
have private pig-shows, with subscription prizes. Each
THE *NEW PIG 21
animal is judged in its own sty, and it is interesting to
know that the evolution of an almost perfect pig was
due to the innate sagacity of the Yorkshire pit-hand.
The sties in which these animals live are very rough
affairs, often made of a few boards nailed over
railway-sleepers ; but it is interesting to learn that
the young pigs are ' as blooming and healthy as
possible,' and that, small though the collier's back-
yard is, he always contrives that his pig-sty shall be
thoroughly ventilated and look towards the south.
Architects of costly home-farms often house the un-
happy pigs under north walls, and condemn them to
rheumatism, cold, and sunlessness.
Yorkshire produces not only the best pork, but has
long been famous for the best cured hams in the world.
But elsewhere it is curious to note the dislike of the
farming class to any form of manufacture other than that
of raw material. One-fourth of the English pigs are
kept in Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex. Yet Mr. Saunders
Spencer doubts whether there is now a bacon-curing
factory in Suffolk, and relates the failure of one established
in Norfolk. In the former case, the people would not
rear the precise kind of animal wanted ; in the latter, the
dealers made a ring, and put up prices beyond the margin
of profit. Our Illinois is Somersetshire and Wiltshire,
and our little Chicago the ' sausage town ' of Calne. As
almost everyone who has a country house, large or small,
22 THE 'MEW PIG
is 'interested,' to use the city phrase, in pigs, whether
he be squire, parson, farmer, labourer, gardener, police-
man, or postman (I believe the village schoolmasters
are the only class who scorn to keep a pig), the methods
of the Calne factories ought to be more widely known
than they are. The animals, in lots of not less than
ten, can be sent by rail directly to the factory without
extra charge, if the paid distance be less than 100 miles.
There they are weighed and classified, and the price
calculated directly, with a bonus of two shillings and
sixpence on each pig which comes up to a certain
standard of merit. This canon of perfection was
evolved at Calne, the result of a wide experience of
the needs of the curers, and the shortcomings of
1 fashionable ' pigs. Since then it has become a standard
the rule of Pigdom to which all its members must
conform, or become pork instead of bacon, and end
their lives as failures.
Mr. Spencer suggests one further interesting question
in connection with his subject, but he does not pursue
it. ' When wages are lower, the price of pigs is higher/
he remarks, * because the farm-labourers and artisans
consume a greater quantity of pork, and less beef and
mutton/ What would Cobbett, who saw the maximum
of a labourer's well-being in a plentiful supply of pork,
bread, and beer, say to this advance, by which that
sound, and then all too scarce, fare now takes the
THE ^ NEW PIG 23
second or third place in the scale of the workman's
diet ? * Salt pork,' which was for centuries the staple
food of the mariners of England, is almost erased from
the bill of fare on passenger ships, and is only served
twice a week to the bluejackets in the navy. Before
long mere salted pig will be as antiquated as stock fish
or < poor John.' It only holds its place as a humble
necessary of life among American backwoodsmen.
Even they have recently ' struck' against the quality
of that supplied from Chicago, and demanded a more
1 matured ' article for winter diet.
But the English-reared pig is no longer the poor
man's food-animal. On the contrary, it is a luxury.
New Zealand mutton, La Plata beef, Columbian
salmon, and Australian rabbits, are the cheap form
of fresh meat, and by many classes, notably respectable
domestic servants, home-grown pork is preferred to any
of these. It is dearer actually and relatively, for more
is eaten at a meal. Nearly all the fresh pig sold in this
country may be considered to be the flesh of highly-
bred and highly-fed animals. But the English bacon
and English hams are the product of highly-skilled
manufacture. It is not long since bacon was con-
sidered only fit for ploughmen ; it never appeared
at a gentleman's breakfast-table ; even in farmhouses
it was only eaten as a domestic duty. This was no
prejudice ; the pigs were bad, and the bacon worse :
24 THE 'MEW PIG
it was salt, strong, and often rancid. Now it is more
difficult to buy bad bacon or ill- cured hams than it was
formerly to buy them of good quality. The best is
found on the breakfast-tables of all classes, while the
Bradenham and Yorkshire hams figure on their merits
in city banquets.
IV. THE STORY OF THE JERSEY HERD
AMONG the highest prices made for Jersey cattle during
the last two years were those at the sale of a herd at New
Park, in the New Forest.* These island cattle made an
average of 2 8 each, though some of those sold were only
calves a few weeks old, and one heifer was purchased
for fifty-one guineas. Though nothing could be more
thoroughly English than the scene under the New Forest
oaks, as the little cattle left their beds of fern and strolled
one by one into the ' ring/ it was remarked that of all
our domestic cattle, these are the only creatures in this
country which are in all respects comparable in temper
and beauty with the best domestic breeds of India. The
resemblance consists not in form, which is different from
the ' humped ' Oriental breeds, but in the satin fineness
of their coats, the golden bronze, silver gray, and other
' Quaker ' hues common also to the smaller Indian cow,
and the perfect friendliness with man which these petted
* A Jersey cow sold very recently at a sale near Brighton for
a hundred and twenty guineas.
2 S
26 THE STOR Y OF THE JERSE Y HERD
creatures have inherited from generations of kind treat-
ment. As each strolled into the sale-ring, it walked
up to any spectator who took its fancy, and pushed its
muzzle out to be patted, or put its head up to be
stroked, with a confidence which scarcely any other
breed of domesticated animal would show if suddenly
brought into the company of a crowd of unknown
human beings. Their eyes were black, their eyelashes
long and silky, all their noses were fringed with a
narrow silver edging of satin hair, and their skin, where
it showed elsewhere, was covered with a yellow bloom,
of the correct * butter-pat ' tint, which suffused the very
hollows of their high-bred ears.
The story of the Jersey herd should have belonged
to an earlier age. They are, as an island race, the
modern equivalent of the cattle of the Sun, the earliest
of all pedigree herds, which fed on sea-washed
Trinacria ; and there is something so contrary to
probability in their first beginnings, that it seems to
need a setting in legend. Treated as a fact in natural
history, it will be allowed that conditions less likely to
develop a species to perfection could scarcely be found
than those on a small island, eleven and a half miles
long and five miles wide, set in a stormy, narrow sea.
Limited space, exposure to sea gales, and the
tendency to interbreed, together with the absence of
any surplus of natural food, and the difficulty of
THE STOR Y OF THE JERSE Y HERD 27
importing it when steamers were unknown, and the
usual means of access was by small cutters crossing a
dangerous sea, were all natural difficulties in the way of
such a result. Had the nucleus of the herd been
formed by some accidental deposit of cattle of marked
excellence on these Channel islets, their isolation would
doubtless have helped to preserve the breed pure. But
there is reason to believe that the Jersey cattle were, in
their origin, of the same kind as those on the neigh-
bouring mainland of Brittany. Mr. John Thornton,
the compiler of the ' English Herd-Book of Jersey
Cattle/ has some very interesting speculations on the
wider question of the descent of the small breed,
originally black and white, or black, to which they
have most affinity. This breed is noted as being best
known and most numerous in those parts of France
and the British Islands where the population is of
Celtic origin and Druidical remains are most common.
Such a race is found in Brittany, near Carnac, in Kerry,
and was formerly common in Cornwall. With these may
be compared the ancient British cattle kept in Badminton
Park ; and in Anglesea, ' that ancient and peculiar seat
of Druidical superstition,' Youatt noted that the old
breed of cattle was ' small and black.' On this Mr.
Thornton founds the very ingenious conclusion that ' if
the shorthorns represent the improved type of the " bos
urus," or wild white cattle of Chillingham, so the Jersey
28 THE STOR Y OF THE JERSEY HERD
cattle and their relations are the most improved type of
the "bos longifrons," or smaller domesticated race.' It
remains to be shown how little * Druidical ' cows bred
on an islet have not deteriorated like Shetland ponies or
Iceland cows, but have developed into the creatures
now eagerly bought not only by English gentlemen and
English country ladies, for the Jerseys are pre-eminently
* ladies' cows,' but in North America, Germany, South
Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and recently in Brazil,
where some, lately imported, walked two hundred miles
through the forest, and arrived in good condition at
their destination. The history of the breed in the
Jersey Herd-Book gives no a 'priori theory for this
process, but we incline to think that it has a natural
explanation. The people were industrious and intensely
practical. The area which they inhabited was very
small, and though the population was large, every part
of the little island, and every cow on it, might well be
familiar, either in fact or by reputation, to every
possible purchaser of cattle on the spot. Being all
neighbours, and knowing the merits or failings of each
other's cattle, a bad cow had no chance of finding a
purchaser, and its calves went to the butcher. ' Natural
selection ' was at work in this case through the agency
of man. Then the inhabitants of the island caught,
quite early in the last century, a violent fit of the ' cow-
fancying ' mania, which Hindoos have magnified into a
THE STORY OF THE JERSEY HERD 29
form of worship, though its broad basis is their passion
for the animal itself. Early in this century this
exclusive devotion moved the wrath of Thomas Quayle.
* The treatment of sheep and horses/ he wrote, ' is
almost a disgrace to Jersey agriculture. The treasure
highest in a Jersey man's estimation is his cow. She
seems to be the constant object of his thoughts and
attention ; and that attention she certainly deserves. . . .
In summer she must submit to be staked to the ground.
But five or six times a day her station is shifted. In
winter she is warmly housed by night, and fed with the
precious parsnip. When she calves she is regaled with
toast and cider, the nectar of the island, to which
powdered ginger is added.'
The Jerseymen, who had only twenty-nine thousand
acres of arable land in their whole island, had been
clever enough to discover the root which of all others
is most suitable for milch cows; and their parsnip-
growing made possible for them as great strides in the
development of their breed as that of the turnip did for
the general stock of English cattle. Next to improving
their own cattle they were most eager to keep out all
others. Their indignation when they suspected that
inferior Brittany animals were about to be imported, or
might be sold as the produce of the island, finds ex-
pression in various old statutes. An Act passed in
1789 condemned anyone importing cattle from France
I
30 THE STOR Y OF THE JERSE Y HERD
to a fine of ^200 per head ; the ship was to be con-
fiscated, the cattle killed, and the meat sold for the
poor of the parish where it was seized. In 1826, when
the great and valuable export trade was established, the
fine was raised to ^1,000 per head of cattle introduced,
with confiscation of the vessel, and this might be seized,
and the fine imposed, if it were within two leagues of
the shore.
The motive for this intense vigilance will be found in
the great profits drawn by the island from the English
' discovery ' of Channel Island cattle. The first im-
ported came from Alder ney, where there was a garrison.
The little cows came over as ' camp followers,' and
attracted little notice. They were called ' Alderneys,'
and later, 'Alderney Jerseys.' The first person to
note them as qualified for the highest circles of bovine
society was a Yorkshireman, Mr. Fowler, the travelling
partner in a large London dairy. In 1 8 1 1 he saw one
coming home unsold from a fair, and bought it for his
wife, and took it to his home at Little Bushey. The
despised little cow gave such enormous quantities of
butter and cream that her new master inquired her
origin, and soon began to import the breed wholesale
from the islands. His son managed the transit, had
the herds shod with thin iron plates when they reached
Southampton, and sold them mainly in the home
counties. It was no easy matter to ship them, though
t
THE STOR Y OF THE JERSEY HERD 31
the cattle, as tame as dogs from their daily handling
and feeding fastened to the chain, gave no trouble.
They were brought over in the Channel cutters, the
other cargo usually consisting of cider. One boat was
thirteen days out, and the captain, running short of
water, tapped the cider casks. The cows enjoyed it so
much that for three days they would drink nothing
else. The steps by which system and method have
been introduced into the cult of the Jersey herd belong
to the history of the English Jersey Herd Society
and the Royal Jersey Agricultural Society. The pedi-
gree herds have multiplied until there is not a county
in England where they may not be found, and the
produce are scattered in twos and threes in the paddocks
of half the country houses in England. But it is in
Jersey itself, not in the 'adjacent island* of Great
Britain, that the most suggestive results of the posses-
sion of the Jersey herd are to be noted. Note the
cultivated area : twenty-nine thousand acres, or eleven
thousand acres less than is owned by one nobleman in
Norfolk. Add the same amount of uncultivated
ground, and we have the total available raw material for
agriculture in the island. This maintained in 1880
nearly eleven thousand Jersey cattle, two thousand two
hundred and sixty-one horses, three hundred and forty-
six sheep, five thousand eight hundred and forty-four
pigs. The total population was sixty thousand, half of
32 THE STOR Y OF THE JERSE Y HERD
whom live in St. Heliers. But the total value of the
cattle and potatoes exported in the one year of 1879
was somewhat above 350,000. No doubt the early
spring gives the Jersey men an advantage in the
vegetable market. But the value of the cattle is not
due to chance. The two most prosperous agricultural
areas in Great Britain are both islands Jersey and
Anglesea. Why cannot the Isle of Wight be a rival ?
V. THE CAT ABOUT TOWN
THAT the cat still maintains its position as the best
mouse-catching machine procurable is shown by its
increase in great towns. The number of London cats,
according to a writer in the Daily Mail, is 400,000, of
which half are * unattached,' and live largely on refuse,
' because London is the most wasteful city in the world.'
As London is also one of the cleanest cities in the
world, it is very doubtful if the waste food comes much
in the way of the unattached London cat, who, like
other Metropolitan paupers, levies handsome contri-
butions on kind-hearted people, whose doorsteps and
areas it besets, and also catches numbers of pigeons,
sparrows, rats, and mice, the three last of which do live
on London refuse, which the cat eats in the more
convenient form of cold sparrow or mouse. Evidence
quoted by the writer shows that this is so, for he states
that in most parts of London the rats have been driven
underground into the sewers by the warfare of the cats.
He also holds that the latter are somewhat changing in
33 3
34 THE CAT ABOUT TOWN
character, are losing their dislike of water and wet, and
prefer to be out in the rain. We rather doubt these
conclusions, and believe that if the London cat differs
at all from his country cousin, it is in selecting different
hours for his sport and amusements. The country cat
is more or less lively all day, and hunts regularly in the
evening. The London cat is sleepy and quiet all day,
because circumstances make him a very early riser, or,
at any rate, prevent him having his morning sleep. The
explanation of the languor and ennui of the London cat
is to be found in the fact that long before he appears at
the breakfast-table, with a jaded appetite and a general
air of aloofness from the world and its pleasures, he has
had a long morning's sport, often in delightful society,
and then breakfasted comfortably in the kitchen. The
scenes of these early-morning hunts are various, and
the hour during half the year is one before even the
earliest of early risers are about. In winter the London
cats often seek their sport under cover. In one district
near a very large and famous brewery the sporting cats
go regularly as soon as the brewery gates are open to
hunt rats in the brewery ' stores.' This is capital fun,
as there are hundreds of barrels, either stored or * work-
ing,' with little patches of yeasty froth oozing from the
bungholes and plenty of dropped corn and ' grains ' in
the neighbourhood to attract all the rats from else-
where. Under and among these barrels they may be
THE CAT ABOUT TOWN 35
hunted with success for an hour or more. Besides the
brewery rats, which are said to drink beer when they
can get it, there are ' temperance rats/ which live by
the river, and, so far as we know, only drink water.
These form the grand objects of summer sport to all
London cats in range of the Thames, from the docks
in the east to Chiswick in the west, and all along the
old muddy foreshore on the Surrey side, where no em-
bankment intervenes to spoil sport. We have never
heard of an instance of London cats catching fish by
the river, probably because until very recently there
have been so few fish to catch. But the keenness of the
cats for this riverside hunting by the tidal Thames is
such that they often return covered and clotted with
mud from the foreshore, where they have either fallen
in from the wharves, or have pursued a rat escaping
across the leavings of the river ebb.
In summer mornings, from 4 a.m. to about 5 a.m.,
London ceases for the moment to belong to the world
of men, and for the moment is given up to the sole
enjoyment of the London birds and the London cats.
At this really bewitching hour, for the town is quite
beautiful then, the cats may be seen, as at no other
time, monarchs of all they survey rerum domini,
masters of the town. Then it may be seen that it is
not for nothing that the race have for generations
maintained their independence, and asserted their right
32
36 THE CAT ABOUT TOWN
to roam. For at that hour all the dogs are shut up;
all the boys and grown-up people, too, are asleep.
There is not even a milkman about, or an amalga-
mated engineer going to his before-breakfast work.
The city is theirs. Their demeanour at this time is
absolutely changed. They stroll about the streets and
gardens with an air. They converse in the centre of
highways. They walk with a certain feline abandon
and momentary magnificence over gardens and squares.
For the time they are not cats, but lions and tigers ;
or, to change the simile, they are no longer domestics,
but gentlemen at large. Before sunrise one midsummer
morning the writer was watching the early birds by the
side of the London river, and wondering at the abund-
ance and variety of life in the silver-gray light of the
dawn. A pair of water-hens were running on the mud
left by the ebb, sedge-warblers singing, as they had
done all night, and a pair of turtle-doves flew down to
drink before sunrise. When the first beams of the sun
sent long shafts of light down the river, the sedge-
warblers were instantly silent ; and almost immediately
the blackbirds and sparrows and starlings appeared upon
the grass. At this moment another ornithologist ap-
peared upon the scene in the person of an elegant
young female cat. She made great efforts to stalk the
fat blackbirds and cock-sparrows, flattening herself till
her whole body seemed almost as level as a mat, yet
THE CAT ABOUT TOWN 37
capable of a rush forward whenever the birds looked in
another direction. But the birds were perfectly equal
to the game. One blackbird in particular sidled off
each time the cat came within distance, until he sat at
last on the edge of the wooden cam-shedding, where, if
the cat made her spring, she must fall into the river.
He, too, flew off, and at this moment of disappoint-
ment another and an older cat leapt lightly from
the privet hedge close by and playfully cuffed the
head of the disappointed one. This cat had probably
been waiting on the chance of a * drive ' while the more
impetuous one tried a stalk in the open. The latter
seemed half inclined to resent the humorous turn which
the older cat gave to her hunting; but the two soon
made it up, and, after strolling ostentatiously across the
lawn with their tails up, separated, and the young one
adjourned to hunt ' ground-game ' in the cam-shedding.
The quarry were either mice or rats, but were attacked
by storm, and not by waiting. The cat dived her paws
into the cracks of the boards, reaching in as far as her
shoulders, and soon bolted something, which she reached
after head downwards so far that nothing but her tail
and one hind-paw were visible. After hanging almost
head downwards for some time, she scrambled back,
just as the first cat came darting past like a wild animal
with an enormous rat in its mouth,
It is doubtful whether the London cat is in the least
38 THE CAT ABOUT TO WN
degree more docile or biddable than his country cousin.
He is more dependent on man, for no one ever hears of
a London cat going off to live a wild life willingly,
though country cats do this frequently. It has been
observed of the whole race, at least in this country,
that though they will often obey the order ' Come/ they
absolutely refuse to entertain the command * Go ;' and
as most useful service involves this as the initial idea,
the animal which refuses obedience to it is practically
useless except as a volunteer. The admirable sporting
qualities, even of the London cat, should make him a
most useful and amusing aid in sport, if he could be
induced to co-operate with his owner. There is only
one piece of evidence that in ancient times the cat was
so trained an Egyptian painting showing a cat bringing
wild-fowl to its master from a papyrus bed and very
few instances are on record even of its being trained
to retrieve in our day. A visitor to one of the
monasteries on Mount Carmel states that when several
of the monks went out, gun on shoulder, to shoot game
for the pot, he saw their cats marching out after them,
to aid as retrievers ; but he did not witness the sport.
There is no doubt that cats can be trained to follow,
like dogs. A working-man in the North Midlands
recently owned a small cat which followed him all day,
and when tired was carried in a large pocket in its
master's coat. So also a navvy some years ago owned
THE CA T ABO UT TO WN 39
a cat which had followed or accompanied him to work
in most parts of North and Western England, some-
times following him on foot and sometimes carried in
the white washable bag in which navvies keep their
Sunday clothes. But as a rule it is much easier to
teach them not to do things than to do them. Recently
in a large London engineering works there was some
regret that the * best foundry cat ' was dead. The
sand used for making casts in the foundry is mixed
with flour. Mice come to eat the flour and spoil the
' moulds.' It is not desirable that rats and mice should
be about in this loft, so cats are kept there. The cats
have to be taught not to walk about on the moulds or
scratch them up, and this ' best foundry cat ' was
absolutely perfect in this respect. In these works most
departments have a special cat. There is even one in
the galvanizing shop which knows quite well that the
hot metal spirts when plates are dipped in, and has
learnt to get under cover at that juncture. It need
scarcely be said that the London cat is a worse enemy to
caged birds even than the country pussy, as in the day-
time it lives more indoors. Whether it ever catches
gold-fish out of a bowl we do not know, but there are
no complaints of its robbing fishmongers' shops to
gratify its taste in that line. On the whole, we imagine
that the cat is happy in London, far happier, for
instance, than the dog. Even if lost, he has much
40 THE CAT ABOUT TOWN
more savoir faire than the latter. The stray dog
attaches himself to someone in the street, who has at
once the uncomfortable feeling that the dog is trying to
make out that he has stolen him. The lost cat comes
to a house and asks relief where it can most readily be
given.
VI. A WOULD-BE ' HELPER: THE
FRIENDLY PUMA
RECENT inquiry presents the puma, the ' lion ' of the
New World, in a very pleasing light. It is claimed that
the puma is positively friendly to man, hostile to other
large carnivora, and that alone of the great cats it
desires of its free will to be a * helper and server ' of
man. This belief, very strongly asserted by Mr.
Hudson in his ' Naturalist in La Plata/ which rests
both on the local belief of the inhabitants of a great
part of South America, and on the records of the
naturalists and historians of the old Spanish colonies,
receives some support from an incident recently com-
municated to the writer by a gentleman on a visit to
this country in connection with the Venezuela Boundary
Commission, after a long residence in British Guiana.
He was going up one of the rivers in a steam-
launch, and gave a passage to a Cornish miner who
was going up to the gold-fields. The passenger, who
was an elderly man, usually slung his hammock on
41
42 THE FRIENDLY PUMA
shore. One morning, being asked how he had slept, he
complained that the frogs had wakened him by croaking
near his hammock. Some Indians, who had been
taking down the hammock, laughed, and, being asked
the reason, still laughing, said, ' Oh, " tiger " sleep with
old man last night/ They had satisfied themselves that
a puma had been lying just under the hammock, which
was slung low down, and it was probably the satisfied
purring of the puma, which had enjoyed the pleasure
of sleeping in the ' next berth' below a man, that had
wakened the occupant of the hammock.
The beliefs to the credit of the puma, recorded both by
ordinary observers and by naturalists the earliest being
Don Felix d'Azara, and the latest Mr. Hudson fall
under three divisions. It is believed to be the friend
of man : the Spanish Indians call it amigo del Christiano,
a nice distinction which cannot be conceded, because
the Indians of North California considered the puma a
friendly god before the missionaries arrived, and would
not molest it. It was also alleged to protect men from
other wild animals, particularly from the jaguar, to
attack this stronger and more ferocious animal and
drive it away, and under no provocation to attack man
himself. All three stories so much resemble the
medieval fictions about animals, especially the ' feud '
between the puma and the jaguar, which is exactly
analogous to the myths of the feud between the
THE FRIENDLY PUMA 43
elephant and the dragon, the deer and the serpent,
with many others, that we should hardly expect to see
them survive the period of early Jesuit conversion.
But, on the contrary, these beliefs, which the Indians
held long before they were converted, are now restated
in a much more positive form, and with abundance of
corroborative evidence. Views only tentatively held,
or set down as current, but not confirmed, by Azara,
are fully confirmed by Mr. Hudson. Meantime, it is
interesting to see exactly what Azara did say, as he is
a very intelligent and honourable Spanish gentleman,
and * spent twenty years alone with the birds and wild
beasts.' When Don Felix d' Azara was making his
notes on the natural history of Paraguay, between 1782
and 1 80 1, he received a copy of Buffon's * Natural
History/ then a new book, and in the acme of its
fame. The Spaniard, not dazzled by Buffon's brilliant
generalizations, found that his facts as to South
American animals were much amiss. ' Vulgar, false,
and mistaken,' was Azara's outspoken criticism. He
therefore determined to show what a Spaniard could do,
working in the field of facts, to do justice to the South
American species, or, as he naively calls them, * my
animals my cats, my monkeys, my otters/ The
puma, * my second species of cat,' then very common
in many districts with which Azara was acquainted,
though it was almost killed off in Paraguay, was the
44 THE FRIENDLY PUMA
subject of a very careful essay. This carefulness is the
mark of all his work, which, as we have said, was
intended to set Buffon right, and to give facts only.
He knew that the young were spotted c like a female
jaguar,' and he notes that he had ' never heard that
they have assaulted or attempted to attack man, nor
boys, nor dogs, even when they encounter them asleep ;
on the contrary, they run away or conceal themselves,
showing fear ; and as their speed is inferior to that of a
horse, a mounted man easily overtakes them/ He is
mistaken as to the dogs, for pumas are sometimes
particularly hostile to them. A tame puma, when
following its master obediently, has been known to rush
through a crowd in chase of a dog. The instances of its
tameness in captivity cited by Azara are interesting. A
village priest had one raised from a cub, which ran loose
like a dog. It was given to Azara, who kept it on a
chain, but it ' was as tame as a dog, and very playful/ It
played with everyone, and took great delight in licking
the skin of his negroes. ' On presenting it with an
orange or any other thing, it handled it with its fore-
paws, playing with it in the same way as a cat does
with a mouse. It caught fowls (its one form of
mischief) with the same stratagems and cunning as a
cat, not omitting the movement of the extremity of its
tail. ... I never saw it irritated. When rubbed or
tickled it lay down and purred like a cat. My negroes
THE FRIEND L Y PUMA A 5
one day loosed it, and it followed them to the river,
traversing the city without even meddling with the
dogs in the street.' To these notes of Azara's, his
translator, Mr. W. Perceval Hunter, added in 1837
other evidence of its docility. He mentions the puma
kept by Kean the tragedian, the skeleton of which is
now in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons.
This used to follow Kean loose in his garden and in
his house, and was * introduced to company in his
drawing-room.' He also quotes an account of another
tame puma kept in Edinburgh, ' which rejoices greatly
in the company of those to whom it is accustomed, lies
down upon its back between their feet, and plays with
the skirts of their garments entirely after the manner of
a kitten/ It got loose in London, but most properly
allowed itself to be captured by the watchman a thing
which no animal of spirit ought to have permitted.
The corroborative evidence as to the feud between
the puma and the jaguar is most interesting. Azara
himself, though he mentions the story, doubts it. He
has a sound critical faculty, and pitched at once on a
weak point in the belief. The Indians alleged that the
female pumas were carried off by jaguars. Hence the
ill-feeling. This, he says, is clearly nonsense. But
this 'gloss' can, we think, be accounted for. The
puma cubs are spotted, some more distinctly than
others, at birth, though the puma, felis concolor^ is
46 THE FRIEND L Y PUMA
without spots. Hence the story of the jaguar cross.
The main belief appears constantly. A Spanish girl
who was tied to a tree by the Spanish Governor of
Buenos Ayres for visiting the Indians avowed that a
puma had sat by her all night, and driven the other
beasts (jaguars) away. This was regarded as a miracle ;
but Mr. Hudson declares that it would not now excite
surprise. ' It is well known that where the two species
inhabit the same district they are at enmity, the puma
being the persistent persecutor of the jaguar, following
and harassing it as the " tyrant bird " does the eagle,
and, when an opportunity occurs, springing upon its
back and inflicting terrible wounds with its teeth and
claws. Jaguars with scarred backs are frequently killed,
and others not long escaped from their tormentors have
been found greatly lacerated.' This might have been
done by fights with other jaguars, but in support of
the general belief of the gauchos, who spend their lives
on the pampas where these species are common, two
pieces of evidence are quoted. One, that a similar
dislike for other carnivora on the part of the puma is
current in a far-distant region North California
where it is said to attack the grizzly bear. The second
was communicated to Mr. Hudson, after a hunt in
which one of the very rare instances of a puma trying
to defend itself from a man occurred. A gaucho had
tried to kill a puma, as if it were a sheep, with his
THE FRIENDL Y PUMA 47
knife, and the animal, after dodging the first blow, had
struck him in the face with his paw. In a previous
hunt (after game and ostriches) one of their company
had fallen from his horse and broken his leg. He lay
on the pampa all night, and when found next morning
told the following story. An hour after it became
dark a puma came and sat by him. After frequently
going and returning, it left him for a long time. About
midnight he heard the roar of a jaguar, and gave him-
self up for lost. But the jaguar was watching something
else. It moved out of sight, and he then heard snarls
and growls, and the sharp cry of a puma, and knew
that the two beasts were fighting. The jaguar returned
several times, and the puma renewed the contest every
time until morning, when both disappeared. Mr.
Hudson had ' already met with many anecdotes of a
similar kind in various parts of the country, some vastly
more interesting than this. But he gave this account
because it was at first hand/ Many instances are given
by Mr. Hudson of the puma's confidence in man. He
also gives three cases of its refusal to defend itself, and
another in which four pumas played round a sleeping
man for several hours at night without disturbing him.
The Southern puma is the animal credited with these
friendly instincts. In North America it has been much
persecuted by man, and bears a different character. But
in Argentina, in ' places where the puma is the only
48 THE FRIENDL Y PUMA
large beast of prey, it is notorious that it is perfectly
safe for even a small child to go out and sleep on the
plain/ Yet among other animals the puma is coura-
geous and destructive. It is a desperate sheep-killer, a
destroyer of foals, ' a peregrine falcon among mammals.'
Such an instinct of friendliness in a big cat, unique,
and the more surprising because even when domesticated
the race rarely exhibits more than an equable and
distant tolerance of man's existence, will no doubt
attract the attention of those who have the opportunity
of collecting information at first hand in the plains of
South America. No one but reliable ' field-naturalists,'
ranch-owners, and sportsmen can do so, and for these it
should form an interesting object of inquiry.
VII. ANIMAL COLONISTS
AMONG instances of successful acclimatization of English
animals in the Antipodes must be reckoned the importa-
tion of red deer into New Zealand. They were first
introduced in 1862, when Prince Albert, to oblige
the Government Agent of New Zealand in London,
caused four stags and two hinds to be shipped to
Wellington. Only one stag and two hinds arrived
alive, and were set free on Taratahi Plains. They
selected for their haunt a range of limestone hills,
covered with good English grasses, and there they
have flourished and multiplied abundantly. During
the last four years the effects of this increase have been
noted in the appearance of the deer in every locality
near which wood, water, and grass are plentiful.
Licenses for deer-shooting, limited to three stags a
season, have been issued for the last ten years. The
stags grow faster than in England, bearing antlers with
ten points in three years, and some of the numerous
calves are being captured and transferred to other
49 4
50 ANIMAL COLONISTS
districts as stock. Other red deer are also about to
be imported, not from England, but from Australia,
these being of English stock ' once removed.'
This is only a minor and recent instance of what we
may term the colonizing faculty of English animals.
They seem to share the physical, and in some degree
the mental, capacity of the British for ' getting on ' in
new countries, and to make more of their opportunities
than the indigenous creatures, without possessing such
marked advantages as their masters often have over the
human inhabitants. If a census could be taken of the
creatures of British descent making up the animal
population in the vast new territories peopled by men
of English blood, the world would contemplate with
astonishment the facts of this double migration and
dual increase of man and beast alike from two small
islands in the West Atlantic. Nor do our animal
colonists confine themselves to the new Anglo-Saxon
countries. Whatever unkindly criticisms are levelled
at the Englishman abroad, the English animals,
domesticated and wild, are everywhere welcome. The
sparrow and the rabbit are the two exceptions which
prove the rule ; but for almost every other British
animal, from Derby winners and pedigree shorthorns
to Norfolk pheasants and Loch Leven trout, the men
of the New World, the colonists of Great Britain, Spain,
Portugal, and even of Holland for the Boers are now
ANIMAL COLONISTS 51
purchasing British cattle compete in lavish expenditure
in their zeal for an inheritance in the beasts, birds, and
fishes of our good country.
This colonization by animals has had a settled order
of time, corresponding fairly closely with the social
evolution of the British and foreign possessions to
which they have been involuntary migrants. The
' pioneer animals/ like the first colonists, have often
been rather a ' rough lot.' Times were bad after the
great war, and our farmers did not own one-twentieth
part of the fine pedigree stock now so plentiful in this
country. But the first colonizing animals had to be of
the useful sort, beasts of burden or for food, if not the
best, then the best which could be got. So the settlers
in Australia, the backwoods of Canada, and Cape Colony
and Natal, had for their first animal population a prolific
and hardy, but not a high-bred class of English stock.
There were abundance of sheep, of cattle, of fowls, and
some British horses. The ancestors of the animal
colonists of New Zealand, now represented by twenty
millions of sheep and cattle alone, were imported later,
and from more carefully selected stock, than those first
taken to the older colonies. Meantime, the latter had
reached the stage of prosperity in which it pays not
only to possess many flocks and herds, but also to have
them of high quality. Sheep, cattle, and horses were
improved by the best English blood that money could
42
52 ANIMAL COLONISTS
buy, as well as by the importation of the merino sheep
from Spain, with which the English breeds were crossed ;
and, by a fortunate coincidence, the time at which
Australasia desired an accession of quality to quantity
in her British -descended stock corresponded with a
period of extraordinary activity and success in the
breeding and development of pedigree cattle, sheep,
horses, and swine by the ' landed interest,' owners and
tenants alike, in this country. We need not follow
this, the greatest and most obvious invasion of the
New World by the host of British animals, beyond
the facts conveyed in the sum-total of the numbers of
the three most necessary, and therefore most numerous,
classes the sheep, cattle, and horses, the two latter
being mainly, if not entirely, of British descent owned
by the colonies of Australia and New Zealand. The
figures are, in round numbers, one hundred and eleven
millions of sheep, nine millions of cattle, and one million
three hundred thousand horses. Except the merino
sheep, the Angora goat, and the camel, recently intro-
duced into West Australia, we believe that there is no
domesticated animal in Australia which is not of
English stock. Numbers must be considered first,
if justice is to be done to the magnitude of this animal
movement from West to East ; but, apart from count-
ing heads, the list of British species entirely omitted
from the totals given above, but now firmly established
ANIMAL COLONISTS 53
in the New World, is no less striking. All other
domesticated forms pigs, all breeds of English dogs,
prize poultry, and pigeons, in as great variety and
perfection as they attain in this country are equally
established in Australasia, and with them the red deer,
the pheasant, the trout, and, unfortunately, the rabbit
and the sparrow. In Australia, and still more notice-
ably in New Zealand, the new-comers, the most vigorous
representatives of the later types of animal, had a clear
advantage over the ancient marsupial forms and the
wingless birds. The pheasant, which can both run
and fly, displaces the New Zealand apteryx, and the
rabbit gets the better of the wallaby and smaller
kangaroos.
But while the British animals, with the aid of their
owners, were displacing the native creatures of Austra-
lasia, they were achieving a parallel success in another
continent, and among a population who cannot be sus-
pected of any preferential leanings towards the animals
of these islands. The Spanish Republics of South
America were rapidly ' Anglicizing ' their flocks and
herds, originally descended and inherited from pure
Spanish stock. In Argentina the demand for British-
bred animals first arose among the flockmasters, though
cattle-raising was the earlier and national occupation.
But the improvement in wool effected by introducing
the best English breeds was rapid and obvious, while
54 ANIMAL COLONISTS
that in the form and quality of the cattle was a slower
process. But during the last few years the demand for
pedigree English cattle for Argentina has been enormous.
Shorthorns, Herefords, and Devons have been imported
weekly, and a cross-bred English stock now fills the
' corrals ' of the great beef and bovril companies of the
River Plate. In North America this Anglicizing process
has spread to all the States of the Union. Half-bred
Herefords and shorthorns are taking the place of the
common cattle of the States on nearly all the ranches of
the beef-producing districts, and the colonizing capacity
of different English breeds is recommending them for
special districts. Thus the Devon bulls are purchased
for ranches where the search for pasture and water
needs special activity and endurance, and red ' polled '
or hornless Suffolks are used where cattle are being
bred for transit by rail or ship, because the absence of
horns is then convenient. Even tropical Brazil follows
the fashion, and English Jersey cows are seen demurely
walking through the forest-paths by the coffee-planta-
tions, and English terriers and pug-dogs sit on the laps
of Brazilian ladies. Whether the Jersey cattle will
multiply on the planters' estates time will show ; but
the spread of our colonizing animals, which are now
invading simultaneously the plains of Patagonia and
the North Canadian territory, does not limit its progress
to the direction of the Poles. In India the English
ANIMAL COLONISTS 55
horse becomes a colonist by second intention, in the
form of the ' Waler.' His value, as compared with the
native breeds of Asia, is still undetermined, but we must
accept his presence and survival as a fact.
Close on the heels of the purely useful British
domesticated animals follow those carried across seas
and deserts from motives of sentiment and love of sport.
Every week brings news of fresh and successful enter-
prises of this kind. In Connecticut the beginnings of
a most anti-republican system of game-preserving are
seen in the success with which pheasants are now being
reared. The Connecticut woods are being stocked with
these birds, and the State Legislature has passed an Act
protecting them for three years. In Texas, according
to the American Field, there is a Texas State pheasantry,
and, in addition, private pheasant-rearing establishments
are being opened, ' with a view to the firm establish-
ment of the pheasant as an American game-bird/
Fish are usually the last British creatures to be
established in new countries ; the means of transport of
the ova is a comparatively modern discovery. But a
* new country ' must be already in process of becoming
an old one if such a contemplative pursuit as fishing
is desired. The most recent ' State-aided migration '
of English fish has been to Cape Colony. There
Mr. E. Latour has been engaged since 1892 in hatching
out salmo fario. Loch Leven trout, and brook-trout for
56 ANIMAL COLONISTS
stocking the Buffalo River and other South African
streams. The work was begun at a large brewery, the
cool spring which suited the manufacture of British
beer being also adapted for the British fish. Later the
work was carried on with great success at the hatchery
of the King William's Town Acclimatization Society,
six hundred miles from Cape Town. The eggs mainly
came from Guildford and Haslemere, and hatched well,
tens of thousands of fry being reared. The only doubt
is whether the fish which can live as fry in the cool
upper waters of these rivers will endure the higher
temperature of the lower reaches.
*',
VIII. IRISH DONKEYS FOR SOUTH AFRICA
THE St. James's Gazette thinks that there is a brilliant
future before the Irish donkey. He is the future
beast of burden of South Africa, where he defies the
tsetse-fly in some districts, and is everywhere proof
against the climate. English and Dutch dealers have
been buying thousands of them for shipment to
South Africa, and 5,000 has recently been spent
in this way in Clare, Limerick and Tipperary alone.
Ireland is at present the main home of the donkey
in the British Islands. Two hundred thousand are
annually thence exported to England. They are small,
stunted animals, with plenty of endurance, which the
donkey never loses, but showing all the worst results
of neglect in breeding. As this is the only domestic
animal which we have neglected to improve, the results
are useful as a scientific example of what happens when
domestic animals are c left to themselves/ Improved
animals sheep, cattle, or horses, down to cats are full
of ' excellent differences.' Our neglected donkeys,
57
58 IRISH DONKEYS FOR SOUTH AFRICA
never c bred for points/ have sunk to a dead and dull
uniformity of colour, size, shape and even of demeanour.*
How different from the gay thirteen-hand ' station '
donkey whom your English host puts at your disposal
at Ramleh. He meets you at the station, starts off at
full gallop, rushes in at the home-gate, and pulls up
unasked at the mounting-block by the house. Next
day he meets you there, gallops off to the station, and
pulls up at a mounting-block of the same kind under
the veranda. Authority states the reign of Elizabeth
as the period at which the use of donkeys first became
general in England. The fact was observed then, but
their introduction was, we imagine, due to the connec-
tion with Spain, established in the reign of Queen
Mary. The Spanish ladies and Spanish priests who
visited the Court brought with them their fine donkeys
and mules, the proper animals for ladies and ecclesiastics
to ride or drive. When the social ascendancy of
Spanish fashions ended with the accession of Elizabeth,
the rigid social lines drawn between the life of men,
ladies and ecclesiastics in Spain, and temporarily intro-
duced here, were broken down. One side-feature of
this social revolution, and the elimination of what was
* In Norfolk, where some attention is paid to breeding donkeys,
it is noticeable that their colour varies considerably, and an average
Norfolk donkey stands quite a hand higher than most of those seen
in London.
IRISH DONKEYS FOR SOUTH AFRICA 59
almost a sumptuary law, was the advance of the horse to
the first place for the use of all three ' estates/ lords,
ladies, and bishops, and the total eclipse of the ass.
The fine animals kept for the purpose of breeding
mules were only mated with other donkeys, for mule-
breeding ceased. In the pictures of the procession of
the Field of the Cloth of Gold, Cardinal Wolsey rides
on a mule beside his King. Our donkeys have never
recovered from the social results of the Reformation.
From that time till the end of the last century the
black-coated, full-wigged ecclesiastic on his cob figures
in all pictures of equestrian gatherings and State
functions, from the caricatures of Bunbury to the
Court processions of the Georges. Spenser, with
intentional archaism, represents Una riding beside the
red-cross knight on a white ass. It is the last poetical
tribute to the donkey paid in the Tudor period, and is
more than counterbalanced by the part he plays in
Midsummer Night's Dream. No one who reads the
metamorphosis of Bottom can deny that Shakespeare
makes a * true generalization of character ' in this study
of the true inwardness of donkeys, and that the poor
man's animal of that time must have been already
much the same as he is now. There must have been
plenty of good male donkeys in the country for mule-
breeding, but the stock has never been replenished or
improved. They have steadily dwindled in size until
60 IRISH DONKEYS FOR SOUTH AFRICA
they have reached the limit set by bad food, want of
shelter, and neglect in selection, in the tiny, half-wild
donkeys of the New Forest. The sole luxury in life
which the New Forest donkey enjoys is the privilege of
rolling in the dust on the fenceless roads on a hot day.
Yet he is not ill-tempered, and will draw a forest cart
with a couple of women in it at a trot for four or five
miles very comfortably. In Wales the small tenants
do improve their donkeys by giving them better food
than common, and often make a high price for them.
Both in Somersetshire, near the coal measures, and in
Norfolk, by the coast, the animals are in request, and
are recognised as a useful help to the poor man ; but
they are as far removed from the prize sixteen-hand
animal of Kentucky agricultural shows as the Shetland
pony is from the Shire horse. Donkeys are just the
kind of animals which the peasant-proprietor finds
useful. A proof of it is seen in the number already
reared in Ireland and the surplus available for export.
But a little organization and intelligent direction
would increase the size and double the value of the
breed. The means by which general improvements of
this kind are effected are quite familiar from previous
experience. If a twentieth part of the pains taken to
improve the stock of Irish horses, disclosed in the
recent Commission on Irish Horse-breeding, were taken
to improve the race of Irish donkeys, the peasant-
IRISH DONKE YS FOR SOUTH AFRICA 61
farmer would have a ' second string ' available, most
valuable whenever a war or pestilence caused a demand
for other than the ordinary transport animals.
The needs of South Africa which have sent buyers to
Ireland are exceptional, and unlikely to recur on such a
scale. The rinderpest has destroyed the ox transports,
and scarcity of grain has starved the horses. But there
are two factors which may always be relied on to make
a good donkey worth a good price in Rhodesia. These
are ' horse sickness ' and the tsetse-fly. The astonishing
constitution of the donkey makes him less liable to the
first, and usually proof against the last of these pests of
the new country. As a beast for army transport the
donkey is not a mere * emergency ' animal. * The estab-
lishment of breeding-studs, and the greater employment
of the donkey as a transport animal, is well worthy of
the attention of the military authorities,' writes Major
Leonard, after sixteen years' experience as a transport
officer. He finds that, used as a pack animal, the
smallest donkey will carry an average weight of a
hundred and thirty pounds, and the larger ones a hundred
and fifty pounds. It can be taken through deserts for
journeys of from fifty to sixty hours without water, and
pick up food on the way. It has no nerves, and there-
fore is a first-class animal to take ammunition-boxes to
the fighting line. It is small, and less likely to be hit
by bullets than a horse, and gets over more difficult
62 IRISFf DONKEYS FOR SOUTH AFRICA
ground with less leading. One man can drive ten
donkeys on the march, and they need little rations,
grooming, or protection from cold.
This being the case for the donkey as he is, it is
worth while considering the value of the donkey as he
might be. We must assume that under no circum-
stances will the ass ever bring money ' for show ' or
fashion, and that none of the increment which improvers
of nearly all breeds of high-class animals may expect
from this source may be expected in this case. Solid
merit will be the only measure of value. This must
be obtained by first forming a clear idea of what the
different breeds of donkey are capable of doing, and
how far they will suit the wants of particular classes.
In Syria, where the animal is at its best, there are four
breeds of donkey used for work as distinct as that of
the different classes of English horse. There are a
large rough donkey, standing thirteen and a half hands
high, for drawing carts ; a heavier kind, used on the
farms ; a ' gentleman's ' riding donkey, standing as
high as fourteen hands, comfortable to ride and quick ;
and a lighter class used for ladies. No one in this
country would ride a donkey, except children. His
place is in minor traffic here, and for transport by
means of packs if exported. The object of the breeder
should be to level up the animals all round, just as
the standard of Irish cattle has been raised all round.
IRISH DONKEYS FOR SOUTH AFRICA 63
If anything practical is done in this matter, it will
come from above, not from the peasants. If the
Dublin Agricultural Society, whose splendid Horse
Show and fine buildings are one of the best institutions
of the kind in the United Kingdom, could be induced
to interest themselves, the movement would have the
best chance of success. It might be considered infra
dig. to include donkeys in the show, but that is only a
question of custom, and of the quality of the animals
exhibited. In the great agricultural shows of Kentucky
one day is always reserved for judging donkeys, and
the price of a thousand pounds has been paid for a
donkey sire.
* "*- * ***'! - ;' , * '* - **
IX. SHIRE HORSES AT ISLINGTON
THE Londoner's comment on the * English elephants '
shown at the Agricultural Hall is that they are ' all
alike.' So they are in general form and appearance ;
and as, unlike the distinct and varied breeds of pedigree
cattle, they are all intended for the same purpose, the
result is a triumph for those who, since the Shire Horse
Society was formed, have spent time and money in
producing them.
The total number exhibited has risen to five hundred
and fifty-three. In 1 880, when the show was first held,
it was one hundred and sixty-five, and the increase of
numbers shown is a measure of the rise and growth of the
latest of the great English industries of breeding pedigree
stock, for which this century has been so remarkable.
The show, though the entries are so large, is not impres-
sive as a spectacle. All the stallions are shut up in high
loose-boxes, and can only be visited separately. The
mares are in stalls, and though both are in high condi-
tion, the back views so obtained suggest little but the fact
6 4
SHIRE HORSES AT ISLINGTON 65
of enormous propulsive powers, and the use of a pair of
steps for getting on their backs. When alongside them
in the stalls and boxes, the impression of bulk is equally
great, and the meekness with which they ' get over '
when smacked is almost as surprising as the obedience
of an elephant. When taken out some new discovery
has dictated that their backs and loins shall be thickly
covered with sawdust to prevent their catching cold.
Consequently a group of a dozen in the ring suggest
recollections of magnums of tawny port in a wine-
merchant's window. As an unconventional index of
their size, the following figures, taken from the measure-
ments of a prize mare and prize stallion, are somewhat
interesting. Feet and inches give a clearer idea of
dimensions to most minds, so we substitute them for
hands. Taking the lady shire horse first, we find that
she measures 5 feet 6 inches at the shoulder, 8 inches
across the hollow of her front foot, 8 feet 2 inches
98 inches round her 'waist.' She weighs 18^ cwt.
and is not fat. Her * hair,' which is 5 feet long,
is plaited, so that its beauties do not show ;
but her complexion, dappled brown and glossy, is
perfection.
At the other end of the hall a ' prize stallion, ten
years old, and therefore fully mature, was measured
with the following results : Height at the shoulder,
5 feet 8 inches, with a * waist ' measurement of
5
66 SHIRE HORSES AT ISLINGTON
8-J feet ; his weight, i ton i^ cwt. His shoe
measured 21 inches round from heel to heel, to which
the space between the calkins must be added. The
stallion's height sometimes runs to 18 hands, and
a mane 6 feet long is not uncommon. The average
shire horse begins work in the country at four years
old, and at five and a half years old goes to town,
where two do the work of three ordinary draught-
horses, and save the cost of stabling for one. The
pedigrees of 16,480 stallions and 22,768 mares are
recorded in the ' Shire Horse Stud Book/ This is not
a mere catalogue, but has a practical object. Though
'like breeds like/ it is found by experience that the
animals of oldest descent, when a breed is once
established, produce the most uniform stock. This
rule is what the foreign buyer relies on, and it is the
world outside England on whom our breeders mainly
rely to make the demand for our shire horses keep
pace with the supply. Ten years ago three hundred
foals were bought for Germany, six hundred 'certificates'
of exported sires were issued for America, and it was in
evidence that many hundreds of farmers in the worst
times of the agricultural depression paid their rents
from the produce of pedigree mares working on their
farms. Since then the demand has risen by leaps and
bounds, and the value of the animals has steadily
increased. In no long time the prices must fall,
SHIRE HORSES AT ISLINGTON 67
because the number of pedigree animals will be beyond
measure increased. But the financial result, spread
over a wider field, will be even more satisfactory than
at present, just as the broad improvement of shorthorn
cattle has added to the wealth not of individuals, but of
the country it has raised the value of Irish exported
cattle, for instance, by some three pounds per head. At
present the prices for shire horses are steadily rising, both
for actual work and for breeding. Mr. Freeman Mitford,
President of the Society, obtained seven hundred and
twenty guineas for a six-year-old stallion, three hundred
and twenty guineas for a three-year-old mare, and two
hundred and ten guineas for a yearling filly.
At Lord Wantage's sale no less than eight hundred
guineas was paid for a six-year-old mare. Messrs.
Clark and Griffin, farmers, were as successful in a
recent sale as their wealthier competitors, making an
average of 150 for their shire horses. The 'man in
the street ' would scarcely believe that the big, slow
horses in the railway-van are often more valuable than
the showy animals in the landau which passes them ;
but this is often the case, and the former justify their
price by work done. In developing the size of these
horses, only one serious drawback has been encountered
by the breeders. Their enormous weight causes a
tendency to an ossification of the side cartilage of the
foot, which is called * side-bone.'
52
68 SHIRE HORSES AT ISLINGTON
One of the main objects of the Shire Horse Society
is to c breed away from side-bone,' and it is to their
success in this that the popularity of the breed is largely
due. Hence the importance of pedigree, and incident-
ally the delay in awarding prizes in the show ; for
every animal has to pass a rigorous ' medical examina-
tion ' before its merits are considered. A second, and
not less important, form of soundness in these animals
is temper. { Temperament ' is perhaps the truer word.
In combining this mental characteristic with modifi-
cations in size and strength, the breeders have met
with little resistance from Nature. If the ' nerves ' of
the ordinary thoroughbred or hackney were possessed
by the giant shire horse, it would be as unsafe to
use for traffic as a Highland bull, and almost as
dangerous as a stampeding elephant. If its nerves did
not occasionally cause it to bolt with a two-ton van
behind it, the everyday fidgeting, stamping and
trotting which ordinary equine temperament demands
in the lighter horses would strain the legs and ruin the
hoofs which have to bear the burden of its bulk. As
things are, the temper of the great horse has grown
milder and easier as its size has increased. This is
largely due to nature, for the shire horse is descended,
without Arab or thoroughbred crosses, from the heavy
war-horse of the days of armour. But the avoidance of
repeating any cross from which temper has resulted must
SHIRE HORSES AT ISLINGTON 69
also be credited to the breeders' experience. The nature
of the shire horse's work does not ordinarily disturb
this innate equanimity. They are never urged to
speed. On the other hand, they are constantly required
to make sudden exertions in pulling and hauling great
weights, exertions which require as much resolution on
the part of the horse, and urging by the * driver,' as
efforts of speed. Yet the shire horse works entirely by
the voice. He is never struck with the whip ; a hand
on the reins by his mouth, a friendly pull, and a word
or two, are enough to make him exert a muscular
power greater than that of any other domesticated
animal but the elephant. This docility has been
acquired without loss of courage or intelligence. Men
who have been employed for twenty years in super-
intending the shire horse at work say that he never
knows when he is beaten. The most trying work he
is employed in is that of carting earth from excavations,
or loads of stone and material to line cuttings and
reservoirs. To do so he draws his loads, not over
roads of macadam or stone, but over yielding earth or
clay. The load has usually to be started up an incline,
yet the horse obeys orders, and will renew the effort
again and again at the word of command. The camel,
which often refuses to move if overloaded, is perhaps
wiser in its generation. The intelligence of the shire
horse is not only not less, but greater, than that of
70 SHIRE HORSES AT ISLINGTON
most breeds. This is partly due to its constant associa-
tion with its carter in work other than mere monotonous
driving. The cleverness of the shire horses on the
railway is matter of common observation. But the
quiet wits of the contractors' horses are less well known.
An instance, noticed while a new reservoir was being
dug above the grounds of the Ranelagh Club, gives
some idea of the intelligence which ' informs ' these
colossal horses. Heavy loads of earth from an excava-
tion were being raised in a ' hopper ' and dropped into
a * tipping-cart.' This was run violently along some
rough rails, and at the last moment a pin was loosened,
and the earth shot over the end of the embankment.
Instead of being pushed by an engine, the cart was
pulled, at the highest speed that could be raised, by a
young shire horse. To * work the machine,' it had
first to start the cart full of earth, to rush it along at a
half-trot, half-canter, and at the last moment to jump
on one side off the line, to have its hauling-chain
detached by an automatic slip jerked by the driver, and
to let the one and a quarter tons of earth and the truck
rush past it and bang against the chocks at the end of
the rail, spilling the earth from the hopper. If he
failed to spring aside at the last moment, he would be
jammed between the trolly and the blocks, or thrown
over the slope of the embankment. The side-spring
had to be made when going fast and using great
SHIRE HORSES AT ISLINGTON 71
exertion. The horse was very excited, but never ' lost
its head/ or showed the least inclination to shirk the
work. Its driver, or rather attendant, had taught it to
do this in four days, and the horse, though very large,
was only a four-year-old. But Lord Herbert of
Cherbury wrote the character of the ' great horse ' of
England more than two hundred years ago, and noted
that he was a creature ' made above all others for the
service of man/ Among other accomplishments, he
taught him to run at a figure dressed in bright armour,
and knock it over ' in the midst of a field.'
X. THE BEAUTY OF CATTLE
A VISIT to the Cattle Show at the Agricultural Hall
should reconcile the English mind to the Indian worship
of the cow. Considered as a gathering of the most
beautiful animals of their kind which the art of man
can aid Nature to produce, it has only one drawback
the excess of flesh which a * fat-stock ' show demands.
But the richness and colour of the cattle, and the noble
lines of heads, dark-eyed and massive-browed, with
curling locks upon their foreheads and shining crescent
horns, make a study of form and colour which the
most uninstructed sight-seer must admire. Our im-
pression of the show, from the point of view of the
animals' comfort or suffering, was, on the whole, favour-
able. The atmosphere was beautifully sweet and clean,
with a pleasant smell of hay and clover and clean straw
scents that must suggest to the cattle's mind visions
of a glorified rickyard. It is, perhaps, too hot for the
comfort of the fatter beasts, some of whom pant and
show signs of malaise. But others were lying down
72
THE BE A UTY OF CATTLE 73
and chewing the cud placidly, or licking their own
coats or those of their neighbours attentions to toilet
which are a certain sign of contentment in cattle. The
least tranquil was the splendid steer which had won the
highest honours of the show. Size, shape, and colour
would have qualified it for a place among the Oxen of
the Sun. Almost as tall as an Indian bison, with a
back as straight and level as a table, it had the char-
acteristic colour and proportions of the finest domestic
breed. The blue-roan mottling of its wavy coat
gradually increased in closeness, until on its neck and
head nothing but the dark tint, like ' blued ' steel, pre-
vailed. Its eyes were large and black, its eyelashes
long and curling, its muzzle fine and sensitive. But
its whole aspect was melancholy, as it waved its head
wearily from side to side. As we watched it, it lay
down, for the first time since entering the show, and
before long was no doubt reconciled to its surroundings.
This steer weighed i ton i cwt,, and was barely three
and a half years old. But the weariness of the champion
was by no means shared by its fellows. A lovely
steer from Norwich, next door, was dipping its nose
alternately into its water-pail and supper-tray ; and a
beautiful young blue-gray bullock, from Lord Elles-
mere's park near Newmarket, was angrily protesting at
being kept waiting while his neighbours were fed. His
groom, a bright Suffolk lad who had ' known him ever
74 THE BEAUTY OF CATTLE
since he was a baby,' treated this young giant as if he
were a Newfoundland dog. * Come, kiss me, then,' he
said, pulling the halter, as his pet was busy munching
bran and turnips, and the animal actually raised its
bran-covered muzzle from the tray to give the required
salute. The c cross-breds ' cattle produced from parents
of first-class merit, but of different stocks are always
the most interesting class in the show. There is no
saying what new beauties may be produced from the
mating of the finest specimens of different pure- bred
cattle. The champion of the show was the son of a
shorthorn bull and a Galloway cow ; in others of
almost equal merit the strain of Suffolk, or Devon, or
Welsh blood was to be traced. Great variety of colour
results from this mixture of strains ; black, blue-roan,
iron-gray, and deep chestnut-red being the favourite
tints. These long-haired, richly-tinted hides should
make admirable rugs for halls. The Herefords are,
perhaps, the most distinct in appearance of any breed,
except the Highlanders. Their coats are crisp and
curly, their bodies a rich, deep red, and the face pure
white, with a white line up the nape of the neck. Very
different to these easy-going English cattle are the wild
Highlanders tethered opposite. Purity of blood only
brings out their Celtic constitution in the greatest per-
fection. Their shaggy coats hang in mops and eif-
locks over their eyes, and their eyes are restless and
THE BEAUTY OF CATTLE 75
angry. Some have enormous horns, bent like the bow
of Ulysses ; in others, one horn curls up and the other
down, lending a disreputable jauntiness to their unkempt
heads. Some are orange-yellow ; others the colour of
old dead wood or smoky glass. Others are tawny and
shaggy like a water-spaniel. Even the railway journey
and the show does not subdue their irascible Celtic
minds ; and one rugged Highlander, after being hauled
in by a dozen reluctant drovers, was, in order to secure
peace, blindfolded with a sack, beneath which he sulked
like a Skye-terrier in disgrace. No greater contrast
could be imagined than that presented by these lineal
descendants of the great bos urus of the Caledonian
forest, and the placid, silky -coated shorthorns, the
latest triumphs of domestication. The prize shorthorn
heifer was, perhaps, the ideal of a nice, good-tempered
* cushy ' cow. The white coat shone like ivory satin on
her back ; her black eyes and eyelashes set off her
shapely head ; her ears just brushed her pink horns,
and her forehead was starred with little velvet curls.
The neat, white, cotton-plaited headstall which con-
fined her did not prevent her pushing her muzzle into
every extended hand to seek for food, and she tossed
her head, when they were without a gift, in the keenest
disappointment and mortification. Compared with her,
the tiny black Kerry cows looked mere pigmies. Yet
their form was equally perfect, and their quick vivacious
76 THE BEAUTY OF CATTLE
movements proclaimed their race as clearly as their
robbery of their neighbours' hay showed their hereditary
capacity for taking care of themselves in good times or
in bad. These small Kerry cows are perhaps the best
cattle which can be kept in the grounds of a moderate
country house. They are too small to damage fences,
are capital milkers, and most affectionate and intelli-
gent pets. They are naturally friendly creatures, and,
like cows in general, have, perhaps, longer memories
for people than any other animal. For the farm, the
choice will naturally fall among the larger breeds. The
difficulty must be, not to choose well where all are so
good, but to make a choice at all. In addition to the
specific breeds we have mentioned, there are towering
black Welsh cattle, curly and horned ; and the deep-red
steers of Sussex, small and compact, with crescent horns;
black, polled Galloways, with coats shining like astrachan
wool ; and lovely Devons, redder than their native marl,
and matched in colour to a hair. These are the herds
that have stocked the ranches of the Argentine and the
runs of New South Wales, the hills of New Zealand,
and the plains of Uruguay. It is for their protection
that the breeder demands a check on the importation
of cattle diseases from abroad ; and the Cattle Show is
the most convincing argument which his cause has yet
produced.
The naturalist who is not too proud to know the
THE BEAUTY OF CATTLE 77
history of the domesticated animals which are now as
native to the soil as any of the ancient wild races
could name any district in which he found himself by a
glance at the sheep upon the hills. Not even the
cattle exhibit such marked differences as are to be found
in the flocks which a century of careful selection has
fitted to thrive best in the varied soils of England.
The big Leicester sheep, with long gray wool and white
faces, are as different from the ' Cotswolds ' as a New-
foundland from a white poodle. In the ' Cotswolds '
will be found the original of the c baa-lamb ' of the
nursery. These sheep are tall, with white wool in
locks, and with tufts upon the head and forehead.
The Lincolnshire sheep are more like those of Leicester,
but heavier in the fleece, coarser, and more fitted for
life in the marshes. They have, perhaps, the most
intelligent faces of any sheep but the refined South
Downs. We noticed a Lincoln ewe endeavouring to
open a sack of cakes by putting her foot into the
mouth, and drawing out the contents, as it lay on the
ground in the next pen. Romney Marsh has its own
breed of sheep, somewhat like the Lincolns. But of all
the flocks of England, the South Downs must win the
palm. Their short-clipped and delicate wool is felted
together like moss. The hand sinks into it with
difficulty. The form is beautiful and rounded, and
though apparently so finely built, their weight is great.
78 THE BEAUTY OF CATTLE
The close, yellow-gray fleece fits over the head like a
cap, disclosing the face and nose, covered with short,
gray hair not wool. The features are extremely
dainty, and the movements of the mouth, as the sheep
nibbles its fragrant supper of trefoil and clover, resemble
those of some delicate foreign rodent. Their heads are
far prettier than those of many deer almost as refined
as that of the gazelle. These sheep undergo an
elaborate toilet every morning. Clipping them is an
art in which few excel. Their coats are trimmed,
brushed, and damped, and pressed flat with a setting-
board, and finally tinted for the day. The Hampshires,
black-faced and Roman-nosed, are also rouged.
It would be interesting to trace the development of
these fine creatures from their primitive ancestors ; but
even in the earliest instance the sheep seems not to
have been indigenous in England. Geologically speak-
ing, it is a very modern animal. Oddly enough, the
chief difference between the tame and the wild sheep
seems to be in the length of its tail, which is short
in all the wild breeds, and will grow long in domesti-
cated sheep, though severely discouraged in this
country. The wool in the tame sheep has also gained
that power of ' felting ' on which its value mainly
depends. The wild cattle of Chillingham are this year
not represented at the Show. The animal shown last
year, which was the result of a. cross with a pure-bred
THE BEAUTY OF CATTLE 79
shorthorn, retained the characteristic colour and shape
of the original herd, even in the horns and tip of the
ear, a proof of the strength of the wild blood which
has been observed in several previous experiments. It
took a good place among the best cross-breds exhibited,
and made excellent beef when killed.
Swine have probably made the widest departure from
the wild state. A bird's-eye view of the piggery, taken
from the top of a corn-bin, showed nothing but round
and placid-breathing masses of animated pork, shapeless
and unpleasing, excellent, no doubt, for food; but how
unlike the old rusty-coloured, vivacious, sagacious
English woodland pig ! Professor Flower says that the
young of all wild kinds of pig present a uniform color-
ation, being dark brown with longitudinal stripes of a
paler colour. This marking, according to our own
observation, is very rare in the domesticated pig, which
seems to have lost with civilization all distinguishing
marks of its wild parentage. It would be a pity, how-
ever, if the poor piggies at Islington were made into
' burnt pig/ after the manner invented by Charles
Lamb's Chinaman. That, however, may well be the case
unless the rules against smoking in the Cattle Show are
more strictly enforced. We saw one visitor knock the
ashes off his cigar into a pen. A fire so kindled might
run the length of the hall in ten minutes, and not leave
a single beast surviving.
XI. WAR-HORSES
WAR and the chase are the ultimate objects for which
the Commission on Irish Horse-breeding has lately
been hearing the evidence of experts on both sides of
the Channel. The Irish owners desire to raise a class
of horses the best of which can be sold at a high price
for hunting, while the rest pay their way as cavalry
remounts. How best to combine these objects the Com-
mission will have to decide. Thoroughbred sires, it
is agreed, produce the stock most likely to make good
hunters ; and though the ' hackney ' is much in favour
with some breeders of cavalry horses, we have very
little doubt that the better bred these are the more
likely they are to stand the rough work of war.
The modern heavy cavalry horse has to carry a total
weight, made up of man, harness, and equipment, of
20 st. 280 Ib. and the light cavalry horse a weight
of 1 7 st. He is expected, if required, to march thirty
miles in one day, and to be able to do his work on the
next. Bought in Ireland at three years old, he is two
80
WAR-HORSES 81
years in training, and spends four years in the ranks as
his average time of active service. It is very possible
that if the type of cavalry horse were bigger it would
last longer. But the modern animal is a compromise
between the needs of the Service and the price which
Government can afford. There is no such contrast
now as formerly between the great war-horse, specially
bred to carry the man in armour, and the ' natural '
war-horse, bred for speed, endurance, and to carry a
man armed only with sword, spear, and shield. The
difference has never been presented so vividly as in the
battles of the Crusaders, especially those in which they
were opposed to the Saracen cavalry. Sir Walter
Scott's representation of the single combat in the desert
between Sir Kenneth and Saladin is a very probable
account of what would happen in such an encounter.
When the mail-clad Knights on their heavy horses were
able to charge knee to knee they must have swept away
any force of Saracen cavalry ; but there is evidence in
the accounts of the Templars that they modified their
equipment in some degree to suit the Eastern modes
of warfare and the climate. It is, however, less well
known that the Saracens did the same, and that the
changes they made in the days of the Crusades endured
a hundred years ago, and in some parts of the Soudan
are still observable. They adopted a light chain
armour, the steel cap, and the two-handed sword of the
6
82 WAR-HORSES
Crusaders, and to carry the increased weight must have
bred their horses of a larger size. This appears in an
account by Bruce in his ' Travels to Discover the
Source of the Nile/ published exactly one hundred years
ago. He visited, near Sennaar, the Sheik Adelan,
round whose house were stabled four hundred horses,
with quarters for four hundred men, all alike the
' property ' of Sheik Adelan. ' It was one of the finest
sights I ever saw of the kind,' he wrote. ' The horses
were all above sixteen hands high, of the breed of the
old Saracen horses, all finely made and as strong as our
coach-horses, but exceedingly nimble in their motion ;
rather thick and short in the fore-hand, but with the
most beautiful eyes, ears, and heads in the world.
They were mostly black, some of them black and
white, some of them milk-white (foaled so, not white
by age).' The size and character of these horses dis-
tinguish them from the ordinary light Arab. Sir
William Broadwood questions Bruce's accuracy, saying
that he is evidently mistaken when he describes Sheik
Adelan's troop-horses as all above sixteen hands,
because Arab horses now rarely exceed fifteen hands.
Bruce's accuracy has survived the questioning of his
contemporary critics, but the context supplies a probable
answer to Sir W. Broadwood's doubts. All the riders
wore armour, and the horses were not the modern Arab,
but bred to carry the extra weight. c A steel shirt of mail
WAR-HORSES 83
hung over each man's quarters opposite his horse, and
by it an antelope's skin, made as soft as chamois, with
which it was covered from the dew of night. A head-
piece of copper, without crest or plume, was suspended
by a lace above this shirt of mail, and was the most
picturesque part of the trophy. To these was added
an enormous broadsword, in a red leather scabbard, and
upon the pommel hung two thick gloves, like hedger's
gloves, their fingers in one poke/ To carry this
panoply the Sheik's horses were modified from the
natural Arab type.
The size of the English war-horse reached its maxi-
mum in the reign of Henry VIII., when the relations
of body-armour to ' hand-guns ' were analogous to those
of the early ship-armour and cannon before the ' high
velocities * were obtained at Elswick. There was good
reason to believe that by adding a little to the thickness
of the coat of steel the soft low- velocity bullet of the
day could be kept out. So it was for a time. But the
additional weight required a still larger horse to carry
it. The charger had to be armoured as well as his
rider, and the collection in the Tower of London shows
the actual weight which it carried. The panoply of
Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, the brother-in-law
of Henry VIII., still exists. That of the horse covers
the whole of the hind-quarters, the back of the neck,
forehead, muzzle, ears, shoulders, and chest. It is
62
84 WAR-HORSES
exactly like a piece of boiler-plating, and fastened by
rivets. The rider sat in a saddle the front of which
was a steel shield ten inches high, covering the stomach
and thighs as the ' breast-work ' on an ironclad's deck
covers the base of the turret. The total weight is
80 Ib. 15 oz. To this add the weight of the rider's
armour, 99 Ib. 9 oz., and of the rider himself, say,
1 6 st. 224 Ib. and the total is 28 st. 12 Ib. 8 oz., or
404 Ib. 8 oz. This bears out Holinshed's statement
that in the days of Henry VIII. , ' who erected a noble
studderie for breeding horses, especially the greatest
sort,' such as were kept for burden, would bear 4 cwt.
commonly. As the gun prevailed, personal armour,
just as in the modern ships, was concentrated over the
vital parts. Breastplates remained bullet-proof, thigh-
pieces were only sword-proof. But till the days of
James II. complete armour seems to have been commonly
worn by commanding officers in battle. The statue of
Admiral Lord Holmes in Yarmouth Church shows him
in full armour. Charles I., Cromwell, Maurice of
Nassau, and William III. at the Boyne, are painted in
the same equipment, except that leather boots have
superseded greaves. The horse becomes lighter, but is
in most respects the same animal. His points are well
shown in the fine equestrian statue of Charles II. at the
top of Whitehall Place. But before the date of the
battle of Blenheim a change had begun. The * great
WAR-HORSES 85
horse ' of war was being bred as a beast of draught, to
develop into the modern shire horse, and his place as
a war-horse was in process of being taken by the
4 dragooner,' which carried a soldier with only as much
defensive armour as our modern Lifeguards. Crom-
well's ' dragooners ' carried rather more weight ; but
from a letter quoted by Sir Walter Gilbey in ' The
Old English War-Horse/* it may be inferred that they
were not of the old heavy breed. < Buy those horses,'
he writes to Auditor Squire, * but do not give more
than eighteen or twenty pieces each for them. That is
enough for dragooners.' Then, * I will give you sixty
pieces for that black you won (in battle) at Horncastle,
for my son has a mind to him.' The ' black ' was
one of the old war-horses, the colour having become
synonymous with the breed ; and Oliver was so keen
on getting it, that as Mr. Auditor Squire would not
part at the price offered, he wrote later : * I will give
you all you ask for that black you won last fight.' By
the accession of the Hanoverian Kings the * great horse '
had disappeared, even for the use of officers and com-
manders. Then the equipment of regular cavalry
became uniform throughout the whole of Europe, and
has remained so until the present day. The only
difference in the horses is that between an animal able
* < The Old English War-Horse.' By Walter Gilbey. London :
Vinton and Co.
86 WAR-HORSES
to carry a 1 2 st. man and his equipment, and that which
carries a 10 st. man, and except in some French regi-
ments of Chasseurs which use Arab horses, the breed is
almost identical. Even the Cossacks are now regular
troopers and mounted on big horses, instead of the
twelve-hand ponies on which they rode from the Don
to the Seine.
In the Graeco-Turkish War the Greek army encamped
on the plain where Bucephalus was reared ; but the
famous Thessalian horses have now dwindled to the
size of ponies, which were ridden by the irregular and
local levies of the Greeks. Bucephalus was the most
costly war-horse ever bought. The animal came out of
a noted stud owned by a Thessalian chief ; and even
before its celebrated taming by Alexander, this gentle-
man asked Philip ^2,51 8 155. as his lowest price. Pliny
says that Philip gave ^435 more than this. It now
appears that, contrary to general belief, Bucephalus
was a mare. This accounts for the high price paid.
Compared with the prices asked for Arab mares of
great descent in much later times, the sum demanded is
not excessive. But Bucephalus was a good bargain
even as a war-horse. She was ridden until she was
thirty years old, and then died of wounds received in a
battle with Porus, and left her bones in the Punjab.
XII. THE SPEED OF THE PIGEON-POST
IT seems probable that current estimates of the speed
of birds' flight must be modified. In a recent race
a number of carrier-pigeons were flown from the Shet-
land Islands to London. This is a great distance even
for trained birds, the total length of the journey being
591-^ miles. The date being only a week after the
longest day of the year, the birds had the advantage of
daylight during their whole flight, and the winner
reached the house of its owner, Mr. Clutterbuck, of
Stanmore, in eight minutes under sixteen hours. They
had been liberated at Lerwick at 3.30 a.m. The official
weather-chart of the Meteorological Office gave, not for
the first time, information of the utmost value for esti-
mating the conditions of wind under which the flight
was made. Every < arrow ' from Kirkwall to London
pointed due south. In other words, the birds had the
wind behind them throughout their journey. The
result is that, in what is very nearly an approach to a
migration flight, the pigeons travelled at a speed of
87
THE SPEED OF THE PIGEON-POST
37 miles an hour. An interesting correspondence in
the Field) following the announcement of this fact,
showed how widely observers differ on this most inter-
esting question, but the records approach more nearly
to the lower estimate in each case in which accuracy has
been possible ; and in any case the surmises of the late
Dr. Gatke that migrating birds travelled occasionally at
speeds reaching 180 miles an hour cannot now be
seriously defended. Yet such a good observer as Mr.
Frohawk, one of our best painters of birds and animals,
is convinced that a godwit can fly at a speed or
150 miles per hour; and Sir Ralph Payne Gallwey
reckons the flight of a teal as sometimes reaching
140 miles an hour. But it has been calculated that if
the godwit were flying at 150 miles an hour, it would
have to overcome a resistance of air equal to a pressure
of 1 1 2 Ib. per square foot, or considerably more than
the force of a hundred-mile hurricane. Other corre-
spondents give instances which leave little doubt that
shore birds do travel at speeds considerably above
50 miles an hour ; but as regards the flight of the
pigeon, some experiments carried out by the proprietors
of the Field many years ago leave little doubt that the
speed shown in the Shetland flight is normal. Twelve
records with the chronograph gave a highest speed to
the ' blue rock ' pigeon of from 33 to 38 miles an
hour. Pheasants and partridges were also subjected to
r ^
THE SPEED OF THE PIGEON-POST 89
experiment. The former made a record of 38 miles
an hour, and the partridges, when well on the wing, of
32 miles.
The correspondents of the Field have endeavoured
to settle the question of the speed of birds solely by
observation. In the absence of any mechanical aids
such observations are most difficult to make, and in the
nature of things they fall short of the certainty which
would be desirable. The chief value of such contri-
butions to the discussion is that up to the present date
first-hand observations of any kind are scarce, meagre,
and contradictory. Everyone has been struck by the
phenomena of flight ; almost no one has found time to
take the necessary thought and trouble to collect data
on a subject so uncertain and elusive. When M. Marey
published his monumental work, ' Le Vol des Oiseaux,'
in 1890, such records as he was able to collect, though
eminently suggestive, were only calculated to give
uncertain notions ; moreover, the conclusions of dif-
ferent writers did not agree. M. Van Roosebeck, a
leading Belgian pigeon-flyer, assigned to homing pigeons
a maximum speed of from 100 to 120 miles an hour.
Wilbers quoted a case of a pigeon which had flown
nearly 20 miles in as many minutes. Here is a
difference of one half between two authorities. One of
the standard references was an observed flight of pigeons
from Paris to Spa, at the rate of 50 miles an hour.
90 THE SPEED OF THE PIGEON-POST
The distance between the two points is 250 miles.
Some of the so-called tables of birds' speed must have
been drawn up on pure conjecture. Thus, according to
one authority, the quail flies at 17 metres per second,
the pigeon at 27 metres, the falcon at 28 metres
(what falcon?), the swallow at 67 metres, and the
martin at 88 metres, or about 95 yards per second.
Such comparisons are useless without stating what kind
of flight is meant. The only flight which is open to
comparison in the sense desired, or rather which can
be compared with the means at our disposal, is the
sustained flight of birds from point to point. Not,
for example, the downward rush of a falcon after prey,
or the dash of a partridge into cover. But there are
cases in which even these can be compared, as when a
bird of prey pursues another bird. In this connection
this table of speeds is ridiculously inaccurate ; the
writer has seen a small falcon, the hobby, pursue and
catch a swallow on the wing, though the speed of the
latter is set down as four times greater than that of the
falcon. Audubon's notes are more interesting, and
probably nearer the truth. He found in the crops of
pigeons which he shot some rice, which they could not
have gathered nearer than Carolina, about 350 miles
from the place where they were shot. From the state
of digestion in which he found the rice, he concluded
that it had been six hours in the birds' crops, and that
THE SPEED OF THE PIGEON-POST 91
they must therefore have flown the distance at a speed
of about a mile a minute. He also estimated that the
eider-duck flies at the speed of 40 miles an hour, and
the wild duck at about 45 miles an hour in sustained
flights. One obvious chance of error in his calculation
of the speed of the pigeons is the possibility that diges-
tion may have been partly arrested while the birds were
flying so long a distance. Another statement dealing
with the frigate-bird depends on the assumption that it
neither flies by night nor sleeps on the water. If this
is correct, the distances travelled by these ocean-birds
in a single day must amount to as much as 1,800
miles, for they have been seen at a distance of more
than 900 miles from any coast or island. But no one
can prove that they do not fly by night, and the effort-
less soaring of these ocean-birds suggests that their
power to remain on the wing is certainly not limited to
a period of twelve hours.
It seems contrary to all reasonable conjecture that
any bird should make a daily flight of hundreds of
miles from its roosting-place. But there are means
available for discovering the real rate of flight of the
frigate-bird not less accurately than that of the carrier-
pigeon. According to the Rev. S. G. Whitmee, the
frigate-birds are domesticated by the natives of the
Ellice Islands. In 1870 he saw numbers of them
sitting about on perches erected for them near the
92 THE SPEED OF THE PIGEON-POST
beach. The natives catch the young birds, tie them
by the leg, and feed them till they become tame.
Then they let them loose, when they regularly go out
to sea to obtain food, and come back to roost. Ad-
vantage was taken of this by some of the missionaries
to establish a ' pigeon-post,' conducted by frigate-birds,
between the islands, and Mr. Whitmee himself saw
more than one letter arrive in a quill attached to the
wing of a frigate-bird. Here there is a perfect oppor-
tunity, ready made, for determining the speed of one
of the finest fliers among the whole nation of birds.
It is not likely that the natives of these islands, or,
rather, islets, north of Fiji and east of Samoa, have
ceased to tame the birds, and the missionaries now on
the islands might renew the experiment of the past,
and make a trustworthy record. A very ingenious
means of observing the speed of flight was suggested by
MM. Liais and Mouillard. This was to fly a bird
across some open area of sand, and measure the time at
which the shadow crossed lines marked upon it. But
the photographic gun of M. Marey gives excellent
results. If the bird is crossing the spectator, it will
show on a spinning disc images at the rate of ten in a
second. When the space between the images is
measured, and compared with the length of the bird's
body on the plate, the speed at which it is travelling
can be calculated at once. Observations made from
THE SPEED OF THE PIGEON-POST 93
railway-carriage windows give a rough means of com-
paring bird-speed. The writer has often done this,
and has found that a train running at thirty-five miles
an hour travels faster than the rook, the heron, the
pheasant, and all small birds commonly seen inland
except swallows and martins. A covey of partridges
flying parallel with the train sometimes exceeds the
speed of the engine at between thirty-five and forty
miles per hour. Accurate observations of the flight of
cormorants might be made, if anyone would take the
necessary trouble, when returning to roost in the cliffs.
They fly perfectly straight along shore in certain places
just before dusk every evening, and a few marks set up
and a measurement on the ordnance map would give
accurate results, especially if two persons marked the
flight at different angles. The writer has found the
speed of these heavy birds, on still evenings, to approxi-
mate to a mile in one minute and ten seconds. ' A
mile a minute ' is less rapid when the flight is watched
from a distance than might be imagined. It must be
something less than half the speed at which a swift
dashes past on a summer evening, though allowances
must be made for appearances when comparing the
flight of large birds with that of small ones. A bee
seems to fly by like a flash, yet it only makes thirty
miles an hour, or half the speed at which the heavy
cormorants fly home to bed.
XIII. THE LONDON HORSE AT HOME
LONDON horses are the result of the completest form of
' urban immigration ' known. Probably not thirty of
the three hundred thousand which live within the
Metropolitan area were born there. Yet such is the
natural intelligence of their kind that, after a training
lasting not more than eight months, even at the
longest, they are as much at home in London streets,
and as healthy in London stables, as if they had never
known the freedom of a Suffolk strawyard or an Irish
hillside. Even in manners and appearance the London
horse differs from his country cousin. Even the street -
arab detects the latter. * Hullo, here's a country 'orse ;
let's take a rise out of him !' was the amiable comment
of a street-urchin on seeing a rustic Dobbin which had
brought a load of hay into town during the summer
droughts munching from its nose-bag outside a Chelsea
' public/
In c The Horse World of London,' published by the
Religious Tract Society, Mr. W. J. Gordon has given
94
THE LONDON HORSE AT HOME 95
not a sketch, but an exhaustive and brightly written
account of the varied lives and work of the animals them-
selves, and of the organized system of collective owner-
ship which mainly governs the employment and purchase
of London horses. There is hardly a page in the book
which is not full of facts, mainly new, and always
interesting. As we read, the mixed and bewildering
equine crowd which pours along the streets in carriages
and four-wheeled cabs, tradesmen's carts and parcel-
vans, brewers' drays and road-carts, dust-cars and coal-
carts, hansoms and hearses, is resolved into classes,
nations and callings, destined for separate uses, with
reasonable purpose. The immense scale on which
horses are now 'jobbed ' from large proprietors, and the
steady decline of private ownership, is perhaps the most
interesting fact, from an economic point of view, on
which Mr. Gordon dwells. Tilling, of Peckham,
owns a stud of 2,500 of all kinds, and these are hired
for work in every part of the kingdom, from the heavy
cart-horse to the riding-cob. They are to be found in
Sunderland, in Cornwall and at Brighton. They are
hired by every class of customer, from the Lord Mayor
and Sheriffs to the laundry company. Peak and Frean
hire a hundred for their biscuit vans ; a great brewer
( jobs ' as many more. Even some of the tram-lines are
thus horsed ; so is the Fire Brigade, the Salvage Corps,
and now the mounted police. The advantage of these
96 THE LONDON HORSE AT HOME
large establishments is plain. If a horse turns out
unfit for the use for which it is bought, it can be trans-
ferred to another. If unsuited for a smart carriage, it
can be hired out to the doctor, and if troublesome, can
be put to hard labour for a season in an omnibus, and
thence transferred, after a course of discipline, to the
luxurious life of private service. This is an old device ;
but hitherto the transfer could not be made without the
sale and repurchase of the animal at a loss, until the
horseowner increased his stock to a size which made
such change of employment possible. One small
owner, the possessor of four or five light * vanners,' was
wont to boast that he had bought a horse for five
pounds and sold it for fifty pounds, a story which he
never varied when relating it to the present writer.
The animal, purchased at an equine ' rubbish ' sale, was
a confirmed bolter. No sooner was it harnessed than it
set off at full gallop, a career which generally ended in
a smash, and the immediate resale of the culprit. But
the new purchaser, far from trying to check this
propensity, resolved, as he said, to ' humour him a bit/
and generously * lent him to a fire-engine.' The horse
soon found that he was encouraged not only to bolt at
starting, but to keep up the pace, and in six months was
quite ready either to stand in harness or to start at any
speed wished by his driver. Besides the great 'jobbers,'
the omnibus companies, the railways, the London
THE LONDON HORSE AT HOME 97
vestries, and the large breweries and distilleries own
troops and regiments of horses, and the combination of
capital and high organization with proper economic
management in these great establishments has set a
standard of good and humane treatment by which the
London horse has greatly benefited. Better and larger
stables, good food and litter, and steady work, with
regular days of rest, have lengthened the life and
improved the physique of the London horse. A good
brewer's horse, standing 17*2, was weighed by Mr.
Gordon, and tipped the beam at just over the ton. The
driver weighed 20 stone 12 Ib. ! the van, fully
loaded, 6 tons 15 cwt., to which must be added the
harness, making a total with the driver of nearly
8 tons. Three horses drew the whole ; and it was
stated that, on the average, three horses now do the
work which four did twenty years ago. 'The vans
have improved, the roads have improved, and the
horses have improved especially the horses/ We
agree with Mr. Gordon in thinking that steady attention
to the breeding of draught-horses all over the country
has probably increased their size and power, just as it
has increased the average size of the thoroughbred.
The latter gains one hand in a century. In 1700 he
stood, on the average, at 1 3*2 ; he now stands 1 5*3. We
might suggest a rough test of the growth of the draught-
horse. The shafts of the 'tumbril,' or country two-
7 ' -
98 THE LONDON HORSE AT HOME
wheeled farm-cart, have probably been set on at their
present height by the tradition of one hundred years in
wheelwrights' shops. If compared with the height of
the shafts in the ' tumbrils ' used for the monster horses
of the London vestries, a clue might be gained as to the
proportionate increase in the height of the best draught-
horses. The main conditions of health for the London
horse, when once acclimatized, seem to be the Sunday's
rest, and proper care of his feet. Experience only
proves the truth of the evidence given by Bianconi,
when the whole mail traffic of Ireland was run on his
cars. He owned more horses than any man of his time,
and declared that he got far more work out of them
when he ran them only six days a week than when he
ran them seven. Mr. Gordon cites Lord Erskine's
speech when introducing a Bill dealing with cruelty to
animals : ' Man's dominion is not absolute, but is limited
by the obligations of justice and mercy ;' and, except in
the case of certain unfortunate hackneys, which can be
used in carts on week-days, and serve in a cab on
Sundays, most owners seem now to recognise both the
Justice and utility of allowing their horses a Sabbath of
rest. Hard work is terribly aggravated by any mischief
in the horses' feet, most of the cases of * cruelty ' being
due to working them in that condition. The ponderous
hoof of the dray-horse crushes down upon iron or
sharp stone, and at once drives the object deep into the
THE LONDON HORSE AT HOME 99
foot. Iron nails inflict the worst injuries, and when
* demolitions ' are going on, or masses of broken
material are being carted through the streets, drags
and vans are often sent by circuitous routes in order
to avoid the nail-studded roadway. Proper shoeing
is almost as important as daily foot examination
for these bulky horses. * There is no animal more
carefully shod than a brewer's horse,' writes Mr.
Gordon. ' At Courage's, for instance, no such things
as standard sizes are known. Many have a different
make and shape of shoe on each hoof. The shoe is
always made specially to fit the foot, and these are never
thrown away, but are mended soled and heeled, in fact
by having pieces of iron welded into them again and
again. Some of the shoes are steel-faced ; some are
barred, the shoe going all round the foot ; some have
heels, some toes ; some one clip, some two. In fact,
there are almost as many makes of shoes as in a
Northampton shoe-factory.'
Mr. Gordon has a separate and amusing treatise on
nearly every branch of the London horse- world, from
the Queen's c Creams ' to the funeral steed and the
typical cab-horse. His story of the request that King
William IV. would delay hastening to the House to
dissolve Parliament in 1831, in order to give time for
the cream-coloured State horses to have their manes
plaited, and the King's reply, < Plait the manes ! Til
72
ioo THE LONDON HORSE AT HOME
go in a hackney coach,' is part of the tradition of the
Buckingham Palace stables. But the sequel of the
indignant coachman swearing at the guard of honour,
and having to descend from the box and apologize
after conveying his Majesty to the House, gives greater
finish to the episode. The funeral horses are State
steeds in their way also, and, like the Queen's cream-
colours, are foreigners, or of foreign extraction. But the
creams are of Hanoverian descent. The * Black
Brigade ' are all Flemish, and come to London by way
of Rotterdam and Harwich. There are nearly seven
hundred in London, and these are mainly the pro-
perty of one or two large owners. ' The jobmaster
is at the back of the burying world/ One of these
speaks very pleasantly of his black stud. * I am not a
horsey man,' says the undertaker, ' but I have known
this class of horse all my life, and I say they are quite
affectionate and good-natured, and seem to know in-
stinctively what you say to them and what you want.
One thing, they have an immense amount of self-
esteem, and that you have to humour. Of course, I
have to choose the horses, and I do not choose the
vicious ones. I can tell them by the glance they give
as they look round at me.' They are very fanciful as
to their company, and if a coloured horse is put in the
stalls among them, the blacks at once turn fretful and
miserable. Mr. Gordon has a fund of stories and
THE LONDON HORSE AT HOME 101
experiences of the sale-rooms, the donkey-mart at
Islington, and the export and import trade. In spite
of the imports from Poland, Finland, Holland, and even
America, and the pony trade with the Baltic, our export
of horses enormously exceeds the import in value. A
three years' total gives 2,532,000 of exports, as against
804,000 of imports, and the quality and price of
English horses rise steadily. The imports do not in-
clude those from Ireland, which until recently supplied
the entire Belgian Army with remounts, and at present
largely fill the ranks of London cab-horses. They
fetch on the average about 30 a-piece ; and as a new
hansom-cab costs 100, the hirer enjoys the temporary
use of a capital of 130, and the services of the driver.
But the number of cabs steadily decreases, and, from
the horses' point of view, this decline is hardly to be
deplored.
XIV. MENAGERIE ANIMALS
TRAVELLING wild-beast shows are still among the most
popular entertainments in the world, and, contrary to
general opinion, the animals are usually both healthy
and happy in these peripatetic companies. The late
Mr. A. D. Bartlett stated that in his experience animals
of the cat tribe in travelling wild-beast shows far more
often had litters of cubs than those kept in the com-
parative comfort of the Zoological Gardens, and that
they were also more healthy, probably on account of
the change of air and excitement. But though animals
on tour are seldom sick or ' sorry,' experience shows
that they must have periods of rest. This is especially
the case with the elephants, camels, zebras, and other
creatures which not only travel on foot in all weathers
during the greater part of the year, but also take part
in performances, and often have to aid in drawing heavy
caravans. When they arrive at the town where the
show is to be exhibited in the evening, they are stabled
and fed ; but an afternoon performance, and at least
102
MENAGERIE ANIMALS 103
three hours of light, noise, and excitement every
evening, though very much enjoyed by the elephants,
try their nerves and make quiet necessary. Most of
the big wild-beast shows and circuses own a kind of
dockyard and hospital, to which both live stock and
dead stock are brought to ' refit/ This establishment
is the permanent headquarters of the show. Here the
animals which need training are educated by the per-
manent trainer, who, if he is really clever at his work,
can often pass his pupils on to other hands for actual
exhibition in the show. One of these ' repositories ' in
North London is well worth a visit. Round the
central hall runs a wide gallery, full of scenery, fittings,
and appliances for shows past and future. With these
are various deceased animals of note, stuffed, embalmed,
or bottled in spirits of wine, according to size. This seems
customary in foreign menageries. At the wedding of
Pezon the famous French menagerie owner and lion
tamer all the stuffed animals were brought in to
decorate the breakfast salon. In Sanger's repository one
or two skeletons of particular favourites are mounted
for exhibition, more c Jumbo's ' bones. Below are the
reserve of triumphal cars. Others are ' in dock,' being
repainted and regilded. The artists who paint the cars
are usually educated in the service of menageries, and
by the united force of talent and the traditions of the
profession have long been famous for their power of
104 MENAGERIE ANIMALS
painting on the panels the most dreadful roaring, bound-
ing, all-devouring lions which ever caught negroes
under a palm-tree. Below on the ground-floor are
the stalls and stables for the animals in hospital, on
sick-leave, or simply needing rest and quiet. These
quarters are kept in half-darkness, as the dim light suits
animal invalids. The elephants are picketed by the
leg. Other animals zebras, llamas, goats, and camels
are kept in loose-boxes or pens made of high hurdles.
Every morning all the animals on furlough are taken
out for long walks, each being led by a lad or a keeper.
It was when out for one of these constitutionals from
the hospital that Sanger's big elephant ran away
through Islington some years ago, and met with such
remarkable adventures. The old-fashioned ' wild-beast
shows ' like Wombwell's, Maunder's, and others which
delighted the country towns and villages thirty years
ago by simply exhibiting animals in caravans, with a
few elephants and camels to carry visitors, are now
usually merged in circuses, in which the performances
of trained animals have the first place. This demands
a great number of horses and ponies. These have very
hard work in the arena, especially those which are
trained to jump over flights of hurdles. The regularity
with which menagerie horses will ' come to the scratch/
sometimes twice daily, for a long series of gallops, broad
jumps, and high jumps would surprise many owners of
MENAGERIE ANIMALS 105
hunters whose mounts often knock up after very mild
and occasional spells of work. Jumping four to six
hurdles in and out, with two held one above the other
to finish with, was a feat performed by one circus horse
up to the age of sixteen. A week or two in the
repository every six months was all the rest he required
even at the end of his career. The number of animals
travelling in a single troop without accident or sickness
is surprising.
During a recent summer one hundred and sixty-three
horses, with six elephants, several camels, ostriches, and
emus, in Sanger's menagerie, travelled almost daily
through the South - Midland and Southern counties,
often spending the night, and giving an exhibition
at by no means large provincial towns with considerable
financial success. In one week they travelled by road
menageries do not patronize railways from Newbury,
along the Kennett Valley, to Reading ; thence up the
Thames Valley to Windsor, Staines, Kingston, and
Epsom. At each place they gave two performances,
in the morning and evening, besides making the
journey. All the scenery, vans, and material of a
huge tent, large enough to hold ten thousand people,
were packed and transported, the draught-power being
furnished by the animals attached to the show. For
six weeks this show was certified to have earned an
average of one thousand pounds a week, during which
io6 MENAGERIE ANIMALS
time it visited thirty-four different towns ! If variety
and change of scene are good for the animals' constitu-
tions, they must have been in rude health at the end of
this period. Most of the marching is done in the early
morning. The elephants, camels, and other beasts of
draught are taken, if possible, to a stream to drink ;
and nothing could well be more strangely in contrast
to its surroundings than the group of camels and
elephants drinking from a wayside stream, the former
browsing on the hawthorn branches full of May
blossom. With the rise of the circus element in
menageries has come an additional demand for the
' taming ' and training of wild and domestic animals.
The trainer is not always the performer. There is no
better proof of his success than when someone else can
enter the cage and take his place, as when Madame
Baptistine Pezon, when her husband fell ill, put on the
costume he used in performances, and put the lions
through their tricks. The demeanour of the animals
themselves, when lions, tigers, or leopards perform,
is often evidence of the method, whether cruel or kind,
employed first in taming and later in teaching them.
A correspondent of the Globe, recounting the history
of the famous dompteur, states that lions are often
tamed, like hawks, by deprivation of sleep, accom-
panied by plentiful feeding. It is very doubtful
whether English trainers are cruel to animals. Mr.
MENAGERIE ANIMALS 107
Sanger makes the following ingenuous defence of
his profession. <I have trained everything in the
business/ he writes, ' from the child to the elephant,
and I would like to deny the slanderous things that
have been written by inexperienced people, and to
correct the idea of the ignorant, that everything be-
longing to circus life must be carried on by the arm of
terror and cruelty. There may be isolated cases ; but
the people of my profession, I am proud to say, have
the feelings of fathers and mothers. With regard to
the training of children, the care and interest bestowed
in the teaching of arduous tricks are really an education
and the perfection of humanity ; and with regard to the
training of horses, a bit of sugar or a carrot is far more
1 efficacious and more often used than the whip.' But
horses are not wild beasts ; and Pezon admitted that
he never dared to take his eyes off those of his lions
until he contrived to have some highly-charged electric
wires between them and him. White bears are almost
too dangerous to train at all. Some appeared in
Hagenbeck's last sale catalogue ; but even Pezon
was nearly killed by one, and retired from training
after the accident. His colleagues in the business
claimed that sangfroid and courage were the main
qualities in the success of the domfteur^ and that the
animals felt first surprise, then astonishment, and lastly
fear of the man who did not fear them. But the
io8 MENAGERIE ANIMALS
highest class of * lion-tamers ' have qualities other than
mere courage, part being, no doubt, an almost magnetic
intuition of the working of the creature's mind, and the
power of conveying impressions to the animal and
engendering confidence. The old Irishman known as
* The Whisperer ' was the classic instance of this kind
of real tamer of savage animals. Pezon himself
possessed it in a high degree, for he began his
reputation as a pacifier of vicious horses and savage
bulls in the village of Lozere.
XV. ANIMALS IN FAMINE
THE rains that announce the close of an Indian famine
bring relief to animals before they lighten human
sufferings. The green-stuff springs up and gives
food for the cattle long before the grain can ripen and
provide a meal for the peasant. But the animals have
time to recover their strength and be ready to do their
work in preparing the ground for the next crop, and
the actual loss of life among the beasts of the field is
arrested. This is said to have been less in the last
famine than in many which have affected much smaller
areas. The total failure of the grain crops was due to
absence of rain at a definite point of time when it was
necessary to its germination. But there was not such
a protracted and general drought as to bring on the
whole animal population a famine in the form which
causes most suffering to it.
In their wild state most animals live under the
incubus of two sources of terror death by violence
from their natural foe or foes, and death by famine.
109
1 1 o ANIMALS IN FAMINE
The greater number are never far removed from the
latter possibility ; it is the inevitable sequence of dis-
ablement, weakness, or old age, and if not cut off by
pestilence, violence or fatal accident, they have all to
face this grim spectre in the closing scene. Yet in
most cases dread of the latter is not present to their
consciousness in the form of apprehension only as
shadowed out by actual reminder caused by scarcity of
food at a particular time, or a total failure, which drives
them to wander. But the fear of the * natural enemy '
is always vivid and oppressive, and alters the whole
course of their everyday life. The deer on certain of
the Highland mountains, exposed in any hard winter
to almost inevitable famine, do not profit by experience
of famine. Experience of danger from man makes
them the most wary of animals ; they sleep with waking
senses, feed by night, are constantly under the influence
of this besetting terror, and take every measure which
experience suggests to guard against the enemy. Ex-
perience of famine leaves them no wiser than before.
They do not abandon the spots in which they suffered
in previous years until they actually feel the pinch of
hunger, and they return to the same inhospitable ground
when the scarcity has passed. Yet when confronted by
the two terrors, hunger and man, they are simply
insensible to the fear of the latter, usually so dominant.
Starvation looms larger than any terror from living
ANIMALS IN FAMINE 1 1 1
foes, and they invade the rickyards, and almost enter
the dwellings, of their only hereditary enemy. Recent
accounts of the behaviour of four thousand starving
elk in the northern territory of the United States
correspond exactly with those of the Highland deer
in the hard winter of 1893. They approached the
buildings for food, and could hardly be driven from the
stacks of hay. Yet only one herbivorous animal out of
all the multitude of species has ever thought of making
a store of hay against a time of famine, and this is one
of the most insignificant of all, the pika, or calling hare
of the Russian steppes. There would be nothing very
extraordinary in the fact if social animals, such as deer,
cattle, or antelopes, did gather quantities of long
herbage, like the tall grasses of Central Africa or of
the Indian swamps, and accumulate it for the benefit of
the herd, and combine to protect it from other herds,
or if they reserved certain portions of the longer herbage
for food in winter. The latter would perhaps demand
a greater range of concepts than the former. But the
brain-power of the improvident deer must be equal to
that of the squirrel or field-mouse, which seldom forget
to lay aside a c famine fund/ In temperate climates,
prolonged frost or snow is the only frequent cause of
famine among either beasts or birds. This cause is
not constant, season by season, but it occurs often
enough in the lifetime of most individuals of the
1 1 2 ANIMALS IN FAMINE
different species to impress their memory by suffering.
In the plains of India, and even more regularly in the
plains of Africa, the summer heats cause partial famine
to all herbivorous animals, and this condition is recurring
and constant. Brehm has described the cumulative
suffering of the animal world of the ' African steppe,'
mainly from famine, at the close of this regular period
of summer drought. We cannot suppose that in this
case the terror of starvation is wholly forgotten in the
brief time of plenty. The neglect to form any store,
or to reserve pastures in climates sufficiently temperate
to spare them from being burnt up with summer
heat, suggests the question whether these ' hand-to-
mouth' herbivorous animals rely on any natural re-
serves of food not obvious to us. This is a natural
device, exemplified by the Kaffir, who, when his mealies
fail, lives on roots and grubs, or by the insect and
vegetable-eating rook, which becomes carnivorous in a
drought. To some extent both deer and cattle do rely
on such reserves. When the grass is burnt up, trees
are still luxuriant, and it is to the woods that the
ruminant animals look as a reserve in famine. The
fact was recognised during the siege of Paris, when all
the trees of the boulevards and the parks were felled
late in September that the tens of thousands of cattle
might browse on the young shoots and leaves. It is
this habit of hungry cattle which makes the space
ANIMALS IN FAMINE 1 1 3
under all trees in parks of the same height that to
which cattle can lift their heads to bite the branches.
When the wood or forest has been enclosed previously,
the whole of this stock of food, reaching down to the
ground, instead of to the ' cattle line,' is at their service.
Sir Dietrich Brandis, lately chief of the Forest Depart-
ment of the Indian Empire, makes special mention of
the part played by this ' reserve ' in the economy of
animal famines in India. During the years of drought
and famine in 1867 and 1868, the cattle (of all the in-
habitants) were allowed to graze in the Rajah's preserves
at Rupnagar. The branches of the trees were cut for
fodder. The same was done in Kishangarh, and a large
proportion of the cattle of these two places were pre-
served during those terrible years.
But there are regions, like the African steppe, where
the summer famines among animals are more frequent
than in India, and where there is little forest available
as a reserve store of food. Certain animals * trek ' for
great distances to escape from the famine area. Birds
leave it entirely. But the greater number of the quad-
rupeds stay and take their chance, the stronger of
hunger, the weak of famine and death.
If we examine the stores made by most of the
vegetable-eating animals which do lay by a famine
fund/ we find a rather curious similarity in the food
commonly used by them. They nearly all live on
1 14 ANIMALS IN FAMINE
vegetable substances in a concentrated form natural
food-lozenges, which are very easily stored away.
There is a great difference, for example, between the
bulk of nutriment eaten in the form of grass by a
rabbit, and the same amount of sustenance in the
' special preparation ' in the kernel of a nut, or the
stone of a peach, or the bulb of a crocus, off which a
squirrel makes a meal. Nearly all the storing animals
eat ' concentrated food/ whether it be beans and grain,
hoarded by the hamster, or nuts and hard fruits, by the
squirrel, nuthatch, and possibly some of the jays. But
there is one vegetable-eating animal whose food is
neither concentrated nor easy to move. On the con-
trary, it is obtained with great labour in the first
instance, and stored with no less toil after it is pro-
cured. The beaver lives during the winter on the bark
of trees. As it is not safe, and often impossible, for
the animal to leave the water when the ice has formed,
it stores these branches under water, cutting them into
lengths, dragging them below the surface, and fixing
them down to the bottom with stones and mud. This
is more difficult work than gathering hay.
Birds, in spite of their powers of locomotion, suffer
greatly from famine. Many species which could leave
the famine area seem either deficient in the instinct to
move, or unwilling to do so. Rooks, for instance,
which are now known to migrate across the Channel
ANIMALS IN FAMINE i , 5
and the North Sea, will hang about the same parish in
bad droughts and suffer acutely, though they might
easily move to places where water, if not food, is
abundant. The frost famines mainly affect the insect-
eating birds ; and as these live on animal food, which
would not keep, they could not be expected to make a
store. But there is no such difference of possible food
between birds which do make stores and birds which do
not. Why, for instance, should the nuthatch and the
Mexican woodpecker lay by for hard times while the
rook does not?
Domestic animals in this country are very properly
guaranteed by recent legislation against being left to
starve by their owners. It is not often that the owner
of any domesticated animal is so careless of his own
interests as to neglect to provide food when the creature
is capable of work, or so inhuman if it is not. But
instances do occur to the contrary. The law does
recognise an implied right on the part of the animal to
this exemption from the great curse of animal exist-
ence, if man has exacted from it a previous tribute in
the form of work. But there is a borderland of animal
domestication in which this implicit duty of man to
beast is seriously neglected, partly because the work
done by the animal is less obvious, though it is kept
for the profit of man. There are great areas of
new country in Argentina, the United States, and
82
1 1 6 ANIMALS IN FAMINE
Australia where the raising of stock, whether sheep,
cattle, or horses, is carried on without much regard to
the limits set by famine in years of frost or drought.
The creatures are multiplied without regard to famine
periods, and no reserve of food is kept to meet these.
Natural laws are left to work in bad times, and this
1 natural law ' is death by famine. Consequently, at
times we hear of multitudes of starving horses on the
ranches of Oregon ; and in Australia during a drought,
or in Argentina after protracted drought or cold, sheep
and cattle die by tens of thousands by the most linger-
ing of deaths. There is something amiss here in the
relations between man and beast which cannot be
justified even on * business ' grounds.
XVI. PLAGUE-STRUCK ANIMALS
EVIDENCE of the intensity and virulence of the late
plague in Bombay is given by the curious accounts
telegraphed to this country of the deaths of animals
from the pestilence. At one period it was reported
that the pigeons were dying of plague. Later the rats
were said to have been plague-stricken, and to be dying
in thousands in the native town, and there was strong
evidence that they not only suffered from plague, but
spread the infection.
If those who were fighting the plague had time to
attend to anything but the work of saving human life,
we may expect more curious information on this point ;
for there is evidence that when the plague was at its
very worst in Florence, causing the death of sixty
thousand persons, the pestilence acquired some kind of
cumulative energy by which it went on from man to
animals, and at last involved the latter in common
destruction with their masters. As it advanced, * not
only men but animals fell sick and shortly expired, if
117
1 18 PLA G UE-STR UCK ANIMALS
they had touched things belonging to the diseased or
dead.' Boccaccio himself saw two hogs on the rags of
a person who had died of plague, after staggering about
for a short time, fall down dead as if they had taken
poison. In the ' Lives of the Roman Pontiffs ' it is
stated that in other places multitudes of cats, dogs,
fowls and other animals fell victims to the contagion.
There is little doubt that this concurrence of human
and animal death took place in other countries than
Italy, though the chroniclers, appalled by the loss of
human life, only allude to l murrain ' among the cattle
as a concomitant of the plague. 'At the commence-
ment of the Black Death there was in England/ says
Keeker, 5 * 'an abundance of all the necessaries of life;
but the plague, which seemed then to be the sole
disease, was soon accompanied by a fatal murrain
among the cattle. Wandering about without herds-
men, they fell by thousands.' It is not known whether
this murrain was due to plague itself or to some special
animal epidemic. But it did not break out until after
the plague was rife, and added enormously to the loss
of life, because it was impossible to remove the corn
from the fields, this causing everywhere a great rise in
the price of food, although the harvest had been
plentiful. Whether it affected wild beasts as well as
domesticated animals does not appear ; but in only
* ' Epidemics of the Middle Ages.'
PL A G UE-STR UCK ANIMALS 1 1 9
one instance do we hear of an increase in their numbers,
such as might naturally be expected to follow the
destruction of human life. After a plague epidemic in
France in 1503, the house-dogs became wild, and later,
communal hunts were organized to rid the country of
these new beasts of prey, and of the wolves, which
appeared in great packs.
It is not known whether the animals of Florence,
like those of Bombay, were really suffering from plague.
But there is good reason to believe that their deaths
were connected by something more than coincidence of
time with the plague epidemic. What the old physicians
called ' general morbific conditions ' that change of
atmosphere and temperature which seems to summon
pestilence full-grown from the very ground in certain
parts of the East apparently prepared animal constitu-
tions to receive the human disease. A month before
the cholera became rife in Hamburg, sixty per cent, of
Carl Hagenbeck's animals suffered from choleraic
symptoms ; and he diagnosed the disease, checked it
by boiling the water, and notified the authorities of
what had happened. The curious exactness with which
Homer noted that in the plague before Troy, mules
and dogs were attacked before the soldiers, has often
been quoted as internal evidence of the truth of the
' Iliad/ Influenza, which was very fatal among animals,
sometimes attacked them before it was felt by men, as
120 PLAGUE-STRUCK ANIMALS
in New York, where it first appeared among the
horses. In London, horses, cats, dogs, pigeons, parrots
and penguins died of influenza. In the year 1800,
when yellow fever reached Cadiz and Seville, dogs took
the disease more freely than other animals ; but cats,
horses, poultry and cage-birds also died. The symptoms
in the case of the dogs and cats resembled those in man.
The animals were not attacked until the deaths among
men numbered two hundred a day. In 1830, when
the cattle, fowls and geese of South Russia died of
cholera, the appearance of the disease was also sub-
sequent to its development among human beings.
Animal epidemics taking place simultaneously with
human pestilence are immensely aggravated by the
impossibility of separating infected and non-infected
cattle. The herdsmen die, and the flocks and herds
run wild. But this does not account for the deadly
character of animal epidemics in general, or for the
little resistance offered by animal constitutions to such
diseases. Human beings are usually prepared by long
unwholesome living. Compare the account of the
Bombay native house dark, with the floor soaked
with dirt, and the free water left always dripping from
the tap by the inmates and Erasmus's description of the
floor of an English cottage, ' made of nothing but loam,
and strewed with rushes, which being constantly put on
fresh, without a removal of the old, remain lying there,
PL A G UE-STR UCK ANIMALS 1 2 1
in some cases twenty years, with fish-bones, broken
victuals, and other filth/ and impregnated with liquid
nastiness. But though chicken-cholera and other
epidemics of poultry are mainly due to unwholesome
surroundings, the life of most domestic animals, especi-
ally cattle, and of all wild animals, such as antelopes
and the wild bovines, is exceptionally healthy. Except
in famine years, there is no predisposing cause to make
them succumb to pestilence as they do. Even when un-
tended, so that the separation of infected animals is im-
possible, or when wild, such cattle or deer separate them-
selves by instinct from the herd and remain alone. Isola-
tion is voluntary. What should prove another great
factor in protecting animal life in epidemics is the absence
of those nervous terrors which always predispose human
beings to infection, and often cause death itself by the
mere horror of anticipation. Fear, contrition, religious
mania, despondency, grief, despair, drink and delirium,
and the break-up of the normal social order, swelled
the list of human deaths in the epidemics of the Middle
Ages, and some of these factors aggravate the incidence
of every great plague among mankind. It is not so
with animals. Their naturally healthy frames are
impaired by no nervous terrors or morbid mental affec-
tions in the presence of disease. Though some of the
more intelligent are distressed at the deaths of their
masters, they exhibit great indifference to wholesale
1 2 2 PL A G UE-STR UCK ANIMALS
mortality among their own species. Yet with every
chance in their favour they succumb to pestilence in a
manner quite unaccountable. The statistics of the
rinderpest epidemic in South Africa will probably never
be forthcoming. Its general results, so far as Matabele-
land is concerned, are well known. They indicate the
total destruction, so far as transport and food are
concerned, of the domestic cattle of the country. With
them, over large areas, the antelopes and other ruminants
have perished. The reason of this great mortality has
never been explained, though the main source of infec-
tion at least, in countries where cattle or game run
wild, is obvious. It is at the drinking-places that all
animals, infected or sound, necessarily meet, however
much the former may desire to wander away in solitude.
This was proved in part during the cattle-plague in this
country, where certain farms in which the herds were
watered from protected wells, and never allowed to
drink from the streams, continued free from the disease.
As a set-off to the rapid mortality of animals in
plagues, the rate of their subsequent recovery in
numbers must be taken into account. The subject
now most anxiously debated in South Africa is the
time which must elapse before the herds of cattle are
replenished. The time will probably be less than the
most sanguine could anticipate. Destructive as they
are at the time, plagues leave no such far-reaching
PLAGUE-STRUCK ANIMALS 123
results among animals as among men. It is in the
period subsequent to pestilence that the simplicity of
their lives gains by contrast. They have no social life
to be disorganized, no nexus of trade to be broken, no
famine to fear from untilled fields, no general weaken-
ing of the race from inherited weakness and nervous
disorders transmitted for generations from parents who
never fully recovered the ' plague terror/ The mental
shock transmitted by the Black Death produced
nervous disorders for two centuries the dancing mania
from Norway to Abyssinia, convulsions, hysteria, de-
lusions of all sorts, aggravated by famine and poverty,
the direct results of the plague. For animals, on the
contrary, there are no nervous sequel* to an epidemic.
The race is improved rather than impaired, for the
aged, the weak, and the unfit are dead, and only the
strong parents survive. The increase in fecundity an
increase noted even among the surviving European
population after the Black Death is very great, and in
place of being checked by famine due to untilled fields,
is fostered by the surplus of natural food for a reduced
number of mouths.
XVII. THE ANIMAL ' CHAPTER OF
ACCIDENTS '
THE midnight passages of great flocks of birds over
large cities which from time to time have attracted the
attention of naturalists usually leave no trace of the
visits of the fowl, which vanish as soon as the dawn
appears. Though the calls of the birds and the sound
of their wings may indicate that vast numbers and
various species, such as herons, gulls, plovers, crows,
terns, ducks, geese, and small birds, have hovered for
hours over cities, as has been noted both at Norwich
and Leicester on a ' migration night/ with the dawn of
day the spell is broken, and the flocks resume their
journey without leaving a single bird behind. The
Manchester papers record a curious mishap which befell
some large bird recently, probably while making one of
these midnight flights. The Manchester Town Hall is
surmounted by a spiked ball ; and on one of the spikes
of this finial, at a height of nearly three hundred feet,
a bird, said by some to be an eagle, and identified by
124
THE ANIMAL ' CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS' 125
others as a heron, was seen to be firmly impaled. An
enterprising owner of a big telescope fixed it up to
oblige those of his customers who wished to discover
what species of fowl met with this curious death, one
which is, we believe, unparalleled in the animal ' chapter
of accidents.'
If the * bills of mortality ' in the animal world could
be made out with precision, and the causes ascertained,
accidents would, we think, account for a much smaller
number of deaths than might be expected, or, indeed,
desired, if the accidents were immediately fatal ; for
such sudden death would save them from that grim
spectre of lingering starvation which lurks in the
background of the life of most of the higher animals.
But accidental death, or death hastened by injuries due
to accidents, is not very common among wild animals,
while domesticated species, though much more liable to
injure themselves, have the enormous privilege of ' first
aid to the wounded ' accorded them by man.
Birds are naturally the least liable to accidents of any
living creatures.* This immunity they owe almost
entirely to the fact that the air in which most of their
movements take place is absolutely free from obstacles
to flight at a height of four hundred feet above the
* But after the recent hurricane in the West Indies it was found
that every bird and almost every insect was dead. The islands
were absolutely silent, as the hum of insect and bird life had
ceased entirely.
126 THE ANIMAL ' CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS'
ground. The only objects against which collision is
possible are other birds ; and this possibility is reduced
to a minimum because they are not limited to any one
plane, or even to one deep ' layer/ of the air for flight.
Compared with the case of the terrestrial animals, all
moving on the single level of the land surface, just as
ships move on the one plane of the sea surface, the
birds ought not to be liable to collision at all ; and it is
their theoretical freedom from this danger which makes
the high rate of bird-speed possible, a speed denied to
other animals, if for no other reason, because, moving
as they do on a single plane, they would be as liable to
disabling collision as autocars running at express speed
on Southsea Common. The sole risk of collision is
when flocks are travelling together. As the direction
is then usually the same, and the birds take most careful
precautions to avoid danger by maintaining regular
distance, an even speed, and often a kind of military
order, such mishaps are rare. They chiefly occur when
birds which * get up steam ' at once are rising from the
ground. Partridges and grouse are most commonly
liable to this accident, and instances are recorded every
season ; but even small birds are occasionally * in
collision/ the most unusual instance recently noted
being that of a pair of greenfinches, one of which flew
against the other and broke a wing. The windows of
lighthouses and telegraph-wires, though causing very
THE ANIMAL ' CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS' 127
numerous accidents to birds, should properly be regarded
as unintended traps. They are as much ' fixed engines '
for bird-killing as nets or snares, for the creatures are
dazzled by the former, and at night are quite unable to
see the latter. The only other accident common to
birds is confined to some species of water-fowl, espe-
cially moorhens and dabchicks. These are commonly
killed by ice, both by diving under it when newly
formed and rising to the surface where clear ice covers
it, or by being frozen in by their feet. This, which
sounds improbable, is a very common mishap, especially
to moorhens, whose large feet are with difficulty with-
drawn when pinched by the ice.
Among wild quadrupeds, only the ruminants with
large horns and long limbs seem commonly liable to
accidents. Cases of stags dying with interlocked antlers
are recorded from time to time, and Buckland gives
an account of a curious accident which befell a big
stag in Windsor Forest. The poor beast had been
standing on its hind-legs to nibble leaves from a thorn-
tree, and caught its hoof in a fork in the trunk. This
threw it on its back and broke the bone. Though red-
deer are in this country mainly found wild on moun-
tainous ground, we much doubt if they are really
a mountain species, or specially clever on rocky ground.
Mr. J. G. Millais mentions one pass where the bones
of deer that have missed their footing and fallen down
128 THE ANIMAL ' CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS'
the crags may frequently be seen. Broken limbs are
very common, even among park stags, generally due to
fights in the rutting time. This must usually lead to
the death of deer in all districts where large carnivora
are found ; but the astonishing way in which broken
bones, or even worse injuries received by wild animals,
cure themselves if the creature is let alone, shows that
the most serious accidents need not lead to death, even
if left to nature. The most striking of recent instances
is the case of a doe antelope at Leonardslee, which
smashed its hind-leg high up, and so badly that the
bone protruded. It would have been shot, but it was
observed to be feeding as if not in pain. It survived
the winter, and was seen to swing the injured leg
forward to scratch its ear before the bone set. The
fracture reduced itself, and the cut skin grew over the
place, leaving a scar. Later, though lame, it was
perfectly well, and reared a young one. A tiger,
recently killed in the hot weather, had a bullet-wound
a week old which had smashed its shoulder. This
wound, though a very bad one, was perfectly healthy,
and there was evidence that since it was inflicted the
tiger had eaten no flesh, but only drunk water. In the
Waterloo Cup coursing in 1886, Miss Glendyne and
the ' runner-up ' for the cup were slipped at a hare
which went wild and strong. When killed after a
good course by the two crack greyhounds, it was found
THE ANIMAL ' CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS' 129
to have only three feet. This may be compared with
the accounts of a collie-dog, recently quoted in the
papers, which had one fore-foot and one hind-foot cut
off by a reaping-machine, but which still manages to
help with the flock. Dogs, which ought to be little
liable to accidents, are very frequent sufferers, largely
from their association with man and intense desire to
participate in all his doings. One of their commonest
mishaps arises from their love of riding in carts. They
become quite clever at scrambling or jumping in, but
are not ' built ' for jumping down on to a hard road.
If the cart moves as they make their spring the danger
is increased, and fore-legs broken, usually just below
the shoulder, are very commonly seen. Dogs also have
dangerous falls when on the ground, accidents usually
ascribed only to bipeds and horses. A greyhound
going at full speed will trip, fly head over heels, and
break a leg, or even its neck. Master Magrath in
1870 went through the rotten ice of the river Alt, from
which Altcar takes its name, while following the hare,
and nearly died from the effects. But the strangest
mishap which the writer has ever seen fall to the lot of
a dog was the case of a setter which ' tripped ' over a
sitting hare. The dog, a large, heavy animal, was
ranging at high speed in a field of thinly-planted
mangold. As it passed between the rows its hind-feet
struck something, and it nearly turned a somersault.
9
130 THE ANIMAL l CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS'
The object was a squatting hare, which, as the dog
flew over in one direction, quietly scuttled off in the
other. It is difficult to find a reason for the liability
even of ' heather sheep,' as well as of the more domestic
varieties, to death by falls over clifls, and even by being
thrown and unable to rise. They seem to have lost
more of their inherited capacity for mountaineering
than could be expected from the slight structural
changes caused in the wild sheep by domestication. We
do not recollect a single recorded instance of accident
from falls in the case of the wild varieties of sheep,
though the domestic breeds seem to have been liable
to these and other accidents from the days of the ' ram
caught by the horns' on the mountain in the land of
Moriah.
XV1IL THIRSTY ANIMALS
AMONG the questions asked in relation to the diffi-
culties of the latest Indian Frontier War was the reason
why the difficulty of obtaining water blocked our
advance, but did not hamper the hillmen. The answer
is that our troops had in one camp upwards of twenty-
five thousand baggage animals. There were oxen,
mules, donkeys, and camels. The former are always
thirsty creatures, and even the camels are credited with
vastly larger powers of sustaining thirst than they
possess. Major A. G. Leonard, after seventeen years'
experience as a transport officer, is convinced that
camels should, if possible, be watered every day, that
they cannot be trained to do without water, and that,
though they can retain one and a half gallons of water
in the cells of the stomach, four or five days' abstinence
is as much as they can stand, in heat and with dry food,
without permanent injury.
It is very doubtful whether the majority of the
various ' desert animals ' willingly go without water,
'3i 9 2
132 THIRSTY ANIMALS
or, in fact, do so at all to any great extent. They
drink sparingly, and can probably, by habit and practice,
go for longer periods without drinking than species
living in well-watered districts. But the absence of
any special provision for the internal storing of water,
except in the camels and some tortoises, seems to
indicate that this power of temporary abstinence is
only an acquired capacity. Nor is it often possible to
be certain that stores of water do not exist in ' deserts '
stores perfectly well known to the animals, though not
to travellers. This is especially the case in rocky
deserts such as the Bayuda Desert, and that between
Suakin and Berber. Some of the correspondents of the
London daily papers who recently made the journey
from the advanced posts on the Nile to Suakin noted
as remarkable that, though they were in a desert, and
making forced marches from want of water, which,
when found, was as black as ink and almost undrink-
able, hares and gazelles swarmed. This is an almost
certain sign that this desert is not waterless. Count
Gleichen, when recrossing the Bayuda Desert from
Metemmeh, found real cisterns of water in one place
away from the ordinary track. A typical desert-bird,
which, like the gazelles, jerboas, and sand-lizards, has
even taken its colour from its environment, is the sand-
grouse. Yet Mr. Bryden states that the daily flight
of the sand-grouse, a species of exceedingly swift and
THIRSTY ANIMALS 133
swallow-like flight, to the water is one of the sights of
the veldt in the dry season. ' Their machine-like
punctuality, and the wonderful displays afforded by
their enormous flights at the desert-pools/ form the
subject of one of Mr. Bryden's chapters in his recent
work on South Africa. ' The watering process is gone
through with perfect order and without over-crowding.
From eight o'clock to close on ten this wonderful flight
continued ; as birds drank and departed, others were
constantly arriving to take their places. I should judge
that the average time spent by each bird at and around
the water was half an hour. 7 A curious instance or
animal knowledge of the presence of water in un-
suspected places had a practical result in Holland.
The question of a supply of good water for the Hague
was under discussion at the time when the North Sea
Canal was being constructed. One of those present
remarked that there was water in the sand-hills ; that
the hares, rabbits, and partridges which swarm in the
sand-hills did not come to the wet ' polders ' to drink,
but knew of some supply in the ' dunes ' themselves,
and that he could name one or two places where he
had seen water. This idea was laughed at ; but one of
the local engineers present took the hint. The dunes
were carefully explored, and the result was the cutting
of a long reservoir in the centre of the sand-hills, which
fills with water naturally, and supplies the town.
134 THIRSTY ANIMALS
It is believed that rabbits can exist in this climate
without a permanent water-supply. Where they are
kept in enclosed warrens without water this must be
accepted as a fact. The writer has only seen one such
warren, and in this there are always plenty of drinking-
troughs for the young pheasants in summer, though in
winter the rabbits can only find rain-water and dew.
Those in this warren are very poor and small. Tame
rabbits are commonly kept without water, but they
may be seen licking the bars of their hutch after a
shower, and drink eagerly when they have the chance.
Most other rodents, including rats, are thirsty creatures.
The only animals living in very dry places which seem
able to do entirely without drink are snakes and reptiles.
In the cold desert of shifting sand in Kashgar there
are no reptiles, and not even a fly. But the Afghan
Boundary Commission found swarms of lizards and a
new and venomous species of adder in astonishing
numbers in the awful desert of hot shifting sand at
the corner where Persia, Baluchistan, and Afghanistan
meet. We must note one exception, the giraffe, which,
Mr. Bryden believes, exists for three-quarters of the
year in the North Kalahari without water. But this
cannot be proved until the desert has been explored,
and the total absence of water confirmed. There is
known to be water beneath the surface ; and if the
giraffe does live waterless, he must imbibe his liquid
THIRSTY ANIMALS 1 35
nutriment at second-hand in the juices of the leaves of
the trees which have their roots in the moisture. Seals,
apparently, do not drink, neither do cormorants and
penguins ; but there can be little more evaporation
from their bodies than from those of fish, and their
food is wet and moist. A more difficult question is
that of the water-supply of Arctic animals in winter
possibly they eat snow. There is abundant evidence
that, though many animals can exist without water for
long periods, this abstinence is not voluntary, and when
unduly protracted causes suffering and loss of health.
The whole cat tribe are proverbially ' tough/ and can
not only recover from frightful bodily injuries, but
endure hunger and thirst longer than most animals.
Instances of cats lost or stuck fast in hollow walls,
where, in addition to deprivation of food, they have
been cut off from water for periods of a fortnight or
more, are not uncommon, yet the cats have soon re-
covered ; but it would be absolutely wrong to conclude
that the animal did not suffer during its imprisonment,
and the height of cruelty to compel it to face such
deprivation. The normal habits of animals are a
certain guide to their physical requirements, and the
fondness of cats for water otherwise than for outside
application ought to be matter of common knowledge.
From the tiger, who regularly goes off for a ' long
drink ' after a kill, and commonly bathes in hot
136 THIRSTY ANIMALS
weather, to the household pussy, they all drink water
regularly, the latter two or three times a day. The
writer has often watched from the high-level railways
the London cats belonging to the small tenements
taking their mid-day drink of water in hot weather.
They spring from the dividing walls on to the small
water-cisterns, alighting neatly on the space between
the cover of the cistern and the wall, and, leaning over,
lap the water. Many people imagine that cats prefer
milk to quench their thirst, and never provide them
with water-pans. This is a mistake ; the cats, like
the tigers and jaguars, prefer water, and the numerous
cases of cats upsetting and breaking flower-vases on
tables are usually due, not to mischief, but to the cat's
efforts to drink the water in which the flowers are set.
It is noticed that Persian cats are more eager for water
than others. Experience shows that horses must not be
allowed to drink freely before or immediately after hard
riding or driving ; but this, too, is in keeping with their
natural, or perhaps we should say their acquired, habits
when originally wild. If, as is probably the case, the wild
horses lived in the Central Asian steppes, like the kiang,
or Central Asian wild ass, water can never have been
plentiful ; and, like the African antelopes and zebras, the
originals of the species probably drank only once in the
twenty-four hours, going to considerable distances to
obtain water. Another probable survival is the horse's
THIRSTY ANIMALS 1 37
dislike to drinking very cold water. It is commonly
said that horses like pond- water and ' dirty ' water. What
they really like is water with the chill off ; cold spring-
water disagrees with them. Moreover, they are mighty
particular as to the taste of their drinking-water.
Some years ago one of several horses refused to drink
his water, and was at once pronounced to be ' ill.'
This caused inquiry, and it transpired that one of the
children had washed a guinea-fig in this horse's bucket.
The horse would not drink the guinea-pig's bath- water.
In the same way cows, though less select in their choice
of drinking-water than is desirable for those who con-
sume their milk, dislike touching water from tubs from
which a dog has drunk, and will refuse it altogether if
a dog has bathed in it. The Turks always allow their
horses to drink as much as they please, and when they
please, and the Osmanli were always accustomed to
make long journeys on horseback. But the more
intelligent Arabs, than whom no race except the
English has paid more attention to the subject, give
their horses little water- a practice they follow them-
selves. A paste of flour, dates, a little water and
camel's milk, is among many tribes the staple food for
the desert horse. But we may say of him and his master,
' The wilderness and the barren land are his dwelling ;
he scorneth the multitude of the city/ He is a born
' abstainer,' even from excess in water-drinking.
XIX. THE EFFECT OF HEAT ON
ANIMALS
THOUGH * iced beds ' cooled by a warming-pan filled
with ice are now recommended as a means to secure
sleep by night in hot weather, the effect of a rise in
temperature on the comfort of the animal world is
not yet discussed in the newspapers. Yet it is worthy
of remark that the conditions under which wild and
domesticated animals face sudden waves of heat are
very different. Most beasts of burden and draught
animals have to do as much work when the temperature
is above eighty degrees in the shade as in ordinary
weather, and in some cases even more, for heat makes
their masters less willing to walk themselves. In New
York sunstroke is very common among the omnibus
and tram horses. In Bombay an ingenious sun-helmet
has been invented to protect the back of the head and
first vertebra of the neck in horses compelled to work
when the sun is hot. The tram-horses, generally either
* Walers ' or from Central Asia, suffer both from head-
138
THE EFFECT OF HEAT ON ANIMALS 139
ache and sunstroke, and now wear a hat, through which
the ears project. It is fastened under the horse's chin
by strings, and gives him a curiously civilized and
un-Oriental air. In London our omnibus companies
' stand drinks ' to their animals in exceptionally hot
weather. The favourite beverage is oatmeal and water.
The horses know the stages at which this will be sup-
plied, and show the greatest eagerness to get it.
English harness, though excellent for cool weather,
is very trying to horses in the great heat. The
multiplicity of straps and the hot collar form a net-
work of wet, hot lines across the animal's back and
flanks. Soldiers sweating under the pressure of cross-
belts and side-belts on a summer march soon realize the
feelings of the over-harnessed horses, and take the view
that the light American harness, worked with a breast-
plate in place of a collar, is probably far more comfort-
able for the animal. The violent perspiration of some
horses, though it looks uncomfortable, is in all likeli-
hood a relief to them. There is nothing worse for a
horse than to be ' hide-bound,' and the only discomforts
which the opposite symptoms entail are the danger of
sores being caused by harness rubbing on the wet skin,
and the risk of chills, to which horses are equally subject
with human beings in hot weather. One driver of the
writer's acquaintance always maintained that one of his
horses could sweat at pleasure, and did so whenever he
140 THE EFFECT OF HEAT ON ANIMALS
wanted to shirk work. ' He's artful, he's artful,' was
the invariable reply, if the condition of the animal's
coat were pointed out as a reason for moderating the
pace. Nervous exhaustion from heat is probably more
common among horses than is supposed. They suffer
not oniy from the depression of tone caused by the
temperature, but from the worry and excitement in-
duced by flies and insects, which madden the working
horse, with no time or means to rid himself of them
effectually. The network jackets and flaps granted
even to smart carriage-horses in hot weather are a real
benefit to them, and if cows could be provided with
similar but more extensive protection, it is certain that
the yield of milk would be increased by the respite
from constant nervous worry. That it is the flies
which accompany heat, rather than the heat itself,
from which animals suffer when wild, or domesticated
animals when at rest, seems proved by their habits in
the New Forest. There the wild ponies and cattle all
leave the woods in the mid-day heat and congregate in
what are known as ' shades.' But these ' shades ' are
shadowless, being generally some quite open and
elevated spot with no trees near and in the full glare
of the sun. There, however, the tree-haunting flies
and gnats are fewer, and if there is a breeze it can
usually be felt. They prefer to face the heat to enduring
the heat-insects, and more especially the crawling New-
THE EFFECT OF HEAT ON ANIMALS 141
Forest fly. In ordinary meadow -land cattle collect
under trees towards mid-day, and in the afternoon, if it
be possible, gather in the ponds, where they stand so
deep that the lower and most sensitive parts of their
bodies are completely covered by water. They thus
gain coolness and protection from insects at the same
time ; but there are not many field-ponds which are so
large or accessible from the bank that cattle can enjoy
themselves in this way, which, as Gilbert White
remarked, was equally good both for the beasts and
for the fish which gather round to catch the flies.
During the great drought two summers ago horses
became almost aquatic animals where this was possible.
They waded shoulder - deep in the Thames, eating
water-plants and seeking coolness, and, emboldened by
these excursions, even swam the river and invaded the
fields beyond. In the same year a small, deep pond in
a meadow beyond Hanwell, visible from the Great
Western Railway line, was used as a bath by four
horses for the greater part of each day. They stood
in it with the water almost level with their backs, and
presented the appearance of huge river animals of the
tapir kind floating in the pool. It seems clear from
this that they derive the same refreshment from the
application of cold water to the skin which other
perspiring animals do. Humane cab-drivers recognise
this fact by driving their horses as nearly as possible
142 THE EFFECT OF HEAT ON ANIMALS
into the shower from the rear of a watering-cart, and
there is little doubt that an occasional sluicing from a
hose-pipe would probably do much for the health of
the draught-horse in the dog-days. Deer both bathe
and seek a draught in such weather. On one very hot
day lately a red-deer hind took possession of an islet in
Penn Pond in Richmond Park, swimming there and
back, and spending the greater part of the morning in
Robinson Crusoe fashion on the damp islet. Sheep do
not suffer from the highest temperature of the English
climate if shorn and left quiet with plenty of water.
But any driving or travelling causes them the utmost
distress at such times, and a careful shepherd prefers to
make the common and daily change of pasture early in
the morning or late in the evening. Dogs do not often
die of sunstroke, but if made to work in great heat have
violent fits and foaming at the mouth. Spaniels, if
used for rabbiting in September, are very liable to these
fits, and are cured by pouring cold water on the head
and back of the neck. * Mad dog !' is the silly cry
usually raised on these occasions, though there is not
the least cause for alarm, as the flow of saliva is quite
harmless. When lying about the house at their ease
individual dogs seem to take different views of the
effects of hot weather. Most seek some cool material
to lie on tiles or grass for choice, rather than rugs or
mats. They also lie on their sides with their legs
THE EFFECT OF HEAT ON ANIMALS 143
extended, to admit the air to as much of the skin as
possible, instead of lying curled up to exclude air, as
in winter. Some seek a draughty passage, or lie at an
open window, and nearly all revel in a bathe. Curiously
enough, however much a dog enjoys a swim in hot
weather, it scarcely ever goes off of its own accord
away from the house to take one. The writer once
owned a setter which would do this. But as a rule,
though they know where the water is, and will in dry
localities run away half a mile when out for a walk in
order to take a dip, they do not leave the house by
themselves to have a bathe. Cats never bathe,* though
tigers do so regularly in the Indian heats, and will sit
for a long time up to their necks in water. But the
cat seems to rejoice in any degree of heat, and to be
willing'to sit in a cucumber-frame or a greenhouse, or
on a lead roof, on the hottest days of the year. On the
other hand, they become very thirsty in such weather,
and need water. Mr. Hagenbeck, the owner of the
Thier Park at Hamburg, has found that his Polar
bears actually enjoy the hottest sun of midsummer, and
lie out exposed to its rays when other animals are
distressed by the heat. On the hottest day which he
remembers to have felt in Hamburg he went round the
gardens at mid-day to see if the animals needed any
* A correspondent writes to say that he had a cat which did
this ; but I leave the words as above.
144 THE EFFECT OF HEAT ON ANIMALS
special treatment. Cases of human sunstroke had been
dropping in at the hospitals all the morning, and he
was not surprised to find both a tiger and a leopard in
a fit, and almost insensible. But the polar bear had
left its inner cage, and stretched itself flat on the hot
stones, where it could enjoy to the full the excessive
heat of the North German midsummer.
All birds seem to enjoy the heat, provided that they
can obtain water, which in this country is never wanting
except on the chalk downs when the ponds dry up.
There the rooks wait till dusk round the troughs from
which the sheep are watered, evidently suffering acutely
from thirst. But pigeons will seek out the hottest
slopes and angles of the roofs ; and common roadside
birds, such as the yellow-hammers and pipits, sit out
in the sun all day. Most of the insect-eating birds,
except the fly-catchers, retire to the trees and bushes,
and both chickens and partridges purposely seek shade.
The former, if no other cover is available, will lie in
the shadow of a wall, creeping close up to it as the
line of shade narrows towards mid-day. Partridges
either lie under the hedges or move into the turnip-
fields when, as in hot September weather, the leaves
are broad enough to cover them. But our wild birds
never suffer from heat like those of Australia, where
the parrots and lories have been seen to drop down
dead when forced to fly across the open ground in a
summer drought.
n
XX. ANIMALS IN THE DARK
WHEN a thick fog descends on London, it often
stops like a blanket just above the summit of the
ordinary buildings, though the tops of the towers and
great hotels are covered with darkness. All the pigeons
and sea-gulls, which are sitting on the towers and
pediments, or soaring over the river, hasten to descend
into the light ; and while the former settle on the lower
ledges and cornices, the latter skim over the Thames
below the fog-belt, where they can see the world around
them.
Thick fog bewilders all animals ; and in real darkness
that is, in total absence of light they are no more able
to see than man. In the ' Mammoth Caves ; they lost
their eyes, as they do in the deep seas ; and even in the
catacombs below Paris there are signs that some such
change would in time take place. But the power of
sight in what we term ' the dark ' is the rule, and not
the exception, among the great majority of animals.
The list of those which are either unable to find their
'45 10
146 ANIMALS IN THE DARK
way, or feed, or move freely by night, is a short one ;
and its chief interest lies in the difficulty of accounting
for their dependence upon sunlight, while to other and
nearly allied creatures night is as clear as day.
Among wild birds, other than those which feed by
night, all the hawks, pheasants, finches and buntings
are almost helpless in the dark, sleep heavily, and are
easily caught. Why, then, are the wood-pigeon, the
rook, and most of the small warblers perfectly alert
when once awakened at night, and able to fly through
woods and cover as easily as by day? Pheasants may
almost be picked off a tree by night, and are so helpless
that if they are driven down they often cannot see to
fly up again; sparrows and finches cannot see a bat-
fowling net, and trained hawks are quite helpless, and
have even been killed in the dark by rats, which the
hawks would eat themselves by day. Tame pigeons
are also helpless in the dark, or are so sleepy that they
do not know what they are doing. On the other hand,
wood-pigeons disturbed at night will dart off through
boughs and branches without hesitation or accident.
Common fowls are perfectly helpless at night, while
guinea-fowls are as quick-sighted as a plover.
Among wild quadrupeds it is difficult to name one
which cannot see in the dark. From the elephant to
the hare they seem equally alert by night; and even
the prairie-dogs, in spite of their anxiety to be in bed
ANIMALS IN THE DARK 147
by dark, are most alert if they are turned out of bed
into a dark room.
There is evidence that, in spite of their ability to find
their way and to feed by night, animals are not exempt
from some forms of nervousness induced by darkness.
How far this affects the individual animal it is difficult
to tell ; but its effect is seen in the panics which seize
on animals at night, panics which seldom, if ever, occur
during the daytime. Whether these night-panics occur
among the wild animals that live in companies and
herds we have no sufficient means of ascertaining ; but
among domesticated creatures these terrors of the night
are not uncommon, and in some cases lead to serious
mischief. The most remarkable instance which has
occurred in late years in this country was some sudden
terror which affected the sheep on the hills reaching
from the downs west of Reading to the Chiltern Hills.
Reports came in from a very large number of parishes
that the flocks had that night broken loose from their
folds and scattered over the fields. The cause for so
widespread a panic was never ascertained, but it is well
known that sheep are liable to these frights by night.
The commonest cause is the appearance near the fold of
strange dogs, or even of an unknown man. Horses
are also very liable to be 'stampeded' in the dark.
Such mishaps are not common in this country, as when
horses are in any numbers together they are usually
10 2
148 ANIMALS IN THE DARK
kept in stables ; but near Colchester some years ago the
horses of several troops of cavalry, picketed for the night,
took fright, pulled up their pickets, and suffered most
severely in their gallop with the picket ropes and pins
still attached. It is very doubtful whether the absence
of daylight contributed much to the injuries received
by the horses. The celebrated midnight steeplechase
of the officers of a cavalry regiment stationed at Ipswich,
in 1839, shows that horses can see by night when
ridden at full speed. This freak, in the performance
of which, though there was moonlight at intervals,
the riders wore white night-gowns and night-caps that
they might be able to see each other, led to no serious
disasters either to horses or riders. As the latter could
have done little to guide their mounts, or to pull them
together for jumps the size of which they could not
judge, we must assume that the horses could see as well
as was necessary to clear a hedge and ditch. They also
jumped a turnpike-gate on the main road, though this
was perhaps more easily distinguished than the fences.
On the pampas at night wild horses often try to
stampede trained animals tethered round camps, and the
Indians of the plains constantly avail themselves of the
nervousness of horses at night to effect the same object.
They either drive a mob of their own horses down on
the camp, or creep up and suddenly scare the herd.
Cattle are not affected in the same way. We have
ANIMALS IN THE DARK 149
never heard of oxen or cows being liable to panic in
darkness, unless from causes which would affect them
equally in the daytime, such as the sight or smell of
blood, or the sudden appearance of a herd of strange
cattle near their feeding-ground.
As nearly all wild animals feed after sunset with an
increased sense of security, and are then bold and con-
fident where during the hours of daylight they are
timid and suspicious, these terrors of the night among
domesticated animals call for some special explanation.
We can hardly assume that they have developed
' nerves ' from artificial breeding and constant contact
with man, except in the case of a few highly-bred dogs
and horses ; neither is there reason to believe that one
species of ruminant animal is more averse to darkness
than another. A probable explanation is that among
all wild animals man is the chief object of fear, and as
man cannot see in the dark, they gain a respite by night
from their most besetting apprehension. The fear of
carnivorous wild beasts is only secondary. But in the
case of the domesticated animals the fear of man is
exchanged for confidence, and wild beasts become their
sole object of dread. In all countries where these are
found, especially the wolf, the leopard, the lion, and
the puma, the night becomes to domesticated animals
a time of intense apprehension, having a definite object
in some particular prowling beast. Darkness in itself
150 ANIMALS IN THE DARK
is not the object of fear, but merely marks the time
when the object of fear is abroad. Among our
domesticated animals in this country the terror is not
personified, but the nervousness survives in an im-
personal form. It is not often in evidence, and needs
some incident to arouse it ; but there is no doubt that
the propensity to fear increases with darkness and
vanishes at daybreak.
The effect of darkness on insects shows some striking
differences. Butterflies are so sensitive to want of
light that they are not only stupid and sleepy at
night, but are affected in the daytime by the shadow
of every passing cloud. It is a common practice of
butterfly-hunters to keep their eye on an insect
without pursuing it, waiting till a cloud comes, when
it is nearly certain to settle down and become more
or less torpid. Possibly it fears rain ; but some moths,
whose wings are no less fragile than those of butter-
flies, often fly on evenings when a slight rain is
falling. Except the owls and the night-jar, most of
our night-feeding birds are thoroughly keen-sighted by
day. They include the whole class of birds ducks,
waders, storks, and herons which feed on the muds
left by the tide. It is generally held that these birds
can see equally well by night as by day. Very few
people have spent enough time out on the muds by
night to speak on this point with certainty ; but a
ANIMALS IN THE DARK 151
fowler who has had forty years' experience of night-
shooting on the marshes, quoted in the Badminton
Magazine some time ago, gives it as his opinion that
all wildfowl see distinctly by night, but that, on the
other hand, they do not recognise objects which they
do not expect to see. They see and avoid a man
walking, but if he is still they apparently mistake him
for a piece of wreck or debris. Thus, when sitting in
* duck holes, 1 with the moon nine days old, he has
known a pair of stints settle on the bank of the hole,
and once caught one with his hand. He has also
known an owl to fly into the hole and perch on the
marram-grass with which it was lined ; while another
gunner declares that as he lay on his back on the
shingle one night a mallard pitched between his feet
and began to preen its feathers ! The more familiar an
observer grows with the ways of animals after dark
and in the very early morning, the more convinced he
is likely to become that they have made it an axiom
that man is, or ought to be, in bed from dusk till
six o'clock, and that even if he is not, the world during
the hours of darkness and dawn belongs to them alone.
XXI. NATURAL DEATH IN THE ANIMAL
WORLD
MR. F. G. AFLALO, in the St. James's Gazette,
suggested that if death by accident is comparatively
rare among animals, those which die a natural death
meet it in the form of starvation. It is difficult to
avoid the conclusion that wild animals, enfeebled by
weakness or physical decay, do so perish, because of
the absence of aid in sickness. If the bills of mortality
from causes other than the violence of predatory species
could be made out for the animal world, there would
probably be good ground for the conclusion that this
lingering death is in store for the majority.
The subject is complicated by a kind of mystery
which has been long recognised in common experience,
and is now attracting some of the attention it deserves
from travellers and naturalists the disappearance,
namely, of the animal dead, other than those killed by
accident or violence. In tropical countries rapid decay
dissolves the tissues of flesh, and bone-devouring beasts
152
NATURAL DEATH IN THE ANIMAL WORLD 153
like the hyaena may destroy the largest bones. But
there is one region in which we should expect to find
the bodies of such animals as have died a natural death,
along the whole length of the frozen rim of the Old
World, from the Petchora to Behring Sea, a region
where even the fruits forced into being by the Arctic
summer are preserved fresh beneath the snow until the
ensuing spring, and the remains of prehistoric beasts,
the mammoth and Siberian rhinoceros, have only under-
gone partial decay in the frozen soil. Here we should
also expect to discover the bodies of animals which had
died at the end of the summer c cold-stored ' till the
snow broke up in the Arctic spring.
For this life during the Arctic summer is numbered
by millions ; there is probably no such gathering of
birds on any part of the globe as on the Arctic tundra
in July and August, while large and small mammals,
seals, walrus, reindeer, foxes, and lemmings also abound.
Do they never die, or what becomes of their bodies ?
For the latter are almost never seen. Nordenskiold, in
his ' Voyage of the Vega* more than once recurs to this
strange absence of the animal dead. In an ice-beset
channel among some Arctic islands off the mouth of
the Yenesei he saw a great number of dead fish Gadus
polar is and next day saw the sea-bottom, where the
water was very clear, bestrewn with { innumerable fish '
of the same species, which had probably met their death
154 NATURAL DEATH IN THE ANIMAL WORLD
by the shoal being enclosed by ice in a small hole, where
the water could not receive a fresh supply of oxygen.
This is a common form of natural death among fish
in cold countries ; but the explorer remarks it for
the following reasons. * I mention this,' he observes,
' because such examples of " self-dead " vertebrate
animals are found exceedingly seldom. They therefore
deserve to be noted. . . . During my nine expedi-
tions in the Arctic regions, where Arctic life during
the summer is so exceedingly abundant, the case just
mentioned has been one of the few in which I have
found remains of modern vertebrate animals which
could be proved to have died a natural death. Near
the hunting grounds there are often to be seen the
remains of reindeer, seals, foxes, or birds that have
died from gunshot wounds, but no ll self-dead " Polar
bear, seal, walrus, white whale, fox, lemming, or other
vertebrate. The Polar bear and the reindeer are found
there in hundreds ; the seal, walrus, and white whale in
thousands, and birds in millions. These birds must die
a " natural death " in untold numbers. What becomes
of their bodies?' Of this we have at present no idea ;
and yet we have here a problem of immense importance
for the answering of a large number of questions con-
cerning the formation of fossil-bearing strata. It is
strange in any case that on Spitzbergen it is easier to
find the vertebrae of a gigantic lizard of the Trias than
NATURAL DEATH IN THE ANIMAL WORLD 155
the bones of a seal, walrus, or bird which has met a
natural death.
This disappearance of the dead, so remarkable in
itself, must, we think, be left out of account in the
endeavour to ascertain the causes of decease. These
must be sought, not by coroner's inquest, when too
often there is no body which the jury can view, but by
argument from the known causes of death among
domestic animals, and the numerous, if scattered,
records of mortality among wild ones, notes of which
have often been carefully preserved, and may be found
at intervals through the history of the last ten centuries.
Most of these are the records of epidemics, but these
and similar diseases must be held to be at work from
year's end to year's end, even when not so violent as to
cause remark ; while concurrently there are among
animals a large class of ailments causing natural death
exactly analogous to those leading to human mortality.
Among these normal, non-epidemic causes of death
many must be common both to wild and to domesticated
species. c Distemper ' among dogs and cats probably
extends also to foxes, wolves, and the wild felidas. Its
course is often exactly like that of a wasting low-fever,
and animals die from it in precisely the same way as a
human patient suffering from malaria or bilious fever,
for the symptoms are not always the same. ' Chill '
kills dogs, often by jaundice, and horses and cows
156 NATURAL DEATH IN THE ANIMAL WORLD
mainly by causing internal inflammation. Death is
then rapid and painful, and takes place before emacia-
tion of any kind is visible in the animal. Most
domesticated animals, even cage-birds, are liable to this
cause of death ; but we may assume that among wild
animals whose normal course of life does not expose
them to over-exertion or ' draughts ' it is less common.
Among aged domesticated animals, or those which are
obliged to make violent exertions, heart-disease often
causes sudden death. Master Magrath died from
this, so do the racing dogs of the Northumberland
miners. Aged horses sometimes drop down dead from
the same cause when being gently ridden. Most very
old horses which have been turned out to grass to end
their days in peace suffer in the end from forms of
indigestion, which cause them to become so thin that
their owners order them to be shot. A recent veterinary
work ascribes this and many other equine maladies to
decay or defects in the teeth due to age or accidents.
In the same way some old dogs become emaciated, even
when carefully fed. But, like human beings, all the
canine race, and most of the felidas and bears, seem liable
to forms of tumour, and unless relieved by surgery or
released by euthanasia, may meet their death after great
misery and suffering. Nor should it be forgotten that
virulent sore throat is often prevalent and fatal amongst
animals, especially cats.
NATURAL DEATH IN THE ANIMAL WORLD 157
Consumption and other forms of tuberculosis account
for a large percentage of the natural deaths of domesti-
cated animals. We doubt if any but the goat have
complete immunity from it. Cattle, cats, chickens,
pigeons, and in a less degree horses, dogs, rats, and
mice, are all victims of the tubercle-bacillus. Between
these normal and non-contagious causes of death and
the violent and devastating animal plagues comes the
long list or contagious animal diseases mainly confined
to domesticated animals. Anthrax, the most rapid and
deadly, is perhaps the least common. Then follows
the permanent list influenza, now always present and
often epidemic, and affecting all domestic animals, and
probably wild ones also ; swine fever, aphthous fever
(not commonly fatal), glanders, and in some seasons the
fatal { liver rot,' mainly affecting sheep and rabbits, due
to a parasite harboured in tainted ground and water.
Add to these the choleraic diseases from bad water
and dirty soil, and we have forms of natural death suf-
ficient to account for the total disappearance of whole
species, did not the generally healthy conditions under
which they live act as a safeguard. Unfortunately,
among these conditions is one which does not make for
the preservation of health, namely, the tendency of
nearly all non-carnivorous animals to herd together,
and, even when non-related, to seek each other's society.
Hence the astonishing violence and fatal results of
158 NATURAL DEATH IN THE ANIMAL WORLD
animal epidemics. During their prevalence the absence
of the animal dead is no longer marked. On the con-
trary, the bodies are in evidence. Among the multi-
tude of examples collected by Mr. George Fleming in
his work on c Animal Plagues ' are eighty-six epidemics
affecting wild quadrupeds and birds, and twenty- seven
affecting fish. Among the former nearly every wild
species in Europe is mentioned, and some in the New
World, including red-deer, reindeer, wolves, foxes,
pelicans, bears, chamois, hares, wild hogs, rabbits, rats,
wild - ducks, rooks, gaurs, and monkeys. Disorders
usually somewhat rare and sporadic are capable of
developing into epidemics and claiming victims whole-
sale. Perhaps one of the most curious instances is
that of rabies among foxes. This prevailed on the
Continent during the years 1830 to 1838. In the
Canton of the Vaud in Switzerland the bodies of
the dead foxes were often picked up and examined, and
it was thought that they were suffering from malignant
quinsy ; but as they entered villages and bit men, dogs,
and swine, which afterwards died from rabies, there was
no doubt as to the nature of the malady. In Wurtemburg
and Baden the fox-rabies became so serious that regular
hunts were organized until the animals were killed off,
like the dogs of Lima under similar conditions. The
effect of epidemics among animals is now so well known
that we have dwelt in these remarks mainly on the less
NATURAL DEATH IN THE ANIMAL WORLD 159
striking but still constant causes of natural death. But
to those which perish in this normal course of mortality
there must be added a vast number of wild animals
which escape constitutional or contagious disorders, and
die of lingering starvation, hastened by exposure. This
fact in a great degree justifies the domestication and
appropriation of animals to the service of civilized man,
who in his dealings with their last years shows an ever-
increasing tendency to rectify this aberrant conclusion
set by Nature to animal life.
XXII. ANIMALS' ILLUSIONS
A CURIOUS instance of animal illusion was seen on the
Thames last summer by those on their way to Henley
by river. A cock swan was fighting his own reflection
seen in the window of a partly-sunken house-boat,
which acted as a looking-glass. He had been doing
battle for some time in defence, as he supposed, of his wife
and family, who were grouped together close by, and had
apparently begun to have some misgivings as to whether
the enemy were real or not, for at intervals he desisted
from the attack, and tapped the frame of the window
all round with his bill.
Birds are perhaps more commonly the victims of
illusions than other animals, their stupidity about their
eggs being quite remarkable. Recently, for instance, a
hen got into the pavilion of a ladies' golf-club, and
began to sit in a corner on a golf-ball, for which it
made a nest with a couple of pocket-handkerchiefs.
But many quadrupeds are not only deceived for the
moment by reflections, shadows and such unrealities, but
160
ANIMALS' ILLUSIONS 161
often seem victims to illusions largely developed by the
imagination. The horse, for instance, is one of the
bravest of animals when face to face with dangers which
it can understand, such as the charge of an elephant, or
a wild boar at bay. Yet the courageous and devoted
horse, so steadfast against the dangers he knows, is a
prey to a hundred terrors of the imagination due to
illusions mainly those of sight, for shying, the minor
effect of these illusions, and ' bolting,' in which panic
gains complete possession of his soul, are caused as a
rule by mistakes as to what the horse sees, and not by
misinterpretation of what he hears. It is noticed, for
instance, that many horses which shy usually start away
from objects on one side more frequently than from
objects on the other. This is probably due to defects
in the vision of one or other eye. In nearly all cases of
shying the horse takes fright at some unfamiliar object,
though this is commonly quite harmless, such as a
wheelbarrow upside down, a freshly felled log, or a
piece of paper rolling before the wind. This instantly
becomes an * illusion/ is interpreted as something else,
and it is a curious question in equine neuropathy to
know what it is that the horse figures these harmless
objects to be. One conclusion is certain : all horses
share the feeling, omne ignotum pro mirabili^ with a
strong tendency to convert mirabili into terribili, and
night or twilight predisposes them to this nervous
ii
162 ANIMALS' ILLUSIONS
condition. A coachman, who for many years had been
in charge of a large stable of valuable carriage-horses,
gave the writer some curious instances of the nervous
illusions of horses. Once only did he find a whole stable
in anything like permanent fear. He had taken ten
carriage-horses to a large house in Norfolk, where they
stood in a line in a ten-stalled stable. There was a
tame monkey in the stable, very quiet, which slept
unchained, sitting on one of the divisions of the stalls.
On the first night, about eleven o'clock, he heard a
disturbance in the stable, the horses stamping and kick-
ing, and very uneasy. He got a light, entered the
stable, and found them all ' in a muck sweat.' Nothing
which could disturb them was there except the monkey,
apparently asleep on its perch. He quieted the horses,
locked the door, and went away. Soon the disturbance
began again, and this time, slipping quietly up, he drew
a pair of steps to one of the windows, and, as the moon
was shining bright, had a view of the interior. The
monkey was the source of terror. It was amusing itself
by a steeplechase along the whole length of the stable,
leaping alternately from the division of the stall to a
horse's back or head, then off on to the next rail, and so
on. The horses were trembling with fright, though
many of them had not the least objection to a cat or a
pigeon sitting on their backs. Yet the monkey had not
hurt any of them, and their panic was clearly the result
ANIMALS' ILLUSIONS 163
of illusion. Old-fashioned people used to identify any
strange living object which frightened them with l the
devil/ Perhaps for horses 'the devil' is anything
which they cannot understand.
* Understanding/ or investigation to that end, does
often remove these equine illusions. Young horses can
be led up to a sack lying on the ground and induced to
pass it by letting them smell it, and find out that it
really is a sack, and not the Protean thing, whatever it
may be, which illusion conjures up for them. Once the
writer saw a very quick and pretty instance of experi-
ment by touch made by a frightened pony. It was
being driven as leader in a pony tandem, and stopped
short in front of where the rails of a steam-tramway
crossed the road. It first smelt the near rail, and then
quickly gave it two taps with its hoof. After this it
was satisfied, and crossed the line. On the other hand,
a donkey always tried to jump the shadows of tree-
trunks on the road, though a similar experiment of
touch would have^shown that these were as unreal as the
tram-rail was substantial. Lastly, no horse which has
once knocked its head against the top of a stable door-
way seems quite able to get rid of the illusion that there
sits up in the top of all doorways an invisible something
which will hit him again next time he goes through.
Hence the troublesome, and sometimes incurable, habit
of horses ' jibbing ' at any doorway they may be required
II 2
1 64 ANIMALS' ILLUSIONS
to go through. This is an obvious instance of the
disadvantage at which most animals stand in regard
to means of physical experiments. The horse, for
instance, need only feel the lintel to find out that it is
fixed and does not move, and is not alive and waiting to
hit him. But, except his lips, which are sensitive, he
has no member with which he can make this experiment.
Except the elephant and the monkey, most of the
' higher ' animals suffer from this lack of the means of
experiment. The wonder is not that they suffer from
illusions, but that they make so few mistakes.
The routine of chemical experiment gives some idea
of the common means by which we guard against mis-
taking one thing for another. The inquirer notes the
taste, scent and colour, and judges of the weight,
solubility, and, in the case of crystals, of the shape of
the object he wishes to identify ; he tries if it is brittle or
tough, he heats it or cools it. In common everyday
experience the number of c tests ' unconsciously applied
by men to prevent illusion and identify objects
approaches much more nearly to the number prescribed
for scientific inquiry than to the simple experiments
used by animals. There is even a test for a ghost,
which, since quoting Latin to it fell into disuse, usually
takes the form of seeing if it is ' sensitive to percussion. 1
Now, even this simple experiment is denied to a horse
when uncertain as to the reality of a figure seen by
ANIMALS' ILLUSIONS 165
twilight. In the absence of a hand, the sense of touch
is deficient in most animals. This deficiency, except in
the case of birds, is not compensated by special acuteness
of sight, though nearly all animals apply a sensible test
to ascertain whether an object is living or inanimate.
They wait to see if it moves ; and to do this they
know that the first condition is to keep absolutely still
themselves. Most of the larger birds, notably wood-
pigeons, remain perfectly motionless for many seconds
after alighting in a new place, in order to identify any
moving object. On the other hand, the power of scent
is a great corrective to animal misconceptions about
objects. It is their chief means of distinguishing the
animate from the inanimate, and is always employed by
them in the diagnosis of death. It would be interesting
to know whether camels and horses share the illusions
produced on men by mirage in the desert, or whether
they are all the time aware that the seeming lakes of
water are unreal. It is certain that they are frequently
mistaken in sounds, for there are many authenticated
instances in which animals have mistaken the mimicry
of parrots for the call of their masters, and a nervous
dog, which had a special dread of thunder, has been
known to go into a fit when it heard a sack of coals
being emptied into the cellar.
XXIIL ANIMAL ANTIPATHIES
A CORRESPONDENT describes a curious scene witnessed
at the Zoological Gardens. He had for companion a
gentleman, now dead, who was a dwarf, and walked
with crutches. ' As soon as the tiger saw him he
lashed his tail, and finally stood up on his hind-legs
against the bars, and remained in a state of great
excitement. We who saw it at the time were much
struck by the sight, though whether its behaviour were
due to alarm or intense curiosity we could not tell.'
Probably the tiger's excitement was due to neither, but
to the latent antipathy which many animals feel for
anything abnormal, either in their own species, or even
among others with which they are well acquainted. It
is the feeling which prompts storks or rooks to destroy
at once the young of other birds which are hatched
from eggs placed in their nests, and dogs to bark at
cripples or ragged beggars, or, as in this case, roused
the dislike of an observant Zoo tiger, which saw men of
1 66
ANIMAL ANTIPATHIES 167
normal size and proportions pass every day before
its cage.
The belief in permanent antipathies among animals
is very ancient. It appears in all the monkish bestiaries.
There the otter is always the enemy of the crocodile,
and the unicorn of the elephant;* while the dragon
is hated by the hart, and in turn dislikes all beasts,
including the panther, whose exquisite perfume, so
agreeable to all other animals, disgusts the dragon, who
runs away the moment he smells it. Turning from
legend to facts, we find that animal antipathies have a
range as wide or wider than the instinctive dislikes of
men. They are in part exactly the same in kind as the
latter, one animal exciting in another exactly the same
disgust that a baboon or a blackbeetle does in the
minds of many human beings ; but the list of hereditary
enemies of one species which is the sworn foe of
another, and has left in the weaker species an inbred
and ancient sense of horror and fear is far longer than
the list of hereditary enemies of the dominant species,
man. Instances of purely instinctive, inexplicable
antipathy are naturally the least common, but there
are very marked and definite examples. It is quite
impossible, for instance, to account for the intense
disgust which the camel excites in horses. They have
* Possibly this tradition is founded on the enmity which does
really exist between the rhinosceros and the elephant.
* * * ;l * *
1 68 ANIMAL ANTIPATHIES
been associated in many countries for centuries in the
common service of man, and early training makes the
horse acquiesce in the proximity of the creature which
disgusts him. Otherwise it is far more difficult to
accustom horses to work with camels than with
elephants, precisely because the repugnance is a natural
antipathy, and not a reasoned fear. They get used to
the sight of an elephant, but the smell of a camel
disgusts and frightens them. English horses which
have never seen a camel refuse to approach ground
where they have stood. Recently a travelling menagerie
was refused leave to encamp on a village green in
Suffolk, not because it was not welcome, for a wild-
beast show is always vastly popular, but because the
green was also the site of a market, and the farmers'
gig-horses invariably refused to be driven across it after
camels had stood there. Two bears were being exhibited
in Harley Street recently, and no horse showed any fear
of them. One horse almost touched the larger bear,
but neither it nor the team of a four-in-hand which
passed showed any nervousness.
Near relationship is no guarantee that instinctive
antipathy shall not exist between two species. Hounds
always hunt a fox, or in Brittany the wolf, with their
hair standing up, though the same species of hound
hunts deer or hares indifferently with the coat smooth.
The innate dislike of bees for some persons is probably
*F
ANIMAL ANTIPATHIES 169
rightly attributed to some difference of scent, but why
they dislike the scent of some people and like that of
others, when both are equally well-disposed to the bees,
is not known. It seems due to unreasoning caprice, to
antipathy, and nothing else. The dislikes of dogs and
cats for certain people are probably more reasonable.
They divine, like children, who are really in sympathy
with them and who are not ; neither is this a very
difficult task, for most people are far more demonstra-
tive with animals than they are when desirous of
conciliating their own species.
From these antipathies of sentiment the antipathies
of inheritance must be carefully distinguished. Many
of these can be explained, though the motive is less
obvious in some cases than in others. The hatred of
all cattle for dogs is very marked. There is no doubt
that this is a lasting inheritance from the days in which
their calves were constantly killed by wolves or wild
dogs. In India instances of sportsmen seeing the new-
born calf, with its mother defending it from wolves,
occur in most books on jungle sport, and the hatred
of the canidte associated with the strongest animal
instinct, the love of their young, has never been effaced
among cattle even in England, where the last wolf was
killed in the days of Henry VII. Why the horse not
only does not share this antipathy, but, on the contrary,
loves a dog, it is difficult to explain. Wolves are very
170 ANIMAL ANTIPATHIES
destructive to foals in Russia, especially in the Baltic
provinces, where horse-breeding is an extensive industry.
Possibly our English horses are mainly descended from
the stable-bred animals imported after the disappearance
of the wolf, and the ancestral fear of the canidte has been
eliminated.
Donkeys dislike dogs even more than cattle do, and,
if loose, seldom lose a chance of kicking or biting them.
The writer has seen a donkey chase a half-grown puppy
into a stream, follow it in, and strike at it with its fore-
feet. It is now believed that the ' cat and dog '
antipathy, which has passed into proverb, has also its
origin in the destruction of the whelps of some of the
large felidte by wild dogs. There is much probability
in this conjecture, for it is the dog, and not the wolf,
which the tiger so intensely dislikes ; and it is only the
packs of wild dogs, and not wolves, which would venture
to kill a cub. Leopards, which naturally live in the
branches of trees, simply look on dogs as a favourite
article of food, and the puma of the pampas, which
inhabits a country where the wild dog is unknown,
is also a great dog-killer. The dogs on their part
seem quite aware of this difference of view on the
part of the various cats ; they will mob a tiger and
hunt all tiger-cats ; but they all seem to fear the
leopard, and by nature to fear the puma, though in
North America they can be trained to hunt it. It was
ANIMAL ANTIPATHIES 171
recently noticed that a large dog, which found its way
to a point opposite the outdoor cages of the lion-house
at the Zoo, crept underneath a seat as soon as the puma
caught sight of it, and exhibited signs of the utmost
nervousness and fear. Most of the keepers at the Zoo
are agreed that those animals which exhibit marked
likes or dislikes for visitors have the strongest possible
antipathy to black men. Children they also dislike,
but for the obvious reason that the children tease them.
It has long been noticed that all the monkeys hate a
negro ; but the experiment was recently tried on a
large scale, and the scope of animal antipathy for the
dark-skinned races was found to extend far beyond the
monkey-house. When Mr. Hagenbeck's Somalis were
at the Crystal Palace, they were invited one Sunday
to see the Zoo, whither they went, accompanied by
Mr. Menzies, the African explorer and hunter, who
had brought them from Somaliland. There was
nothing to which the most sensitive European could
object in the appearance of these free, half-Arab tribes-
men, and much that was most attractive. They were
straight and tall ; they had high noses, fine eyes, white
teeth, and a skin the colour of a not quite ripe black
grape. They were strict Moslems, exquisitely cleanly,
washing constantly, not only their limbs and bodies, but
their teeth and hair. They dressed in the whitest of
linen, and carried weapons of the brightest steel,
172 ANIMAL ANTIPATHIES
spending their spare moments in polishing either these
or their teeth. They did not smoke, they did not
drink, and the large room in which some thirty of
them slept was as sweet as a hayloft. When all this
gallant company of dark men entered the lion-house,
there was an uproar. The animals were furious ; they
roared with rage. The apes and monkeys were
frightened and angry, the antelopes were alarmed, and
even the phlegmatic wild cattle were excited. They
recognised their natural enemies, the dark-skinned men
who have hunted them for a thousand centuries in the
jungles and the bush, and with whom their own parents
did battle when they were captured and carried off
captive in the Nubian deserts, and, like the Grecian
ghosts at the sight of ^Eneas in the shades, they raised
a war-cry, though the sound did not die in their throats.
Animal antipathy is thus closely correlated with like
emotions in man. It may be traced in all its variations
from purely instinctive and physical distaste, the dislike
for the camel felt by the horse being much on a par
with that felt by a Southern white for a South American
negro, to its rational climax in antipathy based on
danger known to animals and men alike, and exhibited
in the common and intense horror of the poisonous
snake. A tame monkey has been known to drop
down in a dead faint when suddenly confronted with
a snake. This sounds almost too human ; but fainting
ANIMAL ANTIPATHIES 173
in sudden terror, though rare among animals, in which
this form of panic more often causes paralysis of the
limbs, is not confined to monkeys. Gray parrots,
which are highly nervous birds, will drop from the
perch, and lose consciousness under any strong impulse
of fright.
XXIV. ANIMAL KINDERGARTEN
A WRITER in the Reading Mercury, describing the
games played by lambs, says : * From one point of view
animal life is very serious, and if they are to survive
in the struggle they can ill afford to waste time in
frivolities. Young creatures are all educated on the
Kindergarten system, and their games, in which the
parents often join, are mainly mimic warfare or pursuit.
The antics of lambs when playing the game " I am the
King of the Castle," are just those which would be per-
formed, though with more dignity, by a ram confront-
ing his antagonist, and confident of his power to hurl
him into the abyss/ This extension of the Duke of
Wellington's observation on public-school games to the
sports of animals is not without probability; for the
instinct with which most young animals are equipped
is, as a rule, insufficient to ensure their safety, until
education both by their parents and playfellows comes
to the aid of inherited impulse.
Mr. W. H. Hudson, when living on the Pampas of
174
ANIMAL KINDERGARTEN 175
La Plata, recorded some very interesting observations
on the education of the young of animals common on
the plains. The half-wild lambs of the pampas remain
almost ' imbecile ' for three days. They are not sense-
less and helpless like blind puppies, but are equipped
with certain instincts which do not answer the pur-
pose for which they were apparently intended. The
instances which Mr. Hudson gives of the unsatisfactory
working of instinct which in these lambs is properly
so called, for it is prior to education and experience
show how their existence, intended to benefit the young
creature, may actually retard education in the animal
Kindergarten. The pampas lamb has three instincts
when born. One is to suck, the second to run after
anything moving away from it, and the third to run
away from anything advancing towards it. It is in the
second and third of these impulses that instinct is of
disservice to the lamb. ' If the mother turns round
and approaches it, even from a very short distance, it
will turn round and run from her in fear, and will not
understand her voice when she bleats to it ; at the
same time it will confidently follow a dog, horse, or
man moving from it. It is a very common experience
to see a lamb start up from sleep and follow the rider,
running close to the heels of the horse. This is dis-
tressing to a merciful man who cannot shake the little
simpleton off" ; and if he rides on, no matter how fast,
1 76 ANIMAL KINDERGARTEN
it will keep up with him or keep him in sight for half
a mile or more, and never recover its dam. ... I have
seen a lamb, about two days old, start up from sleep,
and at once make off in pursuit of a puff-ball about as
big as a man's head, carried past it over the smooth
turf by the wind.'
The uneducated instinct in the case of these lambs is
of disservice in place of service. The * following '
impulse, obeyed without discrimination, makes them
lose their mothers, and the same want of knowledge
makes them shun the very creature whose advance they
should most desire. The old sheep is therefore obliged
to devote herself during the first week of her lamb's
existence to * unteaching ' instinct and substituting
sense, which she does mainly by convincing the lamb
that she, and no other creature, is to be followed.
This first lesson once learnt, the rest follows easily.
The fawn of the common pampas deer is born equipped
with instinct for concealment similar to that which the
young plover has on leaving the egg. But it is at once
educated by the doe to use this to the best advantage.
She teaches it to improve upon the original instinct.
* When the doe with a fawn is approached by a horse-
man with dogs she stands perfectly motionless, gazing
fixedly at the enemy, the fawn motionless at her side.
Suddenly, as if by some signal, the fawn rushes away
from her at utmost speed ; and going to a distance of
ANIMAL KINDERGARTEN 177
from six hundred to one thousand yards, conceals itself
in a bottom, or among the long grass, lying down very
close, with the neck stretched out horizontally.' The
doe remains still until the dogs approach near, when
she runs off in the opposite direction to that taken by
the fawn. These pampas deer, which are clever enough
to teach their young thus early, exhibit another artifice
which marks them as of a higher intelligence than other
species of deer. They have improved upon the common
device of enticing the dogs in another direction than
that taken by their young, just as they have improved
upon the instinct common to all young fawns of lying
still for concealment. The pampas deer feign lameness
in order to draw the dogs away, a trick common among
birds, but not used, so far as the writer is aware, by
any other quadruped.
Young birds' education, in this particular direction,
begins literally ab ovo. The same observer noted that
in three widely differing species the young, when
chipping the shell, instantly ceased their strokes, and
the cry with which this effort is accompanied, when the
old bird uttered its warning note. This he considers
to be ' a proof that the nestling has no instinctive
knowledge of its enemies, but is taught to fear them by
its parents.' But it may be urged that in this case the
knowledge of the meaning of the parent's note is also
instinctive ; for the nestling cannot know or realize the
12
178 ANIMAL KINDERGARTEN
identity of the parent. The instance which Mr.
Hudson quotes of the distinction which nestling birds
do make between their ' own language ' and an unknown
tongue, is still more confusing to the theorist, though
most interesting as a fact. The young of the parasitical
starling of North America, known as the ' cow-bird,'
never learn the warning notes of their foster-parents.
c They will readily devour worms from the hand of
man, even when the old (foster) birds are hovering
above them and screaming their danger-notes, while
their own young, if the parasite has allowed any to
survive, are crouching down in the greatest fear.' But
when grown up and associating with their own kind
they become suspicious and shy like other wild birds.
All the ' catching-and-killing ' games practised by cats
and kittens, puppies, weasels, fox-cubs, and other young
carnivora are educational, as are the wild gallops in-
dulged in by mares with well-grown foals ; but no one
has ever seen a cow try to educate her calf, and little
pigs, like Mr. Sam Weller, are expected to educate
themselves. But they also educate one another.
It will be noticed that all creatures which have large
families, whether beasts or birds, have less trouble in
rearing them than those which have only one or two
young. Little pigs are weeks ahead of calves in
intelligence, and the young partridge, with its dozen
brothers and sisters, is far more teachable than the
ANIMAL KINDERGARTEN 179
young eagle. There seems no doubt that the latter is
taught to fly by its parents. A correspondent informs
the writer that he has watched the old birds so engaged,
and the young eagles reluctantly following them to a
height. Specialized education in animals begins late.
The beaver kitten's training does not begin until the
autumn of the year in which it is born. The old
beavers, which have moved up tributary streams into
the woods, or roamed to the larger lakes during summer,
then return to inspect their dam, and repair it for the
winter. They then cut down a few trees, and dividing
them into logs, roll them or tow them to the dam.
The kittens meantime are put on to what in a work-
shop would be called a ' soft job/ They cut all the
small branches and twigs into lengths, and do their
share of light transport service. In the mud-patting
and repairing of the dam the beaver kittens take their
share, but there is little doubt that they do so because
their elders are so engaged. It is a Kindergarten of the
best kind, because mud-patting and stick-cutting are a
great joy and solace to old beavers as well as young
ones, and so instruction, pleasure, and business are all
combined. Young otters, and probably also young
water-rats, have to be taught to go into the water.
According to the observations of Mr. Hart, the late
head-keeper at the Zoo, the young otters born there
did not enter the water for weeks, and even then their
12 2
i8o ANIMAL KINDERGARTEN
mother had to ' mind ' them and fetch them out when
she thought they had had enough of it. They swim
naturally when once in the water, and this seems true or
all animals, though quite recently a young retriever,
bred on a dry and waterless district in the Downs, was
found to be unable to swim. A stick was thrown into
the Thames for it to fetch. It plunged in, but soon
sunk, and though rescued was almost insensible.
But such instances of instinct in abeyance are rare.
More commonly the instincts for self-help and self-
protection are early developed, but need direction and
discipline. Generally speaking, birds are the quickest
to learn when young, as well as the best equipped with
original instinct.
XXV. THE RANGE OF ANIMAL DIET
LIEUTENANT PEARY, discussing the hardships of Arctic
travel, refuses to admit that living on Esquimaux diet
is any hardship at all. On the contrary, he holds that
conformity to the food and habits of indigenous peoples
is the safest course for an explorer, and that * fat and
lean ' whale or seal, eaten raw in alternate bites, makes
rather an appetizing meal in high latitudes. Most
people would prefer to do their exploring within reach
of the comforts of the Pram's store -cupboard, so feel-
ingly described by Dr. Nansen. But the experience of
Lieutenant Peary and his wife, like that of many Arctic
travellers before them, is evidence that the human
digestion can cope with a potent change of diet when
the change of climate and temperature corresponds.
It is self-evident that in the case of different human
races the greater the range of diet the better chance of
survival accrues. The districts of India where the
population will only eat rice are at a disadvantage in
times of scarcity compared with others which affect no
181
i82 THE RANGE OF ANIMAL DIET
single food grain. Famine is much less common among
4 omnivorous ' races than among those which are almost
parasitic on a single plant like the banana or the potato.
In spite of prejudices, which even in this country would
make the lower classes more willing to forego a portion
of their weekly meat-supply than to eat rye-bread in
place of the wheaten loaf, the tendency everywhere is to
increase the range and variety of food.
Among animals the same tendency can be traced. It
appears most noticeably in domesticated species, but it
can be traced amongst those which are wild, and in
regions where evidence of its force as a working law is
given by the very small number of creatures now found
which live on a single item of food. In the case of
domesticated animals the range of diet is often extended
by compulsory detainments in regions in which they are
forced to endure the winter which otherwise they would
have avoided by migration.
The northern range of the horse and ox now far
exceeds the natural food-limit. The Shetland pony
could always pick up a bare living, but the Iceland
pony has during the winter absolutely no natural food-
supply. A few are taken into the houses, but the
greater number are turned loose by their owners, and
have for sole support sea- weed and the heads of dried
cod. The Norwegian cow, spending the winter inside
the Arctic circle, was formerly fed largely on soup made
THE RANGE OF ANIMAL DIET 183
out of boiled fishes' heads, and the diet seems to have
agreed with it. If anyone doubts the capacity of ex-
tending their food-range possessed by grass-eating
creatures like cattle and sheep, and the scarcely less
graminivorous horse which has, however, a strong
tendency, inherited from some remote ancestor, to eat
bark and shoots like a rhinoceros he need only run
over the list of modern cattle-foods. Since the days
when the Irishman had not learnt to make hay, and all
his cattle were consequently killed off by Elizabeth's
soldiers in the low valleys to which they were driven
for food in winter, the cow has added to her menu
hay, ensilage, sweet and sour, turnips, beet, Indian corn,
cocoa cake, cotton -seed cake, rape-seed cake, locust
beans, sugar, and ' grains/ Besides these, she has learnt
to eat and prefer cooked food served warm to raw food
eaten cold, and before long will probably be taught to
supplement her cabbage and grass with ' cow-biscuits/
specially prepared to increase her yield of butter.
Horses, though training best on hay and oats, now
eat cooked food, a mixture of hay, bran, vegetables, and
corn being steamed and served up in most of the great
London stables ; and the only domestic creature whose
tendency to enlarge its food-range is discouraged is the
pig, not because it is bad for the animal, but because we
desire by limiting its choice of food to extend our own.
For our own purposes we have induced the dog to
184 THE RANGE OF ANIMAL DIET
become largely a vegetable feeder, greatly to the advan-
tage of his health in confinement, and, by the substi-
tution of the uniform * dog-biscuit ' for table-scraps or
meat, have given him a mixture of meal and dates
which is as agreeable to crack as a bone. Among the
more highly organized creatures ' single-food ' animals
are scarce and growing scarcer. There is evidence that
the mute swan once fed almost entirely on sub-aquatic
grasses. At Abbotsbury, when the ice destroyed the
grass growing at the bottom of the lagoon, the half-
wild swans refused to touch any other food, and starved
in hundreds. Now they have learnt to eat grain, just
as the Thames swans have learnt to eat bread and the
grain which falls from barges. Probably the Abbots-
bury swans were the last of their species in England
which were ' single-food ' animals, and with their conver-
sion the extension of the range of diet is completed.
Reindeer feed almost entirely on mosses and lichen.
It is still matter for doubt whether they can be
acclimatized in this country, though experiments are
being made to that end. If they cannot, an extension
of the species, even though in domestication, will be
prevented by their limited food-range. The moose
feeds entirely on the bark and twigs of trees. But this
is partly due to the height of its forelegs and the short-
ness of its neck, which make it almost impossible for it
to graze. When fed from a manger the moose takes
THE RANGE OF ANIMAL DIET 185
readily to ordinary cattle-food. Seals were long con-
sidered to live wholly on fish. The supply is so varied
as well as abundant, and the seals so active, that it
might be thought that there was little to induce them
to seek a change. Yet Mr. Trevor-Battye when on
Kolguev watched a seal catching ducks with such per-
sistence and success that there can be little doubt that
the seal has extended its dietary from fish to fowl.
Instances of the converse are the great fishing owls,
which, being provided with an equipment equally suited
for killing birds and small animals, are by preference
catchers of fish. Instances of carnivora developing a
concurrent taste for vegetable food are uncommon.
The most curious instance the writer has known was
that of a Scotch deerhound, which was so fond of
peaches that it would stand on its hind-legs to pluck
those it could not reach when standing on all fours.
The Australian Colonies present the three most striking
instances of the tendency to extend the food-range in
the direction of flesh diet. The often-quoted case ot
the large New Zealand parrot which took to sheep-
killing is the most striking. But the feral pigs of the
Colony are said to be very destructive to young lambs,
and in 1833 in Australia throughout a large district the
sheep became not only carnivorous but cannibal. The
sheep of the Murrumbidgee country became addicted to
eating a salt-impregnated earth found on the runs, and
186 THE RANGE OF ANIMAL DIET
after some time became thin and emaciated. They then
attacked the new-born lambs, and devoured such numbers
that in one flock only four hundred were left out of
twelve hundred. Some of the squatters applied for
leave from the Government to move to other runs not
yet taken up. Even the shepherds were attacked by
the sheep when rescuing the lambs, and their clothes
bitten. This morbid derangement of the instincts of
the sheep, which was noted on many runs in the district,
was never satisfactorily accounted for, but was generally
attributed to the eating of the salt-impregnated earth.
Of English birds, one, generally regarded as feeding
entirely on vegetables and grain, occasionally varies its
diet by animal food. This is the tame pigeon, which
has been noticed after rain to eat earth-worms on lawns
as eagerly as a thrush. This addition to its usual food
is probably due to the absence in the diet generally
given to the birds of some element which pigeons find
in the mixed seeds and leaves which they eat when wild.
The flesh-eating habits of modern rooks in the North
of England and Scotland have recently been the subject
of a chorus of complaints from game-preservers and
farmers. The rooks are, however, largely the victims
of circumstance. The decrease of arable land, during
the cultivation of which they found abundance of animal
food, has forced the rooks to find a substitute, and this
comes to hand in the form of young rabbits, pheasants,
THE RANGE OF ANIMAL DIET 187
and chickens. In the corn countries of the United
States the sparrow grows yearly more dependent on
grain, and less insectivorous than his European reputa-
tion justifies, and in this country two consecutive severe
winters made the tits take to bird-killing with an apti-
tude that shocked their patrons in English gardens.
Highly specialized forms, such as the ant-eaters, the
moles, and the leaf-eating sloths, must also of necessity
confine themselves to the food which they are ' by
intention ' adapted to consume. But even the wood-
pecker and the wryneck, with claws specially adapted
for scaling tree-trunks, and a beak formed to quarry
rotten wood, are constantly seen feeding on the ground,
mainly engaged in ravaging anthills ; and kingfishers,
scarcely modified from the shape of those which hover
over English streams, dart with equal precision on the
butterflies and beetles of tropical woods. Judging by
the scarcity of the l single-food ' creatures, and the low
place in the scale which they occupy, extension of the
range of diet is almost a necessary law of their survival.
Ant-eaters, sloths, and caterpillars may confine them-
selves to one article of food ; but the more intelligent
animals, like the higher races of man, have learnt better.
One almost wonders whether the excuse of the Congo
tribe who brought no palm-wine to the Belgian officers
was true. They alleged that the elephants had drunk
it all.
XXVI. DAINTIES OF ANIMAL DIET
THE well-informed persons who wrote to the papers on
the nature and uses of the persimmon, after the Prince
of Wales's horse of that name won the Derby, omitted
to notice that the fruit is in immense request as one of
the dainties of animal diet. { Brer Rabbit ' achieved
not the least notable of his diplomatic triumphs by
inducing the other animals to get him persimmons
when they wanted them themselves ; and in fact there
is no other fruit, except perhaps the water-melon, which
is in more general request both among birds and
beasts.
The taste for dainties among animals takes rather
unexpected forms. Many flesh-eating creatures, for
example, select as delicacies some form of fruit, and
take considerable trouble to gratify what is a taste for
luxury rather than a necessity of diet. The Syrian
foxes, ' the little foxes which spoil the grapes,' are not
the only creatures of their tribe which go for food to
the vineyards. Jackals do the same, and eat the fruit
188
DAINTIES OF ANIMAL DIET 189
not only as a luxury, but as a medicine. The ' grape
cure ' makes a marked difference in their condition, and
animals which enter the vineyards suffering from mange
are said to be restored to health very soon after their
diet of grapes has begun. One British carnivorous
animal, the marten, also seeks fruit as a dainty. In
Sutherlandshire Mr. St. John discovered that some
animal was stealing his raspberries, and, setting a trap,
caught in it a marten cub. Dogs will also eat fruit,
though rarely. When they do they usually take a
fancy to gooseberries ; the present writer has met with
two spaniels which had this taste, and would take the
gooseberries from the trees, and put out the skins after
eating the pulp.
In the annual report on the management of the
menagerie of the Zoological Society, the item * onions '
always figures largely in the bill for provender. Onions,
as is well known to housekeepers, are an indispensable
ingredient in very many dishes in which their presence
is hardly recognised by those who would at once detect
the presence of the smallest morsel of the vegetable if
uncooked ; and by most out-of-door populations, espe-
cially Spaniards and Portuguese, they are eaten raw
with bread as part of their staple food. But no English
animal seems particularly fond of them, and it is not
easy to guess for whose benefit they are in such
request at the Zoo. They are bought mainly for the
i 9 o DAINTIES OF ANIMAL DIET
African antelopes and giraffes. All of the former, from
the big roan antelopes to the miniature gazelles, ' dote '
on onions, and regard them as the greatest delicacy
which can be offered for their acceptance. It is said by
trainers that if a horse once becomes fond of sugar he
can be taught any trick for the circus. Antelopes could
probably be trained in the same way by rewards of
onions. There is one drawback to their indulgence in
this dainty, which leads to some restriction of its use at
the Zoo. After an onion-breakfast the scent in the
antelope-house, usually redolent of odorous hay and
clover, is overpowering, and visitors who do not notice
the fragments of onion-tops upon the floor are inclined
to leave in haste, and class the antelopes among the
other evil-smelling beasts of the menagerie. For the
giraffes they were not only a bonne bouche, but also
a very wholesome change in their ordinary food, and
though the liking for the bulb is an acquired taste for
onions are not native to the South African veldt the
new giraffe is as fond of them as its predecessors. Deer
show no particular preference for onions ; on the other
hand, they prefer apples to any other dainty. In the
Highlands the wild deer have no chance of invading an
orchard ; but on Exmoor and on the Quantock Hills,
where they have now greatly increased in numbers, they
leave the hillsides and thick plantations and rob orchards
by moonlight. The stags thrust their horns among the
DAINTIES OF ANIMAL DIET 191
apple-boughs and shake off the fruit, and even leap up
to strike the branches which are beyond their reach
when standing. In enclosed parks red-deer find a sub-
stitute for apples in the small unripe horse-chestnuts
which fall in dry weather. At the Sheen Lodge of
Richmond Park, near which several chestnut-trees stand,
the stags have been known to slip out through the gate
to pick up the fallen fruit lying on the road. Fallow-
deer seem less fond of fruit than the red-deer. Bread
is the delicacy by which they are most easily tempted,
though, except in such small enclosed parks as that of
Magdalen College at Oxford, they are rarely tame
enough to take it from the hand. At Bushey Park,
where the herbage is unusually rich, and the fallow-deer
fatten more quickly than in any of the royal parks,
there is one old buck who has acquired such a taste for
bread that he has left the main herd, and established
himself as a regular beggar near the Hampton Court
Gate. The benches between this gate and the circular
pond and fountain near the head of the great avenue
are naturally favourite seats for Londoners who come
down and bring their luncheon with them. The
moment the buck sees a couple comfortably seated and
a paper parcel produced and opened, he sidles up, and
gazes with all the expression of which his fine eyes are
capable at the buns and bread-and-butter. If a piece
be held out to him, he walks up, and stretching forward
i 9 2 DAINTIES OF ANIMAL DIET
as far as he can without overbalancing, takes it from
the hand. At this moment his dignity and grace some-
what decline, for his excitement is such that he curls
his tail over his back, and looks like a terrier.
Hares, like most rodents, do not show strong pre-
ferences in their choice of food, the chief ' preference '
being that there shall be plenty of it, and that it shall
be green and tender. But they will come great dis-
tances to feed on carrots. Some Devonshire magistrates
recently refused to convict a person charged with poach-
ing a hare, on the ground that they, as sportsmen, did
not believe that there was a hare in the parish in which
the offence was alleged to have been committed. The
facts rather favoured this view, but the planting of a
field of carrots in this hareless area soon attracted the
animals. Rabbits, which are by common consent able
to get a living where no other quadruped can, become
very select in their tastes where food is abundant, and
soon seek variety. In the gardens of a large house in
Suffolk, adjoining a park in which rabbits swarmed
before the passing of the Ground Game Act, it was
found that some rabbits managed to effect an entrance
every night, with a view to eating certain flowers.
These were clove -pinks and verbenas. No other
flowers were touched, but the pinks were nipped off
when they flowered, and the verbena plants devoured as
soon as they were bedded out. Farmers have lately
DAINTIES OF ANIMAL DIET I93
been advised to try feeding their stock upon sugar,
which is both cheap and fattening. This would be
good hearing for many horses, which like nothing
so well as lump-sugar ; but neither cows nor pigs seem
to be particularly fond of sweetstuff in this form,
though the latter are very partial to raw, crushed sugar-
cane. But the pig, though greedy and omnivorous
when kept in a sty, and a very foul feeder on the New
Zealand runs, is most particular in its choice of food
when running wild in English woods. Its special
dainties are underground roots and tubers, and it is
the only animal, except man, which appreciates and
seeks for the truffle. For all these underground
delicacies its scent is exquisitely keen. If by any mis-
hap a pig enters a garden at the time when bulbs are
planted, it will plough up a row of snowdrops or crocus-
roots, following the line as readily as if they lay
exposed to the surface. On the other hand, pigs seem
to have discovered that raw potatoes are unwholesome.
Cooked potatoes are devoured greedily ; but the raw
tuber is as a rule rejected, unless the animal is very
hungry, and though pigs will sometimes root among
the potato-mounds, it is in search of other food than
potatoes. Stud-grooms have decided that carrots are
the favourite dainty of the horse, and accordingly it has
become part, in many stables, of the under-groom's
duty to slice carrots and arrange them on a plate ready
13
i 9 4 DAINTIES OF ANIMAL DIET
for the master or mistress to take to the horses when
visiting them. They like apples equally well, but
these do not always agree with them. There is, or was
recently, at Guildford Station a horse which would
push a truck with its chest, when told to do so, instead
of pulling it. This was very useful when it was desired
to bring the truck up to the end of a siding, where
there was no room for the horse to go in front and pull.
It had been taught by a shunter, who sat in an empty
truck and offered the horse a carrot. The horse would
stretch its neck out, and push its chest against the
waggon to take the carrot, and so start the waggon
along the metals. It was then given the carrot, and
soon learnt that it was wanted to push and would be
rewarded for doing so.
Donkeys are said to like thistles. They will eat
them, and will even take them from the hand and eat
them when other food is at hand. But they do not
exhibit much enthusiasm for this dainty, and would
probably agree with Bottom that 'good hay, sweet
hay, hath no fellow.' Camels, however, really enjoy
them, and menagerie camels when on tour will eat
every thistle they can pick by the roadside. This is a
curious taste in daintiness, but, like some human fancies
of the kind, it has a sentimental background. The
camel, it is said, eats the thistles because they are the
nearest approach to the ' vegetation ' of its native desert.
XXVII. THE SLEEPING HOMES OF
ANIMALS
As animals' beds are almost the only pieces of furniture
which they construct, so their sleeping-places or bed-
rooms represent most nearly their notion of ' home.'
The place selected to pass the hours of sleep, whether
by night or day, is more often than not devoid of any
efforts at construction. It is chosen for some qualities
which strike the owner as suitable for rest and quiet,
and from that moment it arouses in the animal mind
some part of the human sentiment which we know as
4 the love of home.' This association of ideas with
their sleeping-places is entirely distinct from the so-
called * homing instinct,' or sense of direction. It is a
sentiment, not a mental process, and is exhibited by
creatures which are not commonly credited with memory
or the power of thought. Some butterflies, for example,
return regularly to the same place to sleep, and their
proverbial flightiness does not prevent them from
entertaining the sentiment of home. The first vindi-
'95 1 3 2
196 THE SLEEPING HOMES OF ANIMALS
cation of butterfly memory was occasioned by the
regularity with which a small butterfly named Precis
Iphita returned to sleep in a veranda of a musical club
at Manghasar, in the Dutch East India Islands. Mr. C.
Piepers, a member of the Dutch Entomological Society,
noticed that this butterfly returned to the same place on
the ceiling during the evening. In the day it was
absent, but at nightfall, in spite of the brilliant illumina-
tion of the veranda, it was again sleeping in the same
spot. * It was not to be found in the daytime, being
probably absent on business,' writes Mr. Piepers ; ' but
as civilization has not advanced so far in Manghasar
that it is there considered necessary to drive away every
harmless creature which ventures into a human dwelling,
I had the pleasure of admiring the memory of this
butterfly for six consecutive nights. Then some
accident probably befell it, for I never saw any trace
of it again.'
It is difficult to imagine a spot with less domestic
features to adorn the home than a piece of the bare
ceiling of a tropical veranda ; but the attachment of
animals to their chosen sleeping-place must rest on
some preference quite clear to their own consciousness,
though not evident to us. In some instances the
ground of choice is intelligible. Many of the small
blue British butterflies have grayish spotted backs to
their wings. At night they fly regularly to sheltered
THE SLEEPING HOMES OF ANIMALS 197
corners on the chalk downs where they live, alight head
downwards on the tops of the grasses which there
flourish, and, closing and lowering their wings as far
as possible, look exactly like a seed-head on the grasses.
If the night is cold, they creep down the stem and sleep
in shelter among the thick lower growth of grass. The
habits of birds in regard to sleep are very unlike, some
being extremely solicitous to be in bed in good time,
while others are awake and about all night. But
among the former the sleeping-place is the true home,
the domus et 'penetralia. It has nothing necessarily in
common with the nest, and birds, like some other
animals and many human beings, often prefer complete
isolation at this time. They want a bedroom to them-
selves. Sparrows, which appear to go to roost in
companies, and sometimes do so, after a vast amount
of talk and fuss, do not rest cuddled up against one
another, like starlings or chickens, but have private
holes and corners to sleep in. They are fond of
sleeping in the sides of straw-ricks, but each sparrow
has its own little hollow among the straws, just as each
of a flock of sleeping larks makes its own ' cubicle ' on
the ground. A London sparrow for two years occupied
a sleeping-home almost as bare of furniture as the ceiling
which the East Indian butterfly frequented. It came
every night in winter to sleep on a narrow ledge under
the portico of a house in Onslow Square. Above was
198 THE SLEEPING HOMES OF ANIMALS
the bare whitewashed top of the portico, there were no
cosy corners, and at eighteen inches from the sparrow
was the gas-lit portico-lamp. There every evening it
slept, and guests leaving the house seldom failed to
look up and see the little bird fast asleep in its
enormous white bedroom. Its regular return during
two winters is evidence that it regarded this as its
home ; but why did it choose this particular portico in
place of a hundred others in the same square ?
It is a ' far cry ' from South Kensington to the
Southern cliffs ; but the same sense of home which
brought the sparrow back nightly to his London
portico brings the cormorants and the falcons to the
same spot in the same precipice, year after year, in the
Culver Cliffs. There is a certain vaulted niche, in
which the peregrine falcons sleep, winter and summer,
in the white wall of the precipice, and every night at
dusk the cormorants fly in to sleep on their special
shelves and pedestals on another portion of the cliff.
They come to these few square yards of perpendicular
chalk, three hundred feet above the surge, as constantly
as the fishermen return to their cottages at the Foreland.
They regard this sleeping-place as their fixed and certain
home, where, safe from gun, cragsman, or cliff-fox, they
can sleep till sunrise sends them hungry to their business
of fishing. But of all animal sleeping-places, caves and
caverns are most remarkable for ancient and distinguished
THE SLEEPING HOMES OF ANIMALS 199
habitation. Like prehistoric man, the animals alike of
past ages and of the present hour have made caves their
bedrooms, and that they regard these in the light of
home is almost certain, for they return to die there.
Whether the last English rhinoceros slept in the
Derbyshire cave where his bones were found can only
be matter of conjecture. But caves are the natural
sleeping-places of nearly all nocturnal creatures, which
need by day protection from enemies and from the
disturbing light. Hollow trees serve the smaller
creatures ; but the great caves, especially those of
the tropical forest, whether on the Orinoco, or in
Central America, or the Indian Archipelago, or in
prehistoric Kentucky, have been the sleeping-places of
millions of creatures from the remotest ages of the
earth. There sleep the legions of the bats ; there
the * dragons ' and monsters of old dreamed evil dreams
after undigested surfeits of marsupial prey or of pre-
historic fish from vanished seas ; and there the wolf,
the bear, the panther, and the giant snake still sleep
away the hours of day.
Other animals, in place of seeking and maintaining a
private bedroom, prefer to sleep together in companies.
Aristotle's remark that ' carefulness is least in that
which is common to most' holds good of these
communal sleeping-places. Even clever creatures like
pigs and domestic ducks have no * home ' and no
*
200 THE SLEEPING HOMES OF ANIMALS
permanent sleeping - quarters. Like the Australian
black, who, when presented with a house, pointed out
the peculiar advantages offered by square buildings,
because they always offered a wall to sleep against,
outside ', whichever way the wind blew, they have to shift
their quarters according to the weather. With these
limitations, pigs are extremely clever in choosing sleep-
ing quarters. The wave of heat during the second
week of August was preceded by two days of very low
temperature and rain. In a row of model pigsties,
during these cold days, nothing was visible but a large
flat heap of straw in each. This straw was ' stuffed '
with little pigs, all lying like sardines in a box, keeping
each other warm, and perfectly invisible, with the straw
for a blanket. Then came the heat, and some hundred
swine were let loose in a paddock. By noon the whole
herd were lying in the shadow of a large oak, every pig
being fast asleep, close together in the shade circle. In
another meadow two flocks of Ailesbury ducks were
also fast asleep in the grass, in the shadow of the oaks.
But social animals, which live in herds and often move
considerable distances in search of their daily food, are
known to resort to fixed sleeping-places on occasion.
Among the wildest and least accessible creatures of the
Old World are the wild sheep. Hunters in the Atlas
Mountains commonly find chambers in the rocks which
the aoudads, or Barbary wild sheep, use to sleep in.
THE SLEEPING HOMES OF ANIMALS 201
Some are occupied by a single ram, others are used by
small herds of five or six, or an old sheep with her
lamb. The ovine scent so strong near domestic sheep-
folds always clings to these rock chambers of the wild
sheep. The ' big horn ' of the Rocky Mountains is
also found in holes in the hills, but these are believed to
be made by the sheep eating salt-impregnated clay, until
they burrow into the hill. They may be ' bolted ' from
these holes like rabbits. Even park deer sometimes
occupy bedrooms. In one old deer park in Suffolk
some of the giant trees show hollow, half-decayed roots
above ground, like miniature caves. Into these the
young deer used to creep in hot weather, when the flies
were troublesome, and lie hidden and cool.
Fish, which not only need sleep like other creatures,
but yawn when drowsy, and exhibit quite recognisable
signs of somnolence, sometimes seek a quiet chamber to
slumber in. This is obvious to any who will watch the
behaviour of certain rock-haunting species at any good
aquarium. The ' lump-suckers,' conger-eels, and rock-
fish will retire into a cave in the grotto provided
for them, and there go fast asleep ; though as their
eyes are open their * exposition of sleep ' is only proved
by the absence of movement, and neglect of any food
which comes in their reach. Their comparative safety
from attack when asleep in open water may be due to
the sensitiveness of their bodies to any movement in the
202 THE SLEEPING HOMES OF ANIMALS
water. But pike are easily snared when asleep, probably
because, being the tyrants of the waters themselves, they
have less of the ' sleeping senses ' possessed by most
animals which go in fear of their lives from hereditary
enemies.
XXVIII. THE CARRIAGE OF ANIMALS
MOST animals are so admirably equipped for transport-
ing themselves on long journeys, whether by land, air,
or water, that they have the greatest possible dislike to
any artificial mode of conveyance, however carefully
designed to meet their convenience. Collectors of rare
animals in distant and savage countries find this
question of transport a much more serious difficulty
than either the capture or the feeding of the beasts
when caught. If possible, they are so far tamed before
the return expedition as to make it possible for them
to accompany their captors, making use of their own
legs as far as the rail or ship.
In South Africa, where the Boer hunters expect to
make some profit from live animals as well as from
meat and hides, zebras are always tamed before being
despatched from the interior, and a number of these,
with young antelopes of various species, may often be
seen, half-domesticated, round the hunter's temporary
camp. But there is a regular trade in certain classes of
203
204 THE CARRIAGE OF ANIMALS
wild animals which could never be permitted any degree
of liberty, owing to their temper or unmanageable
dimensions. These are transported from immense
distances before any ' civilized ' means of transport is
available. Mr. Hagenbeck informed the writer that
he once brought, amongst other creatures, fifty lions
and leopards, besides rhinoceroses, from the neigh-
bourhood of the Atbara, or Black Nile, to the Red
Sea coast, without losing one animal. The regions
traversed were partly fertile and populated, but partly
broken by strips of desert. The difficulty of transport
was more apparent than real. Nearly all the animals
were quite young, the lions being not more than a
quarter grown. These, with the leopards and hyaenas,
were carried in cages made of hard native wood, with
bars on one side only, exactly like cages in which bird-
catchers carry linnets. These were slung on the backs
of camels, with a thick pad between the back of the
cage and the camel's flank. The only serious difficulty
encountered was in the transport of the rhinoceroses.
Though young, they were very bulky, heavy, and abso-
lutely unmanageable. They were also very valuable,
and it was decided to spare no pains to bring them
safely to the coast. After some experiments, it was
found possible to put each of the rhinoceroses in a
kind of litter, slung on poles. These were laid across
the backs of a pair of the strongest camels procurable,
THE CARRIAGE OF ANIMALS 205
' dray-horses of the desert/ of which several were
taken with the Khalifa, and served by relays in the
capacity of ' rickshaw ' bearers to the black rhinoceros
calves.
Before the days of railways, English animals, from
geese to cattle, nearly always travelled on their own
feet. Until they reached the towns this method was
very agreeable to them, and they lost very little in
condition. Before the Great Western Railway was
made, there was a large trade in driving cattle from the
Western counties to London. They were assembled at
Bath, and as soon as possible were driven up on to the
Downs, where they travelled along the < green roads '
until close to London. Horses are the only creatures
for which decent accommodation is provided on our
railways. In fifty years the railways have never yet
risen to the occasion of providing even reasonably
convenient transport for any other animals ; of in-
telligent design, or appreciation of the difficulties in
the way of accommodating creatures whose whole
experience is foreign to the necessities of close packing
or maintaining their balance when the surface on which
they stand is in motion, there is no trace. That they
may want food or water on a long journey, or even
protection from the cold, did not apparently enter the
minds of the early designers of ' cattle-trucks/ The
abominable discomfort of the old third-class carriage
206 THE CARRIAGE OF ANIMALS
designed for the use of human passengers is an indica-
tion of the ignorance and indifference of the early
designers of c rolling stock.' But the improvement in
this department has been constant, though slow. A
class of ' improved ' cattle-vans has been introduced on
some lines, but the supply is at present very scanty.
As a rule, valuable animals are sent in a horse-van, at
about the cost of a first-class passenger fare, with the
risk of being ' jammed ' by trying to turn in a compart-
ment designed for an animal of different shape. A
practical writer on cattle recommends that they shall be
put in < tail first/ to obviate this difficulty. But the
bulk of British cattle travel by rail in open trucks,
exposed to the violent draughts made by the train's
movement, and to the inflammations of the eyes and
nostrils set up by the constant rush of dust and particles
of grit from the line. Sometimes a tarpaulin shelters
them from sun and rain ; but in all cases they go by
' goods train.' No owner of prize cattle would think
of sending them by this, the general means of carriage.
Telegrams from India during the late frontier rising
spoke of camels loaded up on rail for service at the
front being kept waiting in sidings for four days, and
dying in the trucks. It would appear from this that
there are no proper camel-vans yet provided on Indian
railways. For the Government elephants admirable
railway carriages are provided. They are built of steel,
THE CARRIAGE OF ANIMALS 207
with a steel hood in front to protect the elephant from
draught and dust. The rear of the truck is arched over
with steel girders, and a double steel rail supports the
elephant on either side. In some admirable illustrations
of elephant life recently published, the process of * en-
training elephants by means of railway elephants trained
to the business, who coax and push them on board,' is
very clearly shown.
Dog-boxes ! These survive, like the l clink ' and
the stocks in old villages, in the designs of guard's
vans ; but for years no humane guard has ever used
these carefully barred, dark little dungeons. At present
there is no suitable accommodation whatever for dogs
travelling by rail, except on the Scotch expresses.
They are simply tied up among the parcels in the
guard's van, an inconvenient and objectionable practice.
Sheep suffer less than cattle on railway journeys. Being
lower in the legs and addicted to huddling together,
they are sheltered by the sides of the truck from the
draught and dust, and keep each other warm. Prize
rams and sheep travel in the guard's van, and often
become quite experts at railway journeying. They
jump in, lie down, and jump out with very little
persuasion. One celebrated old ram who lives on the
Great Western line, knows his own station and the
porter who usually detrains him as well as a dog
would, and when hailed by his railway friend, jumps
208 THE CARRIAGE OF ANIMALS
up, gives himself a shake, and bounds out of the
carriage on to the platform when released by the
guard.
Pigs frequently die of chill after railway journeys in
the open trucks. In place of these there should be
special covered-in pig-vans. As pigs huddle close
together, and take little room, the slight increase in cost
of carriage would be more than compensated. Of all
animals pigs are the most tiresome to ' carry ' by any
form of conveyance. Lifting a pig into a dealer's cart
is one of the tragedies of village life. He is heavy,
dirty, and active. He ' makes a stiff back ' like a baby,
his hoofs are sharp, he seems as muscular as a salmon,
and his yells and screams are distracting. Custom
insists that he shall be held and partly lifted by his tail.
This adds to his resentment. When once up in the
cart a net is fastened over him, and he usually settles
down in such a position as to spoil the balance of the
trap as far as possible. From the horse's point of view a
pig is always the worst possible passenger. A celebrated
Suffolk dealer, after lifting pigs for some twenty years
into his cart, actually hit on the grand idea of having a
low cart built, hanging within a couple of feet of the
ground. Into this quite a small herd could be driven,
not lifted, and he could stand up and drive it with the
pigs wedged tight all round his legs. When a herd of
lean pigs are destined for a journey by rail, the question
THE CARRIAGE OF ANIMALS 209
of transfer from carts to truck is a serious one. They
are often placed in a pig-yard in districts where there is
much demand for their transport, and { driven on board.'
Recently the writer found the staff of a station on a
Western line of railway dispersed in various directions
up and down the line, equipped with lanterns, and in
pursuit of seven pigs which had escaped from a truck.
It is to the credit of the porters that all of the truants
were caught except one, who met his death by collision
with an 'up express.'
This incident may be compared with the adventures
of a pedigree bull despatched early this summer to the
Isle of Wight. The animal was shipped at Ports-
mouth in one of the small sailing boats which still
play the part of carriers' vans between the mainland
and the island. The bull was in charge of a man,
who held it by a chain fastened to a ring in its nose.
When half way across the Solent the chain broke,
and the bull was loose in this open lugger, with four
or five passengers, trusses of hay, luggage, potato-
casks, and the rest of the assorted cargo. Fortunately,
it was an imaginative bull ; the man in charge fastened
a piece of string to the ring, jerked it, and the bull,
which was showing a disposition to walk about the
boat, became submissive, under the impression that he
was still chained.
Calves, lambs, turkeys and swans are usually carried by
14
210 THE CARRIAGE OF ANIMALS
rail or boat in crates. This is perhaps the most humane
way of moving them, for they have not to be driven or
handled. An axis-deer recently brought from France
was enclosed in a large wooden case, with flat boarded
bars. It smashed this, though its horns were sawn off,
and got loose in the guard's van. Then it attacked the
guard, who had to escape on the footboard and stop the
train till the creature was secured. An Indian buffalo
presented to the Zoological Society by a Rajah on a
visit to this country was taken there in a parcel-post van
with its head stretching out at the back. Birds are by
no means so easy to carry securely as might be imagined.
Pigeons often fight when confined in baskets, and birds
for showing are sent in low hampers with V-shaped
partitions, in each of which a pigeon is stowed away.
Prize fowls are placed in tall open-work baskets, in
which they can stand upright. Parrots are bad travellers.
They generally seize the side of any box or basket in
which they are placed with their beaks. This is in
order to hold on when carried. Soon they rather like
the sensation, and steadily eat a hole in their box. To
avoid this a wooden perch should be fastened to the
bottom of whatever receptacle they are placed in.
Canaries and small birds are often carried in the large
cages in which they live. This is a mistake. They are
more comfortable and more easily carried in the small
close cages which bird-catchers use when travelling.
THE CARRIAGE OF ANIMALS 211
Cats and all small animals should always travel in a
hamper, with hay or flannel at the bottom and a lining
of thick brown paper on the sides, though not covering
the top. This prevents their seeing through the hamper
and keeps them quiet, while it protects them from
draughts when waiting on the station platforms.
142
XXIX. TRESPASSING ANIMALS
AT a Parish Council recently held to consider the
Jubilee bonfires, it was suggested that there should also
be a Jubilee restoration of the parish pound. It was
successfully urged against this that, since the Inclosure
Act, animals have ceased to trespass, and that the
proposal was as retrograde as one to renew the parish
stocks. This view is incorrect both in fact and theory ;
for enclosure really tempts to trespass, and the desire
to do so is as deeply rooted in animal as in human
nature. When people trespass in order to kill someone
else's game, or to take apples, or birds' eggs, or flowers
which do not belong to them, the act is naturally
regarded with severity. But most human trespassing
is done in order to enjoy nice places which are the
property of other people, to luxuriate in open spaces
instead of keeping to the road, and to gratify a lawless
desire for aesthetic and physical expansion. Children
trespass in order to run about and pick flowers ; older
people usually allege that * they only wanted to look '
212
TRESPASSING ANIMALS 213
which is partly true, and is in some degree an
apology for intrusion. It is this which tempts people
to invade the nice shady lawns of riverside houses ; to
stray off footpaths into the mowing grass ; and to walk
into cool college quads, where they imagine (wrongly)
that they are trespassing. It even led to Mr. Pickwick
being wheeled to the pound. There are those who say
that the knowledge that the invader has no right to
be there adds to the pleasure of trespass. We doubt
it greatly. But we have no doubt at all that many
animals are perfectly aware of the illegal side of
trespass ; that they know that it is naughty and dis-
allowed, and that in doing so they are contravening
the rights of property. This, of course, involves the
supposition that animals understand property not only
in things but land. There are many ' leading cases '
to prove this, the commonest being the vigour with
which dogs drive any strange animal out of their
master's garden. Dogs are so well aware of the whole
moral and legal aspects of trespass, that when once they
have made up their minds to it they actually trade on
the knowledge that their owner has a conscience, though
they have not. We have noticed this in great perfec-
tion in the case of canine trespass on the grass circles
in the front of a semi-public building in London.
This delectable piece of grass is divided from the road
by a high railing, but the gate usually stands open.
2i 4 TRESPASSING ANIMALS
Dogs, passing with maids on their way to do shopping,
or with children out for a walk, after some recon-
noitring, dash in and have delightful games on these
grass-plots, with rolling over, racing round, and general
high jinks. The maids and children, being shy, and
not liking to trespass, stand at the gate, call, whistle,
and implore. But the dogs go on just the same. This
is a common form of dog trespass. Its meaner side
was painfully shown in the following case. Most well-
brought-up small boys, who are naturally much tempted
to trespass, are so lectured and frightened with stories
of policemen that they are quite nervous on the subject.
One such small boy, attended by a collie dog, was
passing, when the dog ran in at the gate, and, being
instantly joined by a friend, proceeded to race and play
on the grass. The good little boy stood at the gate
and whistled till the tears ran down his cheeks with
anxiety. But his dog took not the slightest notice.
He only played harder with his friend. At last the
boy walked gingerly in on the path, and came up to
the edge of the turf on which the dog was playing.
To trespass further than that was more than the boy's
conscience would permit ; so he stood by the edge of
this grass as if it were a pond of water too deep to
venture into. The dog saw and took instant advantage
of his scruples. He played on in his grass circle just
as boldly as before, while the poor boy drifted round
TRESPASSING ANIMALS 215
the edge, holding out his hand, calling, whistling, and
imploring, but in vain. Then the door of a lodge
opened, and a pitying porter came to the rescue. He
had hardly stepped out of his lodge when the two dogs
grasped the situation and bolted, leaving the boy to any
fate which their wickedness had laid up for him.
Such shocking examples of animal law-breaking must
not be confounded with the wish to obtain liberty
which prompts donkeys to undo knots on gates with
their teeth, or horses to open the latch of their stables
with their lips and noses. Cats also invade all gardens
and roofs at will ; but that is because they feel they
have a right to go where they please. Pigs, on the
other hand, are inveterate trespassers from their earliest
infancy. They inherit this from the wild pigs, which
will travel many miles every night to explore new
feeding-grounds, and return by dawn to their day-
haunt. Little pigs trespass mainly from a spirit of
adventure and inquiry, That is what makes it almost
impossible to keep a litter of pigs anywhere near a
country house. They organize trespassing parties,
which grow bolder daily. One day they come round
and look at the back-door. The next day one runs
into the passage, and pokes his nose into the kitchen.
In time they find some open door, and turn up un-
expectedly on the tennis-lawn, or raid the bulbs in the
crocus-beds. In the course of their travels they eat
216 TRESPASSING ANIMALS
all they find which is edible, though this is an incident,
not a motive, of their trespass. Here we must tell a
story which should be added to the many moral tales
for children of which good and bad pigs are the heroes.
A litter of small pigs escaped from their yard by
squeezing through the gap left by a broken paling.
In the course of a delightful ramble they found much
food, of which they ate immoderately. Being dis-
covered, they fled for refuge to their sty ; but their
greediness had, for the time, so increased the girth of
their bodies, that only the smallest could squeeze back
again into the sty, and the rest, after making most
painful efforts to do so, were obliged to remain outside.
Older pigs trespass to obtain food, and are expert at
breaking through fences ; but their omnivorous taste
in food makes them, as a rule, contented to roam
round the farmyard and buildings. Cattle feeding
entirely on grass are much given to raiding neighbour-
ing fields in which the herbage is better than in their
own, and, in addition, often trespass from some innate
liking for the act. Their ingenuity and perseverance
in effecting an entry to the ground they propose to
trespass on is remarkable. They will wait for hours
and watch a gate until someone passes through it, when
they at once walk up and try it to see if the latch has
been left unfastened. As might be expected, Irish cows
have this 'land hunger' and trespassing instinct de-
A TRESPASSING PARTY. From a drawing by Lancelot Speed.
TRESPASSING ANIMALS 217
veloped in a high degree. We have seen little black
Kerry cows go down on their knees that being the
first movement when a cow lies down, and therefore
quite familiar to them as a means of ' stooping ' and
literally creep under the chains suspended between a
row of posts which divided them from a lawn on which
they desired to walk. Bulls are even greater trespassers,
though rougher in their methods. Some bulls always
smash the gate of any field they are kept in. Others
use gentler methods, and turn up in most unlikely
places. A young bull and heifer in the Isle of Wight
got out of a field, and were found together next
morning in a ground-floor room of an empty house.
This bull had a taste for midnight trespassing, and
on one occasion found its way into a field, where it
bellowed loudly. Its owner, thinking that a cow was
ill, went with a lamp to see what was the matter. The
lamp was extinguished with some haste when he dis-
covered who the visitor was.
Trespass by birds sounds like a paradox, for it
suggests an exclusive claim to the use of the air above
the owner's property. As a fact, certain birds are
inveterate and wilful trespassers, but they nearly always
trespass on foot. The greatest offenders are ducks,
geese, and guinea-fowls and chickens, all of which are
quite aware, or very soon learn, when they are on
forbidden ground, but are only too eager to go there
2i8 TRESPASSING ANIMALS
when there is anything to be got by it. A country
rector, on seeing his neighbour's ducks and a couple
of geese walking for the tenth day in succession
through his meadow-grass on their way to his straw-
berry-beds, remarked with resignation that he supposed
he must have a wooden fence put up. ' No, sir, no,'
replied his gardener bitterly ; ' you aren't obliged to
keep no fence against them things as flies! The force
of this remark on the futility of building a wall to
keep out birds was unanswerable, and sounded like the
basis of natural law as to bird trespass. Instances in
which animals recognise or maintain rights to certain
ground against other animals are not common. A dog
will turn trespassing cattle out of his master's corn
without orders, but he seldom asserts a personal right
to more than his own bed or kennel. This he defends
vigorously. The keenness with which the Constan-
tinople street-dogs reserve their own particular quarter,
sometimes limited by an arbitrary boundary, such as
the centre of a street, one side of which belongs to one
set of dogs, and another to another, is an instance to
the contrary. But, except in the case of the large
carnivora, both beasts and birds, there is little dis-
position to assert a right to definite areas, and c careful-
ness being least in that which is common to most,'
there can be no resentment of trespass where there is
no feeling for property.
XXX. DO ANIMALS TALK?
IF animals talk, as we are convinced that they do, to the
limited extent of conveying wishes or facts by sounds,
their speech ought to conform to the divisions of human
speech. There must, in fact, be an c animal grammar,'
in the terms of which they express themselves. It is
no bad test of the assertion that animal speech exists to
apply the old formal divisions of the grammarians to
the instances in which they appear to c voice ' their
thoughts, and ascertain by trial whether the forms into
which the human speech has been divided fit the latter.
The time-honoured divisions of speech are (i) statement
of fact; (2) request, including commands; (3) question.
It is not to be supposed that the very limited range and
simple character of animal wants and ideas would
necessarily bring into play the whole of this category of
articulate speech. But, as a fact, they do need to use
all three forms of expression, but omit the last. Unlike
children, animals do not ask questions. They only
' look ' them, and though they constantly and anxiously
219
220 DO ANIMALS TALK?
inquire what is to be done, how it is to be done, and
the exact wishes of their masters, and occasionally even
of other animals, the inquiry is made by the eye and
attitude. A terrier, for instance, can almost transform
his whole body into an animated note of interrogation.
Of the two remaining forms of speech statement
and request the animals make very large use, but
employ the latter in a far greater degree than the
former. They use sounds for request, not only in par-
ticular cases in which they desire something to be done
for them, but also in a great number of cases in which
the request is a form of warning : ' Come !' ' Be
careful! 1 ' Look out!' 'Go ahead!' 'Help!' The
speech which indicates danger is sufficiently differenti-
ated. Birds, for instance, have separate notes of warn-
ing to indicate whether the danger is in the form of a
hawk or cat, or of a man. If a hawk, cat, or owl is on
the move, the birds, especially blackbirds, always utter a
clattering note, constantly repeated, and chickens have
a special sound to indicate the presence of a hawk.
But when disturbed by man the blackbirds have quite a
different sound of alarm and the chickens also. Animals
on the march are usually silent; but the hamadryad
baboons use several words of command ; and the cries
of cranes and geese when flying in ordered flocks are
very possibly signals or orders.
Specific requests are commonly made by a sound,
DO ANIMALS TALK? 221
which the animal intends to be taken as expressing
a want, while it indicates what it wants by showing
the object. The greatest difficulty is when the object
wanted, or required to be dealt with, is not present.
The animal has then to induce you to follow and see
the thing, and this often leads to great ingenuity both
in the use of voice and action. This form of request is
practised more or less successfully by a considerable
number of the animals kept as pets or servants of man.
Various monkeys, geese, a goat, a ewe with a lamb,
elephants, cats very commonly, and dogs innumerable,
are credited with c accosting ' persons, and bringing to
their notice by vocal means the objects they desire or
the actions they wish done. A most ingeniously con-
structed request of this kind was made a few years ago
by a retriever dog late one night in London. The
streets were empty; and the dog came up and, after
wagging his tail, began to bark, using not the rowdy
bark which dogs employ when jumping at a horse's
head or when excited, but the persuasive and con-
fidential kind of bark which is used in requests and
reproaches. He was very insistent, especially when a
small, dark passage was reached, up which he ran, still
barking. As this did not answer, the dog ran back,
took the writer's hand, in which he was carrying his
glove, in his mouth, and gave a gentle pull in the direc-
tion of the passage. As this did not meet with the
222 DO ANIMALS TALK?
attention desired, the dog pulled the glove out of the
hand and carried it off up the passage, keeping a few
yards in front and waving its tail in a friendly way ;
this naturally led to pursuit, when the dog, still keeping
ahead, dropped the glove in front of a gate leading into
a butcher's yard, and began to bark again. As it
obviously wanted the gate to be opened, this was done,
and it trotted in without further remark. Everyone
who has kept dogs knows the tone of the bark of
request a low * wouf,' very unlike the staccato bark of
anger, or vexation, or remonstrance. A bulldog at the
Earl's Court Dog Show made his particular part of the
bench almost unendurable by this form of bark, kept
up (as we heard) for nearly three hours without a stop,
because he was jealous of the attentions paid to the dog
next him. This had won the first prize, and conse-
quently received all the admiration ; so the other dog
barked short, sharp, incessant yelps at him all day long,
only stopping when some one patted him. We believe
that leopards are absolutely silent creatures ; but many
of the felidae have a particular sound of request. In the
cat a very short c mew ' is commonly used when the object
is near, and will almost certainly be granted, such as
the opening of the door, or the giving of water or milk.
Unusual food which it fancies it will not get is asked
for in another note ; and any request not attended to is
repeated in the different key. The tiger uses the low
DO ANIMALS TALK? 223
' mew ' in some form of conversation with the tigress ;
and the puma when domesticated has a considerable
range of notes to ask for food, water, and society, or
to return thanks ; the latter being, as in the case of the
cat and tiger, a kind of purr.
'Statement' in animal speech is mainly confined to
indications that the creature has made a discovery, good
or bad. For the former the cock has, perhaps, the
most distinct set of sounds; they are quite unlike any
other note he uses, and are confined to the assertion
that he has found something good to eat. Cock
pigeons do the same, and we imagine that geese have
an equivalent sound. Dogs have two forms of sound
to state a discovery, elephants only one. The dog
barks loud and sharply over something new, or merely
surprising. We have seen a dog barking in this way
when a couple of geographical globes were placed in a
window -objects he had never seen and wished to call
attention to. But a painful discovery, such as that of a
dead body, or a dangerously wounded man, is some-
times communicated by the dog howling, which marks
a different form of speech. A practical acquaintance
with shore shooting and the men who have learnt to
imitate the notes of shore birds discloses some curious
facts as to the minute differences between the ' talk ' of
different species. The greater number have a particular
note which signifies * Come '; and this note seems
224 DO ANIMALS TALK?
always to be understood and generally obeyed, almost
instantly, by the birds of the same species, though no
bird of another species pays the slightest attention to it.
But the few shore birds which are really ' talkative '
namely, the wild geese, the redshank, and the green
plover pay very little attention to the calls either of
their own species or of anyone who can imitate them.
We never heard of anyone who has ever tried to ' call '
wild geese. Green plover can be called, but very
seldom ; and though redshanks can sometimes be
whistled within shot, this is rarely done.
The difference between the notes of invitation made
by various shore fowl stints, gray plover, golden
plover, ringed plover, knots, and sandpipers is so
slight that no one but a fowler would notice it.
Yet to these men the difference is as great as that
between the sound of French and English. A really
first-class gunner will sit in a creek in August and call
the birds up, if within hearing and inclined to move, in
any order you like to name. Even such closely allied
birds as the curlew and the whimbrel have different
notes, though, as they are so often associated on the
marshes, one species will often answer to the call made
by the other, probably in the expectation of finding
some of its own tribe in the same place. It is not a
little surprising that these different birds, most of
which feed in company, should not have learnt a
DO ANIMALS TALK? 225
common ' all-fowls' tongue/ but they have not. 5 * We
once saw a large mixed flock of gray plover, knots,
and stints flying past on the muds, at a distance of some
ninety yards. A gunner noticed that there were two
or three golden plover amongst them. These are easy
to call ; and all fowl are more likely to answer to the
call when only two or three of the same species are
together. The gunner, therefore, whistled the golden
plovers' note, and out from the big flock of some sixty
birds the pair of golden plovers instantly flew, wheeled
round, and passed within fifty yards, answering the call
in their own language. Perhaps the best instance of
the dexterity of the gunners in learning bird-language
was recently recorded in the Westminster Gazette. It
is credited to a fowler who shot the only specimen of
the broad-billed sandpiper ever killed in Norfolk.
When down on the muds listening to the notes of the
shore birds he distinguished one which he did not
know. He imitated it, the bird answered, flew up to
him, and was shot. It does not follow that talkative,
garrulous species really have more to say to one another
than others. Like other chatterboxes, they like to hear
themselves, and do not listen to other people. Starlings,
for instance, which seem almost to talk, and certainly
* In Mr. Tegetmeier's work on pheasants, it is noted that
young golden pheasants bred under hens go gaping about for a
day or two, as if stupid, before learning hens* language.
15
226 DO ANIMALS TALK?
can imitate other birds when engaged in their curious
4 song/ which seems so like a conversational variety
entertainment, are all the time enjoying a monologue.
No other starling listens. On the other hand, starlings,
when they have anything to say, as when nesting, or
quarrelling for places when going to roost, use quite
different notes. Of all bird-voices the song of the
swallow is most like human speech not our speech,
but like the songs which the Lapps or such outlandish
races sing. A Lapp woman sings a song just like that
of a swallow at dawn. Yet the swallows seem really to
say little or nothing to one another, and never come to
each other's call. But the varieties of bird-speech, and
the possibilities of interchange of ideas, are very great.
If, for instance, there is any real foundation for the
stories of the rook-trials and stork-trials, speech must
play a considerable part in the proceedings.
XXXI. ANIMALS UNDERGROUND
AN interesting find of buried treasure has recently been
credited to a mole. Coins were seen shining in the
earth of a freshly cast-up mole-hill at Penicuick, near
Edinburgh, and a search showed that the mole had
driven his gallery through a hoard of ancient coins of
the date of Edward I.
Men of all countries seem agreed in regarding the
work of animals underground as something quite normal
and commonplace. Perhaps the best instance of this
was the view long held by the Ostiaks of North Siberia
that the mammoths whose bodies and bones they found
embedded in the frozen soil were * only ' gigantic moles
which worked deep down below ground, but were
unlucky enough to come too near the top, and so were
frozen ! The facts are, however, in very strong con-
tradiction to this view of the subterranean life of
animals. Life underground and in the dark is abso-
lutely contrary to the normal habits, tastes, and struc-
ture of almost all animals except the very few, like the
22 7 152
228 ANIMALS UNDERGROUND
common moles, tuco-tuco, and the marsupial sand-moles,
which obtain their food below the earth-surface as
diving birds catch fish below the sea-surface. It is
almost an inversion of their normal way of life, and is
probably due to some such compulsion as has also
forced many animals ' to become nocturnal. Nor is it
doubtful that if once this necessity were removed, their
tendency would be to abandon this unnatural life, and
return to the regions of light. How strong the pressure
must have been which forced them underground may be
gathered from the list of English terrestrial mammals.
Twelve of these are bats ; but of the remaining twenty-
nine no less than sixteen, or more than half, live either
wholly or partly underground. The list includes the
fox, three shrews, the mole, the badger, the otter, three
species of mice, two rats, three voles, and the rabbit.
Besides there are several species of birds, as widely
different in habit as the stormy petrel, sand-martin,
puffin, sheldrake duck, and kingfisher, which for a
time live in holes excavated in the earth. To abandon
the sun, to bask in whose rays is to most animals one
of the most agreeable of physical enjoyments, is an
almost greater sacrifice than the relinquishment of fresh
air. Yet the sacrifice is made, and the creatures, though
not without occasional suffering and loss of health
directly attributable to this cause, have succeeded in
adapting themselves with great success to the new con-
ANIMALS UNDERGROUND 229
ditions. It might well be that the measure of this
success decreased in proportion to the completeness
with which the different species have adopted the
underground habit and abandoned light and air. But
in normal conditions this is not the case. The fox,
whom we take to be the last of English mammals to
become a burrower and dweller in holes largely owing
to the increase of fox-hunting and multiplication of
packs of hounds is an animal which spends as little
time there as it can help, and has never ceased to suffer
in health from the change. The earths become tainted,
the foxes contract mange, and the spread of this fatal
disease has increased yearly as the animals have become
more subterranean, and, by taking their food into the
earths, have converted them into larders as well as
sleeping-places. How most of the burrowing animals
find life endurable at all is difficult to discover. No
one who has seen the colliers coming for their lamps
and about to descend into the pit can have failed to
note the marks of physical strain exhibited by all, from
old men to boys. As each man or lad comes up and
shouts the number of his lamp, the harsh, loud voices,
the over- wrought lines of the face, and the general air
of tension show that, however well satisfied the pitman
is with his calling, he at least is not yet adapted to the
underground life. But burrowing animals are among
the merriest of the merry ; there are few creatures
230 ANIMALS UNDERGROUND
more full of gaiety and buoyant spirits than a prairie-
dog, or even a sandhill-rabbit ; and we have only once
seen an animal grimy from attempted burrowing, and
that was an opossum which mistook a chimney for a
hole in a hollow tree. Some have coats so close and
fine that sand runs off them as water does from
feathers ; others have ' shivering muscles,' by which
they can shake their jackets without taking them off.
Rats, however, do object to some forms of dust, and
will not burrow in it. An old Suffolk rat-catcher
always laid ashes in the runs made by them beneath
brick floors. His theory on the subject was that the
ashes * fared to make them snuffle/ But even if earth,
dust, and clay do not adhere to the animals' coats when
burrowing, the danger, or at least the discomfort, to the
delicate surface of the eye would seem to afford an
almost constant source of uneasiness to creatures
burrowing in loose soil. And the eyes of most burrow-
ing creatures are by no means protected against such
damage. If the rat and the rabbit had a horn plate
over their eyes, as a snake has, or overhanging eye-
brows and deeply-sunk orbits, the modifications would
be at once explained by evolution ; but they exhibit
no such modification whatever. On the contrary, both
of them have prominent, rather staring eyes, without
protection, and no eyelashes to speak of. We believe
that, just as divers learn to keep their eyes open under
ANIMALS UNDERGROUND 231
water without feeling pain, so many of the mining
animals can endure the presence of dust and grit on
the eye without discomfort. Tame rats will allow dust
or fine sand to rest on the eyeball without trying to
remove it ; and it may be inferred that rabbits, mice,
voles and shrews can do the same. The mole's eyes
have become so atrophied, that when a mole is skinned
the eyes come off with the skin ; but this is probably not
because the mining hurts the eye, but because the mole,
having learnt to work by scent and touch, had little
further use for sight.
Ventilation, or rather the want of it, must be another
difficulty in the underground life of almost all mammals.
The rabbit and the rat secure a current of air by form-
ing a bolt-hole in connection with their system of
passages ; but the fox, the badger, and many of the
field voles and mice seem indifferent to any such pre-
caution. There is no doubt that whatever gave the
first impulse to burrow, many animals look upon this,
to us, most unpleasant exertion as a form of actual
amusement. It also confers a right of property.
Prairie-dogs constantly set to work to dig holes merely
for the love of the thing. If they cannot have a suit-
able place to exercise their talent in, they will gnaw
into boxes or chests of drawers, and there burrow, to the
great detriment of the clothes therein contained. In an
enclosed prairie-dog c town ' they have been known to
***
232 ANIMALS UNDERGROUND
mine until the superincumbent earth collapsed and
buried the greater number. A young prairie-dog let
loose in a small gravel-floored house instantly dug a
hole large enough to sit in, turned round in it, and bit
the first person who attempted to touch him. Property
gave him courage, for before he had been as meek as a
mouse.
It is noticeable that the two weakest and least
numerous of our mice, the dormouse and the harvest-
mouse, do not burrow, but make nests ; and that these
do not multiply or maintain their numbers like the
burrowing mice and voles. But the fact that there are
members of very closely allied species, some of which
do burrow, while others do not, seems to indicate that
the habit is an acquired one. In this connection it is
worth noting that many animals which do not burrow
at other times form burrows in which to conceal and
protect their young, or, if they do burrow, make a
different kind, of a more elaborate character. Among
these nursery burrows are those of the dog, the fox, the
sand-martin, the kingfisher, and the sheldrake. Fox-
hound litters never do so well as when the mother is
allowed to make a burrow on the sunny side of a straw-
stack. In time she will work this five feet or six feet
into the stack, and keep the puppies at the far end,
while she lies in the entrance. Vixens either dig or
appropriate a clean burrow for their cubs, which is a
ANIMALS UNDERGROUND 233
natural habit, or, at any rate, one acquired previously
to the use of earths by adult foxes.
The sand-martins are, however, the most complete
examples of creatures which have taken to underground
life entirely to protect their young, and abandon it with
joy the instant these have flown. How far the king-
fisher and the sheldrake contribute to the making of
the burrows in which they lay their eggs is doubtful,
but it is a very notable change of habit in birds of such
strong flight and open-air, active habits. It may be
paralleled by the case of the stormy petrels and fork-
tailed petrels, true ocean birds, which, nevertheless,
abandon the sea and air to dig deep holes in the soil of
the Hebridean islets, and rear their young in these
dark and tortuous passages. Rabbits, rats, and some
other rodents make nursery burrows of a very rudi-
mentary kind, having only one opening, which the
mothers close up when leaving the nest. This probably
gives the clue to the process by which the true 4 under-
ground animals ' have been evolved. First they scratched
holes in which to shelter their young. Then they made
use of the same device to protect themselves, and
acquired much greater skill in working, and some
modifications of coats and claws to do this with comfort
and effect. In time the habit became so easy that its
exercise afforded them pleasure ; and thus we have
the spectacle of the prairie-dog who digs holes for
234 ANIMALS UNDERGROUND
amusement. Another primitive instinct may also have
contributed to develop the burrowing habit, namely,
that of burying food. Dogs will scratch rudimentary
burrows to do this, and there is no doubt that the rats,
hamsters, field- voles, and other rodents felt the burrow-
ing impulse in this connection. Some tame rats kept in
a cage where they could not burrow were recently seen
to cover their food up with small pebbles, which they
fetched from the floor ; but had it been possible to
make a hole and so secrete it, they would no doubt
have done so.
XXXIL MAMMALS IN THE WATER
THE Zoo otters have conformed to the universal
tendency to extend the range of diet by eating
ship-biscuit as well as fish. They make believe that
it is fish all the time, biting the biscuit into fragments,
then pushing these into the water with their noses,
chasing them and catching them, and, after the biscuit
is well saturated, eating it on the bank. Incidentally,
this shows how very prettily an otter eats its meals. It
lies flat down, and holds the * fish ' neatly between its
hands, ' thumbs upwards/ the hands being quite flat,
like the two ends of a book-slide. The quickness and
handiness of the otter in the water is most surprising,
considering the very slight difference in general form
between it and allied non-amphibious mammals ; there
is practically nothing which a salmon or trout can do
which the otter cannot beat, except the salmon's leap up
a weir. It can even imitate that astonishing * shoot ' by
which a trout goes off" from its feeding-place like an
arrow to the bank or weeds. It can also climb a
235
236 MAMMALS IN THE WATER
pollard-tree, dig holes, dive in salt water, travel fast on
land, and run at the bottom of the water.
Compared with the aquatic powers of civilized man
the only mammal, except a monkey, which does not
swim naturally these feats are very surprising ; but
the list of land animals which are expert swimmers is
very much larger than might be supposed. It also
embraces many classes of animals, and the number of
the aquatic or semi-aquatic members of very different
families suggests that the aquatic habit was at first only
accidental, and that very many creatures which do not
by habit swim and dive might, under other circum-
stances, have become aquatic. Judging from our own
experience, one of the most difficult * adaptations '
of habit encountered in the amphibious life is that
of keeping the eyes open under water, with no special
protection. It is disagreeable in fresh and painful in
salt water. Conceding that the really amphibious
creatures have learnt to do this gradually otters,
water-voles, water-shrews, polar bears, and seals
how are we to account for the aquatic dexterity ot
a creature like the land-rat ? A common brown rat
can see under water as well as a water-rat can ; it
swims and dives equally well, and can burrow into a
bank below the water. This is less creditable engineer-
ing than the sub-aquatic work of the beaver, which
buries logs and fixes the foundations of the dam under
MAMMALS IN THE WATER 237
water, but it shows that the rat is quite at home in that
element. The rat has no structural adaptation of any
kind to help him, and the water-vole is to all appearance
the same in structure as the land-vole. That there
should be so little modification is quite contrary to
the ancient and established view that if an animal can
swim and dive it must be like a duck or a fish. When
Fuller was writing of the ' natural commodities ' of
Cardiganshire, he remarked : * What plenty there was
of beavers in this country in the days of Giraldus ; the
breed of them is now quite destroyed, and neither the
fore- foot of a beaver (which is like a dog's) nor the
hind-foot (which is like a goose's) can be seen therein.'
But the performances of the creatures, which are little
or not at all changed in structure, are perhaps more
interesting from the personal point of view of their
human critics than those of animals like the seals,
walruses, and whales, whose legs have turned into fins.
Their experiences and difficulties in the water ought to
be somewhat like our own. The surprising point is
that most forms of movement in the water seem to
present to them no difficulty at all. Very young otters
are ' taught ' to go into the water, and so, presumably,
are the young duckbills, which lie in a subterranean nest
for several weeks before entering the water. But the
young otters at the Zoo were hauled out by their
mothers when they stayed in too long. They swam
238 MAMMALS IN THE WATER
like young ducks, and the teaching was by example,
not instruction. When master of the art, the otter
swims, not with all four feet, but with the hind-feet,
folding the front paws alongside its body. Mr. Trevor-
Battye has noticed that the water-voles do the same.
This agrees with the progress of human swimmers,
who usually begin by making too much use of the
arms and too little of the legs, but discover later on
that the latter are the main aids in swimming either on
or below the surface. The otters are so far modified
from the polecat tribe that they have webbed toes ; the
water-voles have not even this advantage over their
land relations. It ought to follow from this that the
latter could, with a little trouble, become aquatic.
There is a great deal of evidence to show that there is
no hard-and-fast line between land mammals and water
mammals, so far as this distinction rests on the ability
to use both elements. Stoats, for instance, are excellent
swimmers, and, if put to it for food, would probably
learn to catch fish just as the polecat is known to catch
eels. Cats, which have an intense dislike of wet, swim
well, carrying the head high. Their distaste for aquatics
does not extend to the larger cats. Tigers are fond
of bathing, swim fast, and the c river tigers ' of the
Sunderbunds, and the tigers near the coast of the
Straits of Malacca, are constantly noticed in the water.
"Whether the trained Egyptian cats which were used to
TV
'* *
MAMMALS IN THE WATER 239
take waterfowl in the reed-beds by the Nile ever swam
when stalking them does not appear from the ancient
pictures ; but the extent to which the dog voluntarily
becomes aquatic entitles some breeds to be considered
amphibious. A dog belonging to a waterman living
near one of the Thames ferries has been known to
continue swimming out in the stream for an hour
without coming to land. It did this for amusement on
a fine Sunday morning. Another riverside dog was
taught to dive, and fetch up stones thrown in which
sank to the bottom. This dog would pick out stones
from the bottom of a bucket of water, selecting one
which it had been shown before from a number of
others. It had so far become amphibious that it could
use its eyes under water. In France otter-hound
puppies are introduced to their aquatic life by setting
their kettle of soup in a pond or stream, so that they
must go in deep to feed. Soon they become as fast
swimmers on the surface as the otter itself, though the
physical advantages of submarine motion give the otter
the advantage when it is below the surface.
As the land-rats and water-voles can swim and run
below water, there is no reason to suppose that the
various tribes of mice cannot do the same. The house-
mouse swims on the surface as well as the rat, but it
has, apparently, not yet learnt to dive. All the pachy-
derms can swim, and very many are as much at home
240 MAMMALS IN THE WATER
in the water as on land. The story that pigs cut their
own throats when swimming is a myth. To prove it, a
whole family of pink pigs were chased into a fine muddy
pond, and made to swim across. They swam well, and
the * contour line ' of mud along their sides showed that
their backs were above water as well as their heads.
Elephants are almost as clever in the water as the
polar bears. They can swim and walk under water
without coming to the surface, keeping the trunk out
of the water like a diver's tube. There is plenty of
flexibility in an elephant's legs, enough, at all events, to
use in swimming ; but the properly aquatic hippo-
potamus can scarcely be said to swim it rises and
sinks at will, but it habitually walks or runs on the
ground at the bottom of the river. Two South
American river creatures seem unaccountably aquatic
the coypu, which might just as well be a land-rat,
but is a water-rat in the process of becoming a
beaver, and the capybara, which is a gigantic water
guinea-pig. Each is quite at home in the rivers, and,
as the capybara is aquatic, there seems no reason why
the guinea-pigs or the Patagonian cavies should not
learn to swim and dive, if circumstances made it useful.
Even man himself becomes almost amphibious in certain
regions. Temperature permitting, he swims as well
and dives better than many of the animals mentioned
above better, for instance, than any dogs. The Greek
MAMMALS IN THE WATER 241
sponge-fishers and the Arab divers must have sight
almost as keen below water as that of the sea-otter.
They have even learnt by practice to control the con-
sumption of the air-supply in their lungs. The usual
time for a hippopotamus to remain below water is five
minutes. The pearl-fisher can remain below for two
and a half minutes. In a tank a diver has remained
under water four minutes. But temperature marks the
limits of man's amphibious habits. Its effects seem less
potent on other mammals in the water. The hairless
amphibious beasts of the tropics hippos, tapirs,
elephants, and manatees need warm waters to swim in ;
but in temperate Europe, or even in the Arctic seas,
certain animals seem indifferent to constant wet, and the
intense discomfort of * wet clothes ' when out of the
water. A polar bear is wet, literally, to the skin. The
otters, though they have an inner coat, look thoroughly
drabbled when out of the water. The land -rat's
coat also becomes wet through. The latter avoids
water in cold weather ; but the otters sit cheerfully
on the bank in winter frosts or even in wind. So
do the Zoo beavers, but their lower fur is probably
impervious to wet. A piece of beaver fur, with the
long coat taken off, was dry at the roots after soaking
for two and a half hours in a basin. If the temperature
of aquatic animals were naturally low, like that of a fish,
their indifference might be explained. A hibernating
16
242 MAMMALS IN THE WATER
dormouse is as cold as death ; a tame rat, tested by a
clinical thermometer, showed a temperature of one
hundred degrees, and a live otter can scarcely be of
lower temperature than a live cat or a Cape ratel. The
Zoo caution, ' These animals bite/ precludes any effort
at taking their normal heat ; but that of a rat, which
takes to the water freely when the March winds are
blowing, is normal, and there is no reason to suppose
that that of the otter is different.
As chill to the surface tissues is always dangerous to
warm-blooded creatures, in the absence of an inner
layer of fat which the whale, and, in some degree, the
polar bear, possesses, the fur must be the non-conductor
which protects them. Water, unless in movement, is
not a quick conductor of heat. The fur, aided by the
outer and longer hairs which keep it in place, holds the
water-jacket motionless, even if it reaches to the skin,
and this ' water compress ' saves the animal from a chill.
If the cold winds extract the warmth from it when
standing wet through on land, it takes to the water as
the relatively warmer element.
XXXIIL CROCODILES
MR. E. STEWART, in a paper in the Contemporary
Review on crocodile-shooting, contributes much in-
teresting information as to the numbers and habits
of these creatures in India. The largest and most
dangerous to human life of the Indian species is the
salt-water crocodile of the estuaries (C. porosus). This
sometimes reaches thirty feet in length, and cruises for its
prey like a shark, occasionally swimming some distance
out to sea. But the creature with which Mr. Stewart
is mainly concerned is the marsh crocodile, the ' mugger '
of the inland rivers. Its numbers are very great, and
do not diminish. On one small river, the Tiljooga in
Tirhoot, a stream not more than ten or twelve yards
broad, but very deep, crocodiles might be seen every
sixty yards, singly or in groups, which took toll of
men, dogs, and cattle, as well as fish. What a curse
they are to the inhabitants of the riverine districts may
be gathered from the fact that the village watering-
places have to be palisaded to keep these creatures out,
243 1 6 2
* A
244 CROCODILES
and that in spite of this a big ' bull crocodile ' will
attach himself permanently to some such spot, just as a
pike frequents a particular pool, and live on the toll he
takes from the village. He is then known as a ' burka
luggaree gohj or ' crocodile moored like a boat.'
Such a beast is the subject of Mr. Rudyard Kipling's
story, ' The Undertaker,' in which the ' mugger of
Mugger Ghaut ' tells his own tale. His feasts of
drowned carrion, his constancy to the ford and the
bathing ' ghaut,' where he carries off men, women,
and children, and his adventures when he changes his
quarters to distant haunts by using small tributaries,
creeks, and irrigation cuts, are all strictly in keeping
with the observations of Mr. Stewart and other Indian
naturalists. The former adds some ghastly corrobora-
tion to the details of this autobiography of a ' mugger,'
though, incidentally, he mentions that this name is
English, not Indian. When out tiger - shooting he
came across a huge crocodile sleeping on the bank of a
small stream for crocodiles will travel up the smallest
waterways at certain seasons, and populate any pools
formerly free from them. The crocodile was shot, and
his men at once cut it open to extract the gall-bladder,
which is looked upon as a valuable charm. Inside this
creature's stomach were two skulls and the putrid
remains of as many bodies. He also witnessed a
crocodile's attack on children at a bathing-ghaut. The
CROCODILES
2 45
creature was swimming on the surface, holding a little
native girl in its mouth, while the father was paddling
in pursuit in a canoe, and striking the creature with a
bamboo. It dropped its victim, but she was so fright-
fully injured that she died. Mr. Kipling notes that
the < parish ' mugger, which had taken toll of the
inhabitants of the village since it was founded, was in
time raised to the dignity of a ' godling,' or local fetich.
This seems to show the process by which the crocodile-
worship became gradually stereotyped in parts of ancient
Egypt, the creature being propitiated because it was a
pest. Herodotus is careful to mention that it was only
in some villages that the creature was worshipped. His
words are : * Among some of the Egyptians the croco-
dile is sacred, while others pursue him as an enemy.
The inhabitants of Thebais and of the shores of Lake
Moeris regard him with veneration. Each person has a
tame crocodile. He puts pendants of glass and gold
in its ear-flaps, and gives it a regular allowance of food
daily. When it dies it is embalmed. . . . But the
inhabitants of Elephantine eat the crocodile, and do not
think it sacred at all.' Possibly these were the villages
which suffered most from ' parish crocodiles/ while others
which were not so cursed, or had a more enterprising
population, cheerfully angled for them, and probably, as
they do now, cooked and ate them. At Dongola they
were formerly rather proud of their crocodile stews, and
246 CROCODILES
the flavour of the animal was considered to be superior
there to that of ' down-river crocodiles,' just as some
people praise an Arundel sole or an Amberley trout.
Herodotus, to whose method of setting down what
he saw or heard, however incredible it might appear,
time is always doing justice, has two excellent testi-
monials as to his crocodile stories. One is Strabo, and
the other Mr. Brehm. Strabo was taken by a priest
to see a sacred crocodile kept in a pond at Arsinoe.
' Our host/ he writes, ' who was a person of importance,
and our guide to all sacred sights, went with us to the
tank, taking with him from a table a small cake, some
roast meat, and a small cup of mulled wine. We found
the crocodile lying on the bank. The priests imme-
diately went up to him, and while some of them opened
his mouth, another put in the cake and crammed down
the meat, and finished by pouring in the wine.' We
are not surprised to hear that after the last dose the
crocodile 'jumped into the water and swam away.'
Brehm saw what Herodotus did not see, the manners
and customs of the crocodiles on the White Nile at the
time when the river-bed becomes the resort of the
greater part of the bird population of that portion of
the Soudan. This occurs at low Nile, when the water-
supply elsewhere disappears, and the sandbanks are
the nightly resting-place of millions of cranes, storks,
ibises, pelicans and geese. In the evening these sand-
CROCODILES 247
banks are white, gray, or crimson, from the solid masses
of birds, the most brilliant of which are the tantalus
ibises. By night these feathered crowds are constantly
'rushed' by the crocodiles, which during this season
live more on fowls than on fish. The incredible number
of the birds is maintained from two sources : part are
recruited by the migrants from Europe and Asia ; part
are native birds which have reared their young earlier,
and bring them to the river when the African Steppe is
too parched to yield food. Among these native birds is
the ' zic-zac,' which Herodotus called the trochilus.
Now, as then, it is the constant attendant of the
crocodile, and spends its whole life on the sandbanks,
which these monsters also haunt. Brehm not only
watched it feeding round the crocodiles, and even
prying into their open jaws as these creatures commonly
sleep with their mouth open and the lower jaw dropped
but also noted their extreme cunning in other respects.
At the season of low Nile the crocodile bird is more
constant to the sandbanks even than the crocodiles
themselves. The latter only use them to bask on by
day ; the birds sleep there and lay their eggs on the
sand. Brehm, though certain that they were nesting,
could not succeed in finding their eggs. One day he
saw a bird give two or three scratches with its feet before
it flew off the bank. He swept away the sand and found
that underneath it were the eggs. The crocodile bird,
248 CROCODILES
like the crocodile, buries its eggs, though it takes the
trouble to hatch them itself.
Crocodiles are now credited with one virtue the
only one ever ascribed to them. Some species make a
nest, and others are very jealous and bold in defending
their eggs. The nest-making crocodile is the estuary
species (C. porosus\ ' the man-eating crocodile par
excellence of the East,' according to Mr. H. P. Carter.
It makes a mound of river vegetation, and leaves this to
hatch the eggs when the mass ferments, on the plan
adopted by the mound-making birds of Australia.
Near this nest it keeps watch, much after the manner of
a cock swan. It is on record that this is one of the
very few nests which the native boy respects, without
any deterrent local opinion. But the * mugger ' is also
a careful parent while its eggs are hatching. Mr.
Stewart notes that the female * mugger ' always watches
by its eggs, and drives off not only human beings, but
dogs and crows that approach the place where they are
hidden in the sand. The discovery that * crocodile
skin ' makes the most beautiful natural leather in the
world was due to accident. Sportsmen who had killed
specimens and wished to bring home the horn-plated
hides as trophies, had the whole skin tanned. This
included not only the plated portion, but the sides, neck
and belly of the creature. The handsome markings
and ' grain ' of the skin, and the fine tone taken by the
CROCODILES
249
leather, were remarked. Before long bags of crocodile-
hide were made in New York for visitors who had
brought the leather from Florida. It then became
fashionable for the most luxurious form of bag, dressing-
case, and leather trinkets ; and though it is less durable
than pigskin, being liable to split where the deeper
markings cross, it remains the most popular material for
this kind of article de luxe. Most of this leather is
alligator skin, not crocodile, and the main supply comes
from the swamps and rivers of Florida. In this
exquisite climate, and among the quays, streams, coral
reefs and lakes of the peninsula, the life of birds and
fish seems almost at its maximum intensity. But
wonderful as are the swarms of sea-birds pelicans,
cormorants and herons the fish population is even
more extraordinary, because not only the numbers, but
the size of the species is incredibly augmented by the
vast supply of food. There the herring is represented
by the gigantic tarpon, five feet long ; and sharks,
monstrous barracoutas, giant turtles and other maritime
monsters swarm in the warm rivers and salt lagoons.
There the alligators, fed on this bountiful fare, swarm
also ; and great as is the demand for their skins,
alligator-shooting by night still yields a plentiful supply,
and affords a novel, if rather tame, sport. Each shooter
fastens a dark lantern to his cap, and thus equipped sits
in the bows of a canoe, and like some luciferous monster
250 CROCODILES
of the deep seas, shoots the beams ahead across the
swamps. Soon he sees round the fringe of the lake
numbers of pairs of twinkling lights alligators' eyes
reflecting the beams of his lantern. Mr. A. C. Harms-
worth, who describes this sport in ' The Encyclopaedia
of Sport,' dwells with much enthusiasm on these scenes
by night on the Florida lakes. The largest alligators
are known by the width between the shining orbs, which
are all that is visible of their bodies. When shot, they
are at once gaffed, and the skins are kept by the shooters
and sent to be tanned for further use. They are then
a far more durable and more useful trophy than most skins
and hides of big game, for there are few rooms in which
chairs and other furniture covered with soft-tanned
crocodile skin are not ornamental. On the Nile croco-
diles are not found below the second cataract ; but Sir
Samuel Baker constantly lost men, when in command of
the Khedival troops on their way to Gondokoro, from
the attacks of these creatures. They not only dragged
their victims from the sterns of the boats, but came up
into the shallows in the evening, like pike, and caught
his soldiers when bathing and fetching water, even in
the docks where his steamers lay. Neither on the Nile
nor in India has the trade in c crocodile skin ' become
a popular industry. When the supply fails in Florida,
we may hope that these pests of tropical rivers will be
thinned off. They have survived too long already.
XXXIV. MARSUPIALS AND THEIR SKINS
PRESENT prices will certainly not alter the English
feeling that the wearing of fur is a luxury, and a most
expensive one. A series of very severe winters might
force us to change this view, because it would become
evident that to preserve health fur must be worn by
men as well as by women, and we should discover, as
everyone in Northern Europe discovered long ago, that
the greater number of furs are not dear, but cheap,
and that these cheap furs come into the market by
millions at a time. This applies to the skins of the
musquash, gray squirrel, and hamster, besides which
the sheepskins and lambskins which our nation never
has worn, and probably never will consent to wear,
except in the far less warm manufactured form, number
as many millions more. But far the greatest number
of fur-bearing animals killed, though their skins are
not all brought to market, are the marsupials the
opossums, wombats, kangaroos, and wallabies (smaller
kangaroos) of the Australian continent. This ought
251
252 MARSUPIALS AND THEIR SKINS
to be the great reserve of good and cheap fur. Yet
it is among these creatures that the greatest waste of
fur-bearing animals occurs.
Opossum -skin rugs are familiar objects in this
country, but the skins of the larger marsupials are
rarely seen or used. Yet in many parts of Australia
they are now exterminated, partly that their hides may
be used for leather, partly to preserve the grass they
eat as food for sheep. It is said that ninepence per
scalp was paid by Government for each one shot. The
large kangaroos and many kinds of wallaby have a
coat so close and soft that it will lie in any direction,
like plush. It consists almost entirely of * under-fur,'
and the natural tints are very beautiful some French
gray, others warm red, with tints of orange and rose
colour, others like rough beaver or nutria skin. The
common ' opossum ' of Australia has a far less compact,
though deeper fur, which often comes off when much
worn ; and though the dark Tasmanian variety has a
splendid tint, its looseness and depth cause it to harbour
dust, and make it difficult to clean. Nevertheless, the
yearly * catch ' of opossums beats that of any other
fur animal. It is conducted without sense or modera-
tion ; for the creatures are constantly killed in the
summer, and the skins, then almost worthless, are
shipped to England. The wombats, or ' native bears/
are also killed off for the sake of their fur, which is
MARSUPIALS AND THEIR SKINS 253
used in considerable quantities in this country for
making hearthrugs.
But the whole race and nation of kangaroos,
wallaroos, and wallabies are being destroyed without
any use being made of their fur at all. In Australia
a wallaby rug, almost as fine as beaver skin, can be
bought for two pounds. In England we make them
into shoe-leather. The demand for this alone threatens
to exterminate most of the species, just as in time the
new material, 'electric sealskin' made from rabbit-fur
may kill off the plague of Australian rabbits. But
in that case we shall have the fur in the form of
* electric seal ' as a memorial. The growing scarcity
of the 4 great original ' of all kangaroos was shown in
a practical manner three years ago, when the ' boxing
kangaroo ' was in the height of his fame. This
animal was said to have earned twenty thousand pounds
in twelve months ; and whether this sum was correctly
stated or not, it was admitted at the Royal Aquarium
that he had made more money than any other animal
more, even, than the most celebrated racehorses had
earned, whether in training or after. Now, though
this particular ' old man ' kangaroo boxed every day
with a regularity and apparent zeal which would not
have discredited a human professional, the secret of this
performance lay not in any special teaching of the
animal, but in the cleverness by which his owner had
254 MARSUPIALS AND THEIR SKINS
noted that a tame kangaroo, when not afraid of his
owner, always ' boxes ' if he is sparred with, putting
up his short fore-arms and paws directly the man's
hands approach his nose, and retaliating by blows like
those which a rabbit gives with its fore-feet. One of
the wallabies at the Zoo does exactly the same, and
even punches its keeper in the back if after a round
or two he turns to leave the cage. A small fortune
was waiting for anyone who could get a good large
' boomer ' kangaroo, reasonably tame, in time to set
him boxing before the novelty wore out. But though
the great gray kangaroo was quite cheap and common
in menageries twenty years ago, it was discovered that
the visible supply in Europe had dwindled almost
to nothing. The dealers could count the available
specimens on the fingers of one hand, and as these
were in the gardens of learned societies, they were not
for sale. The price rose from the nominal one of
twelve pounds to sixty pounds. The Dublin Zoo were
offered eighty pounds for one which they had bought
for forty pounds, and refused the double price. The
few specimens in the Continental zoological gardens
were bought early by speculative showmen, and resold
at huge profits ; and a syndicate which was formed
later to exhibit a boxing kangaroo in Paris at an
engagement of three hundred pounds a week had to be
broken up because not one could be obtained. Every
MARSUPIALS AND THEIR SKINS 255
kangaroo in Europe outside the Zoological Gardens
was boxing nightly. By the time some fresh specimens
had been obtained in Australia and shipped to England
the excitement had subsided. But the female * boomer '
still costs from forty to fifty pounds rather a high
price for a creature which was recently being killed off
as a troublesome species of vermin.
Our climate suits both the great gray kangaroo and
the much scarcer great red kangaroo, and these, with
many of the smaller species, are bred in the Zoological
Gardens, and are readily acclimatized. The kangaroos,
large and small, have something of the adaptability of
rabbits, and are at home in most conditions of soil and
weather. They are found from the burning plains to
the tops of the rocky ranges of the interior, and from
the snowy tops of Mount Wellington, in Tasmania,
to the forests in the lowest valleys. Damp does not
seem to hurt them, yet they will bask for hours in the
hottest sun, lying exposed upon the rocks. As early
as 1863 John Gould gave it as his opinion that they
would 'doubtless readily become acclimatized in this
country/ Recently many large proprietors have taken
a fancy to them, and stocked their parks. Sir E. G.
Loder has introduced the great kangaroo and two species
of wallaby into his park at Horsham ; Mr. Naylor
Leyland has a number at Haggerston Castle, in North-
umberland ; and those kept by Lord Rothschild at
256 MARSUPIALS AND THEIR SKINS
Tring have become common objects of the district.
At large, when feeding or lying on their sides in all
kinds of graceful poses, with their ' hands ' drooping
languidly, and their large watchful eyes turned in the
direction of their visitor, they are almost as pretty as
deer, and the beauty of their fur is far greater than
that of most of the cervid^e. This may be seen even
at the Zoo, where they are kept in very small runs,
which give them no adequate room for exercise, and
hinder the proper development of their fur. In the
great red kangaroo, the fur of the male (born in the
Gardens) is deep, soft, and woolly, a mixture of brick-
red and gray. On the throat the colour heightens
to a warm rose colour. The fur of the female is a
beautiful French gray, and both tints and texture are
admirable in both. Of the many species of kangaroo
and wallaby living outside the tropical belt of Australia,
there are few which, if killed at the proper season,
would not supply a handsome, warm, and durable
lining-fur for coats at a low price. Here, however,
kangaroo skins are used solely for leather, japanned
boots being largely made from them, and the fur is
scraped off and mixed with other * oddments ' which
form material for felt. Six thousand five hundred bales
of kangaroo skins were recently bought for this purpose
at a single sale, and with them those of eighty-five
thousand wallabies and fifty-five thousand wombats, or
4*
*
MARSUPIALS AND THEIR SKINS 257
' native bears.' At another sale over one hundred
thousand wallaby skins and seventy-three thousand
wombat skins were offered, the former being only half
the number accumulated for the corresponding half of
the year before.
To point out that the marsupials ought to have a
value as fur-bearing animals may not lead to any less
wholesale destruction than goes on at present. There
is no surer way to diminish the quantity of any natural
product than to create a demand for it in Europe.* In
the early days they were killed by the squatters and
not even skinned. The carcases were left to rot.
Later, they have been slaughtered partly as vermin,
partly for the sake of the leather. In the future, it
may be hoped that if it be necessary to kill them, they
will be hunted when the fur is in condition, and that
the stock of handsome, warm, and inexpensive fur of
the larger marsupials will find a place among the
regular winter clothing of English wearers.
* Two thousand kangaroo tails were received in condition to
make soup of by a London firm in the summer of 1898, and sold
so well that a fresh consignment was ordered.
XXXV. WILD BEASTS' SKINS IN
COMMERCE
THE last few years have seen a marked disappearance
from the leather industry of a form of supply which
should never have reached the dimensions it attained
the hides of countless wild beasts. No one grudges to
the purposes of trade the hides of the alligator or the
shark, still less those of domesticated animals or of big
game killed for food. But for more than twenty years
there have come to the markets of America and Europe
hundreds of thousands of hides, destined for the
commonest commercial uses, stripped from wild
animals which have been killed for the value of the
hide alone. Whole species have been butchered to the
last individual to make shoe-leather. To say which
country has been the greatest offender would be
difficult. There is not much room for distinction
between the * skin-hunters ' of North America, South
Africa, or Australia. But in the former country at
least, the State Governments are adopting vigorous
258
WILD BEASTS' SKINS IN COMMERCE 259
measures to stop this repulsive industry, and by
limiting the number of deer which may be killed by
individuals, prevent such destructive waste of animal
life. We wish that these laws could be extended to all
British Colonies and dependencies. Wherever big
game has entirely disappeared from districts where it
formerly abounded, and wherever whole species have
been exterminated, the mischief has in nearly every case
been done not to procure food, but solely to obtain the
creatures' skins. It is not the big-game hunter, or the
savage, or even the agriculturist, who destroys the
creatures, but the ' skin-hunter.' In every * new
country ' this wasteful and relentless enemy of animal
life has always appeared with the regularity of some
recurring plague, and made it his business to destroy
every creature larger than a hare.
The advent of the skin-hunter takes places at a
particular period of development in recent settlements.
He is never among the early pioneers, but is a kind of
parasite in half-occupied territories, often intensely dis-
liked by the resident squatters, as he destroys the
game on which they partly depend, though he some-
times succeeds in converting these to his own evil ways.
In South Africa, for instance, the early Boer settlers,
like the early pioneers of North America, killed the
antelopes for meat, and used their skins for clothing.
They ate the venison, and from the hides they made
172
260 WILD BEASTS' SKINS IN COMMERCE
suits of leather ' shamoyed,' not tanned supple, soft,
and comfortable garments, well suited for the life on
the veldt. The number of animals killed was limited
by their own personal needs and those of their families.
About 1850 the Boers learnt that the myriads of
antelope, quagga and zebra which wandered over the
plains had a marketable value other than as food or
supplying leather hunting-shirts. The skin-hunters
taught them that though the bodies of the creatures
might be left to rot on the veldt, the hides, not tanned
or dressed, but merely stripped from the body, were
marketable, to supply the European demand for
leather. The country was just sufficiently opened
up to have arrived at the stage at which the business
of the skin-hunter pays. Freight is high, but not
too high, and though hides of countless cattle and
sheep may be had for little enough in the settled
districts, the skins of the wild animals cost nothing
at all, except the value of powder and shot. Even
this was economized in South Africa. ' The Boers
of the pastoral Republic became perfect adepts at skin-
hunting,' writes Mr. Bryden. * They put in just
sufficient powder to drive the missile home, and care-
fully cut out their bullets for use on future occasions.
So lately as 1876, when I first wandered in Cape
Colony, I well remember the waggons coming down
from the Free State and Transvaal, loaded up with
WILD BEASTS' SKINS IN COMMERCE 261
nothing but the skins of blesbok, wildebeest, and
springbok. This miserable system of skin-hunting has
been, and still is where any game remains, pursued in
all native States of South Africa. Between 1850 and
1875 it is certain that some millions of these animals
must have been destroyed in the Transvaal and Orange
Free State/ The slaughter was so prodigious, and the
variety of wild animals so great, in these wild regions
of South Africa, that the result made a sensible
difference in the leather industry of Europe. The
markets were filled with skins which, when tanned,
gave leather of a quality and excellence never known
before, but the origin of which, as the material was
still sold under old names, purchasers never suspected.
Hides of the zebra and quagga arrived in tens of
thousands ; and good as horse-hide is for the uppers of
first-class boots, these were even better. Smart
Englishmen for years wore boots the uppers of which
were made of zebra and quagga skin, or from the hides
of elands, oryx, and gemsbok disguised under the
names of ' calf' or patent leathers.
These South African game skins became a com-
mercial article, relied upon for many years as part of
the regular supply. It is amusing to note that
quagga-skins are still quoted as part of this, the fact
being that the last of the quaggas was killed years ago
to fill the skin-hunter's pocket. In Mashonaland and
262 WILD BEASTS' SKINS IN COMMERCE
Central Africa the trade still flourishes, though only
the poorest of the Boers follow it, and they have to
trek north of the Limpopo. The hides of the larger
bucks, such as the sable antelope, the roan antelope, the
hartebeest, or of any of the zebras, are worth eight
shillings or nine shillings each, and there is now some-
thing to be made by selling heads and horns as
curiosities. Leather made from the skins of these big
antelopes is still in common use in high-class boot-
making. No one knows exactly what animal may not
have supplied the uppers or soles of his foot-gear, and
the possibilities range from the porpoise and the Arctic
hair-seal, to the blesbok or the koodoo. Three other
African animals' skins are in commercial demand for
curiously different purposes. The giraffes, as everyone
knows, are killed so that their skins may be made into
sandals for natives and sjambok whips for colonists.
In the Soudan they are also killed for the sake of their
hides, which are made into shields. Many of the
Dervish shields captured during their attempt to invade
Egypt under the Emir Njumi were made of this
material. The elephant and rhinoceros skins go to
Sheffield. There they are used to face the wheels used
in polishing steel cutlery. No other material is equally
satisfactory, and it would be most difficult to find
a substitute. The rhinoceros-skin used was formerly
that of the white rhinoceros. Now that this species is
WILD BEASTS' SKINS IN COMMERCE 263
extinct, the black rhinoceros of Central Africa is killed
for the purpose. Much of this immensely thick skin,
which is not tanned, but used in the raw state, never
leaves Africa. It is in great demand for making the
round shields used by the Arabs and Abyssinians. A
black rhinoceros's hide yields eight large squares, each
of which will make a round shield two feet in diameter,
and each of these squares, even in the Soudan, is worth
two dollars. The skin when scraped and polished is
semi-transparent, like hard gelatine, and takes a high
polish. Giraffe-skin is even more valued as material
for shields, as it is equally hard and lighter. Thus,
while the South African giraffes are killed off to supply
whips, those of North Central Africa are hunted to
provide the Mahdi's Arabs with shields.
In North America skin-hunting is a business entirely
apart from that of the trapper, who only seeks furs.
It destroyed the bison, and would now exterminate the
deer, were it not that the Government has checked the
trade by stringent laws enforcing a close time. It was
for their hides or ' robes ' that the buffalo herds were
destroyed not for their meat. This was perhaps the
most notable achievement in all the history of this
wasteful and selfish trade. In 1869 the Union Pacific
Railway was completed, and divided the bison into two
great hordes. Between 1872 and 1874 the southern
horde was practically exterminated by the skin-hunters.
264 WILD BEASTS' SKINS IN COMMERCE
In summer the hides were stripped for leather, while
those taken in winter were sold to be dressed for
buffalo robes. The leather was no better than that of
ordinary cattle. The * robes ' had a considerable value
as winter wraps. The deer were less easily killed off,
but for years an enormous trade was done in American
deer-skins. These were mainly those of the black-
tailed deer. The skin-hunter on his trained pony went
out into the spruce-forests of the Rocky Mountains,
killed his five or six deer every day, skinned them, and
leaving the carcases to rot, took the hides back to his
camp. When one district was * shot out ' he moved on
to another, and having secured as many skins as his
pack-horses could carry, took them to the nearest point
on the railway, and sent them to New York. Side by
side with the illicit skin-hunting, and its resultant trade
in skins for tanning, there is a genuine demand in
Canada for deer-skins for garments. Its main use is
for leggings and moccasins to be worn with snow-shoes,
or without snow-shoes, in winter. These moccasins are
sold in great numbers, and nothing quite so comfort-
able has yet been devised as foot-gear in the dry
Canadian snows. Their softness prevents the straps of
the snow-shoes from galling the feet, and the leather
is both porous and warm. It is not tanned but
' shamoyed,' the process which all races, civilized or
savage, use when preparing wild beasts' skins for use as
WILD BEASTS' SKINS IN COMMERCE 265
clothes other than boots. But the finest of all these
soft leathers are the deer-skins used for gloves.
Nothing is quite equal to this material for the purpose,
and when genuine, it is the most expensive of any.
Reindeer skin, fallow deer skin, and that of the fawns
of many of the American species are used. * Elk '
gloves are not deer-skin at all, but an imitation.
Much of the deer-skin is made into ' white leather/ in
the same way that parchment, sheep-skin, and vellum
are prepared for special purposes. The white buck-
skin is used for leather breeches and military gloves, all
military tailoring being of the most expensive material.
Camel-skin, which used to be the favourite material for
covering the trunks used in Indian travel sixty years
ago, is now never employed for this purpose. Block-
tin boxes are found more durable for all climates, but
the old trunks may still be seen in Anglo-Indian
houses, and the skin is often sound, though the wooden
frame has decayed. The skins of large snakes are im-
ported for making trinkets, while those of sharks are
valuable to cover the * grips ' of sword-hilts. Even the
cobra's skin is an article of commerce, being used by
the Chinese to cover their one-stringed fiddles.
XXXVL EAGLES ON AN ENGLISH LAKE
NOT the least interesting result of the last century of
man's relations with wild animals in England is the
survival of the large raptorial birds, and of a great pro-
portion of our English mammals.
The attraction which preserved areas of water have
not only for wild fowl, but for much rarer and larger
birds, is scarcely realized by most proprietors. Yet
there are some lake sanctuaries, even in England south
of the Trent, which tempt not only the passing osprey,
but such birds as the sea eagle and the peregrine falcon,
to linger, the former for many months, and the latter
often throughout the year, by their well-stocked waters.
It is precisely those lakes which are kept most quiet
and are least often seen by the public which are thus
honoured by these interesting and exclusive visitors.
Nor is it necessary to state here the exact site of these
sanctuaries. But the following facts may be of interest
to those who desire to see the stock of indigenous birds
increased by others of marked beauty and interest.
266
EAGLES ON AN ENGLISH LAKE 267
One famous lake near our East Coast has been
haunted by sea eagles since the year 1860. During the
last twenty-five years it is believed that the eagles have
paid more than fourteen visits to these waters, and
remained not for a day or two, but for weeks and
months. Their appearance is so well known in that
neighbourhood that it has become part of the folk-lore
of the district. Contrary to ancient belief, the eagles'
visits are held to be unlucky, and facts are quoted to
prove it. Omens from birds are proverbially ambiguous
and uncertain, but the existence of this belief is itself
evidence of the frequency and permanence of these
eagle visits. On one occasion two eagles remained from
the autumn to the early months of the following spring.
They were frequently seen soaring high over the
mansion, and it was noticed that one was smaller than
the other. Generally the eagles come singly. The
time of their arrival is usually in October, and their
stay is commonly protracted until after Christmas.
The birds are always of the white-tailed species, not
golden eagles. But as the former are quite as large as
the latter, the source from which such a voracious and
formidable creature finds a living easily enough to keep
it for months near an English country house is not at
first obvious. The character of the lake explains this
in part. It is situated in a very large park of more
than three thousand acres, some of which is cultivated,
268 EAGLES ON AN ENGLISH LAKE
enclosed by a wall nine miles round. The lake is at
the edge of this park, about a mile from the sea ; but
the intervening marshes are strictly preserved, and the
owner never allows the eagles to be shot, in spite of
their raids on his game and wild- fowl. The park and
the lake itself supply the sea eagles with game in such
abundance that they are not tempted to roam.
The main food-supply of the birds is derived from
the hares which swarm in this enclosed park. The
area is large enough for a good estate in itself, and is
heavily stocked with all kinds of game. It is said to
be quite dangerous to ride a bicycle by night through
the park, as the hares will hop up when they see the
light, and sit on the roads, and have caused more than
one bad spill by being run over. At daybreak the
eagle leaves the tree in which he roosts near the lake,
and rushes down on some unlucky hare. One was
disturbed just after he had caught his hare. It was
already dead, with its eyes picked out. The eagles
usually eat the head first, then the body, bones and all,
and leave nothing but the skin. They do attack other
game, as one was seen in full chase after a partridge.
But the hares form the mainstay of their food-supply.
This is supplemented by two contributions from the
lake itself. For many years this piece of water has
been kept as a sanctuary, though shooting on a large
scale goes on in the adjacent covers in the park. From
EAGLES ON AN ENGLISH LAKE 269
October until March it swarms with wild ducks. Some-
times not less than two thousand ducks and widgeon,
with other species, are on the water. There is also a
heronry, and a large flock of half-wild Canada geese.
Gulls also come here in numbers, while coots and water-
hens abound. This writer has not met among the
many persons who have watched the eagles one who
has seen an eagle kill a wild duck, though they often
* harry ' the flocks, and create the most dismal terror
amongst them. But the remains of duck are often
found which are believed to have been killed by the
eagles, and with these the bodies of gulls. It is, how-
ever, very possible that these birds are killed by the
peregrine falcons, of which we say something later.
Neither do they attack the Canada geese, though these
large and conspicuous birds are constantly in flight
between the lake and some adjacent marshes, and must
offer a good mark for the eagle's swoop. But the lake,
besides wild fowl, holds a great quantity of fish, among
them numbers of big bream, running to 6 Ib. or 7 Ib.
in weight. These big bream are liable to sickness in
the spring, when the waters ' break/ and are full of
weed, and float up to the top of the water lying on
their sides. They then form a favourite dish for the
sea eagles, which flap over the waters, and, dropping
their feet, pick up the fish and devour them on the
bank. The flight of the eagles is peculiar. As they
270 EAGLES ON AN ENGLISH LAKE
hang round the lake all day, and do not travel any
distance from the waters, they spend most of their time
sitting in some big tree near the margin. When they
take a flight, they look like enormous owls flapping
across the park on some misty December day. If one
flies down the centre of the lake, the ducks either rise
in a body and fly out to sea, or take a short flight, and
then, as the eagle overhauls them, drop like stones on
to the surface. One of the most instantaneous panics
among the ducks caused by an eagle was one bright
winter day, when the surface was all frozen, except
some two acres at the lower end, where about a thou-
sand ducks were collected. Suddenly the whole mass
of ducks rose and flew, with a noise like an explosion.
The disturber was an eagle, which flew suddenly round
a wood and over the lake.
Peregrine falcons seem never absent from this lake,
and they kill and eat the wild ducks, teal, and widgeon,
which are possibly too quick for the eagles. Recently,
in April, the writer was watching a bunch of widgeon,
with a few teal, flying up the lake, when a peregrine
dashed after them, overtook them in a second, caught
a teal, and carried it for some twelve yards, and then
dropped it. The teal twisted round, flew back in the
opposite direction, and then dropped on the water,
evidently unhurt. This was only the falcon's ' fun,'
for they never kill a bird over the water, though when
EA GLES ON AN ENGLISH LAKE 271
a duck is flying over the park it is cut over and de-
voured. The sight was most curious, for the teal's
head was bent down, while that of the falcon was thrown
back ; the falcon's tail was also bent downwards so as
to be nearly vertical ; it carried the teal in front of its
body, not underneath it. * Bustling the ducks ' is a
regular game with the peregrines, which feed early in
the morning, and amuse themselves with tormenting
the ducks in the afternoon. One will chase a flock of
mallards up the lake, then another dashes out to meet
them, and enjoys the sport of seeing the whole flock
drop from air to water. This is a very exceptional
sanctuary, but there are very many lakes where the
same degree of protection might be rewarded by a
similar confidence on the part of the birds ; and though
the eagles and falcons frighten the ducks, they do not
drive them permanently from the waters. In Norfolk
the white-tailed eagles were formerly common visitors
to the Broad district, where they were known as * fen
eagles ' ; probably they were young birds passing south ;
but if these birds were less persecuted by the Scotch
shepherds, their fidelity to this English lake shows that
they might reappear on other waters of the East and
South. Unfortunately, while the golden eagles are in-
creasing in the deer forests, the sea eagles, which keep
to the coast, and nest mainly near the sheep-farms, are
persecuted and killed off as much as possible by the
272 EA GLES ON AN ENGLISH LAKE
shepherds. Even poison is used against them, as they
cause some loss among the young lambs. Doubtless
the loss is not exaggerated. But while wealthy and
public-spirited landowners extend a welcome to the
birds in England, Highland lairds might do something
to preserve them in their breeding-places.
XXXVII. THE GREAT FOREST EAGLE
WITH the survival of the white-tailed eagle in our own
over-populated islands, we may contrast the discovery
two years ago of the largest eagle in the world in an
island which has almost no inhabitants at all. Mr.
John Whitehead, a naturalist who has devoted much
time to the exploration of the different islands of the
Philippine group, formed, among other collections of
birds made in this region, a series of those inhabiting the
island of Samar. This collection was lost at sea near
Singapore, and in order to replace it and restore the
lost link in his chain of examples of * island life ' in this
little-known region, he once more set out from Manilla
in 1896 and established himself again in the woods of
Samar. In doing so he had no other choice than to
become one of the inhabitants of the tropical forest.
Samar is all forest, and there was no more escape from
it than there is from the desert or the steppe for those
who elect to travel in Arabia or Central Asia. The
great tropical forest which belts the world is very much
273 1 8
274 THE GREAT FOREST EAGLE
the same, whether in Central America, or the Amazons,
or the islands of the Malay Archipelago. Its peculi-
arity from the human point of view is that life goes on
on two levels. There is an upper story and a basement.
The basement is the ground, on which by the strict law
of the forest no creature is supposed to live at all,
except perhaps the few species of forest swine which,
with various differences of form, haunt the great forests
in America and the Malay Archipelago. But of all
ground-dwelling creatures which venture into this
' crypt ' of the tropical forest, man is at the greatest
disadvantage. He walks beneath a roof of foliage so
lofty that he can scarcely distinguish the forms of the
branches which support its leaves, supposing that there
were light sufficient to use his sight to good purpose.
But the tops of the giant trees are so dense that light
scarcely penetrates, and the would-be explorer of the
forest, and discoverer of new species of birds and
beasts, finds that he has to tread the mazes of a temple
of twilight, in which all the life, light, and beauty exist,
not below and within, but upon the roof. On the side
remote from earth life goes on gaily, and with such
completeness, that not only do the birds, insects, and
monkeys enjoy a world of their own, but in the cups
and reservoirs of the gigantic flowers and creepers
water-insects and molluscs live and reproduce them-
selves without ever coming in contact with the ground.
THE GREA T FOREST EA GLE 2 7 5
In the island of Samar this impracticable forest is
found in its most impracticable form. Life there is
more * aloof from the ground-level than in any other
forest region. Mr. Ogilvie Grant dwells with due
emphasis on this often forgotten ' aspect of Nature ' in
these regions. He points out that the greater part of
the island is covered with dense and lofty forests, many
of the trees being over two hundred and forty feet high,
while there are no hills or rocks from which the forest
can be surveyed. The forest animals, monkeys, lorises,
and the like, live at a height of two hundred feet from
the ground, that being the * sunlight level,' below which
direct light and heat do not penetrate. Invisible, on
the top of this region, live the birds of the tropical
forest ; and on a still higher aerial plane, also invisible,
float the raptorial birds which prey upon them. This
' tree-top ' plane of the great forest, being still terra
incognita , has always been regarded as a possible region
in which some great bird or ape may be discovered ;
and in spite of accumulated difficulties, Mr. Whitehead
did make such a discovery. He has found, and brought
home from the island, the largest raptorial bird yet dis-
covered, the great forest eagle of Samar.
The discovery of this mighty bird of prey is the
more creditable to the explorer because only one pair
of the giant eagles was seen. Their haunt was watched
daily, and at last the male bird was shot, and though it
18 2
276 THE GREAT FOREST EAGLE
remained in the top of one of the lofty trees, clinging
firmly with its huge claws to the branches, a native
climbed to the summit and brought it down. Its
weight was judged by Mr. Whitehead at between
sixteen and twenty pounds, and being then weakened
by fever he could scarcely hold it out at arm's length.
Taking the mean of the two weights mentioned as
probably correct, the great forest eagle weighs exactly
half as much again as the golden eagle, the female of
which weighs twelve pounds.
The skin of this bird is now preserved at the Museum
of Natural History at South Kensington. As it is the
only adult specimen in the world available for inspection
by naturalists, it is not exhibited in the public part of
the collection, and though the coloured plate by Keule-
mans which illustrates Mr. Ogilvie Grant's paper is a
model of accurate drawing, it does not leave the im-
pression of size given by the skin when actually seen
and handled. The length of the eagle and the huge
size of its beak and claws are the features most striking
in the specimen at South Kensington. Like most rap-
torial birds which seek their prey in woods or forests,
from the sparrow-hawk upwards, it has rather short
wings in proportion to its great bulk. The tail, on the
other hand, is very long. In its equipment for flight
and steering it is much like an enormous goshawk.
There are two or three such hawks, as large as many of
THE GREAT FOREST EAGLE 277
the eagles, half goshawk, half buzzard, which have been
found in parts of the tropical forest, though for the
reasons mentioned above they are very rarely seen, and
still more rarely captured for collections. But in its
combined armament of beak and claws the forest eagle
exceeds not only all these great hawks, but each and
every one of the other eagles. The beak is not larger
than that of Pallas's sea eagle, and the power of the
wrist and claws is not so great as that of the harpy
eagle. But the combination of the two weapons of
offence possessed by the Samar eagle is greater than
that of either of the formidable species named. The
beak is so hooked that the outline in profile is the
perfect segment of a circle, the exact centre of which
is the point at which the skin, called the cere, joins the
cutting edge of the upper mandible. Mr. Grant notes
that the depth of the bill is greater than that of any
known bird of prey, except Pallas's sea eagle, and it is
so compressed that the edges must cut like a double-
bladed knife. The skull is very large, much larger
than that of the harpy eagle, and the claws and feet are
specially adapted for holding large animals with close,
thick fur, the length of wrist and close covering of
scales giving full play to the talons. The nature of the
prey against which this exceptional armament is directed
is still matter of conjecture. The natives say that the
eagle lives mainly by killing monkeys. This is a very
278 THE GREAT FOREST EAGLE
probable statement ; there is some evidence from the
state of the eagle's skin brought to Europe that it takes
its prey on the trees. The quills of several of the wing
and tail feathers were broken, * bearing testimony to
many a savage struggle among the branches.' The
green macaque is the monkey believed by the people of
Samar to be the chief prey of their great eagle. But
among the monkeys of these islands are several species
of singular size and strength. Even if the great apes of
Borneo are not found in Samar, there are probably other
species of the monkey tribe, like those found in Java
and in the neighbouring islands, which would be most
dangerous animals for any bird to attack. No creatures
are, for their size, so full of unexpected resources when
attacked as the medium -sized and large monkeys.
Their arms and hands are surprisingly strong. They
can leap instantaneously for a considerable distance
without gathering their bodies together for a spring,
and their power of biting is that of a bulldog. Against
birds they have the power, which they well know how
to use, of grasping and breaking a limb, or tearing out
the wing or tail feathers. Their habit of combining to
rescue one of their fellows makes them still more for-
midable to animals of prey ; and, with the exception of
the leopard and the python, most of these agree to let
the ' bandur-log ' alone. A battle between the great
forest eagles and the great forest apes must be one of
THE GREAT FOREST EAGLE 279
the heroic episodes of * high life above stairs ' in the
jungle, and it may be hoped that when the pacification
of the Philippines renders it possible for Mr. Whitehead
to revisit the islands, he may bring back some ' field-
notes ' on the daily life of the new eagle. It is charac-
teristic of the difficulty of making such observations,
that though he never saw the bird on the neighbouring
island of Leite, he often heard its cry above the tree-
tops, and identified it by his experience in Samar. It is
also said to be found on the island of Luzon.
Mr. Ogilvie Grant conjectures that the crowned harpy
eagle of tropical America is the nearest known ally of
the great forest eagle of the Philippines. In this con-
nection it is interesting to note how very little is still
known of this other forest eagle. Mr. Salvin, during
several years spent in the forests of Central America,
only once saw a harpy eagle. Oswald in his * Birds of
America ' gives perhaps the fullest account of its habits.
The list of its prey shows how formidable a creature it
is, and enables us to form some idea of the prowess of
the great raptor of Samar. In Mexico the harpy eagle
* kills fawns, sloths, full-grown foxes and badgers,
middle-sized pigs, and the black Sapa-jou monkey,
whose weight exceeds its own by more than three
times/ This last feat may be compared with the
natives' statement that the Samar eagle also lives on
monkeys.
XXXVIII. THE PAST AND FUTURE OF
BRITISH MAMMALS
A RECENT number of the Edinburgh Review contained
an interesting essay on our lost and vanishing land
mammals. Omitting the seals, whales and porpoises
from his list, the writer gave a careful history of the
4 last days ' of the bear, the wolf, the boar and the
beaver in these islands, and an estimate of the future of
the wild cat, polecat, marten, otter and badger if the
forces which have made for their extermination are
unchecked. Of the lost animals, the bears were the
first to disappear. They were so numerous that in
Roman times Scotch bears were regularly shipped to
Rome for use in the arena. One wonders who were
employed to catch them, but the urgent requests made
to Cicero when Governor of Cilicia to supply his
friends in Rome with ' panthers ' shows that this was
a recognised means of obliging political friends at a
much earlier date. The writer notes that the town
of Norwich, in the time of Edward the Confessor, used
280
PAST AND FUTURE OF BRITISH MAMMALS 281
to furnish annually one bear to the King and six dogs
to bait it with, and Mr. Lydekker considers that these
were possibly native-bred animals. The story of the
wolf is admirably told. Among other records quoted
is one that all the deer were killed by wolves in Farley
Park, in Worcestershire, in the reign of Edward II.;
and that a certain Mr. Jonathan Grubb, who was born
in 1808, informed Mr. Harting in a letter that his
grandmother was born in 1731, and that she remem-
bered her uncle telling her how, in County Kildare, his
brother came home on horseback pursued by a pack of
wolves, which overtook him and kept leaping on to the
hindquarters of his horse until he reached the door.
The wild boar outlived the wolf in England. There
is a reference to wild boars in Suffolk in the house
hold accounts kept at Hengrave Hall, in Suffolk, in
the reign of Henry VIII., and under Elizabeth they
remained, together with the half- wild cattle, at Earl
Ferrers's castle at Chartley in Staffordshire, in Needwood
Forest. We may add that in Fleming's translation of
Caius's book on English dogs, written for Gesner, it is
mentioned that the ban-dog is ' serviceable to drive
wilde and tame swyne out of medows, pastures, glebe-
landes, and places planted with fruit/ So wild boars
were plentiful enough to do mischief in the middle of
the sixteenth century.
Which will be the next to disappear? If any
282 PAST AND FUTURE OF BRITISH MAMMALS
more creatures must follow the bear and the wolf,
they are the wild cat, with the marten and polecat
following. But it is within the range of probabilities
that even the first may be preserved from total extinc-
tion for a period not inconsiderable in the history of our
islands, though perhaps not appreciable in the duration
of a species. That martens had begun to die out in
Ireland in the reign of Charles I. is evident from a letter
of Lord Strafford's to the Archbishop of Canterbury,
which is not quoted in the Edinburgh. He promises to
send some skins, but adds : ' The truth is, that as the
woods decay, so do the hawkes and martens of this
kingdom. But in some woods I have, my purpose is,
by all means I can, to set up a breed of martens ; a
good one of these is as much worth as a good wether,
yet neither eats so much nor costs so much in attend-
ance. But then the pheasants must look to themselves.'
Is not this characteristic of Strafford's modernness and
business energy? He adds that, 'standing to get a
shoot at a buck, I was so damnably bitten by midges, as
my face is all mezled over ever since. 7 As the
Edinburgh Reviewer has exhibited great research in
tracing the physical causes which have contributed in
the past to kill off our larger quadrupeds, it may not be
out of place to recall some of the sentimental reasons
which in the present tend to prolong the existence of
the survivors.
PAST AND FUTURE OF BRITISH MAMMALS 283
First among these is public feeling, which has recently
changed in regard to the preservation of wild animals, as
it did a few years earlier in regard to the preservation
of our ancient forests. This in turn aids the great
proprietors who, both in England and Scotland, protect
rare birds and beasts, and even introduce lost species
like the beaver. Several Highland owners now protect
their wild cats, or give orders that they shall not be
destroyed if any wander to their demesnes. The same
has been done by Irish proprietors in the case of the
marten. Neither are the surviving animals behindhand
in taking advantage of the chances given them. Most of
them have become astonishingly wary and vigilant after
centuries of persecution. They owe their survival to
this, and, when matters are made easier for them, do not
relax their precautions. The writer of the Edinburgh
article notes that ' even now very little is known of the
habits of our mammals in a wild state.' This is because
they have nearly all become intensely nocturnal, and
their senses are so acute that no one can watch them
closely. The badger's power of hearing is astonishing.
Tame specimens have been known to run off and hide
five minutes before the arrival of a stranger whose
footfall they heard. Foxes which are artificially pre-
served during part of the year become fairly tame ; but
even the otters, which are bold and playful animals at
night, are quite invisible by day. Some figures from the
284 PAST AND FUTURE OF BRITISH MAMMALS
Sutherland estates show how numerous some of our
carnivora were sixty years ago. In three years from
1831, nine hundred and one wild cats, polecats and
martens were killed on the Sutherland estates. Should
the present Duke of Sutherland decide to preserve the
two first, there is very little doubt that their numbers
would recover ; and in the deer forests, where grouse
and hares are looked upon as a nuisance, there is no
reason why this should not be done. Another and
more hopeful fact in the present state of our wild
animal population is that two of the largest are far
more common than is believed. Otters are numerous,
and badgers by no means scarce. Many proprietors
protect the badger ; others have reintroduced it, Sir
Herbert Maxwell, in Wigtownshire, among the number.
As badgers never * show/ this is a public-spirited action ;
but there is no adequate reason why the badger should
not enjoy the benefit of a few years' absolute protection
under a special Act of Parliament. It deserves this,
because the badgers are now purposely killed to make
pouches for the Highlanders. * The year 1842 was a
bad one for the poor badgers, owing to the revival
of Highland dress after the Queen's visit/ Those
delightful beasts, the otters, are, we are glad to say,
increasingly common in England itself, and in no
danger of extermination. On little streams, where they
kill trout, they are killed themselves. But by most of
PAST AND FUTURE OF BRITISH MAMMALS 285
our deep rivers, notably the Thames, and nearly all its
tributaries, the Norfolk Broads and rivers, and almost all
the largest streams of Southern England, they are quite
common and increase. Evidence of this is shown by
the way in which otters have recently turned up in all
sorts of unexpected places, even on the smallest feeders
of Thames tributary streams, and on ornamental lakes
remote from rivers. Some very small brooks which
rise in the chalk downs and run into the little river Ock,
which in turn joins the Thames at Abingdon, have
lately been artificially stocked with trout, at their head-
waters in the sides of the hills. On two adjacent
streams of this kind otters appeared, and made havoc
among the fish. Fourteen traps were set along a chain
of pools to catch one of the invaders, but he escaped
them all. On a lake in a very waterless district of
Essex, far from any considerable stream, otters also
appeared, and have taken up their abode. They kill
numbers of large carp, and by the skeletons of the carp
a number of shells of fresh-water mussels, with the
ends bitten out, are generally found. The otters like
mussel - sauce with their fish, but will also eat the
mussels alone. On the whole length of the Thames
itself, from Gloucestershire to Hampton Court, otters
live and flourish, hunting only at night, and then
entirely concealed by the deep water. The skeletons of
the fish they eat are the index of their presence.
286 PAST AND FUTURE OF BRITISH MAMMALS
Failing the rivers, there is another favourite haunt of
otters, which time can hardly destroy. This is among
the cliffs on the sea coast. They are quite at home in
salt water, and in Devonshire there are probably quite
as many sea otters as river otters.
The most to be regretted of our lost animals is the
beaver. The records of its extinction are very meagre,
and there does not seem any reason why a few might
not have survived in forest areas, such as the Forest of
Dean, or those of Northern Scotland, to a later date
than that of Richard Coeur de Lion, when Giraldus
Cambrensis recorded their existence on the river Teifi.
Beavers lived on the river Kennet, near Newbury, for a
beaver's jaw was found there in the peat ; and on the
Severn there is a beaver island. But as the price of a
Welsh beaver's skin was fifteen times more than that of
otter's skin in 940 A.D., they must have been scarce
even at that date. It is interesting to know, from Sir
Edmund Loder's continued success with his beavers at
Leonardslee, that we can, if we like, re-establish them.
The Leonardslee beavers increase, and have continued
to do so for nine years. As they destroy much small
timber, no one who regards cost would encourage
them on a small estate or among valuable trees. But
the beavers have two ways of life, differing according to
the rivers on which they live, as may be seen in Northern
Norway. Shallow streams they dam ; and to make
PAST AND FUTURE OF BRITISH MAMMALS 287
this dam they cut down trees and do mischief. But on
deep, slow streams, such as the Thames, they make
burrows in the bank and c lodges,' but do not attempt
to build dams, because the water is deep enough for
their wants. All they need is enough willow-bark to
feed on. If anyone would turn out a few beavers on
the Thames, and let them have the run of an osier-bed,
they would probably increase and multiply.
XXXIX. THE RETURN OF THE GREAT
BUSTARD
A SMALL flock of great bustards, temporarily kept
at the Zoo, was recently imported from Spain, and
one or more pairs of these birds were, it was said, to
be turned out on an old haunt of the species on the
Yorkshire Wolds. It is not so much matter for
surprise that the restoration of this, the largest of
our native birds, is about to be attempted now, but
that it has not been tried earlier, and on a larger scale.
It would be unsafe to assume that because the caper-
cailzie now flourishes in the Scotch woods, the permanent
restoration of the bustard to its ancient haunts on the
Wiltshire Downs, the Wolds, and the Norfolk heaths
and ' brecks ' is equally possible. But though some
species refuse utterly to acquiesce in change either of
habit or environment, and, like the black tern, the
avocet, and the bartailed godwit, migrate to seek else-
where what they no longer find in this country, there is
288
THE RETURN OF THE GREAT BUSTARD 289
good reason to believe that there is no such obstacle to
the return of the bustard.
Anyone willing to spend money and trouble on such
an experiment would wish to know whether the bird is
found flourishing elsewhere in conditions like those in
which it would find itself in the England of to-day ;
and secondly, whether the causes which led to its final
disappearance here were permanent or accidental. For-
tunately, there is a very interesting and reliable body of
evidence on both these points in the bustard's history.
Both the late Lord Lilford and Mr. Abel Chapman
attentively studied the haunts and habits of the bustard
in Spain ; and the late Mr. Stevenson delayed for a
long time the publication of his second volume of * The
Birds of Norfolk' to write a complete, and incidentally
most charming, account of the facts connected with the
* decline and fall ' of the same birds in their last home
in Norfolk. There was no authority, from Mr. Alfred
Newton to the ' shepherd's pages ' of Icklingham Heath,
from whom Mr. Stevenson did not gather facts first
hand as to the disappearance of our largest bird. And
the inference from his account is, with one exception,
not unfavourable to its restoration.
At present it is an exceedingly common bird in
Southern Spain. Its numbers are probably reinforced
by migrants from the higher and colder central districts
of La Mancha and Old Castile ; but it also remains
19
2Qo THE RETURN OF THE GREAT BUSTARD
there throughout the year, in the midst of high cultiva -
tion, and maintains itself, by its own wary habits,
without legal protection, amongst a population who
are very ready to kill it by any means, however un-
sportsmanlike. Some of these devices are almost
identical with those used in Norfolk, water in hot
weather taking the place of corn or turnips as a bait
for the birds, which are shot from ambush. To the
fair sportsman it offers the opportunity of stalking it
with a rifle, or ' driving '; for though slow to rise it has
a powerful flight, and the stories of its former capture
in this country by means of grayhounds are generally
discredited. Lord Lilford has seen them within sight
of the Giralda of Seville from the beginning of February
till the end of September. ' In February flocks, varying
in number from eight or ten to sixty or more, are to be
seen on all the pasture and corn lands of the district,
especially on the right of the Guadalquivir, a few miles
above Seville, a country of rolling down-land, for the
most part under cultivation.' This ground very closely
corresponds with the conditions of most of the Berk-
shire and Wiltshire Downs, and is more highly
cultivated than that part of Salisbury Plain which is
passing into the hands of the War Office. The birds
are so far from disliking cultivated land that they nest
in the young wheat in the great alluvial plains of the
lower Guadalquivir, just as they did by preference in
THE RETURN OF THE GREAT BUSTARD 291
the young rye in Norfolk. They usually do not lay
more than two or sometimes three eggs, and nest early,
at the end of April. The eggs are thus liable to be
destroyed when the corn is rolled, or taken by the
labourers employed in hoeing, risks more common,
probably, in this country than in Spain. While the hen
birds are sitting in the corn, the male bustards stalk
about in the cattle pastures. * Many of these fields
barely afford sufficient covert to conceal a lark ; here
these splendid birds may be observed in all their glory
of perfect nuptial plumage, and conscious strength and
beauty, stalking about with a stealthy and deliberate
gait, and showing off, apparently from pure pride ot
life, in turkey-cock fashion.'
A cleverly-stuffed cock bustard at the Natural
History Museum at South Kensington shows this
curious nuptial display of the bird. It is a very
large male, which weighed 37 lb., and was presented
by Mr. Abel Chapman. The head is buried in the
neck, which is greatly inflated ; the ' beard ' is brought
up on either side of the head ; and the tail and wings
seem to have been turned inside out and arranged over
its back. Beneath the outer brown and black feathers
are beautifully-curved pure white ones, both in wings
and tail, which cover the whole of the back, as if
arranged by a feat her -dresser. Lord Lilford's experi-
ences may be supplemented from some interesting
192
292 THE RETURN OF THE GREAT BUSTARD
chapters in Messrs. Abel Chapman and W. J. Buck's
' Wild Spain/ It is evident that the birds are just as
much at home, and as well able to take care of them-
selves, as are partridges in this country, on the ' vast
stretches of silent corn-land' which are the Spanish
bustard's home. i Among the objects of sport there are
few more attractive scenes than a band of bustards at
rest. Bring your field-glasses to bear on that gather-
ing which you see yonder, basking in the sunshine, in
the full enjoyment of their siesta. There are four or
five and twenty of them ; and how immense they look
against the background of sprouting corn which covers
the landscape ; a stranger might well mistake them for
deer or goats. Most of the birds are sitting turkey-
fashion, their heads sunk among their feathers ; others
stand in drowsy yet half-suspicious attitudes, their broad
backs resplendent with those mottled hues of true
game-colour, and their lavender necks and well-poised
heads contrasting with the snowy whiteness of their
lower plumage.' This is a sketch largely from the
sportsman's point of view ; but as sportsmen are likely
to take a prominent share in the coming restoration of
the bird, those who are not familiar with this description
may derive some encouragement from such an agreeable
picture. ' Driving bustards ' is evidently an exciting
and artistic form of sport, and the birds, except the old
cocks, are excellent for the table. It is evident that in
THE RETURN OF THE GREAT BUSTARD 293
Spain they are not averse to modern cultivation ; in
fact, they prefer the corn-lands. The story o. their
disappearance in Norfolk shows that, far from disliking
corn-land, they were only too fond of it. They would
lay their eggs in the winter-sown wheat, which is high
and green early in spring. When wheat began to be
drilled and hoed, instead of being sown broadcast, every
bustard's nest was found. Though forbidden by the
Act of 25 Henry VIII., these eggs were taken by the
farm boys and labourers, and kept as curiosities or
eaten. As there were only two ' droves ' left early in
the present century one in the open country round
Swaffham, the other near Thetford, of which the former
only numbered twenty-seven in or about the year 1820,
while after the year 1812 the Thetford 'drove 'was
only reckoned at twenty-four it is not strange that
with constant * egging ' and occasional shooting they
disappeared. The last nest in Norfolk was probably
that made on a farm at Great Massingham in 1835 or
1836, from which some eggs were taken, one of which
is preserved. The destruction of the eggs and killing
of the birds is clearly within the limits of prevention ;
and no County Council would refuse a resolution to
enforce the law, which still exists, against the taking of
bustards' eggs. The bird, its eggs, and young, are
already protected by Section 24 of the Game Act or
1831, which also gives it a close season from March i
*
*
294 THE RETURN OF THE GREAT BUSTARD
to September i, and makes a license necessary to kill it,
and trespass in its pursuit an offence under the Act.
There remains the question whether any change in the
surface of the country has taken place which might
render their old haunts less acceptable to the birds.
The answer is in the negative, except in the case of
those very parts of Norfolk in which it lingered latest.
This region, known as the ' breck ' district, was subject
to constant sandstorms, and the blowing sand cut and
injured the young wheat. To stop this belts of trees
were planted, and its open character changed. This,
Mr. Stevenson considered, 'rendered it entirely un-
suitable to the wary habits of the bustard.' But the
whole of the Berkshire and Wiltshire Downs, the Wolds
of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, and much of the Fen
district, is still ideal ground for the bird. It must be
remembered that the bustard, though resident formerly
all the year in England, is potentially migratory. Stray
birds do occasionally appear still from overseas, one of
the last being seen in the Fens. Lord Lilford obtained
a mate for this bird, but it died one cold night after it
was liberated, and the cock bird then disappeared.
It was never suggested as a cause of its disappearance
that the bustard was destroyed as destructive to crops
or a nuisance to the farmer. In Spain its diet varies at
different seasons. For animal food it likes frogs, mice,
lizards, earth-worms, snails, beetles, locusts, and grass-
THE RETURN OF THE GREAT BUSTARD 295
hoppers; the latter it devours with particular relish.
Its taste in vegetables is less to the farmer's liking. It
eats green corn, especially barley, clover, the leaves of
mallow, chick-peas, and vetches. In Norfolk its food
was much the same, with the substitution of turnip-tops
for chick-peas ; it also ate seeds of weeds and the leaves
of colewort and dandelion. Everyone will hope that
the return of the bustard will not long be delayed, and
that those who undertake its restoration may meet with
ready and willing help from their neighbours, rich and
poor. It is probable that it never was, and never will
be, very numerous as a species. But public interest is
alive to subjects of this kind at present, and the moment
is favourable for the attempt.
XL. BIG GAME
A CIRCULAR was lately issued to sportsmen, inviting
them to join in a big-game shooting expedition to
British East Africa. The particular district selected
as a hunting-ground was that round Mount Kenia, the
route being via Mombasa and the Uganda railway.
The advertised cost for twelve months was three
hundred pounds, which leaves rather a narrow margin
for contingencies ; and of the big game which figured
among the probable bag, one, the quagga, is extinct,
and another, the spring-buck, is not found north of
the Zambesi. But there is no doubt whatever that
in spite of the decrease of most big game in its old
haunts, there is in Cape Colony, the Transvaal, Natal,
the Northern States of America, and some parts ot
Arctic Europe, notably in Spitzbergen, abundance of
sport left, and sport of an unusual kind, accessible at
a moderate cost, and with no great loss of time on the
journey. Of the hunting-grounds of the future we
say something later. But at the present moment the
296
BIG GAME 297
noblest trophies of the rifle may be secured both in
South Africa and East Africa, in India, and in North
America, further afield, it is true, than in the past,
but not further in point of time. Africa, for instance,
affords three main areas open to big-game shooters
Mashonaland, East Central Africa, and Somaliland.
Of these, Mashonaland is accessible by rail, either via
Mafeking or by Beira, and the Uganda railway will
soon open up the northern district.
Portuguese South -East Africa also swarms with
game. The list of large animals exceeds thirty species,
including lions, leopards, cheetah, hippopotamus, ostrich,
sable-antelope, water-buck, koodoo, pallah, hartbeest,
bison, tsesseby, and many other of the finest game
animals in Africa. Somaliland is another, and perhaps
the favourite, haunt of the modern big-game shooter
in Africa. There he finds a hotter climate, and even
better, though more expensive, sport ; for camels must
be hired, and a large retinue maintained. Elephant,
black rhinoceros, and numbers of zebra of two species,
as well as a vast list of antelope, are to be found and
killed by any well-managed expedition. India seems
almost to be forgotten by big-game shooters leaving
England, and left to residents. Yet Indian sport has
on the whole rather expanded in kind and quality than
diminished. To the ' old-fashioned ' sport of our grand-
fathers, the splendid jungle- shooting recorded in such
298 BIG GAME
books as that best of Indian sporting novels, ' The
Old Forest Ranger,' or the diaries of General Douglas
Hamilton and his brother ' Hawkeye,' is now added
the mountain -shooting of thur, ibex, and all the
varieties of wild goats and wild sheep. But the ' old-
fashioned ' animals still abound. A writer in Country
Life, describing big-game shooting in Berar, states that
in one district there were such numbers of cheetul
deer, wild hog, and other game, that the tigers, which
also abounded, would scarcely condescend to kill a
bullock when tied up for their especial benefit. Bears
are also numerous wherever there are hills ; so are the
great bison in half a dozen of the great forest districts,
and sambur, swamp-deer, leopards, buffalo, ibex, and
nilgai in suitable country.
The ambition of the modern big-game hunter is to
return with a mixed set of trophies, not a series of the
same kind. Consequently he is not content with a
whole season's * still hunting ' in the Canadian forest,
when the first light snow has fallen, and moose and
cariboo can be followed with surroundings and equip-
ment unchanged since the days of Montcalm, because
he can only get moose and cariboo, or black -tailed deer
or mule-deer. The climate and surroundings are almost
perfect ; and he can have this sport mixed with canoe-
ing, rough fishing, and plenty of small-game shooting
when he likes. But what he desires is, if in North
BIG GAME 299
America, a varied and striking collection of hides and
horns, skins of the grizzly bear and black bear, horns
of the wapiti, moose, cariboo, black-tailed deer, Rocky
Mountain goat, and big-horn sheep, and for this he
must go further afield, to the magnificent mountain
forests and lakes of North British Columbia. It does
not matter whether he seeks his sport there or in South
Africa, in Khama's country, in Mashonaland, in the
Upper Zambesi, or in India. In any of these fields
he can amass those magnificent sets of trophies which
are now seen in so many sportsmen's homes, and form,
merely in transit between the packing-case and the
country house, a permanent collection always changing,
but never growing less, in the establishments of one or
two first-class taxidermists and mounters of skins and
horns. The size and splendour of some of these trophies
surpass anything seen in museums, except in that Oi
Mr. Walter Rothschild at Tring. The mere bulk or
some of the animals passes belief, and the magnificence
of the furs and horns makes the average Englishman
wildly covetous to obtain something himself which
shall match them.
As mere instances of the size of the trophies, we may
take, for example, the gigantic elephant's head at Tring,
with tusks nine feet long. There is, of course, another
side to this quest for trophies. The writer has seen
at one of the great taxidermist's the newly-tanned and
300 BIG GAME
bullet-pierced skin of a lion spread out for inspection
before the brother of the man whom it had killed the
instant after it received its death-wound. But fatal
accidents are increasingly rare in modern big-game
shooting. The rifles are accurate, not too heavy, and
frightfully destructive ; and very many of the noted
big-game hunters are marvellous shots. Those who
doubt it should watch the shooting of such great
hunters as Mr. Littledale or Sir E. G. Loder when
firing double shots at the ' running deer ' at Bisley,
and putting, not once, but twice, thrice, or four times,
two bullets, right and left, into a moving target no
larger than a breakfast plate. Fortunately for the big-
game hunter, there are new regions opening out for him
even now. There is every reason to believe that one or
these will offer almost the finest sport, and of the most
satisfactory kind yet found, except, perhaps, in the
days of the early lion-hunters in South Africa. The
scene is the valley of the Upper Amoor, and its great
tributary the Ussuri. On the former, bear, boar, and
the magnificent maral stag abound, in some of the most
beautiful scenery, and one of the best climates, in the
world. The Lower Amoor is l feverish/ except in
winter ; but the valley of the Ussuri river, which joins
the Amoor at the point where the latter turns due
north, and forms the boundary between Chinese
Manchuria and the Russian coast province, holds
BIG GAME 301
the finest beast of prey in the world, the Northern
or Siberian tiger. No one quite knows to what
dimensions the Siberian tiger will not grow. One
owned by Mr. Hagenbeck was a far larger animal than
he or any other had ever seen either alive or repre-
sented by its skin. The coat is immensely long in
winter, of a rich dark orange, with an undergrowth
of fur, and makes an incomparable trophy. Both these
Northern tigers and bears were recently so plentiful
on the Ussuri, that the Russian Government offered
a large reward for their destruction, and gave every
encouragement to the officers of the East Siberian army
to go and hunt there. But Russian officers have not
that passion for sport which seems inbred in English-
men abroad, and recent accounts state that the ravages
made among the cattle of the new Russian settlers are
still a most serious drawback to colonization. The
wild boars of the Ussuri are also very fine animals.
There are two of these at the Tring museum, but they
do not equal the dimensions of the huge European
boar from the Carpathians recently exhibited at the
International Fur Store. This European boar, shot
within a few days by rail from London, weighed six
hundred and twenty pounds, beating the record of the
chestnut-fed boars of the Caucasus. Its bristles were
so wiry, long, and thick, that they looked like a piece
of rough heather thatching.
3 02 BIG GAME
Before the East Siberian hunting-field is developed,
another will probably be once more open to the British
big-game hunter. This is the Kassala district and the
valley of the Atbara river, which before its occupation
by the Dervishes was absolutely the finest sporting-
ground left in Africa. It was the land of the * hunting
Arabs/ very healthy, abounding in water and cover,
and the home par excellence of the black rhinoceros,
the lion, and smaller African carnivora of many species,
large antelope, and, in places, of the elephant and
giraffe. It is believed that an immense increase of wild
animals has recently taken place there, partly because
the population has been too harassed by the triangular
war between Dervishes, Abyssinians, and Italians to kill
off the game, and partly because the famous tribe of
sword-hunters, the Hamran Arabs, were nearly exter-
minated twelve years ago by an epidemic. The
Klondike discoveries will give, indirectly, better facilities
for reaching North British Columbia and Southern
Alaska than have hitherto been available, and though
not ' new ' hunting-grounds, they will come within
range of a much larger number of sportsmen. The
forest region of the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus
will probably remain, as it is at present, the home of
great quantities of big game, but an impossible hunting-
ground. The valleys are full of fever ; diphtheria
seems native to the soil ; and though bear, boar, and
BIG GAME 303
deer abound, leopards are not uncommon, and one or
the remaining herds of European bison still remains
there. The forest is so thick, so wet, and so unhealthy,
that it cannot become a regular hunting-ground.
There remains one more possible new hunting-ground,
the oldest in the world, for it was possibly the scene
of Nimrod's own exploits. This is the Baghtiara
highlands of Persia, where the lion is still numerous
by the thick covers near the rivers. The late Sir
Henry Laird, when a guest of these mountain tribes,
was informed that all the black-maned lions were not
only good Mussulmans, but ' Shiahs ' to a lion, and
only required the name of Hassan and Hosein to be
mentioned if they were required to move on. The
yellow-maned lions were * Kaffirs/ and were shot at
sight.
XLL GAME PRESERVATION IN THE
UNITED STATES
AT the present moment one of the burning questions
of domestic interest in the United States is the enact-
ment of Game Laws. The origin of the movement
is curiously unlike that from which similar legislation
sprang in this country, though its object is identical.
In the various States of the Union the public are
clamouring for game preservation and stricter super-
vision, while private owners are, if anything, rather in
opposition to the general wish. Sport is the main
object of the new desire for game preservation, but
aesthetic feelings are not without influence, and the
legislators who desire penalties for wearing wild birds'
feathers act in harmony with those who wish to enact
more stringent Game Laws. The activities of these
reformers are so numerous, and spread over a country
of such vast area, that it is difficult to present them in
any continuous scheme ; but we give some of the
questions of the hour to illustrate the energy of this
304
GAME PRESERVATION 305
spontaneous and democratic movement in favour of
State protection of game. Its intensely popular and
local character is shown by the fact that every separate
State is now enforcing existing Game Laws or adding to
their number. Dakota, Illinois, Tennessee, New York,
Maine, Vermont, and many others, are engaged in
revising or adding to these laws, which are enforced
not by private persons, but by State gamekeepers. In
Maine, for instance, though so near to the great cities
of the East, sportsmen are expected to use the services
of licensed guides, who are really State ' gillies.' Strict
close time is enforced, and these men have the protection
of game and fish mainly in their control throughout the
territory. But the State ' game warden ' is also a
recognised institution. His exploits in catching
poachers are chronicled with enthusiasm in the Press,
in a very different tone to that often adopted when
poachers are summoned before British magistrates.
Under the heading of 'Arrests in Montana,' we find
that ' a partial check has been given to the elk butchers '
by summary arrests ; that wholesale skin-hunters' camps
have been raided by the constables, and the offenders
put in gaol ; and that ' warrants are out for two
prominent citizens,' no less personages than a State
senator and a schoolmaster. Endless complaints, in-
formations, and prosecutions for killing deer in close
time, occupy the columns of the local papers. If half
20
3 o6 GAME PRESERVATION
the grumbling on this subject appeared in the columns
of the Field and Country Life which is inserted weekly
in the New York Forest and Stream, there would be
a popular outcry against over-preservation. Curious
complications arise from these laws. As each State
preserves its own game, and pays its own wardens,
it naturally objects to citizens of other States shooting
in its forests without contribution or domicile. Con-
sequently, certain States imposed shooting licenses on
non-residents from other States. The latter then com-
plained that this was a breach of the American Con-
stitution, which secures equal rights to all citizens in
all States alike. An action was brought against the
State of Connecticut by a citizen, but the State won.
So in the Supreme Court of California it was laid down
that * the wild game within a State belongs to the people
in their collective capacity. It is not the subject of
private ownership, except in so far as the people may
elect to make it so, and they may, if they see fit,
absolutely prohibit the taking of it or traffic or
commerce in it, if it is deemed necessary for pro-
tection or preservation.' This judgment thus does
not forbid private ownership, but asserts State owner-
ship in general. As a matter of fact, private ownership
of game does exist in many States, and makes such
places as the Corbin Park possible. Shooting licenses
will probably be made compulsory on 'outsiders' by
IN THE UNITED STATES 307
the States whose sporting rights they desire to enjoy.
A recent meeting at Chicago with the object of enforcing
game protection in the State of Illinois elicits the
following comments in a leading paper, which gives
the modern American views on game preserving in
a form not more exalted than is commonly seen in
the discussion of such topics : ' Altogether aside from
the consideration of game as a food resource is the
influence it has upon the health and stamina of the
race. This is not in any degree a fanciful view of the
supply of wild game as a public benefit, and game
protection as a public charge. It has had recognition
from early days, and has furnished reason for the
enactment and enforcement of Game Laws. The
whole country reaps advantage when its public men
seek the woods for their recreations ; the community
shares the good which its citizens find in camp and
field. Game is a public property ; those appointed
to protect it are the trustees of the public ; game
protection is a public trust/ This public trust is
occasionally exercised to private detriment. Thus in
Long Island, at thirty miles from New York, deer
are so numerous, in consequence of the prohibition
of hunting with hounds as well as shooting, that
the market-gardeners' bitter cry is now being heard.
One of these writes a furious letter of complaint, of
which the following extracts are somewhat amusing.
2O 2
3o8 GAME PRESERVATION
Perhaps even stronger language would be used were
the market-gardens in Gunnersbury or Fulham. ' The
depredations on all kinds of truck are fearful, and drive
the small farmers, who especially suffer, to madness and
despondency. Ask, for example, the people of Bohemian-
ville how they have to suffer, despite all precautions, by
putting up scarecrows, hanging out lanterns, etc., to
keep off the deer. In making such an onerous Game
Law, the State expropriates the farmer without giving
him compensation ; the State takes the food out of the
toiler's mouth and gives it to the deer.' After remark-
ing that, instead of encouraging the growing of vege-
tables to supply the poor with cheap food, ' the State
goes to breeding wild animals,' the writer adds that,
when trying to get compensation from the Board ot
Supervisors, the Board answered humorously that the
farmers * should start a revolution.' ' Is that equal
rights?' asks this citizen of Long Island. In Maine
a difficulty of an unforeseen kind is urged against
modern State preservation. By the old laws of the
colony of Massachusetts, the founders of this refuge for
tender consciences enacted that no game preservation
should be permitted, and further declared that the
right of free fishing and fowling should pertain to all
on any great pond containing more than ten acres of
water, and that the right to pass and repass to any
such water should remain for ever unabridged, pro-
IN THE UNITED STATES 309
viding that the persons using it did not trespass upon
any man's corn or meadow.' This statute was upheld
in a recent judgment, and a newly-made private game-
park was thrown open to the public. An odd phase of
the present keenness of the public for public sport is the
attack recently made on cold storage solely because it
makes the detection of breakers of the close season
more difficult by preserving game all the year round in
condition for market. It was seriously alleged that
cold storing of game made it poisonous, or, at least,
unfit for human food. The subject was discussed at
immense length, and the adversaries of cold storage
were the popular party in the dispute, the thinness or
the arguments being backed up by the goodness of the
cause, which was not solicitude for wholesome food, but
for the protection of game in close time.
The men who kill winged game in the close season
make immense bags in many districts, and by supplying
unscrupulous owners of cold stores with grouse, wild
geese, quail, and wild-fowl, earn large sums, and do
much mischief. The following specimen of a Yankee
poacher's letter, offering to make himself useful in this
way, was recently forwarded by the recipient to the
Forest and Stream. The spelling is given literatim :
'jenuarry the 28. Mr i hav Bin sicK for fower
weeks SinCe i saw your agent, i am gittin game rite
now i have some gees i will sent them in now mr i will
310 GAME PRESERVATION
do business with you i will sent you som eggs, how
long can you Handel Birds privetly mr send priCes
onCe a weak is anuf.' The game chiefly preserved in
the old States are black-tailed deer, Virginian deer,
wild duck, and other fowl, Californian quail, sage hens,
and ruffed grouse. Bears and foxes benefit by the
close season extended to game. Westwards the big game
of the Rocky Mountains, wapiti (or 4 elk '), wild-sheep,
wild-goats, and winged game are also protected in a
close season settled by the different States. Both Vir-
ginian deer and, in the State of Maine, the woodland
cariboo and other deer have much increased of recent
years. The latest development of this democratic game
preserving is the introduction of the English pheasant.
Private persons began and succeeded in the experiments ;
but now certain States have taken to pheasant pre-
serving ; the first sets of eggs and subsequent broods
have been reared in State pheasantries and protected by
rigorous laws for a period of five years.
The whole movement is a curious illustration of the
intense Anglo-Saxon love of sport, and of the sense of
fair play due to game which marks the distinction
between sport and the commercial killing of game. It
would not be possible in a country which did not, as
the United States, abound in wild ' unimproved ' land,
forests, and swampy rivers. In time, as the population
grows, the game must diminish in spite of State pro-
IN THE UNITED STATES 311
tection. But for the present the Americans are deter-
mined that no such waste of animal life by unrestricted
shooting shall recur as that which destroyed the bison,
and has reduced to a few individuals the largest flocks
of any species of bird ever seen in one place, the once
innumerable colonies of passenger-pigeons.
XL1L ANIMAL ACCLIMATIZATION AT
WOBURN ABBEY
THIS volume, which began with an instance of the
necessity for animals to-day, shown in the demand for
the reindeer and snow-camel for Klondike, may close
appropriately with a significant example of the value
set on animals as among the pleasures of life.
During recent years the Duke of Bedford has carried
out a scheme of animal acclimatization in the park at
Woburn Abbey on a scale never before attempted in
this country. Birds as well as quadrupeds are the
subjects of this experiment, and the magnificent pheasants
of India and China haunt the woods in large numbers.
But the greater number of the animals are various kinds
of deer, of which no fewer than thirty-four species are
in the open park or paddocks bison, zebras, antelopes,
wild sheep and goats, and yaks. The novelty and
freshness of this experiment consists not only in the
accumulation of such a number of species, interesting
312
ANIMAL ACCLIMATIZATION 313
as this is to the naturalist, but in their way of life, free
and unconfined in an English park. That is the lot of
the greater number of the animals at Woburn, some
being entirely free and wandering at large, like the
native red-deer and fallow-deer, while the others, though
for the present in separate enclosures, are kept in
reserves so spacious, and so lightly though effectively
separated, that they have the appearance of enjoying
the same degree of liberty. Almost the first question
which suggests itself is, What is the general effect of
this gathering of over-sea animals, from the African
veldt and Indian hills, the Manchurian mountains and
North American prairies, and from wild- animal land
quod ubique est, on the green pastures and under the
elms and oaks round the home of a great English
family ? Briefly, we may say that the effect is mag-
nificent. On leaving Woburn, the valleys and meadows
stocked with our ordinary domestic animals seem
solitary and deserted after the eye has rested for hours
on the varied and impressive forms that crowd the
slopes, groves, and glades of this fine park. This effect
is due in part to the largeness of the scale on which the
stocking of Woburn with wild animals has been carried
out. In the phrase of the farmer, the park ' carries a
larger head' of animals than is commonly seen on a
similar area, even in the richest pastures. The scene
recalls the descriptions of the early travellers in Southern
3 i4 ANIMAL ACCLIMATIZATION
Africa, when the large fauna roamed there in unbroken
numbers, and with little fear of man. The coup cTseil
in parts of the park where the animals gather thickest
is so striking that the mind descends reluctantly to the
identification of the species, or to details of dates, origin,
and management. From one position, looking up a
long green slope towards the Abbey, there could be
seen at the time of the writer's last visit between two
and three hundred animals, both birds and beasts,
feeding or sleeping within sight of the immediate front
of the spectator. These varied in species from cranes,
storks, and almost every known species of swan, to
wapiti stags, antelopes, and zebras, walking, sitting,
galloping, feeding, or sleeping. For quite half a mile
up the slope the white swans and other wild fowl were
dotted among the deer and other ruminants, presenting
a strange and most attractive example of the real
* paradise ' which animals will make for themselves
when only the ' good beasts ' are selected to live
together. The creatures in this animal Arcadia were
grouped nearly as follows. In the foreground was a
large pool, circular, with clayey banks, one of a chain
of ponds of all sizes, from that of a fishpond to a large
lake which lies lower in the park. On and around
this pool were many species of swans, and eight of
foreign geese ; but the greater number of these were
scattered, as we have said, over some hundred acres of
ANIMAL ACCLIMATIZATION 315
park. In the centre of the pond sat a cormorant, and
on the grass by the margin some gigantic cranes with
crimson heads and gray wings were running and
' dancing ' in honour of the sun. On the hill to the
left, where the Abbey lies, were five distinct herds or
deer. Three of these were fallow bucks and does.
One herd was of red-deer, and hybrids between the
red-deer and the wapiti. On the sky-line were a herd
of pure-bred wapiti, with three huge stags, their horns
just cleaned from the velvet. In the centre slope, in
diminishing perspective till they appeared mere dots
among the trees, were mixed groups of Japanese deer,
the same breed which have thriven so remarkably in the
parks of Sir Edmund Loder and Lord Powerscourt,
fallow bucks and does, red-deer, both * red ' and pure
white, of which variety the park holds a considerable
number, a few other and smaller foreign deer, and a
group of five nylghau antelopes from India. Three of
these were reddish-gray in colour, while two were real
* blue bulls/ very fine upstanding beasts, well suited to
woodland scenery. On the right, within a hundred
yards, lying down or feeding under an ancient elm, was
a small herd of zebras, as quiet and at their ease as so
many New Forest ponies with their foals. Picture
this animal population among the groves and ancient
timber of an English park in May. And this is but
one among many such sights visible in this unique
316 ANIMAL ACCLIMATIZATION
paradise. The park is high and undulating, with a
number of rounded hillocks and elevations. In conse-
quence of the persistent downfall of rain, and the wet-
ness of the pasture, the animals had betaken themselves
to the high ground ; and there on the sky-line were
seen outlined forms so familiar, yet so strange in their
setting, that the visitor might almost incline to doubt
whether he were in possession of his waking senses or
dreaming of pictures in Catlin's ' North American
Indians.' On one hill, for instance, lay sleeping four
American bison and a herd of wapiti-deer. The round,
humped outlines of the former were seen across a great
space of grass, for here the park was treeless, and the
animals, though confined in large enclosures of some
twenty acres each, looked exactly as they must have
appeared before the days of their destruction on the
rolling prairies of the North- West.
The mixture of species, far from being incongruous,
is most effective. Close by a long avenue of chestnut-
trees in blossom was a chance gathering of animals
from the Highlands of Scotland and from far Thibet.
Four or five small herds of red deer were feeding,
mingled with some thirty or forty splendid Highland
cattle of all colours, with rough shaggy coats and long
horns. Some were black, some red, some smoke-
coloured, some of the pinkish-gray seen in soap-stone
and in the shaggy coats of these light-coloured moor-
ANIMAL ACCLIMATIZATION 317
land cattle. In the centre of these creatures, which
were scattered feeding over many acres of ground, was
a herd of fourteen yaks. One white-and-gray bull,
whose coat touched the ground, led the herd. The
rest were black-and-white, cows and calves mingled,
feeding or sleeping under the chestnut-trees.
The creatures which roam absolutely free in this
great park represent those in the final or perfect state
in this animal paradise. But, like the souls in Virgil's
land of the just, these happy creatures pass through
various stages of probation. Some never reach the
stage of complete liberty, or are physically unsuited
for complete surrender to outdoor life in England.
Many spend part of their time in wide enclosed
paddocks contained in the park itself, and are pro-
moted later to wander free and unrestrained.
' Exinde per amplum
Mittimur Elysium et pauci laeta arva tenemus/
might be the motto of these c dwellers on the threshold/
Life in these paddocks is, in its turn, intermediate
between freedom in the open park and the confinement
of smaller enclosures, which reproduce on a very ample
scale the features of an ideal 'Zoo.' One of these
enclosures is a warm walled meadow, with a few old
apple-trees in it, such as often lies adjacent to a farm.
It was a kind of annexe to the home farm buildings.
In it are pools for wild fowl, while rows of farm
3 i8 ANIMAL ACCLIMATIZATION
buildings, now occupied by various birds and beasts
which need rest after long journeys by sea and rail,
abut on the paddock. In the latter a colony of
Patagonian cavies burrow under the apple trees, and
pretty little kangaroos, or rather * wallabies,' with their
young in their pouches, hop about in the grass, or lie
basking like cats by the side of the water. One
wallaby sat upright on the bank, leaning its back against
a tree. Its young one, looking out of its pouch, was
seriously gazing at its own diminutive features reflected
in the water. Brilliant purple gallinules, Patagonian
rails, Indian ducks, and pelicans were on the water, and
a newly-arrived brood of Japanese teal were resting
after their journey in one of the sheds. An interest-
ing feature in this paddock, one which is constantly
observable at Woburn, is the friendliness of the various
creatures with each other. Some very fine sing-sing
antelopes, a dwarf Indian bull, and some Chinese
water -deer were associated with the kangaroos and
cavies in perfect amity. But this seems characteristic
of the place. We noticed a pair of tame deer lying
under the single cedar-tree which stands in the great
quadrangle made by stables and coachhouses at the
back of the main block of Woburn Abbey. A stable-
cat, being in want of society, strolled out and sat
down exactly between these two deer. As they did
ANIMAL ACCLIMATIZATION 319
not object, the cat got up and rubbed itself against the
back of one of the reclining hinds. This is a real
4 paradise ' at the close of the nineteenth century, and of
its kind is among the things best worth seeing in rural
England.
THE END
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