HALF HOURS WITH THE ANIMALS,
 
 RED DEER.
 
 HALF HOURS 
 WITH THE ANIMALS 
 
 NARRATIVES 
 
 EXHIBITING 
 
 THOUGHT, SYMPATHY, AND AFFECTION 
 IN THE BRUTE CREATION 
 
 WITH THIRTY-TWO ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 SEELEY, JACKSON, & HALLIDAY, 54, FLEET STREET 
 LONDON. MDCCCLXXVI
 
 Watson and Hazell, Printers, London and Aylesbury.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I. IN THE HOUSE 4 
 
 THE DOG, CAT, BIRDS, ETC. 
 
 II. IN THE STABLE 87 
 
 THE HORSE, ASS, MULE, ETC. 
 
 III. IN THE FARM-YARD 124 
 
 THE OX, PIG, GOOSE, TURKEY, ETC. 
 
 IV. IN THE FIELD . . .141 
 
 THE SHEEP, FOX, STAG, ETC. 
 
 V. IN THE WOOD .157 
 
 THE SQUIRREL, CROW, ETC. 
 
 VI. ABROAD .... . .191 
 
 THE EAGLE, MONKEY, ELEPHANT, ETC.
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 RED DEER . 
 
 THE SENTINEL 
 
 Retriever 
 THE COMRADES . 
 
 Dog and Child 
 THE INUNDATION . 
 
 Dog and Pail . 
 
 Puss AND PUG 
 
 Bird in Cage . 
 THE THREE FRIENDS 
 
 Traveller Lost . 
 WAITING FOR THE MASTER 
 
 Donkeys 
 A ROUGH LOT 
 THE LEADER OF THE HERD 
 THE FARMYARD . 
 
 Turkey. 
 COCKS FIGHTING . 
 
 Fowls . 
 
 NOT CAUGHT YET. 
 THE RIVALS 
 
 Owl 
 THE WIDOW 
 
 Wild Ducks . 
 AN INTRUDER 
 Sea Gulls 
 
 THE CAT'S PAW . 
 And Tailpieces. 
 
 . Hills . 
 
 . Frontispiece. 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Landseer 
 
 4 
 
 
 15 
 
 . Landseer 
 
 24 
 
 
 43 
 
 . Kiorboe 
 
 ' - 56 
 
 Mitchell . 
 
 72 
 
 
 . 86 
 
 . Herring 
 
 9 
 
 
 IOO 
 
 . Herring 
 
 . 106 
 
 , . 
 
 . 116 
 
 . Hills 
 
 . 118 
 
 . Hills 
 
 . 124 
 
 . Herring 
 
 . 128 
 
 
 137 
 
 . Snyders 
 
 . 138 
 
 
 ' 139 
 
 . Landseer 
 
 . 148 
 
 . Hills 
 
 154 
 
 
 . 158 
 
 . Landseer 
 
 . 168 
 
 . 
 
 . 169 
 
 . Hondekoeter 
 
 . 170 
 
 . 
 
 . 171 
 
 . Landseer 
 
 . 198
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 THE following pages claim to be nothing more than a 
 collection of facts and incidents bearing upon a particular 
 feature and condition of the Animal World, and intended 
 mainly to enlarge the reader's knowledge. The book does 
 not aim to maintain any principle or moral system by 
 argument. Nothing, it is believed, will be found in it but 
 simple truth that is, nothing but narratives given by 
 eye-witnesses, or otherwise supported by adequate testi- 
 mony. And when thus placed before the reader's mind, 
 those facts are left to produce their natural effect, with- 
 out being applied to establish any theory, or promote 
 any opinion. 
 
 Yet it can hardly be that they will fail, in one respect, 
 to do good. For their natural tendency is, to raise 
 some of God's creatures in our estimation, and to excite 
 feelings of sympathy towards them ; and so to lessen
 
 x Introduction. 
 
 the distance which has hitherto existed between man 
 and the animals which surround him. Hitherto these 
 animals have been too much regarded as mere slaves 
 as little better than machines and have thus excited 
 no livelier feelings than those with which we regard 
 the steam-engine or the plough. But when, by study 
 and thought, we come to perceive that some of these 
 creatures can reason, can sympathise, and can form 
 strong attachments, their position with reference to 
 mankind must change, must be elevated ; and thus, 
 in the simplest and easiest way, "Cruelty to Animals" 
 must grow more odious and more irrational. 
 
 So far, without controversy, good may be done. Per- 
 haps, in another respect, a thoughtful consideration of 
 the facts here exhibited may have a beneficial influence. 
 We shall merely indicate it, and then leave the subject 
 with our readers. 
 
 The fact, surely, is worthy of some thought and in- 
 vestigation, that there are few even of the wildest and 
 most savage of the creatures that cannot be brought 
 into friendship with man, if he chooses to endeavour to 
 gain their good will. Even the elephant, the wisest 
 and mightiest of the brute creation, he who wants so
 
 Introduction. xi 
 
 little at the hands of man, may easily be made a sym- 
 pathizing companion. Nor must we forget those still 
 ruder creatures, the lion and the bear, both of whom 
 have been brought into amicable relations. In fact, we 
 are hardly justified in supposing that there is any one 
 of the animals of so irreclaimable a disposition as to 
 reject absolutely every overture that man could make, 
 to establish a good understanding. 
 
 This thought naturally leads to another. We are told 
 in God's Word that a time is coming when " the wolf 
 shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down 
 with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fat- 
 ling together, and a little child shall lead them." Doubt- 
 less this language may be figurative, and it may be figura- 
 tive only. But equally allowable is it to believe, that it may 
 be figurative, and literal also. It will hardly be doubted 
 that, whenever the time shall come in which the hitherto 
 ferocious and savage among mankind shall be brought 
 into Christian habits of thought and feeling, the animal 
 world will be immensely benefited by the change. The 
 horse will no longer be the ill-used slave he too often is^ 
 at present ; the dog will no longer be taught and trained* 
 to chase, and worry, and tear in pieces creatures whose
 
 xii Introduction. 
 
 right to live is equal to his own; the dove and the hare will 
 no longer be made the mere victims they now are ; in 
 short, cruelty will be banished from among men, and the 
 only question will be, how these beautiful creatures of 
 God's hand can be raised and rendered happier and 
 better than they have yet been. The thought, if pursued, 
 would lead us far ; but we must restrain ourselves, 
 remembering the principle with which we started; that 
 our object was, not to advance theories, or promote 
 systems, but simply to bring together some useful and 
 not uninteresting information. 
 
 Yet we cannot forget the apostle's words, which are 
 clearly pregnant with deep and important meanings, 
 "The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain 
 together until now." "The earnest expectation of the 
 creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of 
 God." 
 
 As we have already said, we have no thought of 
 propounding a theory a system but we cannot doubt 
 that Paul's words are true, are certain, and shall be 
 fulfilled. There will be, in the appointed time, a 
 "manifestation," a coming forth into the light, of the 
 sons of God, of those who have obtained entrance into
 
 Introduction. xiii 
 
 His family. Of the nature, the time, and the character 
 of that entrance, we cannot now say anything. It would 
 require more space than we can give. But it will be 
 seen will be so seen as to be no matter of doubt or 
 question. And when that day shall come, the " earnest 
 expectation of the creature" shall be fully met: "The 
 wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall 
 eat straw like the bullock, and dust shall be the serpent's 
 meat." These are true words, and there are various 
 signs which seem to tell us that the dawn at least of 
 that day is appearing.
 
 HALF HOURS WITH THE ANIMALS.
 
 HALF HOURS WITH THE ANIMALS. 
 
 r I "HE subject dealt with in the following pages is one 
 JL of great interest, and wonderful variety. A single 
 topic divides itself, in real life, into a thousand parts. 
 
 No one doubts the vast superiority of the human 
 race over "the brute creation" "the beasts that 
 perish." First of all, in the extent of the reasoning 
 power ; but more obviously in the possession of speech 
 and written language. In these respects man is placed, 
 perhaps, as far above the animals as the angels are 
 above man. 
 
 But, after fully stating this at the outset, we must 
 next advert to a few distinct points, in which some 
 members of the brute creation show themselves in 
 possession of certain faculties and powers, and, more, 
 of feelings and affections, far exceeding those which 
 are commonly exhibited by human beings. 
 
 i
 
 2 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 It is perhaps in the language of hyperbole that 
 Sydney Smith says, 
 
 " It would take a senior wrangler at Cambridge ten 
 hours a day for three years together, to know enough 
 mathematics for the calculation of those problems with 
 which not only every queen bee, but every undergraduate 
 grub, is acquainted the moment it is born." 
 
 This, we repeat, may seem hyperbolical ; but the in- 
 stances are numerous, and most certain, in which dogs, 
 carried, perhaps in enclosed carriages, for hundreds of 
 miles, have, on being released, at once gone back direct, 
 and in the shortest possible time, to the place from which 
 they had been taken, though the roads must have been 
 quite unknown to them. This, it is quite evident, is a 
 feat which no human being could possibly equal. 
 
 The chief advantage, however, which is clearly pos- 
 sessed by some animals, the dog being evidently the 
 hrst in this respect, consists in warmth and steadfastness 
 of affection. Instances are numerous, and are constantly 
 recurring, in which dogs have defended their masters 
 at the hazard, or even by the sacrifice, of their own 
 lives. Other cases, too, are well known, in which dogs 
 have refused to live after their masters had departed ; 
 and not a few, in which they have taken up their abodes 
 on the graves of those whom they loved, and have 
 resolutely refused to quit. In many respects, it must 
 be admitted, the depth of attachment shown by these
 
 Half Hours with the Animals. 3 
 
 creatures for those who have been kind to them, is far 
 beyond anything- that is known, except in very rare 
 instances, among- mankind. 
 
 But we must not anticipate. The following pages will 
 consist entirely of narratives, and those narratrves cannot 
 but be interesting. No argument will be founded on 
 them; no conclusions will be drawn. We desire only to 
 collect and to put into an accessible form a number 
 of remarkable facts, leaving the reader to deduce from 
 them such lessons as he may. We will only add one 
 caution, which seems called for by certain doubtful 
 speculations already offered to the public : that it will 
 be wise to remember, that nothing that we can do or say 
 in this matter can amount to more than a surmise, 
 a supposition. We may collect and arrange facts ; but of 
 the conclusions to which they tend we can know little or 
 nothing.
 
 Half Hours with the Ani?na!s. 
 
 I. 
 
 IN THE HOUSE. 
 
 IT is natural that we should begin with that animal which 
 stands nearest to man, and is most familiar with him. 
 But this chapter will necessarily be limited in its extent, 
 by a remembrance of the volume published a few months 
 since,* the contents of which it would be obviously 
 improper to reproduce. Still, many anecdotes remain, 
 which are not found in that volume ; and some of these 
 we shall here insert, without any attempt at decoration, 
 and without comment. 
 
 Washington Irving, in describing a visit to Abbots- 
 ford, says, 
 
 "After my return from Melrose Abbey, Scott pro- 
 posed a ramble, to show me something of the surround- 
 ing country. As we sallied forth, every dog in the 
 establishment turned out to attend us. 
 
 " There was the old and well-known staghound, 
 ' Maida,' a noble animal, and a great favourite of 
 
 * "Dog-Life: Narratives exhibiting Instinct, Intelligence, Fidelity, Attach- 
 ments, etc." London, 1875.
 
 hi the House. 5 
 
 Scott's ; and * Hamlet,' the black greyhound, a mild, 
 thoughtless youngster, which had not yet arrived at 
 years of discretion ; and ' Finella,' a beautiful setter, 
 with soft silken hair, long pendent ears, and a mild eye, 
 the parlour favourite. When in front of the house, we 
 were joined by a superannuated greyhound, which came 
 from the kitchen, wagging his tail, and was cheered by 
 Scott as an old friend and comrade. In our walks, Scott 
 would frequently pause in conversation, to notice his 
 dogs and speak to them, as if rational companions; and, 
 indeed, there appears to be a vast deal of rationality 
 in these faithful attendants on man, derived from their 
 close intimacy with him. ' Maida ' deported himself with 
 a gravity becoming his age and size, and seemed to 
 consider himself called upon to preserve a great degree 
 of dignity and decorum in our society. As he jogged 
 along a little distance ahead of us, the young dogs 
 would frolic about him, leap on his neck, worry at his 
 ears, and endeavour to tease him into a gambol. The 
 old dog would keep on for a long time, with imperturb- 
 able solemnity, now and then seeming to rebuke the 
 wantonness of his young companions. At length, he 
 would make a sudden turn, seize one of them, and 
 tumble him in the dust; then, giving a glance at us, 
 as much as to say, * You see, gentlemen, I can't help 
 giving way to this nonsense,' would restfme his gravity, 
 and jog on as before. Scott amused himself with these
 
 6 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 peculiarities. ' I make no doubt/ said he, ' when 
 " Maida " is alone with these young dogs, he throws 
 gravity aside, and plays the boy as much as any of 
 them ; but he is ashamed to do so in our company, and 
 seems to say, "Ha' done with your nonsense, youngsters : 
 what will the laird and that other gentleman think of me 
 if I give way to such foolery ? ' : 
 
 "While we were discussing the humours and the pecu- 
 liarities of our canine companions, some object provoked 
 their spleen, and produced a sharp and petulant barking 
 from the smaller fry; but it was some time before ' Maida' 
 was sufficiently roused to ramp forward two or three 
 bounds, and join the chorus with a deep-mouthed ' bow- 
 wow.' It was but a transient outbreak, and he returned 
 instantly, wagging his tail, and looking up dubiously in 
 his master's face, uncertain whether he would receive 
 censure or applause. 'Ay, ay, old boy,' cried Scott, ' you 
 have done wonders ; you have shaken the Eildon Hills 
 with your roaring; you may now lay by your artillery 
 for the rest of the day. " Maida," ' continued he, ' is like 
 the great gun of Constantinople : it takes so long to get 
 it ready that the smaller guns can fire off a dozen times 
 first ; but when it does go off, it does great mischief.' ' 
 
 Further on we have a peep at Sir Walter's dinner- 
 table. Irving says, 
 
 " Around the table were two or three dogs in attend-
 
 In the House. 7 
 
 ance. ' Maida,' the old staghound, took his seat at 
 Scott's elbow, looking up wistfully in his master's eye ; 
 while * Finella,' the pet spaniel, placed herself near Mrs. 
 Scott, by whom, I soon perceived, she was completely 
 spoiled. The conversation happening to turn on the 
 merits of his dogs, Scott spoke with great feeling and 
 affection of his favourite terrier, ' Camp,' who is depicted 
 by his side in the earlier engravings of him. He talked 
 of him as of a real friend whom he had lost ; and Sophia 
 Scott, looking up archly in his face, observed that ' Papa 
 shed a few tears when " Camp" died.' ' 
 
 Mr. Grantley Berkeley writes, 
 
 " When I settled at Beacon Lodge, I was perplexed, 
 after a while, by some dog who hunted at night, and 
 who killed not only many of my tame rabbits, but also 
 some of my favourite bantams, who were sitting on their 
 nests. 
 
 " One night the keeper came running up, and crying, 
 ' The dog, sir! the dog ! there are two ! ' We ran to the 
 cover where they were. In a moment the keeper fired, 
 and struck one, without materially injuring him ; but 
 the other we could not see. He could only escape by 
 one of two ways : one of these was by going right up 
 to my window, and this I thought not likely ; and the 
 other was by the open field. I watched for him there ; 
 but no dog appeared. We both wondered what could
 
 8 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 have become of a large black retriever, who had been 
 seen but a few minutes before. 
 
 " During this time my wife was in the dining-room, 
 the window of which opens upon the lawn. Suddenly 
 she was aware of a large black dog, sitting in an im- 
 ploring attitude, with his nose against the window-pane, 
 and who wagged his tail when he saw he had gained her 
 attention. She went to the window, and when she saw 
 what the dog wanted, she threw up the sash and ad- 
 mitted him ; and thus, when I returned, I found the dog 
 we had been looking for lying quietly on the rug in the 
 drawing-room. Of course he received the hospitality he 
 had so sensibly and trustingly sought, and in a few days 
 was sent home to his master." 
 
 In Science Gossip we read, 
 
 " There is a narrow Westminster street, with little 
 shops and lodging-houses on either side of it. It is a 
 dirty, noisy little street, and gives access to a broader, 
 quieter one, with better houses, whose faces look out into 
 the park and its green elm-trees. Troops of children 
 from the little street play and shout in, and ring the 
 door-bells of, the great one. From the windows of 
 one of those houses I have watched the games of the 
 children, and observed them to be generally shared 
 by an ugly, smooth, white dog, with a sharp nose and 
 a few black spots. When an organ-man came to play,
 
 In the House. g 
 
 the children danced with the dog, holding his unresist- 
 ing fore-paws. If a woman from the little street came 
 through with her basket, on her way to market, off 
 started the dog, with barks and leaps of joy, to ac- 
 company her as her guard and companion, and returned 
 with her when business was over. We never could 
 make out to whom the dog belonged. We met him 
 sometimes with one person, sometimes with another. 
 All the children loved him, and the grown people seemed 
 to have a friend and possession in him. His name we 
 found to be ' Spot ' ; and one day we found out poor 
 
 * Spot's' private history. In the little street was a 
 very small sweet-shop, much favoured by the children 
 of our family, amongst whom it went by the name of 
 
 * The Little Woman's.' The little woman sold haber- 
 dashery and illustrated papers, besides her sweets; and 
 during his leisure hours ' Spot ' was often to be found 
 sitting bolt upright on her doorstep. We used to stroke 
 his head as we passed him, but he would scarcely care 
 to recognise us. His mind was fully occupied with his 
 own friends ; and kind friends they seem to have been, 
 too. First of all, however, came a tragedy. Some 
 cruel person half hung the poor dog, and cut his throat. 
 A kind woman and her daughter, living in the street, 
 took the dog in, sewed up his throat, nursed him care- 
 fully, and restored him to health. This seems to have 
 been the commencement of his career as the street dog ;
 
 io Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 but, instead of his being homeless, the street itself owned 
 him, and became his home. He slept at tnc little sweet- 
 shop woman's ; and every day she bought a piece of 
 meat of the cats' -meat man, so that ' Spot' was sure 
 of one meal. I have offered him a bit of biscuit some- 
 times, when I met him, but he did not seem to care 
 about eating it ; so I think he was well fed. The two 
 streets harboured no other dogs ; for ' Spot ' would 
 come tearing down the whole length of them, and clear 
 out any strange dog who ventured to loiter there. For 
 years he has been a loved and valued street dog. Every 
 one seemed to speak kindly to him ; and I have met 
 him long distances from home, following various masters 
 and mistresses. He always looked business-like and 
 decided. At length came the new rule about the dog- 
 licenses. Of course, no one had ever paid a tax for 
 * Spot ' no one need claim to be his real master ; but 
 the ' little woman ' thought differently about the license. 
 As a street dog an ordinary, vulgar street dog poor 
 ' Spot ' might have become the prey of the police ; so 
 this good woman went the round of the other little 
 houses and shops, and collected a little here and 
 there from ' Spot's ' kind friends, until she had 
 enough to pay the license. So the street keeps its 
 own dog with its own license. I have left the neigh- 
 bourhood now; but whenever I have lately chanced 
 to pass the little street, I have seen the familiar,
 
 In the House. 1 1 
 
 ugly form of ' Spot ' sitting serenely, amid a group of 
 children." 
 
 The authoress of " Lights and Shadows of Canine 
 Life " thus describes a scene with her dog " Ugly" : 
 
 " On going from the hotel at Linz to the station, in 
 the omnibus, a man seated opposite to me noticed 
 ' Ugly,' and warned me to be very careful in Vienna ; 
 telling me that every hour of the day carts were sent out, 
 preceded by two men carrying nets full of hooks, which 
 they threw over all dogs that were unmuzzled or loose. 
 The dogs, when thus caught, are put into a 'cart, and 
 carried to a place of confinement, where, if not claimed 
 within twenty-four hours, they are killed. 
 
 "I asked many questions, of course ; and 'Ugly' 
 never took his eyes off the man, who presently observed 
 how frightened he looked. I turned to him, and felt sure 
 that the poor fellow perfectly understood what was said ; 
 or at least knew something of the meaning of the word 
 ' kill,' which he had heard before. When I had told 
 him, in the journey, that they would kill him, he used to 
 cry." 
 
 Captain Hall, in his description of the Esquimaux 
 dogs, mentions one particularly " sharp fellow," whose' 
 name was " Barbekark " : 
 
 11 One day, in feeding the dogs, I called the whole of
 
 12 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 them around me, and gave to each, in turn, a capclin a 
 small dried fish. To do this fairly, I used to make the 
 dogs form in a circle, till each had received ten of these 
 capelins. 
 
 " Now ' Barbekark ' thought that he could play me 
 a trick ; so every time he received his fish he would 
 back out of the circle, and thrust himself in again further 
 on ; so getting two turns every time I went round the 
 circle. 
 
 " Each dog thankfully took his capelin as his turn 
 came round; but 'Barbekark,' getting two turns, seemed 
 to wag his tail twice as thankfully as the others. I 
 thought I saw a twinkle in his eyes, when they met 
 mine, which seemed to say, * Keep my secret; I'm very 
 hungry.' 
 
 " But seeing that I looked amused rather than angry, 
 he was emboldened to go a step further, and to change 
 his place twice in each round, so as to get three portions. 
 This was too much; and I thought it quite time to 
 reverse his game, by utterly thwarting him. Accord- 
 ingly, every time I came to him, I passed him over : 
 he got no fish ; and though he changed his place three 
 times, he got nothing. And if ever there was a picture 
 of disappointment and of sorrow, it was to be seen in 
 that dog's countenance, as he saw how I was punishing 
 him. Finding that nothing he could do made any 
 difference, he withdrew from the circle, and came
 
 In the House. 13 
 
 straight to me, pushing his way between my legs ; and 
 looked up in my face, as if to say, ' I've been a very 
 bad dog, forgive me, and I will cheat my brother dogs 
 no more.' So, as I went the round three times more, I 
 let him have the fish, as he had asked for pardon and 
 shown signs of repentance." 
 
 We must add a few more instances of canine intelli- 
 gence. Mr. G. R. Pulman, writing to the Naturalist's 
 Magazine, says, 
 
 " A gentleman of my acquaintance, Mr. H , of Ax- 
 minster, was the owner of a very intelligent and sagacious 
 bull- terrier of the largest size. It was singularly docile, 
 and strongly attached to its master, of whom it was the 
 
 constant companion. One day Mr. H had occasion 
 
 to call at a house at the entrance into the town of Lynn 
 Regis. He alighted from his gig, leaving his dog on 
 the driving-box. Something frightened the horse, and 
 made it start off at a tremendous pace towards the town, 
 the reins trailing on the ground. In a few seconds the 
 dog leaped from the gig, and seized the reins in its 
 mouth, pulling them with all its strength, and allowed 
 himself to be dragged for a considerable distance, till 
 at last he actually succeeded in stopping the horse by 
 pulling it round into a gateway. The dog still retained 
 a tight hold of the reins not relinquishing them till he 
 saw that some person had hold of the horse's head."
 
 14 Half Hours with t/te .Animals. 
 
 Mr. St. John, in his " Tour in Sutherland," says : 
 
 " There is a kind of quiet discretionary courage which 
 some of these rough terriers have, which is very amus- 
 ing. My dog * Fred ' is as much at home in a crowded 
 railway station, or in a street, as he is in a furze-cover. 
 In travelling, when he has seen me safely housed in 
 an hotel, he soon wanders off in search of adventures 
 of his own ; and though the town may be new to 
 him, he invariably finds his way back to my room, spite 
 of waiters, chambermaids, etc. I used to be afraid of 
 losing him ; but after some experience, I found that it 
 was best to leave him to his own devices. Once or 
 twice I sent ostlers and boys in search of him ; but he 
 always came back alone, looking rather ashamed, and 
 not venturing to make himself prominent in the room 
 till he had examined the expression of my face from 
 under a chair or sofa; for dogs are great physiognomists. 
 Then, on seeing that I am pleased at his return, he 
 comes out of his place of refuge, wriggling his body in 
 all sorts of coaxing attitudes, and at last putting his 
 honest rough face in my hand or on my knee ; glad that 
 peace is declared, and waiting till he sees me hat in 
 hand again." 
 
 " A sort of retriever, called * Reves,' an old favourite 
 of ours (writes a gentleman in Scotland), was in the habit 
 of going for a walk before breakfast with my father.
 
 Li the House. 15 
 
 One morning it so happened that my father did not 
 intend to take his usual walk. 'Reves' soon became very 
 impatient ; and seeing no signs of his master, he got 
 upon a chair in the hall, took his master's hat from the 
 peg, carried it up to his room, and scratched at the 
 
 door for admission. As soon as the door was opened, 
 in walked ' Reves,' laid the hat at his master's feet, and 
 pushed his nose into his hand. The idea was entirely 
 his own ; he had never been taught to fetch a hat." 
 
 Mr. Wood tells us that 
 
 " There was a dog at Margate, some years ago, who 
 knew the use of money. He used to beg for pence, 
 and take them to a baker in the High Street, to be
 
 1 6 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 exchanged for biscuits. One day the baker, curious 
 to see how the dog would behave, took his penny and 
 gave him a burnt biscuit. The next time the dog got 
 a penny he took it to the baker, as usual, showed it 
 him, and then went off with it to another baker, who 
 lived nearly opposite. This he did again and again, 
 showing the penny to the baker who had wronged him, 
 and then transferring his custom to his rival. 
 
 An engineer wrote to Mr. Wood as follows : 
 
 " I once lost a bet which I had made, that a little dog 
 belonging to an ironmonger at Knighton would not 
 take a penny off a red-hot bar of iron. The bar was 
 heated red-hot, and no sooner was the penny laid on 
 it, than the dog, without the least hesitation, dashed at 
 it : the thing was done so quickly that I could not see 
 how ; but the dog knocked the penny off the bar, and 
 then sat down quietly, to wait till it got cool. His 
 look of perfect self-satisfaction was most absurd. The 
 penny went to the baker's, to buy a bun. The dog 
 knew exactly the right-sized bun, and would keep his 
 paw on the penny till he got it." 
 
 A fire broke out between two and three o'clock in the 
 morning, in the house of Mr. R. Handley, in Bermondsey. 
 Mr. Handley kept two small dogs in his house ; and that 
 night, by some oversight, he had left his bedroom door
 
 In the House. 17 
 
 ajar. Shortly before three o'clock, he and his wife were 
 both awakened by the dogs scratching their faces. On 
 getting up, they found volumes of smoke pouring up 
 the staircase, so as to prevent their escape that way. 
 Rousing the other inmates, they opened one of the back 
 windows, leaped out upon some leads underneath, and 
 escaped into the next house, from which they got 
 into the street with safety. The fire was subdued in 
 the course of an hour or two ; but not until Mr. 
 Handley's premises had been entirely destroyed. 
 
 " V. D." writes to Land and Water as follows : 
 " A friend of mine, who would not have spared any 
 pains in teaching his sheepdogs their proper lessons, 
 had one dog who was not in the habit of doing his 
 work in a satisfactory manner. In a country full of 
 hills and valleys, it was often the duty of this dog 
 to collect the flock at the bottom, and to drive them 
 up the hill ; instead of which he would drive them 
 half-way, and then leave them to wander again. 
 On the opposite side of one of these hills lived a 
 farmer who had a dog of a more satisfactory kind, 
 both knowing its duty and performing it. On some 
 occasions it was observed that, when the careless dog 
 had failed in his task, the other would pass over 
 from its own land, take charge of the flock, and drive 
 them home. But its patience at last was exhausted ; 
 
 2
 
 1 8 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 and one day, when the flock had become dispersed, the 
 watchful creature first finished the work, drove the 
 flock home, and then fell upon the careless dog, 
 which it severely punished. After this it refused to 
 interfere further in the matter. It seemed to say, 
 ' You rascal ! what right have you to expect me to 
 do your work ? ' 
 
 In the Science Gossip we read : 
 
 " Two ladies were leaving their house at Liverpool, 
 to go into Cheshire. Just as all the furniture was 
 packed up, and got into carts for removal, they were 
 startled by a violent ringing of a bell connected 
 with one of the bedrooms. Everybody ran upstairs 
 to see what was the matter; when, on reaching the 
 landing, there stood Master Gyp, a small spaniel, 
 looking up at the bell, and wagging his tail with 
 great delight. When the bell ceased to swing, he ran 
 back into the bedroom, pulled the bellrope, and then 
 came back to watch the bell ringing. He had only 
 just discovered that the pulling of that rope set the 
 bell ringing, and this discovery seemed greatly to 
 delight him. 
 
 Mr. Swainson, in his " Zoological Illustrations," tells 
 us that 
 
 " The Rev. Mr. S , living in Denbighshire, had
 
 In the House. 19 
 
 a favourite Newfoundland dog, who lived at large, par- 
 took of the best of everything, and exercised his power 
 with great mildness. He was seen more than once 
 to leap a gate which separated the yard of the house 
 from the farmyard, in order to carry provision to 
 another dog who was tied up in the stable." 
 
 In Bircham, in the county of Norfolk, a shepherd's 
 dog was employed to take his master's dinner to him, 
 while employed out in the fields. He carried it in 
 a tin can with a lid ; and on one occasion was met 
 by another dog, who smelt the contents of the can. 
 They had a fight, and the intruder was driven off. 
 But in the scuffle the lid had been knocked off the 
 can. The shepherd's dog did not know how to get 
 it on again ; but he saw that the two belonged to 
 each other, so he adopted this expedient : He carried 
 the can in his mouth for some distance ; then he 
 returned and brought the lid, and carried it some 
 way further. He then returned to the can, and carried 
 that beyond the lid ; and so at last he got them both 
 safely to his master. 
 
 A correspondent of the Animal World says, 
 
 "A day or two since, whilst walking on West Looe 
 Quay, my attention was attracted to the actions of an
 
 2O Half Hours 'with the Animals. 
 
 Irish water-spaniel which was coming towards me ; when 
 suddenly it jumped into the river, where it is about one 
 hundred or more yards in width. On looking across, I 
 saw that a sailor on board a vessel on the other side was 
 calling the dog ; and seeing it swimming towards the 
 vessel, he prepared to take it on board by means of a rope 
 which he threw over the side, holding an end in each 
 hand, thus forming a loop reaching to the surface of 
 water. The tide at the time was running in fast, so that 
 the dog was carried by it some considerable distance up, 
 and had to swim against the tide to reach the side of the 
 vessel ; when it made an attempt to get its fore-legs over 
 the rope, but was unable to do so, the tide again carry- 
 ing it up the river. A second attempt failed in the same 
 manner. Again the dog swam up to the side of the 
 vessel, and passed it without seeming to notice the rope, 
 and, as I thought, had given up any further attempt to be 
 taken on board ; but no, having swum six or eight yards 
 beyond the vessel against the tide, the dog deliberately 
 turns round and swims with the tide into the bight of 
 the rope, gets both fore -legs over, the rope crossing the 
 chest, the fore-legs pressed back so as to prevent its 
 slipping off the chest ; and so the dog is drawn up the 
 side of the vessel, about ten or twelve feet in height, 
 and thus taken on board. 
 
 " Truly there is more than instinct displayed here. I 
 think that instinct is shown by the dog at first making
 
 Li the House. 21 
 
 two attempts to get on board the nearest way, whilst 
 swimming against the tide, in which it fails ; when 
 reason steps in, and is shown by the dog taking the 
 different course of swimming to the rope with the tide, 
 and by that means accomplishing the desired end." 
 
 Another correspondent says, 
 
 " There is a curly retriever at Arundel bearing the 
 name of ' Shock,' which sets an example of good 
 manners and intelligence to the animals which are not 
 dumb. He carries the cat of the stables tenderly in his 
 mouth, and would carry the kitten, but at present the 
 kitten prefers its own means of locomotion. When 
 Sangers' elephant got into trouble in the river Arun, this 
 wise ' Shock ' was sent to turn him out ; and his perse- 
 verance succeeded. He insisted on carrying a bundle 
 of umbrellas to the station, and safely delivered them 
 to their owners ; and then, with many wags of his brown 
 tail, he demanded a halfpenny for his trouble. This 
 halfpenny he carried to the nearest shop, laid it on the 
 counter, and received his biscuit in return. Need we 
 say this dog has a kind, sensible master ? " 
 
 Here is a third, from the same source : 
 
 " There is in the village of Halton, near Lancaster, a 
 Skye terrier, which has recently displayed a remarkable 
 sense of natural affection towards its sister of a younger
 
 22 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 litter the respective ages of the two being sixteen and 
 eight months. Both being in the habit of going with 
 the niece of the owner in her vocation of delivering 
 letters in the village, they were accompanying her, as 
 usual, to a cottage by the side of the river Lune. As 
 they were indulging in their accustomed good-humoured 
 frolics, * Guess,' the younger of the two, had the mis- 
 fortune to lose her footing, and rolled down the sloping 
 embankment into the river. Great was the emotion of 
 ' Fan,' as was evident by her piteous whine, and by her 
 proceeding at once to the foot of the embankment, to 
 ascertain what was the real position of her companion. 
 There she found ' Guess,' who had partially raised herself 
 out of the water, and was endeavouring with her fore- 
 feet to scramble up a low wall which forms a protection 
 to the banks at the water's edge. ' Fan's ' sagacity and 
 presence of mind were here displayed, in trying to render 
 all the assistance she could, by seizing hold of her com- 
 panion's ear, which was within reach. Finding, how- 
 ever, that she was likely to lose her footing, and thus 
 share the apparent fate of ' Guess,' she let go her hold, 
 and poor 'Guess' had to undergo another ducking. But 
 she soon managed to regain her former position ; and 
 ' Fan,' having taken the precaution to plant herself more 
 securely, with her breast resting on the edge of the 
 bank, again seized her little sister by the ear, and thus 
 enabled her to scramble to the top of the wall, and
 
 In the House. 23 
 
 rescued 1 her from what might otherwise have been a 
 watery grave." 
 
 The Bristol Times tells us, 
 
 " Some little time ago a gentleman residing near 
 Ascot let his house to a lady, who brought with her 
 a number of dogs, including a little Dandie Dinmont 
 terrier. The owner of the house and his wife had 
 also left their pets at home, among them a very fine 
 Labrador dog. In a short time a warm friendship grew 
 up between Labrador and Dandie Dinmont, which con- 
 tinued till the close of the tenancy of Dandie's mistress. 
 When that event occurred, all the out-going lady's dogs 
 were sent away together in a leash. By some means, 
 however, Dandie loosened himself, ran away over the 
 heath, and was lost. He did not return to the house he 
 had left ; and his mistress eventually mourned him as 
 dead. Meanwhile, the lady to whom the Labrador dog 
 belonged had returned to her home ; and, after some 
 days, was informed by her servants that there was some- 
 thing very odd about her favourite. He never ate but 
 half his dinner, and carried off regularly his best bone, 
 disappearing each time for an hour. The lady ordered 
 him to be closely watched and followed ; and this being 
 done, the * good deed done in secret ' by the generous 
 animal came at last to light. He took his food, it seems, 
 every day to his friend, poor little Dandie Dinmont, who
 
 24 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 had somehow got himself caught in a trap, and was lying 
 lame and helpless on the heath where he would, of 
 course, have starved but for the charity of Labrador." 
 
 It is impossible to forget, in this place, the multitu- 
 dinous cases upon record of the wondrous power 
 possessed by dogs of going" straight to a desired point, 
 even over a distance of hundreds of miles. Here are 
 two instances of this kind, which we borrow from the 
 Animal World : 
 
 " Our friend Mr. P , of N vicarage, going up 
 
 to spend some time near London, was in the habit of 
 sending his groom and horses by the Stockton steamer ; 
 and on one occasion they were accompanied by a little 
 terrier which lived habitually in the stables. On arriving 
 at the London docks, the groom set out to ride through 
 London, followed by the little dog, up to his arriving in 
 Bond Street, where he missed it ; and considering search 
 hopeless, the groom and horses proceeded alone, giving 
 up the dog as lost, for he had never before been in 
 London. The first letter from the north announced his 
 safe return ; he had simply trotted in and laid down in 
 the stable. On inquiry at the docks, it appeared the 
 dog had actually, after having retraced his way through 
 the intricate streets of the city, picked out the Stockton 
 steamer, which had moved to a different position in the 
 meantime, from amongst the crowd of ships moored in
 
 In the House. 25 
 
 the docks, made his way on board, gone direct to the 
 place where the horses had been kept, and there waited 
 the return voyage, and landed safely at Stockton." 
 
 " Last week Mr. Alex. Adams, of South Tyne Paper 
 Mill, Warden, accompanied by the Rev. J. M. Wilson, 
 left Hexham for a tour in the Holy Land ; but previous- 
 to his departure Mr. Adams took his dog, a handsome 
 black five-year-old retriever, to Edinburgh, and left it 
 there with his sister, Miss Adams, who is at present 
 residing there. On its arrival on Tuesday night it was 
 fastened in the yard of the house, but during the night 
 it broke loose and decamped. Nothing more was heard 
 of the animal until Monday morning, when it turned up 
 in an exhausted condition at South Tyne Paper Mill, 
 thus having been five days in travelling an unknown 
 distance of upwards of a hundred miles. The dog has 
 been once more despatched to Edinburgh by rail." 
 
 The Rev. James Hall, in his " Tour in Scotland," 
 mentions a dog which was buried in one of the church- 
 yards of Edinburgh, by a family of good position, who 
 remembered a single instance of his attachment. His 
 master had travelled from Edinburgh to Rome, and 
 after remaining there for a time, left the dog with a 
 friend, and returned home. Some time after his mas- 
 ter's departure the dog felt a longing for home, and
 
 26 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 quitted Rome in search of his master. He passed over 
 the Alps, and through France, till he reached Calais. 
 Here he tried various vessels, but was driven away 
 by the sailors ; till at length a gentleman, who took a 
 fancy to him, procured his admission to one of the 
 Dover packets. This gentleman noticed him, paid 
 him attention during the voyage, and thought he had 
 gained his affection ; but when they approached the 
 Kentish coast, such was the creature's impatience that 
 he leaped overboard, and swam ashore. In less than 
 six weeks after leaving Rome he arrived at his master's 
 house in Edinburgh, wasted almost to a skeleton by his 
 journey, and by half-starvation. 
 
 Mr. Morris writes, 
 
 " General W , who kept hounds at Stanhope, in 
 
 Durham, sent one of them to a friend and fellow-sports- 
 man in Surrey. The dog was sent by sea from Sunder- 
 land to London, and from London it was conveyed to 
 its quarters in Surrey. 
 
 "In due course, the General received a letter from his 
 friend, thanking him for the present, which was much 
 approved of; but adding that the dog, after being kept 
 some time in the kennel, had been taken out hunting ; 
 that he had led the pack, etc., etc. ; but that after the 
 hunt was over he had entirely disappeared. 
 
 " About the time this letter reached General W ,
 
 In the House. 27 
 
 the servants at his house heard a scratch and a bark 
 at the door, when one of them exclaimed, ' Why ! that's 
 so and so ' (naming the dog). And, sure enough, on 
 opening the door, there he was." 
 
 The chief fact in this case was that the dog had been 
 carried to the south by sea ; so that the road southward 
 was wholly unknown to him. He had first to cross the 
 Thames on leaving Surrey, and then to choose or find 
 his way through Herts, Lincolnshire, and the midland 
 and northern counties. How he could possibly do this 
 is one of the mysteries of dog-life which no one has 
 yet been able to fathom. 
 
 Mr. Moore, of Windsor, wrote to some friends in the 
 north of England, asking them to obtain for him a 
 well- trained greyhound, for one of the keepers of 
 Windsor Great Park, for the purpose of killing fawns in 
 the season. The dog was procured, and sent to town 
 by the waggon. It arrived safely in Bishopsgate Street, 
 from whence it was conveyed to the Belle Sauvage, in 
 Ludgate Hill, and delivered to the driver of a Windsor 
 caravan, who carried it to its place of destination in 
 safety. The dog was kept in-doors, at Windsor, for two 
 days, and received every possible attention from the 
 family. After this it was left free ; and in forty-eight 
 hours it was nowhere to be found. A few days after, 
 Mr. Moore received a letter from Yorkshire, informing
 
 2*8 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 him that the dog had reached its former home before 
 the return of the waggon which had conveyed him 
 to London. 
 
 A grazier in Lincolnshire sold a large lot of cattle 
 to a London dealer, who took a fancy to a fine sheep- 
 dog belonging to the grazier. On concluding the 
 bargain, the seller agreed to make the buyer a present 
 of the dog, if he wished to take him. The offer was 
 gladly accepted; but as it was feared that the dog 
 would not willingly leave his master, he was put into 
 a covered waggon, closely shut up, and carried to 
 London a distance of more than a hundred miles. 
 Here he was taken to a house belonging to the cattle- 
 dealer, near Smithfield ; and, lest he should make his 
 escape, he was confined strictly for a fortnight, in 
 which time, it was hoped, he might become reconciled 
 to his new home. But so soon as he was released, he 
 quickly made use of his liberty : the cattle-dealer had 
 to write to his former owner to say that the dog was 
 gone. Both parties now looked upon the creature as 
 lost ; but before many days had elapsed, a piteous cry 
 was heard at the grazier's door, and on opening it, 
 the dog appeared, emaciated, footsore, and seemingly 
 almost starved. How it could have found its way from 
 Smithfield to its home in Lincolnshire, a road which 
 it had only once passed over, and then in a covered
 
 In the House. 29 
 
 waggon, is one of those mysteries which meet us so 
 often when we examine the passage from place to place 
 of these strangely-gifted beings. 
 
 Another correspondent of the Animal World writes, 
 
 " ' Jack ' was a dog of no pretensions to beauty ; and he 
 belonged to nobody. His coat was a dirty white one, with 
 black and tan spots. He had been given when a puppy 
 to some sailors, who threw him overboard, thinking him 
 ugly and worthless. The fireman, however, had taken a 
 fancy to him, and coming to the rescue, lowered a basket 
 into the water and saved his life. From that time ' Jack ' 
 always lived on board the steamers plying between 
 Bristol, Swansea, and Cardiff. He became a great 
 favourite among the sailors, and no passenger on board 
 was more punctual to time. One day the stewardess of 
 one of the steamers landed at the Mumbles in a boat, 
 wishing to reach her home at Swansea sooner than she 
 could have done had she waited for the tide which 
 enabled the steamer to run into Swansea harbour. 'Jack' 
 was not invited to go with her, but having some motive 
 of his own for an early landing, he sprang after her into 
 the boat. In some way, however, when the stewardess 
 was getting into the omnibus which in those days carried 
 passengers to and from Swansea, she missed him; and, 
 greatly to her distress and mortification, she arrived at 
 home finding she had left him behind. He had never, to
 
 3O Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 her knowledge, landed at the Mumbles before, and she 
 therefore feared he would not find his way. The steamer 
 left Swansea and returned to Bristol on the following 
 day, and still ' Jack ' was missing. Soon after, however, 
 a well-known scratching at the door, and the shouts 
 of the children, announced his arrival. He was very 
 tired and hungry, but rejoiced to find some of his best 
 friends. After a good meal, and a great many pats and 
 caresses from the children, he lost no time in setting off 
 to the pier to watch for the steamer. The sailors had 
 all missed him; and no sooner was the plank put across 
 for the passengers to land, than 'Jack' sprang upon it, 
 and bounded forward to receive the noisy welcome they 
 gave him. At another time, when ' Jack ' had been a 
 passenger in one of the Cardiff steamers, he wandered 
 up into the town, and so missed his return -passage to 
 Bristol. Instead of being daunted, he walked to New- 
 port, a distance of twelve miles, where he knew he 
 should find a steamer going to Bristol ; took his passage 
 on board, and joined his own steamer at the Hot Wells. 
 ' Jack ' lived many years, and died of old age, much 
 lamented." 
 
 The Zoological Journal describes to us some church - 
 going dogs : 
 
 " A poodle-dog belonging to a gentleman in Cheshire 
 was in the habit of going to church, and remaining
 
 In the House. 31 
 
 quietly in the pew during service, not only when the 
 family were at home, but also when they were absent. 
 One Sunday a dam at the head of the lake gave way ; 
 and the consequence was that the whole road was under 
 water. The congregation was naturally very small 
 consisting merely of those who lived near to the church 
 nobody from the manor-house being present. But 
 the clergyman afterwards informed the lady that while 
 reading the Psalms he saw his friend the poodle coming 
 slowly up the aisle, dripping with wet, he having swum 
 above a quarter of a mile to get to church. He went, 
 as usual, into his master's pew, and remained quietly 
 there until the end of the service." 
 
 Another church-going dog is reported from the west 
 of England. In a parish near Bath, the rector, years 
 ago, had a turnspit, of the most intelligent kind, who 
 followed his master about everywhere, even into the 
 reading-desk on Sundays, to the no small amusement of 
 many of the congregation. Dr. B thought it was 
 time to put a stop to this, so he ordered " Toby " to be 
 locked up on Sunday morning. But this was to no 
 purpose ; he scrambled somehow through the window, 
 and made his appearance, as usual, at the church. 
 Matters were now growing serious ; so on the next 
 Saturday, when his work was done, the cook locked him 
 up in the wood-loft, from which there was no escape, by
 
 32 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 window or otherwise. So he merely made both day and 
 night hideous by his howls and cries to be let out. Still, 
 it was hoped that at last he was conquered. But another 
 Saturday came; and now, when noon was past, and 
 cook looked for " Toby," he was nowhere to be found. 
 Servants were despatched in all directions, but in vain. 
 Nothing could be heard of "Toby," till, on Sunday 
 morning, on entering the reading-desk, there Dr. B 
 descried, curled up in a corner, the form and the twink- 
 ling eye of " Toby." He had gained the victory, and 
 from that time forth was permitted to go to church. 
 
 We come, lastly, to the most interesting feature of all 
 that of sympathy and personal attachment. 
 
 Mr. Hamerton says, in his " Chapters on Animals," 
 
 " We do not know the depth of the affection felt even 
 by the dogs we have always with us. I had one who was 
 neither so intelligent nor so affectionate as others I have 
 known ; and, to my human ignorance, it seemed that he 
 did not love me very much. But once, when I had been 
 away for weeks, his melancholy longing, of which he 
 had said nothing to anybody, burst out in a great pas- 
 sionate crisis. He howled and clamoured for admission 
 into my dressing-room, pulled down my old things from 
 their pegs, dragged them into a corner, and flung him- 
 self upon them, wailing long and wildly where he la};,
 
 In the House. 33 
 
 titi a superstitious fear came on all the house, like the 
 forerunner of evil tidings. Who can tell what long 
 broodings, unexpressed, had preceded this passionate 
 outburst ? Many a dark hour had he passed in silent 
 desolation, wondering at that inexplicable absence, till at 
 length the need for me became so urgent that he must 
 touch some cloth that I had worn." 
 
 A correspondent of the Animal World writes, 
 
 " My old friend Peggy Shorliker was a farmer's wife, 
 of the old Lancashire type, who milked her cows, and 
 took her own butter to market ; and wore the short bed- 
 gown and linsey petticoat. She had a great fondness 
 for dogs ; and ' Leo,' a young Newfoundland of mine, was 
 a special favourite. He had a rather touching habit of 
 planting himself erect in a sitting position before her ; 
 laying his chin on her knee, and gazing in her face as 
 if he understood that she had some trouble, and as if he 
 could feel for it ; and she would stroke his ears and talk 
 to him with all gravity, saying that he was ' as good 
 at understanding as many a human ; and was far better 
 company than some.' 
 
 " * Where's " Leo ? ' : ' was her first question, if by any 
 accident the dog did not accompany me as usual. A 
 piece of oatcake was always reached down for him, and 
 the cat's supper of milk often went with it. 
 
 " Poor Peggy was afflicted with an incurable cancer; 
 
 3
 
 34 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 and a consciousness of some evil, present or to come, 
 evidently pressed upon the dog's mind. One day, in 
 our joint visit, he delighted her by bringing in his 
 mouth a fine rabbit, which he carefully laid upon her 
 knee; and then, unable to express his feelings in 
 any other way, gave vent to them in a short, glad 
 bark. 
 
 " ' He brought it on purpose for you, Peggy. A 
 weasel has just killed it in the plantation, and he 
 considers it will just be the right thing for your dinner 
 to-morrow.' 
 
 " ' There's many a thing harder to believe than that ; 
 for I'm welly certain there is a thought in this head for 
 his poor old friend,' said Peggy, as she stroked down his 
 ears in her wonted way, the dog all the time gazing 
 earnestly with his inquiring eyes into hers. 
 
 " The end was drawing near, when, in one of the last 
 days of the year, I called as usual in passing home- 
 wards. The poor sufferer was confined to her bed, in a 
 most distressing state. An artery had burst, and there 
 was blood about the bed, as well as in basins about the 
 room. I kept out the dog, thinking, he might be in the 
 way. But ' Where' s ' ' Leo ? " ' was soon Peggy' s inquiry ; 
 ' let him come ; let him come just this once.' The 
 door was no sooner opened than the dog, who was close 
 to it outside, entered. He took no notice of any of the 
 disagreeables which were about ; but walked gravely
 
 In the House. 35 
 
 up to the bed, raised himself on it by his two paws, 
 and gently licked the poor face, half buried as it was 
 in wrappings. 
 
 " ' Ah ! ' said Peggy, ' it's likely none of my own kind 
 would have been so willing to kiss me as I am now.' 
 
 " There was a singular delicacy and tenderness in the 
 manner of the dog as he thus gave her his last greeting, 
 and then dropped quietly down by the side of the bed, 
 there sitting motionless, his head hanging down, 
 solemn and sad. The scene was painfully touching. 
 All were alike overcome. The daughter of the house 
 and a stout servant lass both sobbed audibly. 
 
 " I shortly took my leave. The dog, instead of the 
 usual gambols, crept quietly after me, and kept close by 
 my side all the way home. He passed the usual pond 
 without any of the usual expectation of a stick to be 
 thrown in and fetched out ; and on reaching home, he 
 went at once straight to his kennel, with drooping 
 head and tail waiting, to be chained up ; and so we 
 parted for the night, as fellows in sorrow might do. It 
 was the last time either of us saw poor Peggy. I had 
 to leave home for a few days the next morning, and 
 when I returned, she had entered into rest." 
 
 " My friend Mr. E lately called at a house," 
 
 writes Mr. Morris, " where, as the master was absent, he 
 had to sit down and chat with the mistress. After a time
 
 36 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 a dog came into the room, whining and looking very 
 miserable. This was soon accounted for by the mistress 
 
 exclaiming, ' Oh dear! Mr. is coming home tipsy; 
 
 and you will see that the poor dog, who is so fond of 
 him at other times, will not go near him now.' 
 
 " This was soon confirmed, for the master of the house 
 came into the room, and, after a few words, began to 
 coax his dog ; but the creature quite refused to go 
 near him. This, the mistress afterwards told me, was 
 invariably the case under similar circumstances ; the 
 dog would always shrink from his master's touch. 
 
 " One of the iyth Lancers confirmed this by a similar 
 instance. He said, ' Well, sir, there is a mare in our 
 regiment that is equally alive to these things. Her 
 rider will say, when he has taken more drink than is good 
 for him, "Now, if I don't mind, that mare will get me 
 into the guard-house to-night." The fact was, the mare 
 could tell when her master was sober, and when he was 
 not ; and when he had been indulging, she would 
 squeeze him against the wall, or in some other way 
 show her dislike to it ; and this generally gave rise to 
 a quarrel ; a row would ensue, and the tipsy man would 
 soon find himself in trouble." 
 
 Elihu Burritt tells us, 
 
 " I was sitting at the breakfast table of a friend, who
 
 In the House. 37 
 
 is a druggist, when he was called into the shop by a 
 neighbour who had come for medical advice and aid in 
 a very affecting case. 
 
 " His family dog had incidentally made the ac- 
 quaintance of a neighbour's child on the other side 
 of the street. While lying on the doorstone, he had 
 noticed this little thing, sometimes at the chamber 
 window, and sometimes in a little carriage on the pave- 
 ment below. During one of his walks he met the baby, 
 and looked over the edge of the little carriage, straight 
 into the eyes of the little child, and said, ' Good morn- 
 ing,' as plainly as he could. 
 
 " Day by day, and week by week, this friendship 
 grew, increasing with the weeks and months of the little 
 child. The dog, at last, having no children at home 
 to make friends of, came to fix his thoughts mainly on 
 this little child on the other side of the way ; attending 
 regularly the child's little carriage in its daily airings. 
 Great was the delight with which he gave himself up to 
 the pattings and rompings and rough handlings of those 
 baby hands. 
 
 " But, one day, the baby, reaching out of the window 
 above, lost its balance, and fell on the pavement below. 
 It never breathed again. The poor dog saw its fall. 
 His heart died within him, as he saw it taken up, quite 
 dead. He uttered but one long whining moan of grief; 
 but from that moment he could not eat. He refused to
 
 38 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 be comforted pining and crying day and night. He 
 would not stir from the spot where the baby's body 
 had lain. And now his master's errand to the druggist 
 -was, ' Can you give me anything which will make the 
 dog eat his food ? ' 
 
 "A clergyman," writes Mr. Morris, "who resided in 
 an out-of-the-way village on the banks of the Wye, had 
 a Scotch sheepdog, who, as the sequel shows, was much 
 attached to his master. On his death the dog was taken, 
 after the funeral (which he had followed to the grave), 
 to the house of the deceased's nephew, at about twelve 
 miles' distance. For some eight or ten days he seemed 
 tolerably contented. At the end of that time, one moon- 
 light night, he was missing. He must have crossed the 
 Wye ; for he rushed into the kitchen of the parsonage 
 where he had lived so long, while the servants were at 
 breakfast. From the kitchen he rushed upstairs to the 
 door of his master's room, and from thence turned and 
 ran out. He was followed, and was found in the church- 
 yard, on his master's grave. He was busily employed 
 in tearing it up, and was covered with dust and earth. 
 He was taken back to the parsonage, and was kept 
 safely till the nephew sent for him. Being kindly 
 treated, he gradually became reconciled to his loss, 
 and lived contentedly in his new residence until his 
 death, which happened not very long ago.'*
 
 In the House. 39 
 
 The more recent case of " Greyfriars Bobby," of 
 Edinburgh, obscures the following, but it also confirms 
 it, by showing its probability. 
 
 Mr. St. John, in his " Tour in Sutherland," says, 
 
 "A minister of a parish in this neighbourhood having 
 died, his favourite dog followed his body to the grave, 
 and no inducement could persuade the faithful animal 
 to leave the place. The people around, finding all their 
 endeavours to draw him from the grave quite fruitless, 
 and honouring his fidelity, brought him food and protec- 
 tion from the weather. This went on for several weeks, 
 until a new minister came to the manse, and his wife, 
 from some wretched kind of superstition, ordered the 
 dog to be killed. The source," adds Mr. St. John, 
 "from which I received this narrative, leaves no doubt 
 on my mind as to the certainty of the occurrence." 
 
 "About twenty years ago," says Mr. Morris, "there 
 lived in a little hut beneath the Southdown Hills an 
 old man who had been a shepherd in that country for 
 more than sixty years. He was poor and badly off a 
 small weekly allowance from the parish being all he had 
 to support him. His only companion was an old dog, 
 whom he called * Bob.' Poor ' Bob/ like his master, lived 
 a very hard life ; being, in fact, half-starved. One day 
 a gentleman who was passing the hut, and who lived in
 
 40 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 the next village, persuaded the shepherd to let him take 
 * Bob' home with him. In his new home he had as much 
 as he could eat, a comfortable bed every night, and the 
 greatest kindness every day. But ' Bob' was not happy. 
 After a fortnight's stay, the gentleman thought he 
 might take him out for a walk ; but no sooner had 'Bob* 
 got outside the door, than he scampered off as fast as 
 his legs could carry him, back to his old master and his 
 miserable home. 
 
 "Six months after this, poor 'Bob* was found one 
 morning standing in the gentleman's garden, looking 
 very sorrowful and very thin. On the door being opened, 
 he walked in, laid himself down, and stayed contentedly 
 all night. The next morning he was taken back to the 
 hut ; and then it was discovered that the poor old shep- 
 herd was dead, and had been buried. Very willingly 
 the gentleman took poor ' Bob ' home with him, and 
 treated him very kindly, till the faithful creature died 
 of old age.'* 
 
 The Portland Press (U. S.) vouches for the following 
 story : 
 
 " A short time ago a female Newfoundland dog 
 made the acquaintance of a lady of the city, who would 
 often throw it a piece of meat, or a bone ; until, at 
 length, it became quite a matter of course, every day, 
 for the Newfoundland to appear, and for the lady to
 
 In ihe House. 4 1 
 
 have something ready for her. The appearance of the 
 animal changed, and the lady began to understand that 
 there must be puppies in the creature's home. So 
 one day she said, while feeding her, ' Why don't you 
 bring me one of your puppies ? ' repeating the question 
 several times, the creature looking in her face with 
 evident intelligence. The next day, to the lady's 
 astonishment, the Newfoundland came, bringing with 
 her a little puppy. The lady fed them both, and then 
 took up the puppy into the window, at which the mother 
 seemed well satisfied, and quitted the place quietly, not 
 appearing again for three days. Then she came back 
 again, and after feeding her, the lady said, ' Next time 
 bring all your puppies; I want to see them.' Sure 
 enough, the following day, the mother returned, bring- 
 ing with her three little puppies. Several of the neigh- 
 bours witnessed the whole transaction, and declared 
 that it was about the most wonderful proof of dog- 
 sagacity that they had ever witnessed." 
 
 Mr. Lane writes to Mr. Morris, 
 
 " In the hurry of going on board an Irish packet 
 boat we left a small wire-haired terrier in the hotel 
 sitting-room. Not being called, he did not show him- 
 self. We did not discover his loss until the boat was 
 on its way. On reaching Cork a halfpenny was well 
 breathed upon, and enclosed in a letter to the landlord,
 
 42 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 with directions that if the dog had not already allowed 
 himself to be caught, the coin was to be given to him. 
 We heard afterwards that when the servants entered 
 the room he retreated under the sofa, and utterly 
 refused to come forth, either for bones or for fear of 
 broomsticks. But so soon as the letter was received, 
 the halfpenny was thrown to him, and he came out at 
 once with it in his mouth. He then allowed himself to 
 be put into a basket, tied down, and sent on board the 
 packet without a single struggle, or even a growl." 
 
 A couple who lived on the side of the Ermerdale 
 Hills, in Cumberland, often took their little girl with 
 them when they went into a neighbouring wood to 
 gather fuel. One evening, in searching for wild flowers, 
 she strayed out of sight ; and when twilight and darkness 
 came on, they searched for her in vain. At last they 
 went back to their cottage, in the hope that the child 
 might have wandered back. Finding that she was not 
 there, they got torches and renewed the search, but still 
 without success. Tired out, they went home again, 
 and the mother mechanically spread the supper-table, 
 when their dog jumped up, seized a lump of bread, and 
 rushed out of the cottage. The father said, " I never 
 knew the dog to steal before." Before daylight the 
 search was renewed, but still in vain. When breakfast- 
 time came, the dog appeared again, and repeated his
 
 In the Hotise. 
 
 43 
 
 extraordinary conduct of the evening before. The wife, 
 struck with a thought which was full of hope, exclaimed, 
 
 "I'm sure he knows where the child is ! " Instantly 
 they both started forth and managed to trace the dog, 
 and found him on the edge of the lake, and the child
 
 44 Half He urs with the Animals. 
 
 holding in her hands the bread which he had just 
 brought her. 
 
 " It is generally believed," says a correspondent of the 
 Ani?Ha/Wor/d," that bulldogs are very stupid and savage 
 animals ; but it is not always so. What I am about to 
 relate took place at Eastbourne, Sussex. A gentleman of 
 my acquaintance possessed a very fine but fierce bulldog. 
 When first I saw him he came up to me and kept smell- 
 ing me for some time, and wagged his tail as if highly 
 pleased. Some little time afterwards he got one of his 
 legs broken, and the owner asked me whether I would 
 set it. Well, I must own I did not much like the job, 
 for if he would not lie still, there was no holding him 
 still on account of his great strength ; but I consented 
 to do it. I patted him, and then let him lick my hand ; 
 we then put him on the sofa, where he lay all the time. 
 When I pulled the bone out to put it in its proper place 
 he closed his eyes with the pain, but did not otherwise 
 move. When I went to see how the leg was getting on 
 he would lie on his back, and put up his leg for me to 
 look at, and was not satisfied unless I fingered it a little. 
 It began to get well speedily ; but he broke it again, 
 and underwent the operation with the same passiveness, 
 though it must have been more painful than before. 
 The leg began to mend again, slowly but surely, and is 
 now quite well. But though he was so quiet and gentle
 
 In the House. 45 
 
 with his master and myself, he would not let any one 
 else touch his disabled limb. I have written this, trying 
 to defend bulldogs from the cruel floggings they are 
 subjected to, upon the false principle that they are more 
 brutal and savage than other dogs, and ought to be 
 treated in a more brutal manner." 
 
 A lady writes, 
 
 " Last year I spent a month in a German town, and 
 was much distressed to see a poor watchdog tethered 
 all the day long in the broiling sun, near the K arsaal. 
 Whenever I was able to go out I took him bread in my 
 pocket, and changed his dirty water for him ; but to get 
 him a run was impossible. He was chained to one spot 
 at the beginning of each season, and kept there till it 
 was over. Some months later in the year I drove over 
 from my residence to spend a day at the said town. 
 The Kursaal was closed, and I never thought of my 
 little friend ; but while I was walking about in the 
 gardens with a lady, all at once a great dash was made 
 at me, with expressions of gratitude too vehement to be 
 mistaken. The poor dog was now at liberty, bounding 
 with joy to see me. My hands must be licked again 
 and again, and he must roll over and over at my feet ; 
 and then nothing could induce him to leave us till he 
 had escorted us safely to our apartments."
 
 46 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 In the Animal World we read, 
 
 "A clergyman residing at Sunderland, a small fishing 
 village near Lancaster, had been dining with some friends 
 about three miles off. He left their house, accompanied 
 by a small dog, to return home between ten and eleven 
 o'clock p.m. For the purpose of saving time and 
 distance he took the sands of the seashore, the tide 
 being out at the time ; observing for his guide a light- 
 house situated at the mouth of the river Lune. By 
 taking this course he would save about a mile. The 
 night was dark. He walked on and on for a consider- 
 able time, but was surprised in not finding himself 
 sooner at his destination. The painful truth of having 
 been misguided, and that he had therefore missed his 
 way, now flashed on his mind, as he found himself 
 being surrounded by the flowing tide. He knew not 
 what to do. His danger became imminent. He shouted 
 for help and guidance ; but he was beyond all human 
 hearing. His situation was a perilous one. He saw 
 no way of escape. Death stared him in the face. He 
 therefore gave himself up for lost. He then knelt down, 
 and committed himself to the care of his Maker, expect- 
 ing that a few brief moments would terminate his earthly 
 existence. Just at this fearful moment his faithful dog, 
 which in his perplexity he had forgotten, rubbed against 
 his leg. This brought hope and relief to his mind. 
 ' What, Jock, is that you ? ' asked the clergyman. The
 
 In the House. 47 
 
 dog, as if to assure his master that it really was he, 
 wagged his tail, and looking earnestly into his face, 
 whined very piteously, then ran a short way from him, 
 as much as to say, ' You are in danger ; but follow me, 
 and you will soon be safe ! ' The clergyman did so 
 now through deep water, the dog swimming by his side 
 or on before him, then crossing deep gullies, immersing 
 him up to the middle in water. Thus, following his 
 guide, he ultimately found himself in a place of safety ; 
 having, by the sagacity, fidelity, and intelligence of his 
 dog, escaped an untimely end. The light of the light- 
 house the clergyman had taken for his guide had been 
 extinguished at an early part of the evening, and another 
 lighthouse lighted further out to sea. Hence the mis- 
 take, and the danger incurred." 
 
 The Dundee Advertiser publishes the following : 
 
 " A striking example of that devotedness and faith- 
 fulness characteristic of several species of the canine 
 race to their masters, may be witnessed at the door of 
 the Dundee prison leading from the police-office. At 
 the police-court, the other day, John Melville, a shep- 
 herd, was sent to jail for seven days for drunkenness. 
 The shepherd possessed a beautiful collie, which 
 patiently waited upon its master during his trial. On 
 leaving the bar and being marched to prison, the faithful 
 animal followed, and would have willingly shared a
 
 48 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 corner of his cell had it been permitted. The good 
 dog, being necessarily separated from its master, would 
 not, however, desert his place of confinement, but took 
 up a position at the prison-door, where it still keeps 
 ' watch o'er his lonely cell.' Meat and drink were laid 
 down to it by one of the police officials, but when, some 
 time after, another supply was brought, it was found 
 that the poor brute had not even tasted the first, and 
 no coaxing could induce it to do so; neither can it, be 
 induced to accept a warmer and more comfortable place 
 of rest." 
 
 Prebendary Hey, of Lichfield, tells us, 
 
 "A bull-terrier at Clay Cross, Derbyshire, was re- 
 joicing over a litter of pups, attending to them with 
 motherly care, caressing them, and showing for them 
 much anxiety. The owner of this interesting family, 
 accompanied by a few friends, came to look at them. 
 The fierceness of the mother was instantly developed, 
 and was manifested by impetuous growlings, snarls, and 
 barkings. She would evidently die in defence of her 
 offspring. But her master said, ' I can take every one 
 of those pups from the mother, and she shall not hurt 
 me.' He drew near, and approached his hand towards 
 the pups. The mother flew at it, and seized it in her 
 mouth. He did not attempt to withdraw it until she 
 released it. He proceeded to lay hold of one of the
 
 In the House. 4$ 
 
 pups. She seized his hand again and held it fast, but 
 without biting it. By degrees he withdrew one of the 
 little creatures. The same process was repeated until 
 every pup was removed, and the mother was bereft of 
 all her offspring. She was the picture of misery. She 
 looked up piteously in her master's face, and howled 
 with an exceeding bitter cry. The appeal could not be 
 resisted. He replaced her little ones in their nest, and 
 rejoiced to witness the caresses and gratification of the 
 mother. But his surprise and that of his friends was 
 great when he saw her take them up one by one in her 
 mouth, and bring them and lay them down at his feet. 
 He waited to see what she meant, and was soon con- 
 vinced that she wished to express her entire confidence 
 in her master. She laid her dear ones at his feet, one 
 by one, with an assurance that he would take care of 
 them with an affection equal to, if not greater than, her 
 own. She then returned to her nest, now empty, lifted 
 up her head into the air, and gave vent to several 
 piteous cries, until her little ones were once more 
 restored to her. It is impossible to misunderstand her 
 impulse. She at first had misdoubted hjer master, but 
 now she trusted him. She brought them of her own 
 accord and placed them at his disposal, with full con- 
 fidence in his love." 
 
 A lady writes to Land and Water,
 
 50 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 " A spaniel which we had for some years, and which 
 was rather addicted to hurting cats, took a fancy to a 
 young kitten, to which he became so much attached, 
 that he allowed it to eat off his plate, and to sleep in 
 his kennel, and was seldom seen without it, though none 
 of the other cats dared to approach him. In time the 
 kitten grew into a very fine cat, but the affection of the 
 two seemed to increase rather than diminish. Puss would 
 watch for the spaniel's return from his walks ; and when 
 neither were otherwise employed, she would take a nap 
 between his paws. Sometimes the dog, who was of a 
 pugnacious disposition, would come in bleeding from 
 an encounter with some neighbouring dog, and pussy 
 would run to him with every sign of sympathy, licking 
 his wounds and comforting him in every possible way. 
 At last, the spaniel being ill, they were separated for 
 about three weeks; and the cat's delight when he 
 was restored to liberty knew no bounds. But, soon 
 after, the dog died, almost suddenly, while absent from 
 the cat. Her grief was intense. For several weeks she 
 wandered about the stable-yard, where he was buried, 
 refusing all food, till she was reduced to a skeleton. 
 We were obliged then to use force, and to pour milk 
 down her throat with a spoon. She continued in this 
 miserable state for some time, till, happily, a kitten of 
 another breed attracted her notice, and she began to 
 show signs of fondness for it. From this time forward
 
 , Iii the House. 51 
 
 she visibly improved, until, at last, she regained her 
 former comely appearance." 
 
 The contractors engaged on the Boston waterworks 
 (U. S.) had a valuable cart-horse injured some time 
 ago. The animal was led home to the stable, where a 
 great number of horses were kept. The ostler had a 
 water-spaniel, which had been for some time always 
 about the horses, living in great intimacy with them. 
 When the disabled horse was led in he lay down, and 
 began to show signs of pain and distress. The dog at 
 once ran to him, and began to lick his face, and in 
 various ways to manifest his sympathy with the sufferer. 
 He sought the master, and drew him towards the horse, 
 and showed great satisfaction when his master bathed 
 the wounds, and in other ways ministered to the 
 animal's wants. At night the ostler told the dog to go 
 to bed ; but he refused, and preferred to remain with 
 the horse all night. Forty- eight hours after the acci- 
 dent had occurred, the dog was still in the stable, and it 
 was believed that he had scarcely slept. He allowed no 
 one to come near the horse except the master and those 
 who belonged to the stable. His whole appearance was 
 one of extreme distress and anxiety. He often laid his 
 head on the horse's neck, licking his face; and the horse 
 evidently felt his sympathy and kindness. 
 
 A district registrar of Edinburgh was in the habit of
 
 52 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 spending his holidays with a friend who had a sheep- 
 farm on the Ochill Hills ; and in these visits he had 
 formed an acquaintance with one of his host's dogs. In 
 the autumn of 1859 he was with his Stirlingshire friends, 
 and inquired particularly for his canine friend; when 
 the gudewife told him that "he was deed an' gane." 
 
 Mr. H remarked that his death must be a great loss, 
 
 as he was such a wise animal. " Indeed, ye may say 
 that," said the gudewife; " we hae had mony gude 
 tykes sin' we came to the farm ; but we never had one 
 like him. After ye left us last year, 'Rab' left hame one 
 afternoon, and about the gloaming he brought a sheep 
 down from the hill ; and, would ye believe it ? he gaed 
 nine times to the hill that evening, and brought a sheep 
 
 hame every time ! " " But," asked Mr. H , "why did 
 
 he bring the sheep home? " " That's just it," said the 
 gudewife ; " every one of those sheep was diseased, 
 and he brought them hame, both to be cured, and to 
 prevent the rest of the flock from catching the disease." 
 
 Of the unspoken language, the good understanding 
 that often exists among animals, we have many proofs. 
 
 " Two of my friend's dogs," writes a London phy- 
 sician, "had a special attachment to and understanding 
 with each other. The one was a Scotch terrier, gentle, 
 and ready to fraternize with all ho'nest comers. The other
 
 In the House. 53 
 
 looked like a cross between a mastiff and a large rough 
 staghound. He was fierce ; and it was wise to cultivate 
 his acquaintance before you took any liberties with him. 
 The little dog was gay and lively, the other was stern 
 and thoughtful. These two dogs were often observed 
 to go to a certain point together, and then the small 
 one remained behind, at a corner of a large field, while 
 the large dog took a round by the side of the field, 
 which ran up hill for nearly a mile, and led to a wood 
 on the left. Game abounded in these districts, and the 
 nature of the plan of the two dogs was soon perceived. 
 The terrier would start a hare and chase it up the hill 
 towards the wood, where they would arrive somewhat 
 tired. Here the large dog, fresh and in wind, darted 
 
 ^ 
 
 after the animal, who was easily captured. The two 
 dogs then ate the hare between them, and quietly 
 returned home. This plan of operations had been 
 going on for' some time before it was fully understood." 
 
 "A gentleman in Dumfries-shire had a dog and cat 
 which were much attached to each other, and both were 
 great favourites in the household. The dog, however, 
 was not meant to sleep in the house, but was carefully 
 turned out into the yard every evening ; and yet, strange 
 to say, he was always found in the morning lying before 
 the fire, with the cat by his side. One evening the 
 master of the dog heard a sort of rap at a back-door
 
 54 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 leading to the kitchen, and saw the cat spring up and 
 strike the latch, while the dog pushed open the door, 
 and entered without let or hindrance." 
 
 A correspondent of the Animal World writes, 
 
 "A few years ago a farmer, from near Dumfries, 
 walked to Penrith with his sheep and two dogs. Hav- 
 ing sold his cattle, he prepared to return home ; but 
 ' Fan,' in the meantime, had had puppies, and was 
 left in charge of a friend, who made a bed for her 
 in his parlour, and fed her. After a few weeks, on 
 coming as usual to feed her, neither she nor her puppies 
 were to be seen. He looked for his hat : it had also 
 disappeared ! ' Ah ! ' thought he, ' the thief has taken 
 that too.' After a diligent search, that proved useless 
 for neither dog, puppies, nor hat had been seen or 
 heard of the friend wrote to the Scotch farmer to 
 inform him of his loss. A few days after he received 
 the following reply: ' Make no more researches. "Fan" 
 arrived here early this mornitig, with her three ////yV.s 
 in your hat /' Mark the animal's reasoning, we may 
 call it. She had seen the Penrith farmer put his head 
 in the hat ; ' Fan ' seized the idea, and placed her little 
 darlings in it being no longer able to remain away 
 from her master, or to leave her young behind." 
 
 A spoilt and petted little dog, named " Beau," and
 
 In the House. 55 
 
 his mistress, were on the sands at Penmaenmawr, in 
 North Wales. The tide overtook them, and they were 
 cut off 'from the beach. The lady was soon rescued 
 by a bathing-machine; but poor foolish "Beau" was 
 afraid to enter it, and remained on his little bit of sand, 
 which was rapidly growing less and less. The lady 
 writes, 
 
 " When I found myself on the beach, I looked for my 
 dog, thinking that he would probably swim after the 
 machine. But no : the little idiot was still on the slip of 
 sand, yelping and barking in great distress. I called 
 him, bidding him swim across, as I knew that he could 
 use his limbs in the water as well as on the land. But 
 he would not come, and the sea was rapidly rising, and 
 poor ' Beau ' had scarcely space whereon to stand and 
 whine. 
 
 " Playing near me on the beach was a large, rough - 
 haired dog a sort of retriever. He soon saw the trouble 
 we were in, and suddenly dashed into the water, and 
 went up to ' Beau' and said something to him. I don't 
 know what he said, but I have no doubt that he urged 
 * Beau ' to swim across to his mistress. But alas ! the 
 brave dog returned to land again, but no ' Beau ' with 
 him. And now the sea was rising round my little 
 terrier, and he himself was like a black-and-tan tiny 
 island. The brave retriever dashed for a second time 
 through the water, and stood beside poor shivering,
 
 56 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 yelping ' Beau.' Then he went behind ' Beau,' and very 
 gently but firmly pushed, pushed, pushed him through 
 the water towards the place where I was standing. As 
 soon as they were both fairly in the deep sea, and it 
 seemed a case of sink or swim with Master ' Beau,' 
 the brave dog let him go, and with a few vigorous 
 strokes brought himself to shore. And soon ' Beau,' 
 now that there was no help for it, exerted himself, 
 and quickly presented himself dripping and breathless 
 at my feet. The brown dog, like a hero, made no 
 fuss about what he had done ; and I had nothing to 
 give him but a pat 'on the head. His master was not 
 on the beach, and I do not think that I ever saw the 
 dog again." 
 
 The inundations which have recently afflicted France, 
 and other parts of the continent of Europe, have re- 
 peatedly called into exercise the great power, in the 
 water, of Newfoundland and other water-dogs. The 
 following story, however, dates rather further back : 
 
 "A very touching incident," says a Swiss paper, "took 
 place on the bank of the river Seine on the i8th instant. 
 
 Mr. L , the proprietor of a floating bath, in which 
 
 he lives, was breakfasting with his family and one of his 
 friends. His attention was suddenly attracted by the fall 
 of a body into the water. It was that of an unfortunate 
 lunatic, who, having escaped from the hands of his
 
 In the Home. 5 7 
 
 keepers, had just thrown himself into the Seine. Mr. 
 
 L , who was accustomed to swim, plunged in to the 
 
 help of the unfortunate man, careless of the risk which 
 he ran in doing so, and very soon reached him. Then 
 occurred a scene at once strange and terrible. The 
 unfortunate lunatic tightly grasped his deliverer, who 
 struggled with him in vain, and both were on the point 
 
 of disappearing. The friend of Mr. L , seeing the 
 
 peril which menaced him, leapt into the water to his 
 assistance. He was seized in his turn by the unfor- 
 tunate maniac, and at the same time by Mr. L , who 
 
 had almost lost consciousness; and all three were on 
 the point of perishing, when an unexpected deliverer 
 appeared, in an enormous dog, who had up to this time 
 watched the scene from the banks. The animal, throw- 
 ing himself into the water, reached the struggling group, 
 and seizing the madman by the head, brought him to 
 
 land. Mr. L and his friend, thus delivered from his 
 
 grasp, were able to regain the bank. It is needless 
 to say that the dog was made the subject of a perfect 
 ovation." 
 
 Mr. Jesse, in his " Gleanings," tells us of a dog of the 
 Newfoundland breed, who had come to understand the 
 use of the pump, and how to avail himself of it. When 
 he was thirsty, he would go to the kitchen, take up a 
 pail, and carry it to the pump. There he would quietly
 
 58 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 wait till one of the servants came by, to whom he in- 
 dicated, by gestures, that he wanted the pail filled. And 
 
 ;----. 
 
 then, having satisfied his thirst, he would quietly carry 
 the pail back to the place from which he had taken it.
 
 In the House. 59 
 
 In dealing with our home favourites, it is natural, 
 after the dog, to turn to the cat. We cannot place 
 them on a level ; still, there are some respects in which 
 pussy may even claim a preference. 
 
 One of Mr. Wood's friends wrote to him as follows : 
 
 "A cat of ours once showed great self-denial. She 
 was a terrible eater of small birds, chickens, etc.; and 
 therefore, when on one occasion she was found to have 
 passed the night in our aviary of doves, great was the 
 alarm. But on inspection, not one dove was found to 
 be missing ; and though she was asleep in an inner 
 cage, close to a nest of young doves, she had not 
 touched a feather. And this was the more remarkable, 
 in that, when she was released, she ate ravenously." 
 
 A correspondent of the Animal World writes, 
 
 " My cat is in the constant habit of opening the back- 
 door of my house, which has a thumb-latch. Almost 
 immediately after she was brought to this house, eight 
 years ago, she adopted this plan of letting herself in, 
 to the no small amazement and often alarm of strange 
 servants. When it is desired to keep her out the door 
 has to be bolted ; and at one time when she found this 
 the case she used to go to the scullery-window, jump up
 
 Co Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 at that, and hang on to the upper part until her weight 
 pulled it down far enough to admit her. The window 
 sash at that time ran down easily ; since new cords have 
 been put in she cannot do it : but the practice showed 
 something akin to reason, I think. Another peculiarity 
 she has, which I never noticed in a cat. She will not 
 answer to the call of * Puss, puss ! ' but let me be where 
 I may, if I snap my fingers she will come directly. I 
 have often tried her when she has been playing in the 
 garden and I have been at one of the top windows ; she 
 will immediately run in and come upstairs to find me. 
 But like a dog answering to his master's whistle, she 
 will not answer any one else. The servants have re- 
 peatedly tried to imitate me, but she does not notice 
 their call. I am convinced that cats are quite as intelli- 
 gent as dogs, if their faculties are equally drawn out. 
 I once had a beautiful cat, whose kittens, when she had 
 any, I always used to go and look at every day the 
 mother being very proud of the attention. Once when 
 she had one, I happened to be very ill and confined to 
 my room. No doubt pussy missed the usual attention ; 
 but she was determined her child should not remain 
 unknown to me. The very first day I was able to come 
 down to the drawing-room sofa, pussy brought her kitten 
 in her mouth from the back-kitchen, where its bed was, 
 and laid it down at the kitchen-door, while she asked, 
 as plainly as possible, to have that door opened for
 
 In the House. 6 1 
 
 her; when this was done she carried the kitten to the 
 drawing-room door, returned to the kitchen, and asked 
 again for the other door to be opened ; then brought it 
 to my feet, laid it down in triumph, and looked at me. 
 This process was repeated every day till I was able 
 to go about the house ; and though the kitten was 
 generally sent back to its bed. very soon, she never 
 brought it a second time on the same day ; merely, I 
 suppose, thinking she ought to let me see it daily, if I 
 could not go to it." 
 
 A fartlily residing at Newcastle-on-Tyne went one 
 summer to Tynemouth, leaving their house in the 
 care of two female servants. One evening, when the 
 servants were sitting together in the kitchen, their 
 attention was attracted by a cat, which went up into a 
 laundry over the kitchen, and then returned to them 
 and mewed. She did this repeatedly, till at length the 
 servants began to wonder at it, and went upstairs to see 
 if they could discover the cause. When they went into 
 the laundry, and looked about, they discovered a man 
 trying to conceal himself in the chimney. One of the 
 girls fainted away ; but the other screamed out, and 
 gave an alarm to the neighbours. Meanwhile, however, 
 the man had escaped out of the window, and over the 
 roof of the adjoining houses. 
 
 The attachment which cats are often found to form
 
 62 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 for houses in which they have lived is a remarkable 
 feature of their character. Mr. Jesse tells us of one 
 cat which a lady at Glasgow received from a friend at 
 Edinburgh. It was sent carefully secured in a closed 
 basket, and for two months it was constantly watched. 
 But having then given birth to two kittens, the watch- 
 fulness ceased, it being supposed that she would now 
 remain quietly by her offspring. Soon, however, she 
 disappeared, and the kittens with her. In about a fort- 
 night her mew was heard at the door of her old home in 
 
 o 
 
 Edinburgh, and with her both the kittens. The dis- 
 tance between the two towns is forty miles. She had 
 not only to discover her road, but to convey her kittens, 
 and, it is concluded, one at a time, returning for the 
 other. In this way she would have to travel one hun- 
 dred and twenty miles. 
 
 Mr. Chambers, in his "Miscellany" (vol. vi.), gives 
 an account, sent to him by a correspondent, of a cat 
 which showed more than ordinary attachment : 
 
 " A cat with her kittens was found in a hole in the 
 wall, in the garden of the house where we lived. One 
 of the kittens, a beautiful black one, was brought into 
 the house, and soon attached himself especially to me. 
 I was in mourning at the time, and perhaps the simi- 
 larity of the hue of my dress to his sable fur might have 
 attracted him ; but, whatever was the cause, he never
 
 In the House. 63 
 
 came into the room without immediately jumping- into 
 my lap, and purring and rubbing his head against me 
 in a very coaxing and endearing manner. I went to 
 Dublin every winter, and in the summer into the coun- 
 try ; but the change of abode never seemed to trouble 
 my favourite, so that he could be with me. Often, when 
 we have spent the day out, he has come running down 
 the street to meet us, showing the greatest delight. 
 Once, when I had an illness, poor " Lee Boo" deserted 
 the parlour altogether, though he was caressed by every 
 one there. He would sit for hours disconsolate at my 
 door, till he could steal in and jump on the bed, show- 
 ing his joy by loud purring and by licking my hand. 
 But as soon as I went down he returned to his regular 
 attendance in the parlour." 
 
 Another correspondent of Mr. Chambers writes : 
 
 " We have at present a cat who has formed a very 
 warm friendship with a large Newfoundland dog. She 
 is constantly caressing him, runs in all haste to meet him 
 when he comes in, rubs her head against him, and then 
 purrs delightfully. When he lies before the kitchen fire 
 she uses him as a bed, pulling up and settling his hair 
 with her claws, to make it comfortable. As soon as she 
 has arranged it to her liking, she lies down and composes 
 herself to sleep generally purring till she is no longer 
 awake ; and they often lie thus for an hour at a time.
 
 64 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 Poor ' Wallace ' bears the rough combing of his locks 
 with patient placidity, turning his head towards her, and 
 giving her a benevolent look, or gently licking her." 
 
 A little black spaniel had five puppies, which were con- 
 sidered too many for her to bring up. As, however, the 
 breed was highly valued, her mistress was unwilling to 
 destroy any of them ; and she asked the cook whether it 
 would be practicable to bring some of them up by hand. 
 The cook observed that the cat had just kittened, and 
 that, perhaps, some of the puppies might be substituted 
 for the kittens. This was tried : one by one the kittens 
 were got away from their mother, and two of the 
 puppies were substituted for them. And here it was 
 remarkable that the two puppies nursed by the cat 
 were, in a fortnight, as active and playful as kittens 
 usually are at that age ; they had the use of their legs, 
 barked, and gambolled about ; while the other three, 
 nursed by their mother, were whining and rolling about 
 like fat slugs. The cat gave her two puppies her tail 
 to play with, and they were always in motion ; they 
 soon ate meat; and, long before the others, they were 
 fit to be removed. This was done, and puss became 
 inconsolable. She wandered about the house, looking 
 for her pets. At last she fell in with the spaniel, the 
 mother, who was nursing the other three. A quarrel 
 arose, ending in a fight, in which the spaniel was
 
 In the House. 65 
 
 worsted, and puss walked off with one of the three. A 
 day or two after she returned to the charge, and carried 
 off another. But beyond the two the number of those 
 first entrusted to her she did not go. The spaniel was 
 allowed to keep one. 
 
 Of the wonderful intuitive faculty by the aid of which 
 cats, as well as dogs, can trace their masters, Mr. Wood 
 gives the following instance : 
 
 " The cat in question was the property of a newly- 
 married couple, who resided towards the north of Scot- 
 land, where the country narrows considerably by reason 
 of the deeply-cut inlets of the surrounding sea. Their 
 cottage lay near the coast, and there they remained for 
 some months. After a while they changed their place of 
 abode, and took up their residence in a house near the 
 opposite coast. As the intervening country was so hilly 
 and rugged that there would have been much difficulty in 
 transporting the household by land, a ship was engaged ; 
 and, after giving their cat to a neighbour, the master 
 and mistress proceeded by sea to their new home. After 
 they had been settled there some weeks, they were 
 surprised by the sudden appearance of their cat, which 
 presented itself at their door, weary, ragged, and half- 
 starved. As maybe supposed, she was joyfully received, 
 and soon recovered her good looks. It is scarcely 
 possible to conceive how the creature could have been 
 
 5
 
 66 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 guided. Even had the travellers gone by land, it 
 would have been astonishing if the cat, days afterward, 
 should have been able to trace the line of journey. But 
 in this case the travellers went by sea ; yet the cat, 
 going by land, discovered them, and went at once to 
 their new dwelling. The guiding faculty must be 
 something which passes our comprehension." 
 
 " There were," says Mr. Morris, " a few years ago, in 
 the family of a friend of mine, two cats, one known by 
 the common name of * Tom,' the other by the equally 
 familiar cognomen of * Pussy/ ' Tom ' was much the 
 elder of the two, but for years he had lived in conjugal 
 harmony with ' Pussy,' who had been to him a faithful 
 and affectionate partner. In peace and contentment 
 they shared the kitchen-hearth, regarded by all the 
 servants with respect and good-will. But, as time wore 
 on, poor old ' Tom ' began to show signs of wearing out : 
 decrepit, rheumatic, and stiff, with a coat that seemed 
 moth-eaten ; while life was evidently becoming a burden. 
 At last the order was given to John, the gardener, 
 that poor old * Tom ' should be shot. The order was 
 obeyed, and in a few hours poor old 'Tom' was dead and 
 buried. No one knew that ' Pussy ' had witnessed her 
 husband's death ; but it soon became evident that she 
 must have done so. She had been accustomed at meal- 
 times to sit on John's lap, * Tom 'preferring the society
 
 In the House. 67 
 
 of the cook; but from this time forward she never would 
 go near John. She refused all food, and all caresses ; 
 until, after several days' fasting, she was induced by 
 hunger to eat one small mouse. She sat, day after day, 
 in all weathers, on the grave of her lost partner. For 
 a whole fortnight she pined and wasted away. At the 
 end of that time she disappeared. Her body was never 
 found ; but it was evident that she had sought some 
 solitude in which to die." 
 
 A cat in a Swiss cottage had taken poison, and came 
 in a pitiful state of pain to seek its mistress's help. 
 The fever and heat were so great that it dipped its 
 own paws into a pan of water, a most unheard-of 
 proceeding in a cat. She wrapped it in wet linen, fed it 
 with gruel, and doctored it all the day and the night 
 after. It revived : and now it could not find ways 
 enough to show its gratitude. One evening, after she 
 had gone upstairs to bed, a mew at the window roused 
 her. She got up and opened it, and found the cat, 
 which had climbed up a pear-tree nailed against the 
 house, with a mouse in its mouth ; this it laid as an 
 offering at its mistress's feet, and then went away. 
 These tributes of gratitude were often repeated from 
 time to time. 
 
 Mr. Buckland tells us of a cat who had been accus-
 
 68 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 tomed to the water, and who lived at Portsmouth. 
 His master, a fisherman of Portsmouth, thus described 
 him : 
 
 " He was the wonderfullest water-cat as ever came 
 out of Portsmouth harbour ; and he used to go out a- 
 fishing with me every night. On cold nights he would 
 sit in my lap while I was fishing, and poke his head out 
 now and then ; or else I would wrap him in a sail, and 
 make him lay quiet. He'd lay down on me when I was 
 asleep; and if anybody come he'd swear a good one, 
 and have the face off of them if they went to touch me : 
 and he'd never touch a fish, not even a little teeny pout, 
 if you did not give it him. I was obligated to take him 
 out fishing, for else he would stand and youl and marr 
 till I went back and catched him by the poll and shied 
 him into the boat; and then he was quite happy. When 
 it was fine he used to stick up at the bows of the boat, 
 and sit a-watching the dogs (the dog-fish). The dogs 
 used to come alongside by thousands at a time, and 
 when they was thick all about, he would dive in and 
 fetch them out, jammed in his mouth as fast as may 
 be, just as if they was a parcel of rats ; and he did not 
 tremble with the cold half as much as a Newfoundland 
 dog : he was used to it. I learnt him the water myself. 
 One day, when he was a kitten, I took him down to the 
 sea to wash the fleas out of him ; and in a week he 
 could swim after a feather or a cork.'
 
 In the House. 69 
 
 " A shoemaker in Edinburgh," says Mr. Morris, " hap- 
 pened to leave the door of a lark's cage open, of which 
 the bird took advantage, and escaped. About an hour 
 afterwards, a cat belonging to the same person made its 
 appearance, with the lark in its mouth. It contrived to 
 hold it by the wings, so as not to cause the bird any 
 injury. Dropping the lark upon the floor at its master's 
 feet, the cat mewed, and looked up into his face, as if 
 expecting his approval." 
 
 Mr. Hamerton says, 
 
 " One evening, before dinner-time, I had occasion to 
 go into a dining-room where the cloth was already laid, 
 the glasses all in their places, and the lamp and candles 
 lighted. A favourite cat, finding the door ajar, entered 
 softly after me, and began to make a little exploration. 
 The first thing he did was to jump upon a chair, and 
 thence upon the sideboard. There was a good deal of 
 plate and glass upon that piece of furniture, but nothing 
 which, in a cat's opinion, was worth purloining; so he 
 brought his paws together, and sat for a minute or two, 
 contemplating the long glittering vista of the table. 
 As yet there was not an atom of anything eatable on it ; 
 but the cat probably thought he might as well ascertain 
 whether or not this were so by a closer inspection, so 
 at a single spring he cleared the space between, and 
 alighted noiselessly on the table-cloth. He walked all
 
 7O Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 over it, and left no trace; he passed among the slender 
 glasses, disturbing nothing, breaking nothing anywhere. 
 When his inspection was over he slipped out of sight, 
 having been perfectly inaudible from the beginning. 
 
 " One day I watched a young cat playing with a 
 daffodil. She sat on her hind-legs and patted the 
 flower with her paws, first with one paw and then with 
 the other, making the light yellow bell sway from side 
 to side, yet not injuring a petal or a stamen." 
 
 ( 
 Mr. Wood had a favourite cat which he had brought 
 
 up from infancy, and which was on terms of the greatest 
 familiarity with him. One day puss came to the door 
 of the dining-room, mewing piteously. Mr. Wood 
 opened it, when the cat went to the foot of the stairs, 
 ran up two or three of them, and looked round for 
 Mr. Wood to follow. When he did so, puss led the 
 way to the study-door, and going to a heap of books 
 that lay on the floor, began to push her paws under 
 them. Mr. Wood took up the books, one by one, the 
 cat watching with looks of expectation ; and when the 
 last volume was taken up, forth darted a mouse, which 
 the cat seized and despatched, and then began to purr, 
 as if asking for congratulations and praise for its watch- 
 fulness. 
 
 Mrs. Lee tells us that her mother-in-law had two
 
 In the House. 7 1 
 
 great favourites a cat and a canary. The two formed 
 a friendship without the knowledge of their mistress, 
 who was rejoiced to perceive their good understanding. 
 Now they were allowed to be constant companions. 
 But one day, while they were together in the bedroom, 
 their mistress was alarmed by seeing puss, after utter- 
 ing a menace, seize the canary in her mouth, and leap 
 with it on to the bed, her hair bristling up as if in 
 defiance. But the cause of this excitement was soon 
 understood ; the door had been left open, and a 
 strange cat had stolen in. It was to save the canary 
 from this new peril that her friend had seized, in order 
 to protect, him. When the stranger was driven away, 
 the bird was set at liberty, and was found to be quite 
 unharmed. 
 
 Mr. Jackson mentions a cat belonging to a widow at 
 Stoke Newington, who always shut up her house and 
 went away on Sundays. The cat did not like this 
 solitary confinement ; and she accordingly laid a plan, 
 which she regularly carried out, for leaving the house 
 every Saturday afternoon, paying a visit to the house 
 of a neighbouring gentleman, and remaining there all 
 Sunday, but returning home every Monday morning. 
 
 Mr. Wenzel had a cat who had formed a strong 
 friendship for a dog, from whom she would never
 
 72 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 willingly be separated. They were accustomed to share 
 their meals, to sleep close by each other, and to go 
 abroad together. 
 
 One day, Mr. Wenzel, to test the cat's friendship, 
 took her into his dining-room, and gave her a share of 
 the dinner, keeping the dog excluded. He watched 
 her, and found that she seemed to enjoy her dinner 
 without a thought of her companion. He then went 
 out, leaving half a partridge, which was reserved for 
 his supper, his wife covering it up in a cupboard, 
 the door of which, however, she did not lock. But 
 the cat, when left at liberty, went in search of the 
 dog ; and when she found him she uttered several 
 expressive mews, which he answered by short barks. 
 They then went together to the door of the dining- 
 room, waited till some one opened it, and crept in 
 both together. The cat led the way to the cupboard 
 where the half of the partridge was, and pulling open 
 the door, pushed off the cover, and showed the feast to 
 her friend, who eagerly seized and devoured it. 
 
 Mr. Jesse says that a man who had been sentenced 
 to transportation for robbery told him, after his con- 
 viction, that he and two others broke into a gentleman's 
 house near Hampton Court. While they were engaged 
 in carrying off the valuables, a large cat flew at one of 
 them, and fixed her claws on each side of his face. The
 
 In the House. 73 
 
 man said that he never saw any one so much frightened 
 as this burglar then was. 
 
 Often, when they do agree, the attachment of the dog 
 and cat is something very remarkable. 
 
 Mr. Wood tells us that in a large London house 
 there had been a change of servants, and the new cook 
 asked as a favour that she might be permitted to bring 
 in her favourite dog. Permission was given, and the 
 dog took up his quarters in the kitchen at first, to the 
 infinite disgust of the cat, who disliked this introduc- 
 tion of a stranger and a rival. But after a time puss 
 got over her dislike, and the two animals became fast 
 friends. Another change took place : the cook removed 
 into another family, and took her dog with her. One 
 day, some months after, she determined on paying a visit 
 to her former companions, and her dog went with her. 
 Pussy was in the kitchen when the dog entered, and at 
 once flew to greet him. She then ran out of the room, 
 and shortly afterwards returned, bringing in her mouth 
 her own dinner. This she laid down before her old 
 friend, and actually stood beside him while he ate the 
 food on which she had intended to make her own meal. 
 This fact was related to Mr. Wood by the cat's mistress. 
 
 "An Irish gentleman," says Mr. Chambers, "removed 
 his establishment from the county of Sligo to a house
 
 74 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 near Dublin, a distance of not less than ninety miles. 
 In making this change, he and his children regretted 
 very much being obliged to leave a favourite cat behind 
 them, which had endeared itself to them by its docility 
 and affection. This gentleman had not been many 
 days in his new abode, when, one evening, as the family 
 were sitting chatting after tea, the servant came in, 
 followed by a cat so precisely like the one left behind, 
 that all the family cried out at once. The cat, too, 
 showed the greatest joy at the meeting. It was closely 
 examined, and was evidently the same. Still, how 
 could it be their own pet ? for how could he have found 
 them out ? how could he have made the journey ? how 
 could he have known where they were ? Yet the exact- 
 ness of his resemblance, and his evident joy at the 
 meeting walking about with tail erect, and loudly 
 purring, made it impossible to doubt the identity. The 
 gentleman took him on his lap, and, examining him 
 closely, found that his claws were actually worn down, 
 making it evident that he had really performed that 
 great journey." 
 
 " A kitten,'* says Mr. Jesse, " had been put into a pail 
 of water in the stable-yard of an inn, for the purpose of 
 drowning it. It had remained there for a minute or 
 two, until it was to all appearance dead, when a female 
 terrier, attached to the stables, took the kitten from the
 
 In tJie House. 75 
 
 water and carried it off in her mouth. She soon 
 brought it to, suckled and watched over it with great 
 care ; and it lived and thrived. She had at the time a 
 puppy of her own." 
 
 A lady writes to Mr. Wood, describing " a lovely 
 kitten, named ' Pret,' " of whom she says that " she was 
 the wisest, most loving, and dainty pussy that ever 
 crossed my path. 
 
 "When 'Pret' was very young I fell ill with a 
 nervous fever. She missed me immediately from my 
 accustomed place ; sought for me, and placed herself at 
 my door until she found an opportunity of getting into 
 the room; when she began at once to try her little best 
 to amuse me with her little frisky kitten tricks and pussy- 
 cat attentions. But soon finding that I was too ill to 
 play with her, she placed herself beside me, and at once 
 established herself as head-nurse. In this capacity few 
 human beings could have exceeded her in watchfulness, 
 or in affectionate regard. It was wonderful how soon 
 she learned to know the different hours at which I ought 
 to take medicine or nourishment; and if, during the 
 night, my attendant slept, she would call her, and if she 
 could not awake her without, would gently nibble her 
 nose, which always roused her. This done, ' Miss Pret ' 
 would watch the preparation of the food or medicine, 
 and then come to me to announce its approach. The
 
 7 6 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 strangest thing was, that she was never five minutes out 
 in her calculations of the true time, even in the darkness 
 and stillness of night. There seemed, here, something 
 more than reason. 
 
 At the barn-yards of Castle Forbes several doors open 
 by means of the common thumb-latch, and these a 
 small grey cat had discovered the means of opening for 
 herself. At various times pussy had been seen to 
 spring from the ground, a height of about four feet, 
 fasten her left fore-leg in the handle, and with her right 
 paw press the latch till she lifted the inside portion, 
 when the door swung round, and she dropped to the 
 floor at her own pleasure. One of the doors is a heavy 
 panelled outside one. On one occasion she was ob- 
 served to fail in opening it ; but, nothing daunted, she 
 made a second attempt, and" crept up till she put her 
 whole weight upon it, and was rewarded with success. 
 It is supposed that her first inducement to attempt 
 the ingenious feat was for the purpose of visiting her 
 kittens, when the door happened to be shut. 
 
 The Rev. E. Spooner writes to the Animal World'. 
 
 "A few years ago we had a pretty kitten, for which 
 we were anxious to find a home. A friend, who was 
 visiting us, gladly accepted the charge of her, and took 
 her to his own house. There ' Miss Puss ' became a
 
 In the House. 77 
 
 great favourite; but her choicest affections were lavished 
 on one of the sons of the family a remarkably bright 
 and handsome young man. It was interesting to see 
 the eagerness with which she watched for his return 
 from his office, the readiness with which she hastened 
 to meet him, and the happy composure with which she 
 took her place on his shoulder while he was at meals ; 
 receiving morsels from his hands, rubbing herself against 
 his cheek, or playing with his whiskers. The friendship 
 grew so strong that puss would not leave her friend even 
 at bed-time, but took her place regularly on his pillow. 
 Some months had elapsed, when the young man was 
 suddenly missing. Many days of deepest anxiety were 
 spent before we discovered the sad truth that he had 
 come to a most melancholy and violent end. When the 
 poor body was found, it was impossible to take it home ; 
 it had to be buried as quickly as might be : and never 
 can I forget that sad funeral. From the very day that 
 her young master was missing, poor puss seemed to 
 share the grief and anxiety of the family. She was 
 depressed and miserable, refused food, and wandered 
 about mewing piteously. At the time of the young 
 man's disappearance the family was on the very point 
 of moving to a new home ; in fact, the move was begun 
 before the funeral and hurried on after it. When it was 
 nearly accomplished, pussy was taken by her mistress in 
 a cab through several unknown streets to her new domi-
 
 78 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 cile. Here she seemed restless and unhappy. After 
 two or three days she was missing, and no trace of her 
 could be found. The family grieved for her ; for her 
 affection for their lost favourite had attached them to her. 
 About a week after she had been lost, her master was 
 compelled to go to his old house to meet the landlord, 
 and to give up possession. Arriving there a little 
 before the time appointed, he thought he would just 
 look round the house and see if perchance aught had 
 been left behind. Wandering through the empty rooms, 
 he reached at last the upper floor ; and there, on the 
 landing, just before his lost boy's bedroom door, lay the 
 dead kitten. I need add no comment." 
 
 Allowing the first place to the dog, man's constant 
 and favourite companion; and the second to the soft 
 and familiar cat, we must not forget those creatures of 
 a different kind, who find life tolerable in cages, and 
 who, thus enclosed, are found in so many of our dwell- 
 ings. Two of these, perhaps, will suffice, the parrot, 
 and the song-bird. 
 
 Mr. Jesse speaks of a parrot which he had seen at 
 Hampton Court, and whose intelligence had so much 
 astonished him that he requested the sister of the lady 
 who owned it to furnish him with some particulars. She 
 wrote the following sketch :
 
 In the House. 79 
 
 " As you wished me to write down whatever I could 
 collect, I will now do so ; only premising that I will tell 
 you nothing but what I can vouch for, as having myself 
 heard. Her laugh (the parrot's) is quite extraordinary, 
 and it is impossible to help joining in it oneself; 
 especially when in the midst of it she cries out, ' Don't 
 make me laugh so ! I shall die ! I shall die ! ' and 
 then continues laughing more violently than before. 
 Her crying and sobbing, too, are curious ; and if you 
 say, ' Poor Poll ! what is the matter ? ' she answers, 
 ' So bad ! so bad ! got such a cold ! ' and then, after 
 crying for some time, will gradually cease, and making 
 a noise like drawing a long breath, will say, ' Better 
 now,' and begin to laugh. The first time I ever heard 
 her speak was one day when I was talking to the maid 
 at the bottom of the stairs, and heard what I then 
 took to be a child calling out, ' Payne (the maid's name), 
 I'm not well ! I'm not well ! ' and on my saying, ' What 
 is the matter with that child ? ' she replied, ' It's only 
 the parrot ; she always does so when I leave her alone, 
 to make me come back ' ; and so it proved, for on her 
 going into the room, the parrot stopped, and began to 
 laugh, quite in a jeering way. It is singular enough 
 that, whenever she is affronted in any way, she begins 
 to cry; and when pleased, to laugh. If any one happens 
 to cough or sneeze, she says, ' What a bad cold ! ' One 
 day, when the children were playing with her, the maid
 
 8o Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 came into the room ; and on their repeating to her 
 several things which the parrot had said, Poll looked 
 up, and said, quite plainly, ' No, I didn't.' Sometimes, 
 when she is inclined to be mischievous, the maid 
 threatens to beat her; and she says, 'No, you won't.' 
 She calls the cat very plainly, saying, ' Puss ! puss ! ' 
 and then 'answers, ' Mew' ; but the most amusing part is, 
 that, whenever I want to make her call it, and for that 
 purpose say, ' Puss ! puss ! ' myself, she always answers, 
 ' Mew,' till I begin mewing, and then she begins calling 
 ' Puss' as quick as possible. She imitates every kind of 
 noise, and barks so naturally that I have known her to set 
 all the dogs on the parade at Hampton Court barking ; 
 and the consternation I have seen her cause in a party 
 of cocks and hens, by her crowing and chuckling, has 
 been the most ludicrous thing possible. She sings just 
 like a child ; and I have more than once thought it was 
 a human being : it was ridiculous to hear her make a 
 false note, and then cry out, * Oh, la ! ' and burst out 
 laughing at herself, beginning again in quite another 
 key. She is very fond of singing ' Buy a broom ? ' 
 which she says quite plainly ; but in the same spirit as 
 in calling the cat, if we say, with a view to make her 
 repeat it, ' Buy a broom ? ' she always says, * Buy a 
 brush ? ' and then laughs, as a child might do when mis- 
 chievous. She often performs a kind of exercise which 
 I do not know how to describe, except by saying that
 
 In the House. 8 1 
 
 i 
 it is like the lance exercise. She puts her claw behind 
 
 her, first on one side and then on the other, then in 
 front, and round over her head ; and while doing 
 so, keeps saying, ' Come on ! come on ! ' and when 
 finished, says, ' Bravo ! beautiful ! ' and draws herself 
 up. Before I was as well acquainted with her as I am 
 now-, she would stare in my face for some time, and then 
 say, ' How d'ye do, ma'am ? ' This she invariably does 
 to strangers. One day I went into the room where she 
 was, and said, to try her, ' Poll, where is Payne gone ? ' 
 and to my astonishment she replied, ' Down-stairs.' I 
 cannot, this moment, recollect more, and I do not choose 
 to trust to what I am told ; but from what I have seen 
 and heard, she has almost made me a believer in trans- 
 migration." 
 
 Mr. Smee tells us of -a parrot belonging to a friend 
 of his, which bird exhibited more than usual powers of 
 thought and contrivance. He says, 
 
 " I lent a book to a near relative, with whom this 
 bird lived. On calling at the house, I found Polly 
 sitting on the table ; and I observed that she had torn 
 the cover of my book to pieces. I felt angry; but, on 
 ringing the bell, the servants assured me that the bird 
 had been left shut up in its cage, and that she had 
 opened the spring, adding that they had lately observed 
 that she had found some way of letting herself out. 
 
 .6
 
 82 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 We agreed that this must be stopped, and it was deter- 
 mined that a padlock must be added to the fastening. 
 This padlock was opened by pressing a spring. The 
 next day Polly was again found outside the cage, with 
 the padlock lying at the bottom. She was soon put 
 back into the cage, and the padlock duly fastened ; but 
 she walked deliberately down, took hold of the padlock, 
 opened it, and walked triumphantly out." 
 
 Mr. Bingley tells us that, 
 
 " A pair of Guinea parrots were lodged together in 
 a large square cage. They usually sat on the highest 
 perch, and close to each other. When one descended 
 for food, the other always followed, and when their 
 hunger was satisfied they returned together to their 
 usual resting-place. They passed four years together 
 in this cage, and it was evident that a strong affection 
 existed between the two. But after a while the female 
 began to exhibit symptoms of old age. She could no 
 longer descend to take her food as formerly. The male 
 then assiduously attended on her, bringing food in his 
 bill and putting it into hers. He continued, in this 
 way, to feed her with the utmost care for about four 
 months. But her weakness increased, and at last she 
 seemed unable to keep her seat on the perch, but sank 
 down to the bottom of the cage, where she remained, 
 crouched up in one of the corners. She sometimes
 
 /;/ the House. 83 
 
 seemed to wish to rise again, at least as far as to the 
 lower perch ; and her partner eagerly seconded her 
 efforts, sometimes seizing her wing, sometimes her 
 bill, to try to draw her up to him ; his gestures and 
 eager solicitude showing his earnest desire to assist her 
 weakness and alleviate her sufferings. At length her 
 death evidently approached ; and now he paced round 
 and round her without ceasing, redoubling his assi- 
 duities. He tried to open her bill, so as to give her 
 food ; but all in vain ; and now he paced to and fro 
 in the highest agitation. Sometimes he uttered plain- 
 tive cries ; at other times he would sit for hours with 
 his eyes fixed upon her. At length she expired. He 
 languished for a few months, and then followed her." 
 
 We pass on to the finches and other song-birds, which 
 often impart a loveliness to a solitary chamber. 
 
 Mrs. Webber, in her work on " The Song-birds of 
 America," tells the following story, which we give 
 because she is narrating things within her own per- 
 sonal knowledge. She had lost a pet thrush, and 
 thought she should never love any other bird so much. 
 But a piping bullfinch was brought to her, and his 
 winning ways broke down her resolution : 
 
 " Although I still said I did not love him, I talked a 
 good deal to the bird ; and as the little fellow grew more 
 and more cheerful, and sang louder and oftener every
 
 84 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 day, and was getting very handsome, I began to in- 
 crease my attentions to him. He seemed, too, to need 
 my presence quite as much as sunshine; for if I went 
 away, he would utter the most piteous cries till I came 
 back, and then, in ah instant, his tones were changed, 
 and he sang his most enchanting airs. He was most 
 devoted in his efforts to enchain me by his melodies, 
 and by degrees I began to express my admiration. He 
 then seemed satisfied ; but began to claim me wholly. 
 No one else must approach him, and if any one laid a 
 finger on me his fury was unbounded. Now, if I went 
 away he would first mourn, then attempt to win me back 
 by sweet songs. If I sat too quietly at my drawing, he 
 would become weary, and would call in gentle tones, 
 * Come-e-here ! come-e-here ! ' so distinctly that all 
 my friends recognised the accents. All the day long he 
 would watch me : if I were cheerful, he would sing and 
 be gay ; if I were sad, he would sit by the hour watching 
 every movement ; and if I arose from my seat, I was 
 called, ' Come-e-here ! ' If I let him fly about the 
 room, he would follow me so closely that I was in con- 
 stant terror lest he should be trodden upon. He now 
 wanted to feed me, like a young bird. But I did not 
 like this sort of relationship, and determined to break 
 it off. I refused to be fed, I turned away, and as fast as 
 I could, broke down all the gentle bonds between us. 
 The result was sad enough. The poor fellow could not
 
 In the House. 85 
 
 bear it ; he sat in wondering grief. He would not eat. 
 At night I took him in my hand, and held him to my 
 cheek : he nestled closely, and seemed more happy, 
 though his little heart was too full to let him speak. 
 In the morning I scarcely answered his tender call, 
 ' Come-e-here ! ' but I sat down to my drawing, 
 asking myself if I could be so cold much longer to 
 such a gentle and uncomplaining creature. I presently 
 arose, and went to the cage. Oh, my poor, poor bird ! 
 he lay struggling on the floor. I took him out ; I tried 
 in every way to call him back to life, but it was useless. 
 I saw that he was dying ; his little frame was even then 
 growing cold. I uttered the call he knew so well : he 
 threw back his head, with its yet undimmed eye, and 
 tried to answer; but the effort was made with his last 
 breath. His eye glazed ; his little heart was broken ! 
 I can never forgive myself! To kill so gentle and so 
 pure a love as that! " 
 
 In the Zoologist of 1848 Mr Duff writes : 
 
 "I had a canary, between the wires of whose cage I 
 used to fix a piece of lump-sugar. One day it dropped 
 out, and when picked up, it was found to be quite wet 
 on one side. This surprised me, and I replaced it in 
 the cage with the dry side inwards, and determined to 
 watch the bird's proceedings. To my surprise, after a 
 few ineffectual attempts on the hard sugar, the bird went
 
 86 
 
 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 to the water-glass, filled its bill, dropped the water on 
 the sugar, and repeated this several times. When the 
 bugar was thus softened, it began to eat it. Evidently 
 
 there was thought there was a calculation of means, 
 and a use of them."
 
 In the Stable. 87 
 
 II. 
 
 IN THE STABLE. 
 
 WE pass from out of the house to its nearest adjunct. 
 In the neighbouring building we have creatures of a 
 very noble kind; though, from the distance at which 
 they are kept, we scarcely understand or appreciate the 
 qualities they possess. 
 
 Assuredly, much less than justice is commonly 
 awarded to the horse. He is not only one of the most 
 beautiful of God's creatures, but he possesses peculiar 
 excellences both of mind and heart. He has a most 
 wonderful memory ; indeed, in this particular we have 
 no other creature that can equal him. He has also 
 intelligence of a very high degree ; but, above all, he 
 manifests, continually, both sympathy and attachment. 
 Yet, because we find it convenient to place him in an 
 out-house of his own, and to hold no converse with 
 him, he comes, very soon, to be regarded as a mere 
 "beast of burden," for whom we have scarcely more 
 care than we have for the plough or the waggon which 
 we compel him to draw.
 
 88 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 This is a wrong, an injustice, which ought to be, and 
 which can be, forsaken. Our present work, however, is 
 not meant to be an argument; and we shall content 
 ourselves, in this as in other matters, with the collection 
 and arrangement of facts. The conclusions to be drawn 
 from those facts we shall leave to the consideration of 
 our readers. 
 
 The horse has a most retentive memory, and is 
 susceptible of strong attachments. Proofs of this are 
 abundant on every side. 
 
 "One day," Mr. Morris writes, "a gentleman was 
 travelling by a stage-coach, and when he got down 
 at the inn, the coachman saw that one of the leaders 
 was trembling all over, making a little neighing noise, 
 and looking round after the passengers. ' I think that 
 horse knows you, sir/ said the coachman. The gentle- 
 man looked more attentively, and soon saw in the 
 horse an old servant, whom he had parted with a few 
 years before, and who now showed these marks of 
 pleasure on meeting him again. 
 
 " I once had a handsome black mare, called ' Bess.' 
 Whatever road I might intend to travel, she always 
 seemed to be aware of it beforehand. And if I some- 
 times stole quietly into the stable, after a day's ride, to 
 see if my man was looking properly after her, he would 
 tell me how useless was the attempt. ' Why, sir,' he 
 said, ' it would make no difference if you came without
 
 In the Stable. 89 
 
 your shoes : I should know long before you came near 
 the stable ; for when you are coming the mare always 
 begins kicking and prancing like mad.' ' 
 
 A curious case was brought before the magistrates 
 at Worship Street recently. A chesnut horse was stolen 
 from Hackney Marshes, and the thief (or some one to 
 whom he had sold it) happened to lead the horse' past 
 his master's house in Old Ford, Bow. As he passed the 
 house, the animal neighed ; and the owner, with whom 
 the horse was a favourite, knew the neigh, looked out of 
 window, and saw his horse being led down the street. 
 He instantly called for help, and the horse was rescued. 
 
 Mr. Smiles, in his "Lives of Engineers," tells us that 
 
 " The whole of the stone for Waterloo Bridge (ex- 
 cept the balustrades) was hewn in some fields adjacent, 
 on the Surrey side. It was then transported, stone by 
 stone, upon trucks drawn along railways, over tem- 
 porary bridges of wood; and nearly the whole was 
 thus transported by one horse, ' Old Jack,' a most 
 sensible animal and a great favourite. His driver was, 
 on the whole, a steady man, though rather too fond of 
 his dram before breakfast. The railway along which the 
 truck passed, ran just in front of the door of a public- 
 house ; and here Tom, the driver, usually pulled up for 
 his ' morning.' On one occasion it happened that Tom
 
 go Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 stopped longer than his usual time, and ' Old Jack ' 
 grew impatient. So he pushed his head against the 
 public-house door, got it inside, and finding his master 
 standing at the bar, took the collar of his jacket between 
 his teeth, and pulled him out of the place, back to his 
 work again." 
 
 Mr. Banvard writes, 
 
 " Returning from a tour to the West, I put up at a 
 small town near the Alleghany Mountains. While I 
 was sitting watching the variegated hues produced by 
 the rays of the setting sun upon that wild, rough, moun- 
 tain scenery, I saw eight or nine large baggage-waggons 
 approaching, drawn by four, and some of them by six 
 horses. I found that the tavern where I was stopping 
 was a regular lodging-place for those strong, coarse, 
 mountain-waggoners. Near the place where I sat, in 
 front of the house, was a pump with a large trough, 
 which was used for watering horses. The handle of the 
 pump, I observed, always sprang up whenever any one 
 used it. Most pump-handles fall down ; but this one 
 sprang up, so that those who used it had no occasion to 
 lift the handle ; it always raised itself. When the string 
 of waggons approached the tavern there was but little 
 water in the trough, not nearly enough to supply the 
 horses. But you may imagine my surprise to see one 
 of the horses, as soon as he was unharnessed, go to the
 
 In the Stable. 91 
 
 pump, lay his head over the handle, and press it down, 
 so as to make the water come out of the spout. Then 
 he raised his head, and the handle sprang up ; then 
 again he would press it down, and send more water into 
 the trough. In this way that horse continued pumping, 
 till all the horses had had the water they wanted. 
 Then, last of all, he left the handle, walked round to the 
 trough, drank as much as he wanted, and finished by 
 walking into the stable and taking his place in one of 
 the stalls." 
 
 i 
 
 A farmer who lives in the neighbourhood of Bedford, 
 and regularly attends the markets there, was returning 
 home one evening in 1828, and having drank till he be- 
 came sleepy, rolled off his saddle into the middle of the 
 road. His horse stopped, and waited some time, until, 
 seeing no disposition in its rider to remount, it took 
 him by the collar and shook him. The farmer only 
 grumbled, and remained in slumber. The horse then 
 began to resort to stronger measures seizing hold of 
 his master's coat-laps, and dragging at them to make 
 him get up. After a while the coat-lap gave way. 
 While this was going on, three more passengers came 
 by, and these succeeded in awakening the farmer and 
 inducing him to remount. The torn coat-lap was care- 
 fully thrust into the pocket, and was long preserved by 
 the farmer, as a memorial of his horse's zeal and care.
 
 g 2 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 A gentleman of Bristol had a greyhound, who slept 
 in the stable along with a very fine hunter. Between 
 the two a strong friendship was formed. The grey- 
 hound always slept within sight of the horse, who would 
 show signs of restlessness whenever his friend was 
 absent. The owner would often call at the stable and 
 summon the greyhound for a walk ; and the horse would 
 look round and neigh, in a manner which plainly said, 
 "Let me go with you." And when the dog returned 
 home, he was always welcomed by a loud neigh ; when 
 he would run up to the horse and lick his nose ; and the 
 house, in return, would scratch the dog's back with his 
 teeth. One day, when the groom was out with them 
 both for exercise, a large dog attacked the greyhound, 
 and, by mere strength, threw him on the ground. The 
 horse at once rushed to his assistance, seized the 
 assailant by his back, and tore out a large piece of skin, 
 compelling him to a speedy retreat. 
 
 The island of Krutsand, which is formed by two 
 branches of the Elbe, is peculiarly liable to floods, 
 caused by spring-tides, when the wind is in an un- 
 favourable quarter. On one occasion the water rose so 
 rapidly, that a number of horses that were grazing in 
 the meadows, with their foals by their sides, found 
 themselves, in a very short space of time, surrounded 
 on all sides with deep water, so as to endanger the
 
 In the Stable. 93 
 
 young animals. They soon all assembled together, and 
 in this danger, anxious for their foals, they devised the 
 only available plan. Each two horses took a foal 
 between them, and pressing close together, lifted it up, 
 and kept it partly above the water till the ebb came, 
 and the danger gradually passed away. 
 
 Dr. Smith, of the Queen's County, Ireland, had a 
 beautiful hackney, which, though extremely spirited, 
 was at the same time wonderfully docile. He had also 
 a fine Newfoundland dog, named "Caesar." The two 
 animals always slept in the same stable, and soon be- 
 came close friends. When the doctor took his rounds, 
 he needed no other servant than "Caesar," leaving the 
 horse in his care when he entered a patient's house. 
 Sometimes he would walk a short distance, from one 
 house to another, and tell the two friends to follow him. 
 " Caesar " would keep the reins in his mouth, and the two 
 would walk quietly together after their master. Some- 
 times the doctor would go to the stable, put the reins 
 upon his horse, and then giving them to " Caesar," would 
 bid him take the water. They both understood the 
 order, and went together to the rivulet, about three 
 hundred yards off. The horse quenched his thirst, and 
 then he and "Caesar" returned to the stable. Some- 
 times the doctor would bid "Caesar " make the horse leap 
 the stream, which was not very wide. The dog knew
 
 94 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 how to make the horse understand what he was to do ; 
 and they both cantered off, and the horse took the leap 
 in very good style. When "Caesar" lost the reins, 
 which would sometimes happen, the horse would trot 
 up to his friend, and allow him to take them again in 
 his mouth. 
 
 In the days of George III., when volunteer corps were 
 embodied in every considerable town in England, a new 
 line of turnpike-road was in course of construction 
 through a northern county. The duty of one of the 
 clerks to the trustees was to superintend the contrac- 
 tors and their men, and to see that the work was done 
 properly. When taking these rides along the line, he 
 generally rode an old horse which had formerly carried 
 a field-officer, and still possessed much courage and 
 spirit. One day, while taking one of his journeys of 
 inspection, the clerk passed near a town of some impor- 
 tance, where, at that moment, the volunteers were out 
 for drill on the common. No sooner did the horse hear 
 the drum, and the word of command, than he cleared 
 the fence, and was soon in the commanding officer's 
 place, in front of the volunteers ; nor could his rider 
 induce him to move from that position till the volun- 
 teers had ended their evolutions, and begun to march 
 off. He then marched at their head into the town, 
 prancing proudly in martial recollection of former
 
 In the Stable. 95 
 
 days ; to the great amusement of the bystanders, but 
 somewhat to his rider's annoyance, who was thus 
 brought into an absurd position against his will. 
 
 A cart-horse belonging to Mr. Leggatt, of Glasgow, 
 was troubled with a disease, for which he had been 
 treated by a farrier of the name of Downie. For a con- 
 siderable time he had not been troubled with his old 
 complaint ; but one day he was employed in College 
 Street, Glasgow, at a distance of nearly a mile from the 
 farrier's shop; and while mixed with the other horses, 
 the carters being busy elsewhere, he was missing. 
 People were sent in all directions in search of him, but 
 in vain. He had quietly taken his departure for the 
 farrier's shop where he presented himself, to the sur- 
 prise of the people, without any attendant. They sur- 
 mised, what proved to be the fact, that he felt his old 
 complaint, and was in search of a cure. They took off 
 his harness, and he then laid down and gave signs that 
 he was suffering. The usual remedies were administered, 
 and he was sent home to his master, who was in the 
 greatest perplexity as to what had become of him. 
 
 " A friend of mine," says Mr. Morris, " was riding 
 home one night through a wood; and, owing to the dark- 
 ness, struck his head against the branch of a tree, and fell 
 from his horse quite stunned. The horse immediately
 
 96 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 returned to the house which he had just left a mile or 
 more distant. He found the doors closed, and the family 
 retiring to rest. He pawed at the door, until one of the 
 servants, hearing a noise, came down and opened it ; and 
 saw, with surprise, the horse which had so recently left 
 them. But the creature, so soon as he was recognised, 
 turned round, inviting the inmates to follow. They did 
 so, and the creature led them straight to the spot where 
 his rider still lay upon the ground, stunned, and scarcely 
 able to rise." 
 
 In Fifeshire, a carter at Strathmiglo had an old horse, 
 who had long lived with him, and was intimate with all 
 the family. When among the children, he was always 
 careful to do them no injury moving his feet with 
 the greatest care. On one occasion, he was drawing a 
 loaded cart through a narrow lane, when he found a 
 young child playing there, and liable to be crushed by 
 the cart-wheels. He took the child up by the clothes 
 with his teeth, and carried it a little way, till he saw a 
 bank by the road- side, on which he could safely place it. 
 Then, having thus put it out of danger, he went on his 
 way ; but not without looking back, to satisfy himself that 
 the wheels of the cart had cleared it. 
 
 The Shetland pony is a creature more full of fun 
 and frolic than any other.
 
 In the Stable. 97 
 
 "Ours," says Mr. Morris, "could open every gate 
 which hindered his rambles. There was scarcely 
 any common fastening which he could not undo 
 with his teeth ; and if foiled here, he would find 
 out the weakest place in the fence, and break 
 through it. His only object was, greater freedom 
 for an hour or two's gallop. With equal adroitness, 
 he would find out and open the grain-chest in any stable. 
 When occupied with any mischief of this sort, he would 
 be shy and distant ; while at other times he would 
 follow like a lapdog, asking for apples or bread. When 
 idle in the paddock, nothing pleased him more than 
 a game of romps with any rollicking dog. Once a 
 day the mail-coach came by, and when he heard the 
 horn he always ran to a place where he could see it. 
 As soon as it appeared, he would fun round and round 
 his paddock, his heels usually higher than his head, 
 and his mane and tail streaming out, as if he were 
 showing himself, to the amusement and admiration of 
 the passengers." 
 
 Some horses can be managed by kindness, but in no 
 other way. A horse in the depot at Woolwich was so 
 unmanageable ,that, at length, no one, even of the 
 rough-riders, durst venture to mount him. He would 
 either crush his rider's leg against some post or wall, 
 or would lie down and roll over him. No means could 
 
 7
 
 98 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 be found, of curing him of these tricks ; and at last 
 he was reported to the commanding-officer as " incur- 
 ably vicious," in order that he might be condemned to 
 be sold, and turned out of the service. But Col. Quest, 
 admiring the horse, which was thorough -bred, and of 
 fine action, asked the commanding-officer to hand 
 him over to the riding-troop. This was done ; and 
 Col. Quest resolved to try a different system of manage- 
 ment from that which was usually adopted in the 
 riding-school. He had him daily paraded, took notice 
 of him, patted him, and kept all whips out of sight. 
 When the horse did anything as ordered, the colonel 
 gave him a piece of bread, or a handful of beans. By 
 this sort of treatment he soon gained the creature's 
 confidence and good-will ; and the horse, at last, became 
 so docile that a child might be placed on his back. 
 He would even kneel down to be mounted, and would 
 perform evolutions which no other horse seemed able 
 to understand. At last, such a favourite did he become, 
 that his master gave him the appellation of "Darling." 
 
 During the war in Spain a regiment of cavalry was 
 ordered to embark from Plymouth Dock for the Penin- 
 sula. Amongst the horses was an old campaigner, 
 which had been, it was said, more than once on the 
 same errand, and appeared to have made up his mind 
 not to go on foreign service. In pursuance of this deter-
 
 In the Stable. 0,9 
 
 mination, he resisted with all' his might every attempt 
 to sling him on board the ship, kicking and plunging so 
 furiously that the men employed at length gave up the 
 attempt in despair. A resolute fellow of a sailor, seeing 
 how the matter stood, came forward, vowing he would 
 conquer him, and instantly grasped the horse round the 
 neck, with the design of fixing the necessary apparatus. 
 Jack, however, reckoned without his host : the horse, by 
 a sudden plunge, shook him off, and, turning his heels, 
 gave him a severe kick, which laid him sprawling on 
 the ground ; and galloped off. But, after making a 
 circle, he returned to the spot where his antagonist lay, 
 and fairly hurled or pushed him into the water out of 
 which he was dragged by the crew of a boat which was 
 near the spot. 
 
 A gentleman, on one occasion, rode a young horse, 
 which he had bred, to a distance of thirty miles from 
 home, and to a part of the country where he had never 
 before been. The road was a cross one, and extremely 
 difficult to find ; but, by dint of perseverance and inquiry, 
 he at length reached his destination. Two years after- 
 wards he had occasion to pursue the same route. He 
 was perplexed three or four miles from the end of his 
 journey. The day grew so dark that sometimes he could 
 scarcely guess his way. He had a black and dreary 
 moor to pass, had lost all traces of his route, and even
 
 100 
 
 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 felt uncertain whether he was going in the right direc- 
 tion. The rain, too, began to fall heavily. He be- 
 thought him of what he had heard of the wonderful 
 memory of the horse. He determined to throw himself 
 
 upon this, as his last resource. He threw the reins on 
 his horse's neck, and by word and action encouraged 
 him to go forward. It was not long before he found 
 himself at his friend's door. Yet it was absolutely cer- 
 tain that the horse could not have traversed that road a
 
 In the Stable. 101 
 
 second time since his first visit to that house, at a 
 distance of two years previous. 
 
 Sir Emerson Tennant, writing to Land and Water, 
 says, 
 
 "A few days ago my attention was attracted to a 
 pretty little horse, with a milk-cart, trotting across the 
 road, and drawing up at a particular door. Presently 
 the cart was followed by the man in charge, who had 
 no sooner put himself in communication with the person 
 inside than the horse went forward and drew up at a 
 house a little further on, which was soon opened to him. 
 I asked the driver whether the horse knew every house 
 in his walk. He answered, ' Yes, he knew them all. 
 If a new customer was added, the horse soon included 
 him ; and if one left, the horse quickly found it out, and 
 passed the door unnoticed.' I sought out the owner of 
 the cart, and asked him concerning this interesting 
 little animal. He told me that he had had him for 
 about five years ; that he bought him cheap, because he 
 bore the character of being vicious, and a jibber. But 
 he tried the experiment of kindness, treating the horse 
 sometimes to a slice of bread, and sometimes to a lump 
 of sugar. The creature soon showed his pleasure and 
 his gratitude, but seemed most pleased by a chesnut 
 when one was given him. And now he showed no 
 objection to the cart ; but rather a wish to contribute
 
 IO2 Half Hours ivith the Animals. 
 
 his share in the service. The idea of moving in advance 
 of the driver was entirely his own. All that the driver 
 had to say was, 'Go on, Jerry!' and away the horse 
 trotted to the next place. Sometimes, too, he would do 
 more. I saw him myself (says Sir I. E. Tennant) trot 
 up alone to a door in Coburg Row, Pimlico. I saw him 
 cautiously approach the kerb-stone, taking care that the 
 wheel of the cart did not' get upon the footpath ; and 
 then with his nose he raised the knocker, and let it fall, 
 and then a second time ; and then he waited till the door 
 was opened, and he was rewarded by a slice of bread, 
 and a pat on his neck while he was eating it." 
 
 Mr. Lane, of Frescombe, in Ashelworth, Gloucester- 
 shire, had sent his horse to be shod, and had then turned 
 it into a field to graze. The following morning it was 
 missing, and a hue and cry was set up. After a while 
 the state of the case was discovered. The farrier had 
 pinched the horse's foot in the shoeing. The animal, 
 feeling itself in an uncomfortable plight, escaped from 
 the field by lifting the gate off its hinges. It then went 
 straight to the farrier's, a distance of a mile and a half. 
 When it arrived there, it held up the ailing foot, and 
 showed what was its cause of complaint. The farrier 
 soon perceived how the matter stood, took off the shoe, 
 and replaced it more carefully. The horse tried it, and 
 was satisfied, and turned round and set off home. An
 
 In the Stable. 103 
 
 hour after, Mr. Lane's men, who had been scouring the 
 country, called at the farrier's shop, and were told at 
 once, " Oh, he has been here, has been re-shod, and is 
 gone home again." 
 
 " Most domestic animals," says Mr. Hamerton, " are 
 as keenly alive to their own interests as a man of \ busi- 
 ness. They can make bargains, and stick to them, and 
 make you stick to them also. I have a little mare who 
 used to require six men to catch her on the pasture ; but 
 I carried corn to her for a long time without trying to 
 take her, leaving the corn on the ground. Next, I in- 
 duced her to eat the corn while I held it, still leaving 
 her free. Finally, I persuaded her to follow me, and now 
 she will come trotting half a mile at my whistle, leaping 
 ditches, fording brooks, in darkness, or rain, or fog. She 
 follows me like a dog to the stable, and I give her the 
 corn there. But it is a bargain : she knowingly sells her 
 liberty for the corn. The experiment of reducing the 
 reward having been tried, she ceased to obey the whistle, 
 and resumed her former habits. But the full and due 
 quantity having been restored, she yielded her liberty 
 again without resistance ; and since then she is not to 
 be cheated." 
 
 "A farmer's boy," says Mr. Jesse, "had fed and 
 taken great care of a colt. One day, while working in
 
 IO4 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 the field, he was attacked by a bull. The boy leaped 
 into a ditch, to get out of the animal's way. But the 
 bull would not leave him, and tried to reach him with his 
 horns, and would probably have succeeded, had not the 
 colt come to his assistance. The colt not only rushed 
 at the bull, and kicked him, but made so loud a noise 
 that some people who were within hearing- came run- 
 ning up to see what was the matter, and contrived to 
 drive the bull away." 
 
 In another case, a horse and a cat became great 
 friends, insomuch that the cat generally slept in the 
 horse's manger. But when the horse received his corn, 
 and was about to take a meal, he always took up the cat 
 by the skin of her neck, and dropped her into the next 
 stall, that she might not be in his way, and get into any 
 danger while he was feeding. 
 
 " Two Hanoverian horses," says Mr. Jesse, " had long 
 served together in the Peninsular war, in the artillery of 
 the German Legion. They had always drawn the same 
 gun, and been companions in many battles. One of 
 them, at last, was killed in action, and the survivor 
 was left alone, picketed as usual, but without any com- 
 panion. His food was brought to him as usual, but he 
 refused to eat. He continued restlessly to turn his head 
 in every direction, often neighing, as if to call his com-
 
 In the Stable. 105 
 
 rade. Attention was directed to him, and great care 
 was taken of him. Other horses surrounded him on 
 every side, but he took no notice of them. His affliction 
 was apparent to all. He persisted in refusing to touch 
 food, and after lingering a few days, he died, to the grief 
 of all those who had watched him." 
 
 A. writer in Science Gossip says, 
 
 " Last year, being on a tour in Bedfordshire, I stayed 
 at a friend's house, where a horse, in the back-yard, 
 came to the door of the room where I was sitting, took 
 in his mouth the handle of it, and by a twist of his 
 head opened the door and put his head into the room. 
 The mistress of the house understood what he wanted, 
 and put a lump of sugar into his mouth ; when he at 
 once backed out of the room, closing the door after 
 him." 
 
 A writer in the Naturalises Magazine says, 
 
 " An old mare belonging to a man in my village, 
 which looked as if it had hardly sense to do its work, 
 had a foal last summer ; and, one day, the mother came 
 galloping up the village to its owner's door, neighing 
 and showing great agitation. The man said, ' Some- 
 thing must be the matter,' and he went out to her. She 
 at once trotted off, looking to see that he followed her ; 
 and she led him to the mill-dam, where he found her
 
 io6 Half Hours with tlie Animals. 
 
 foal, who had slipped in, and was in danger of being 
 drowned." 
 
 " We knew a horse," says the author of " The Mena- 
 geries," "who, being accustomed to be employed once 
 a week on a journey with the traveller of a provincial 
 paper, always stopped at the houses of several customers, 
 sixty or seventy in number. Now, there were two of the 
 customers who took the paper between them the one 
 claiming to have it first this week, the other the follow- 
 ing. The horse soon came to understand this arrange- 
 ment ; and though che parties lived two miles apart, he 
 regularly stopped, one week at Thorpe, the other week 
 at Chertsey in no one instance mistaking the week, 
 though the arrangement lasted for years." 
 
 "A horse," says Mrs. Lee, "had been in the habit 
 of going with his master a certain road, and stopping 
 at a certain inn, where the hostler, perhaps by order, 
 always threw some beans into the corn supplied to him. 
 After a time, the horse, with his master, removed from 
 that part of the country, and remained away for two 
 years. After this, they returned, and came back to the 
 same inn to which the horse had been accustomed. 
 This inn, however, had passed into new hands. While 
 enjoying his dinner, the rider was informed that his 
 horse would not eat. He seemed to think that there
 
 In the Stable. 107 
 
 was something wrong about the corn ; but they knew 
 that it was of the very best. The rider went to the 
 stable ; the horse neighed, and looked at the rnanger, 
 and then at him. He recollected. ' Throw some beans 
 in,' he said. The hostler obeyed ; the horse looked at 
 him as if to express his thanks, and then took his meal 
 contentedly." 
 
 Mr. Jesse gives the following incident, as coming 
 within his own knowledge : 
 
 " A farmer residing on the borders of the New Forest, 
 in Hampshire, went over to the Isle of Wight, where he 
 purchased a mare from a person with whom he was 
 acquainted, near Newport, in the centre of the island. 
 The mare was conveyed over the water in a boat, landed 
 in Hampshire, taken to the purchaser's farm, and turned 
 into one of his fields. The next morning she was 
 nowhere to be found. Search was made in all direc- 
 tions, but nothing could be heard of her, and it was 
 supposed that she must have been stolen. But the 
 farmer, having again occasion to go to the Isle of 
 Wight, called upon his acquaintance from whom he 
 had bought the mare, and learned, to his surprise, that 
 she had returned safely to her old quarters. Over and 
 above the land journey, which was considerable, she 
 must have swum at least five miles, or more, to reach 
 the island from the Hampshire coast."
 
 io8 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 Samuel Drew, in his "Autobiography," says, 
 " My father had contracted to carry the mail on 
 horseback between St. Austell and Bodmin, which duty 
 commonly devolved on my elder brother Jabez. At one 
 time, in the depth of winter, Jabez being ill, I (then ten 
 years old, apprenticed to a shoemaker) was borrowed to 
 supply his place, and had to travel in the darkness of 
 night through frost and snow, a dreary journey out and 
 home of more than twenty miles. Being overpowered 
 with fatigue, I fell asleep on the horse's neck, and when 
 I awoke observed that I had lost my hat. The wind 
 was keen and piercing, and I was bitterly cold. I 
 stopped the horse and endeavoured to find out where I 
 was ; but it was so dark that I could scarcely distinguish 
 the hedges on each side of the road, and I had no means 
 of ascertaining how long I had been asleep or how far 
 I had travelled. I then dismounted, and looked round 
 for my hat, but seeing nothing of it, I turned back, lead- 
 ing the horse, determined to find it, if possible. The 
 loss of a hat to me was a matter of serious consequence ; 
 since, if it were not recovered, I should probably have 
 to wait a loner time for another. Shivering with cold, I 
 pursued my solitary way, scrutinizing the road at every 
 step, until I had walked about two miles; and was on the 
 point of giving up the search, when I came to a receiv- 
 ing-house, where I ought to have delivered a packet of 
 letters, but had passed it when asleep. To this place
 
 In the Stable. 109 
 
 the post usually came about two o'clock in the morning-, 
 and it was customary to leave a window unfastened, 
 except by a large stone outside, that the family might 
 not be disturbed at so unseasonable an hour. I put my 
 letter-bag through the window, and having replaced the 
 stone, was turning round on my horse, when I perceived 
 the hat lying close to my feet. I suppose that the horse, 
 knowing the place, must have stopped at the window for 
 me to deliver my charge, and that my hat was shaken 
 off by his movements or efforts to waken me. Not 
 succeeding in this, and having waited until his patience 
 was exhausted, he had, though blind, pursued his way 
 to the next stopping-place. By all the family this saga- 
 cious and valuable animal was much prized; but my 
 father felt for it an especial regard, and the attachment 
 between the master and his faithful horse was to all 
 appearance mutual. ' Many years before, the poor beast, 
 in a wretched condition from starvation and ill-usage, 
 was turned out on a common to die. The owner will- 
 ingly sold it for little more than the value of the skin, 
 and his new possessor having, by care and kindness, 
 restored it to strength, soon found that he had made an 
 advantageous bargain. For more than twenty years he 
 and his blind companion travelled the road together, 
 and many were the proofs of its intelligence and attach- 
 ment. After the horse was past labour it was kept in 
 the orchard, and attended with almost parental care.
 
 1 10 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 Latterly it had become unable to bite the grass, and 
 the old man regularly fed it with bread soaked in milk. 
 When in the early morning the horse put his head over 
 the orchard railing, towards his master's bedroom, and 
 gave its usual neigh, he would jump up out of bed, open 
 the window, and call to it, saying, ' My poor old fello\v, 
 I will be with thee soon.' And when the animal died 
 he would not allow the skin or shoes to be taken off, 
 but had the carcase buried entire." 
 
 A correspondent of the Animal World says, 
 
 " A young gentleman named Keene has been for 
 some time resident near Malton; and from Mr. Ruttcr, 
 of Hessle Farm, he bought a hunting-mare, which, on 
 leaving Malton, he recently took with him to Whitby. 
 On Wednesday the mare was missing from the field, 
 and a search was instituted, to no purpose. On Thurs- 
 day the search was renewed, Mr. Keene and his groom 
 going about ten miles on the Guisborough Moors, and 
 then to Sleights, where they heard the mare had crossed 
 the railway the previous morning. At this point the 
 trail was easy. The mare had taken the high road 
 homewards, and at Saltersgate six men tried to stop 
 her, without avail. At Pickering she jumped a load of 
 sticks and the railway-gates, and then found herself in 
 her old hunting country, making across Ryedale for 
 ' home.' In so doing she would have to cross two
 
 In the Stable. 1 1 1 
 
 rivers and a railway. Mr. Keene found her at home on 
 Thursday night with one shoe thrown, and rather lame, 
 but otherwise no worse for her cross-country gallop of 
 nearly sixty miles, done in one day ; for her previous 
 owner found her on the Wednesday night standing at 
 the gate of the field where she had grazed for the two 
 previous years." 
 
 Another correspondent of the same journal says, 
 
 " Directly opposite my residence a church is being 
 erected, and during its progress temporary sheds have 
 been put up for the use of the workmen, and one as a 
 stable for a very fine cart-horse, the property of the 
 builder. The extreme docility of this animal attracted 
 my attention to him, and since that some of his ma- 
 noeuvres' appear to me to border strongly on the sense 
 and the powers of reflection. His stable was erected at 
 one end of the church. On one occasion two poles had 
 been fastened across his usual road to it, in order to 
 strengthen the scaffolding ; he went up, tried the strength 
 of these first, then finding that he could neither get over 
 nor under, he turned round, and, at a full trot, made the 
 circuit of the church, and got to the other side of the 
 poles by another path. Here was no straying about, 
 and at last finding his way ; he resolved to go round, as 
 if an idea had at once flashed across his mind. Another 
 day, a waggon had been left standing in the narrowest
 
 112 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 part of his road to the stable : he looked, and tried each 
 side, but found there was not space enough for him to 
 pass; he took very little time for consideration, but put 
 his breast against the back-part of the waggon, and 
 shoved it on to a wider part of the road, then deliberately 
 passed on one side to his stable. Could human wisdom 
 have done better ? But, to crown all his manoeuvres, 
 I mention the following as being, I consider, very 
 extraordinary : 
 
 " During the winter a large wide drain had been 
 made, and over this strong planks had been placed for 
 our friend, the cart-horse, to pass over to his stable. 
 It had snowed during the night, and froze very hard in 
 the morning. How he passed over the planks on going 
 out to work I know not, but on being turned loose from 
 the can at breakfast, he came up to them, and I saw his 
 fore-feet slip; he drew back immediately, and seemed 
 for a moment at a loss how to get on. Close to these 
 planks a cart-load of sand had been placed ; he put his 
 fore-feet on this, and looked wistfully to the other side 
 of the drain. The boy who attends this horse, and who 
 had gone roUnd by another path, seeing him stand there, 
 called him. The horse immediately turned round, and 
 set about scraping the sand most vigorously, first with 
 one foot, then the other. The boy, perhaps wondering 
 what he would be at, waited to see. When the planks 
 were completely covered with sand, the horse turned
 
 In the Stable. 113 
 
 round again, and unhesitatingly walked over, and trotted 
 up to his stable and driver." 
 
 Mr. W. S. Bellows, in the Naturalises Magazine, 
 writes, 
 
 " When a boy, being at Whitchurch, near Blandford, 
 I noticed two cart-horses that were sent from a farm- 
 yard to drink at a neighbouring brook. The brook was 
 frozen over, so one of the horses struck the ice with his 
 foot, to break it ; but it was hard, and did not yield. 
 The two horses, then, standing side by side, lifted each 
 a foot, simultaneously, and making their hoofs descend 
 together, the double blow broke the ice. Men could 
 not have done better. 
 
 The Scotsman newspaper, on the authority of several 
 trustworthy witnesses, mentions a circumstance which 
 had occurred near West Calder. During a great heat 
 which prevailed one summer's afternoon, a pony, the 
 property of Mr. John Waddell, contractor, was left 
 alone for some time by its driver. Having been 
 driven a considerable distance, and feeling, naturally, a 
 craving for water, the pony was observed by several 
 persons to walk, deliberately, about fifty yards, and 
 with its teeth turn the cock of a water-pipe projecting 
 out of the embankment near, and having thus quenched 
 its thirst, to turn the cock back again, so as to prevent
 
 H4 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 any waste, and then to go back to the place in which 
 its owner had left it. 
 
 Mr. Morris tells us of a Norwegian pony which 
 showed more than usual skill and adroitness. She was 
 brought over, with a companion, and at first they were 
 "turned out to grass," and enjoyed an entire holiday. 
 To this they soon added entire liberty, for they could 
 unfasten, undo, or untie every gate, and wander where- 
 ever their inclinations led them. They soon had a com- 
 panion, a foal of last year, which, being of great beauty, 
 was made much of, and had two feeds of corn every 
 day. The pony, however (the one particularly spoken of) 
 did not understand this partiality, nor would she submit 
 to it. She always contrived to get into the foal's shed 
 at his dinner-time, and to share the corn with him. If 
 the groom tied the door with a stout rope, she could 
 untie the knot with her teeth ; if he fastened it with a 
 chain and staple and wooden peg, no sooner was his 
 back turned than the peg was drawn, and the door 
 opened. At length, tired with being so often beaten, 
 he got a heavy rail, which he placed right across the 
 entrance. The pony was puzzled, and the groom 
 looked on with glee, while he saw her vain attempts to 
 lift the rail, which proved too heavy for her. He 
 thought that the victory was his, when she seemed to 
 give it up in despair, and trotted off to find her com-
 
 In the Stable. 1 1 5 
 
 panion. But not a little astonished was he to see her 
 return in a few minutes, and the other pony with her. 
 Together they put their necks under the rail ; and what 
 was too heavy for one, yielded to the efforts of both : the 
 rail was lifted and thrown down, and the way to the 
 corn was again opened. On another occasion, when 
 shut up in a yard, which they did not at all approve, 
 all kinds of fastenings gave way to them, till at last 
 the groom, in despair, actually nailed up the gate with 
 some stout tenpenny nails ! 
 
 It would be unjust to pass over in silence the horse's 
 near relatives the donkey and the mule. One of the 
 greatest, and yet the most common, of all mistakes we 
 make in every-day life is to deem the ass a stupid 
 animal. Let the following anecdotes form the best 
 reply to this groundless supposition. 
 
 The Rev. C. Otway writes, 
 
 " I assert that if you were to make yourself acquainted 
 with asses, you would find them clever enough. I once 
 bought an ass for the amusement of my children. I did 
 not allow him to be cudgelled, and he got something 
 better, to graze upon than thistles. I found him more 
 knave than fool ; his very cleverness was my plague. 
 My ass, like the king's fool, proved the ablest animal
 
 n6 
 
 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 about the place ; and, like others, having more wit than 
 good manners, he was for ever not only going but 
 leading other beasts into mischief. There was not a 
 gate about the place but he could open it ; there was 
 not a fence that he could not climb. Often he would 
 wake me on a summer's morning, braying, out of sheer 
 
 wantonness, in the middle of a field of wheat. I was 
 obliged to part with him and get a pony, merely 
 because he was too cunning to be kept." 
 
 In March 1816, an ass belonging to Captain Dundas, 
 R.N., then at Malta, was shipped on board the Isttr 
 frigate, Captain Forest, bound from Gibraltar for that 
 island. The frigate struck upon some sands off the 
 Point de Gat, at some distance from the shore ; and the 
 ass was thrown overboard, to give it a chance of swimming
 
 In the Stable. 117 
 
 to land a poor chance, for the sea was running so high 
 that a boat which left the ship was lost. A few days 
 afterwards, however, when the gates of Gibraltar were 
 opened in the morning, the ass presented himself for 
 admittance, and proceeded at once to a stable belong- 
 ing to Mr. Weeks, which he had formerly occupied. 
 Mr. Weeks was astonished to see him, and supposed 
 that, by some accident, the animal had never been 
 shipped on board the Ister. But when the vessel 
 returned for repairs, the mystery was explained, and it 
 was made manifest that the ass had not only swum safely 
 to shore, but had found his way from Point de Gat to 
 Gibraltar, a distance of more than two hundred miles, 
 through a mountainous and difficult country, intersected 
 by streams ; and this in so short a period that it was 
 clear he could never have made one false turn. 
 
 Mr. East writes, 
 
 " I had once a donkey, presented to me by Osgood 
 H anbury, Esq., which was a remarkably docile and 
 knowing animal. He was the constant companion of 
 my children in their rambles on the Downs, and always 
 seemed to think that he had a right to his share in all 
 the eatables and drinkables, whether cakes, apples, 
 oranges, milk, beer, or even tea. Ginger-beer was 
 the only thing he eschewed. A ginger-beer cork had 
 once struck him on the nose, after which he would turn
 
 1 1 8 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 his back when such a thing was produced. His lodg- 
 ing-place at night was in a shed, from which he had 
 free access to a yard ; but not, of course, to the kitchen- 
 garden, which adjoined it. This garden was separated 
 from the yard by a wall, in which was a door, or gate, 
 fastened securely by two bolts and a latch. But soon 
 we were surprised to find that the door had been 
 opened in the night, and there were footprints of the 
 donkey on the walks and beds. How this could be we 
 could not imagine, especially as the upper bolt was fixed 
 at a considerable height. So I watched at my window, 
 and saw master donkey, reared up on his hind-legs, un- 
 fastening the upper bolt with his mouth. He then drew 
 back the lower one, lifted the latch, and walked quietly 
 into the garden. In a few minutes he returned, bring- 
 ing a large bunch of carrots, which he deposited in his 
 shed, and then went back to latch the gate, after which 
 he leisurely set about munching up his booty. Before 
 putting a stop to these proceedings, I gave some of my 
 neighbours, who were incredulous on the subject, an 
 opportunity of witnessing them. It should be added 
 that master donkey never commenced his operations 
 until after the light had been extinguished at the bed- 
 room window." 
 
 The Kelso Mail gives the following brief narra- 
 tive :
 
 In the Stable. 119 
 
 " T. Brown, residing- near Hawick, travels the coun- 
 try as higgler, or pedlar, having an ass for the partner 
 of his journeys. Weakened by a touch of paralysis, he 
 is in the habit of steadying himself, while on the road, 
 by keeping hold of the crupper of the saddle, or of the 
 tail of the ass. During a recent winter which was 
 more than usually severe, while on, a journey near Rule 
 Water, the old man and the ass were suddenly immersed 
 in a wreath of snow, which had filled up a hollow in the 
 road. There they lay, far from help, and ready to 
 perish ; till, at last, the poor ass, after some severe 
 struggles, extricated itself, and got upon safe ground. 
 But his master was still in the snow ; so, after consider- 
 ing the matter for a while, the creature returned, forced 
 his way to his master, and then placed himself in such a 
 position as to give the poor pedlar a firm grasp of his 
 tail. The perishing man eagerly availed himself of this 
 help, grasped his ass's tail, and was immediately dragged 
 out by the faithful beast, till they both reached a place 
 of safety." 
 
 Mr. Thomas Fuller, in the Naturalist, says, 
 
 " When on a visit to the neighbourhood of Marsh- 
 field, in Gloucestershire, while riding slowly along- the 
 old Roman road, my attention was arrested by a jackass 
 standing close to the side of a high barred-gate leading 
 into a field, unmindful, apparently, of all around him,
 
 I2O Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 the very personification of dulness. ' Can so stupid- 
 looking an animal,' thought I, 'possess the smallest 
 grain of sagacity ? ' As I watched him, his head moved. 
 By turning it sideways, he forced it, with some difficulty, 
 between the bars ; then, turning it to its natural posi- 
 tion, the poor beast seemed in danger of throttling 
 between the bars. * Surely,' I thought, ' the creature will 
 be strangled ' ; and I was about to dismount and to go 
 to its relief: when, lo ! after a minute's pause, the ass 
 dextrously lifted the gate over the latch, and pushed it 
 forward ; then released his head in the same way that he 
 had introduced it ; and at once walked boldly into the 
 field, where he could pick and choose for himself." 
 
 A correspondent of the Animal World writes : 
 " The following touching anecdote of a donkey came 
 lately under my notice, and I think it fully illustrates the 
 strong affection of which this much-abused animal is 
 capable. The donkey in question was the property of a 
 gentleman residing in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh. 
 She had been in his possession for a good many 
 years, and was under the care of his gatekeeper, named 
 John. But 'Jenny's' long service at last came to an 
 end. Her master left his home to go abroad, and she 
 was sold to a lady. But what was the matter with 
 * Jenny ' ? She had a comfortable stable, and plenty 
 of food to eat, but that was left untasted, and she was
 
 In the Stable. 1 2 1 
 
 cross and irritable to a great degree; indeed, so much so 
 that her new mistress's servants could not manage her, 
 and were kicked if they dared approach her. What was 
 to be done ? It was better to get rid of such an animal ; 
 so a message was sent to John, to come and take away 
 his old favourite. John obeyed the summons, and was 
 conducted to the stable the servants gathering round 
 to see what sort of reception 'Jenny' would give him. 
 As he approached the stable-door, he cried out, ' What v s 
 wrang wi' ye, Jenny ? ' At once the faithful creature, 
 recognising the voice of her old friend, rushed out, and 
 thrusting her head under John's arm, stood very firmly, 
 declaring plainly by her attitude, ' I have found you 
 now, and I will not leave you.' The old man was much 
 affected, and could not keep from tears ; and as he 
 looked at ' Jenny's ' face he saw that the skin of it was 
 injured by the tears she had shed during her separation 
 from him. The mystery of her crossness and obstinacy 
 in refusing food was thus explained it had just been 
 grief that was ' wrang ' with poor ' Jenny.' I am 
 happy to say she was given as a present to John, who 
 led her back to his home, supplying her with a meal on 
 the way, for she was weak from her long fasting." 
 
 The Rev. Caesar Otway says, 
 
 "A lady of my acquaintance was walking along the 
 road, near her house, one day, when she met a party of
 
 122 Half Hours with ttie Animals. 
 
 tinkers going towards Connaught ; and one tall, bold- 
 looking fellow, in all the excitement of intoxication, was 
 belabouring his poor ass with a huge cudgel. She could 
 not stand this cruelty. She spoke to the man : she 
 might as well have expostulated with Beelzebub. She 
 then tried more potent means, and asked if he would 
 sell the creature ? He named three times its value, and 
 was ready at that price, he said, to part with it. She 
 gave it ; and the beast, now her own, was set at liberty, 
 and sent to graze in her paddock. It was not long in 
 recovering its spirits and its good looks ; but before any 
 very long time had passed, the ass was stolen it was 
 surmised, by the very man who sold it ; and now, for tnree 
 years, there were no tidings to be heard of the poor 
 donkey. At last, one day, as his mistress was taking her 
 usual walk, she met a man urging along an ass, straining 
 and bending under a heavily-laden cart. As she drew 
 near there was a sudden change in the demeanour of the 
 ass. Its ears were raised, and its head also ; it even tried 
 to break into a trot, and came and laid its nose on the 
 shoulder of the lady, its kind mistress, with the plainest 
 signs of joy. Again she had to purchase it, and so it 
 went back to her paddock." 
 
 Froebel, in his " Travels in Central America," re- 
 marks that 
 
 " One of the most striking characteristics of the mule
 
 In the Stable. 
 
 123 
 
 is his aversion to the ass ; and, on the other hand, the 
 pride he takes in his relationship to the horse. If an 
 ass, at any time urged by an aspiring vanity, tries to 
 join himself to a drove of mules, he will, in most cases, 
 be kicked and lamed by his proud relations. On the other 
 hand, the horse always takes a distinguished position 
 when among mules. They crowd round him, and follow 
 his movements, and show jealousy one of another each 
 striving to stand nearest to their distinguished relative. 
 This instinct is made useful in keeping together a 
 drove of mules on a journey. A mare is placed at their 
 head, and this animal is led by a cord, and the whole 
 drove is thus kept under control. The man who leads 
 the mare is instructed, in case of an attack of the Indians, 
 to leap upon the back of this animal, and to take refuge 
 in the waggon-encampment, whither the drove is sure 
 to follow him." 
 
 t
 
 124 Half Hours ivith the Animals. 
 
 III. 
 
 IN THE FARM-YARD. 
 
 PASSING from the stable to the farm-yard, we come to a 
 variety of animals of whom, too often, we know little, 
 mainly because we usually pass them by in silence. 
 Like the horse, however, they have faculties which would 
 often excite our astonishment, if we paid any attention 
 to the daily life of these creatures. We will give a few 
 instances of this kind, beginning with some of those 
 animals which are generally found both in the farm- 
 yard and in the field. 
 
 Mr. Kenway, of Edgbaston, writes to the Animal 
 World as follows : 
 
 " I was walking with my father and a younger brother 
 many years since in the neighbourhood of Bridport, in 
 Dorsetshire, my native town, through fields leading to 
 Hyde Farm, where about thirty or forty cows were at 
 that time kept. A carriage-road led to the farm, and 
 through a large field, rather steep, to the field in which 
 the cows grazed. As we passed through the large gate
 
 In the Farm-yard. 125 
 
 (like a turnpike-gate) at the bottom of this field, we 
 observed a bull at the top of the hill making his way 
 through the hedge at the top ; and fearing some harm, 
 our father hurried us to a gate a little higher up, over 
 which we climbed, and waited on the safe side to watch 
 what the gentleman was after. To our great astonish- 
 ment and delight, he passed quietly by us to the bottom 
 of the hill, and with the greatest deliberation put his 
 horns under the bars of the gate, raised it off its hinges, 
 and carried it to the side of the road, where he laid it 
 down, quite out of the way. Having done this, he began 
 to bellow with all his might, and in a few minutes we saw 
 first one cow come through the gap that he had made in 
 the hedge, and then another, and another, until the whole 
 herd were passed through all streaming down the hill 
 in the greatest excitement, kicking up their heels, and 
 throwing about their heads and tails in the most ludi- 
 crous manner imaginable, to our great amusement. The 
 gallant gentleman stood beside the gate until he had 
 introduced his friends into a beautiful pasture, . just 
 ready for the scythe ; and not until he had seen all fairly 
 enjoying the sweet repast did he attempt to partake 
 of it himself." 
 
 Professor Bell says that a lady, a near relative of his 
 own, witnessed the following incident : 
 
 " A cow which was feeding tranquilly in a pasture.
 
 126 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 the gate of which was open to the road, was much 
 annoyed by a mischievous boy, who amused himself by 
 throwing stones at her. She bore with the persecution 
 for some time; but at last she went up to him, hooked 
 her horns into his clothes, and lifting him from the 
 ground, carried him out of the field, and laid him down 
 in the road. She then returned quietly to her pasture, 
 leaving him sufficiently frightened." 
 
 " While playing at cricket," says Mr. Morris, "in a 
 field belonging to J. Hayton Ireland, Esq., we were very 
 much amused by watching his cow, when engaged in 
 slaking her thirst. As there is no pond near, a pump 
 had been placed in the field, from which a stone basin 
 below is usually kept filled for the horses and cow. 
 But she, being nice in her taste, prefers to pump the 
 water for herself, catching it, as it falls, with her tongue. 
 The shape of her horns, bending downwards, enables 
 her to work the pump with great facility, and we have 
 often seen her do it." 
 
 Mr. Otway tells of his own experience, 
 
 " I am in the habit every year of buying two or three 
 Kerry cows. They are the kindest little creatures in the 
 world, and I generally pick out those I consider to have 
 good countenances. Last year I was lucky in the three 
 I bought ; they soon became great pets. They meet
 
 In the Farm-yard. 127 
 
 me every morning at the gate of the pasture, expecting 
 to be spoken to. One in particular, a quaint little lassie, 
 used to put her nose into my pocket like a dog, to look 
 for a piece of bread, or potato. Well, there was a 
 swing in this field ; and my Kerry lass, who was very 
 curious, seeing the girls swinging, thought, I suppose, 
 that she should like a swing herself. So one day, 
 about noon, a great lowing of cows was heard, and 
 some one who was at home went out to see what was 
 the matter. When he came to the gate, he saw two of 
 the Kerry cows in a great state of agitation ; and they 
 followed him, lowing, to the further end of the field, 
 where he found the third, entangled in the swing, 
 caught by her head and horns, and in danger of being 
 strangled by her efforts to get out of the ropes. He 
 soon extricated and set her at liberty, and the alarm of 
 the other cows at once ceased." 
 
 A farmer living at Caversham bought two pigs at 
 Reading market, which were carried to his house in a 
 sack, and let loose in his farm-yard on the banks of the 
 Thames. The next morning they were not to be found, 
 and on inquiry being made, a person gave information 
 that two pigs had been seen swimming across the water- 
 Subsequently they were seen trotting along the Pang- 
 bourne Road, and in one place, where two roads met, 
 putting their noses together as if consulting. At last
 
 128 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 they got back to 'the place from which they had been 
 taken, having travelled about nine miles by cross roads. 
 They were taken back to Caversham, but seized the first 
 opportunity to escape again, and made their way to 
 their first home with the same success. The strangest 
 part of the proceeding was, that they swam across the 
 river, keeping close together, in the exact line towards 
 their old master's house of which direction, since they 
 had been carried in a sack, it is difficult to imagine how 
 they could have had any conception. 
 
 The next story has something lamentable about it. 
 It tells us of a poor pig who was certainly ill-used. 
 After being brought up in a drawing-room, it was all 
 at once consigned to a sty ! The consequence was not 
 surprising : poor piggy died of a broken heart. 
 
 "A lady," says Mr. Morris, "took compassion on a 
 poor little pig, which was more than the mother could 
 find sustenance for, and determined to bring it up by 
 hand. It was petted, and so trained that in its baby- 
 hood it was a fit inmate for the drawing-room. It would 
 sit up like a dog, and beg for bread and butter, and 
 comfort itself like any other household favourite. But, 
 unfortunately, it grew up a fine pig, and one far too 
 large for the inside of any house. Its patroness was 
 perplexed what to <Io. At last it was resolved that 
 piggy should be handed over to a neighbouring farmer,
 
 In the Farm-yard. 129 
 
 a very kind man, who promised to take care of it, and 
 to save it from being made into pork. And as its 
 mistress was going away for a week, she determined 
 to take that opportunity for making the transfer. Wish- 
 ing to treat piggy with especial indulgence, the farmer 
 put it into a small paddock ; but a way of breaking out 
 was soon found, and the pig got back to its former 
 quarters. Here, however, its mistress was 'from home,' 
 and there was no one to take piggy's part. So it was 
 taken back, and for security shut up in a sty. After the 
 lapse of some days, its mistress returned, and soon after 
 walked over to the farm-house. 'How is "Betty" 
 (the pig's name) getting on ? ' she asked. ' Well, 
 that's just what I was coming to you about,' said the 
 farmer ; ' my missis is uncommon vexed about that 
 there pig that is lying dead out yonder. We were 
 forced to shut her up, and then she wouldn't take her 
 food, though we tried to tempt her with all manner of 
 tit-bits ; so she grew leaner and leaner, and looked so 
 miserable, that it do seem a good thing she's gone ; for 
 I believe she'd never have been of any good to any- 
 body.' " 
 
 A seafaring lad named Murphy, who lived with his 
 parents near the Croft, at Hastings, and who was very 
 fond of rearing dumb animals, died after a short illness. 
 Among other pets, he had brought up a young goat, 
 
 9
 
 130 Half Hours with the Animah. 
 
 who was frequently seen in St. Clement's Upper Burial- 
 ground. By some means this animal seems to have 
 become conscious of the death of its friend and master. 
 It seemed in great distress, and butted against the door, 
 as if determined to effect an entrance. The attention 
 of the relatives was excited, and at last they admitted 
 the animal, who at once made its way to the room where 
 the body lay, leaped upon the coffin, bleating loudly, 
 and licking the poor boy's face. 
 
 Mr. Otway gives the following story : 
 
 " At some flour-mills, near Clonmel, there was a 
 goose, which, by some accident, was left solitary, with- 
 out mate or offspring. Soon after, the miller's wife 
 had put a number of duck's eggs under a hen, and, as 
 usual, the ducklings, when hatched, ran eagerly to the 
 water; and the hen, also as usual, stood clucking in 
 great alarm on the pond-side. Just then, up came the 
 goose, and cried out, in goose-language, ' Leave them 
 to me ; I'll take care of them.' She swam up and down 
 with them, and when they were tired she brought them 
 back to the hen, their foster-mother. The next day, 
 down ran the ducklings to the pond, and the hen after 
 them ; and there was the goose, ready to take charge 
 of them. Now, whether the goose suggested the thought 
 or not, so it was, that when the ducklings took the water, 
 and the goose lay close by to receive them, the hen,
 
 In the Farm-yard. 131 
 
 full of anxiety for their safety, jumped off the bank on 
 to the goose's back, and there sat the ducklings swim- 
 ming, arid the goose and hen following them up and 
 down the pond. And this, once begun, was continued for 
 weeks, until the young ducks began to be independent 
 both of the goose and of their anxious foster-mother." 
 
 Captain Darke, of Plaistow, wrote in Land and Water, 
 
 "About two years ago I bought a wild gander in 
 Leadenhall market. I took it home and turned it loose 
 among the other water-fowl ; but he would not associate 
 with them at all. He made friends with a cow at first ; 
 but after a few weeks he left her and took to a large 
 Newfoundland dog, and this dog he never left, night or 
 day. He ate and slept with the dog. He would fly at 
 any one who interfered with the dog ; and when I let the 
 dog loose, the gander would run or fly close to him. If 
 by any chance he lost sight of his friend, he would call 
 out and run everywhere till he found him. About three 
 weeks ago the dog sickened and became so weak with 
 the distemper that he could scarcely stand or move. 
 The gander remained by him, would not be driven 
 away, refused his food, and when the dog died, the 
 gander, in a few days, died also." 
 
 Mr. Bennett, in his " Wanderings in New South 
 Wales," narrates the following history:
 
 132 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 " A drake was stolen one night, with some other 
 birds, from Mr. Beale's aviary. The beautiful male 
 was alone taken, and the poor duck was left behind. 
 The morning following the loss of her husband, the 
 female was seen in a most disconsolate condition ; 
 brooding in secret sorrow, she remained in a retired 
 part of the aviary, pondering over the terrible loss she 
 had just sustained. While she was thus lost in grief, 
 a gay, prim drake, who had not long before lost his dear 
 duck, trimmed his beautiful feathers, appeared quite 
 handsome, and pitying the forlorn condition of the 
 bereaved one, sidled up to her and offered her his 
 protection. She, however, could not thus be com- 
 forted ; she repulsed all his offers. Her usual avoca- 
 tions were neglected ; her food almost forsaken ; and no 
 comfort seemed to be found in sympathy or kindness. 
 Meanwhile, search and inquiry was made for the stolen 
 drake. Many days passed before a clue was obtained ; 
 and then the bird could only be got back again by the 
 payment of four dollars. This was given, and he was 
 then brought back to the aviary in one of the usual 
 cane cages. As soon as the bird recognised his former 
 home, he showed his joy by quacking vehemently and 
 flapping his wings. Three weeks had passed since he 
 had been carried off; but no sooner did the forlorn duck 
 hear the voice of her lost partner than she quacked, 
 even to screaming, with ecstasy, and flew as far as she
 
 In the Farm-yard. 133 
 
 could to meet him. So soon as the cage was opened 
 the drake immediately ran into the aviary, and the pair 
 were again united. They quacked and quacked, crossed 
 their necks, and bathed together, and doubtless related 
 to each other all their past hopes and fears. One word 
 more, with reference to the unfortunate widower who 
 had offered consolation to the bereaved duck, when her 
 partner was taken from her. How the information was 
 conveyed from the one to the other cannot be known ; 
 but certain it is that on the very next morning the 
 returned drake attacked the neighbour who had tried 
 to take his place, pecked his eyes out, and inflicted so 
 many injuries as to cause his death in a few days." 
 
 Mrs. Lee describes an artful trick which a magpie, 
 kept in the family of Mr. Ranson, was observed to play. 
 A toll-gate stood near, and he was fond of watching the 
 movements of the toll-keeper's wife. When he observed 
 her to be employed in making pastry, he would perch 
 upon the gate, and would suddenly cry out, " Gate 
 ahoy ! " If the husband were absent, as was frequently 
 the case, the wife would hurry out to open the gate. 
 Magpie would then slip in, and shatch a bill-full of the 
 pie-crust chattering over it, on the roof of the gate- 
 house, with the greatest glee. 
 
 " On recently visiting the Zoological Gardens in the
 
 134 Half Hours ^joith the Animals. 
 
 Regent's Park," says Mr. Morris, " I observed a little 
 incident which may be worth mention. A large white 
 cockatoo and a much smaller green parrot inhabited 
 the same cage. When I gave them a nut, the parrot 
 took it, but instead of endeavouring to crack it, imme- 
 diately handed it over to the cockatoo, whose more 
 powerful mandibles at once mastered it, and the con- 
 tents were fairly divided between the two." 
 
 "A person of my acquaintance," says Mr. Morris, "was 
 very fond of pets, and had a number of rabbits, guinea- 
 pigs, and other creatures, who were kept on a large 
 grass-plat. Among these animals a fine rose-crested 
 cockatoo used to wander, fearlessly, but without doing 
 any injury to the rest of the creatures. One day my 
 friend took a fancy to a fine white Angola rabbit, 
 which he bought, and placed with the others on the 
 grass-plat. This new animal attracted the attention of 
 the cockatoo, who straightway walked up to the rabbit. 
 The latter did not seem at all afraid, thinking, perhaps, 
 that as they were both white, there must be some 
 affinity between them. But when the cockatoo had got 
 close to the rabbit, he put his beak to the other's ear, 
 and called out, ' Who are you ? ' The consternation 
 of the rabbit was most amusing ; he bounded off in an 
 instant to the farthest extremity of the enclosure."
 
 In the Farm-yard. 135 
 
 The Rev. Edward Spooner writes, 
 
 " I have been lately visiting a friend in Staffordshire, 
 who . owns a large grey cockatoo. ' Poll ' is a most 
 communicative bird, and a great friend of the family. 
 On a fine day she generally passes several hours in the 
 back-yard, outside her cage ; for, though unchained, she 
 rarely leaves the house. She is on good terms with all 
 the yard-dogs, the house cats, and the poultry ; but if a 
 strange dog. or cat enters the yard, she flies at him at 
 once with a tremendous scream. At night she sleeps in 
 the kitchen, where her usual companions are three catst 
 One morning the kitchen-maid went down- stairs early, 
 and before she entered the kitchen she heard 'Poll' talk- 
 ing loudly. On opening the door, she found 'Poll' seated 
 on the dresser with a large piece of bread in her claw. 
 Round her, on the floor, were the three cats, and a 
 chicken which had lately taken refuge there. With 
 strict impartiality, the bird was breaking off pieces of 
 the bread, and dropping them to her pensioners in turn, 
 who received the dole without squabbling, and with 
 gratitude, listening all the time to all the words in her 
 vocabulary, which were poured forth in rapid succession." 
 
 A gentleman who was lodging at the " Red Lion 
 Inn," at Hungerford, says, 
 
 " Coming into the inn-yard, my chaise ran over and 
 bruised the leg of a favourite .Newfoundland dog ; and
 
 136 Hal/ Hours with the Animals. 
 
 while we were examining the injury, ' Ralph,' the raven, 
 looked on also, and was evidently making his remarks 
 on what was doing ; for the minute the dog was tied up, 
 * Ralph ' not only visited him, but brought him bones, 
 and attended him with many marks of kindness. I 
 remarked this to the hostler, who told me that the bird 
 had been brought up with a dog, and that the affection 
 between the two was mutual, all the neighbours being 
 witnesses of the many acts of kindness done by the one 
 .to the other. The dog once had his leg broken, and, 
 during a long confinement, the raven waited on him 
 continually, brought him food, and scarcely ever left 
 him alone. One night, by accident, the stable-door was 
 shut while ' Ralph ' was outside, and thus the bird was 
 shut out from his friend's society; but in the morning 
 the hostler found the door so pecked away that in 
 another hour or two the bird would have forced an 
 entrance." 
 
 Dr. Stanley tells us of a turkey-cock, who was so 
 unremitting in his attentions to his mate that his 
 solicitude was respected, and when she was sitting 
 on her eggs, he was allowed to be with her. Soon, 
 it was perceived that he had claimed a part of the 
 duty, and had taken some of the eggs from her, 
 which he covered with his own body. The servant 
 who attended to the yard doubted the propriety of
 
 In the Farm-yard. 
 
 137 
 
 this, and put the eggs back again under the hen. 
 No sooner, however, had her mate the opportunity, 
 than he again took possession of some of them. The 
 master of the house took it into his head to let the 
 male turkey have his own way ; and he ordered a 
 
 nest to be prepared, with as many eggs as the bird 
 could cover. The turkey seemed highly pleased, and 
 sat with great patience, hardly quitting them to get 
 his food. After a while, from the two nests twenty- 
 eight young ones appeared, and the male bird, when
 
 138 Half Hours -with the Animals. 
 
 he saw this large assemblage of young turkeys, looked 
 in no small measure perplexed. 
 
 " A Canada goose," says Dr. Stanley, " was observed 
 to associate itself with a house-dog, and would never 
 quit the kennel, except for the purpose of feeding when 
 it would return again immediately. It always sat with 
 the dog, but never presumed to go into the kennel, 
 except in rainy weather. When the dog barked, the 
 goose would cackle, and run at the person at whom 
 the dog barked, trying to bite his heels. When the 
 dog went out of the yard, and ran into the village, the 
 goose always accompanied him. This extraordinary 
 attachment was said to have originated in his having 
 once saved her from a fox. When the dog became 
 ill, the goose never quitted him, day or night ; and 
 she would have been starved had not a pan of corn 
 been placed near the dog's kennel. During his illness 
 she generally sat close by him, not suffering any one 
 to approach, except those who brought her own or 
 the dog's food. When the dog died, she still kept her 
 place by the kennel ; but unfortunately a new and 
 strange dog was introduced, and when she approached 
 him, as she had done her former friend, he seized 
 her by the neck, and she died in his grasp." 
 
 Dr. Stanley tells us of a cock which became the
 

 
 In the Farm-yard. 
 
 139 
 
 terror of the poultry-yard, and which was so pugna- 
 cious that if his owner passed him in the yard without 
 offering' him some food, the cock would attack him, and 
 even if driven off, would return to the attack. 
 
 Mrs. Lee says: " On one occasion I saw a cock pursue 
 a hen round the poultry-yard, and when he had caught 
 her, he took a worm from her, and gave it to another 
 
 hen, who stood by, waiting. I came, however, to the 
 opinion that the hen who was punished had stolen the 
 worm from the other, and that the cock was only doing 
 justice between them." 
 
 A warm friendship was formed for a large otter-dog, 
 by a raven, which was kept in the same yard. At
 
 140 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 first the bird merely hopped about the dog's kennel, 
 and picked up occasionally a scrap from the dog's 
 pan, when he had finished his meal. By degrees the 
 acquaintance improved, and the bird became a constant 
 guest at meal- times, taking up his position on the edge 
 of the dish, and helping himself to the best bits. Often 
 the bird would snatch up a piece of meat, almost from 
 the very mouth of the dog, and running beyond the 
 reach of his chain, would tantalize him with it ; ending, 
 however, generally, in a good-humoured surrender to 
 his friend. This intimacy was terminated, at last, by a 
 mischievous boy, who killed the poor raven by suddenly 
 throwing a stone at it.
 
 In the Field. 141 
 
 IV. 
 
 IN THE FIELD. 
 
 "MR. TOPHAM, of Armley," writes Mr. Morris, " has 
 a shepherd's dog which was brought up with a pet lamb. 
 When the lamb no longer required fostering care, it was 
 sent to the flock ; and the young dog, having grown up 
 also, had to do its duty in driving the sheep. But the 
 two friends are friends still ; and the sheep, instead of 
 running away from the dog, like the rest, walks quietly by 
 his side, while he drives all the other sheep before him." 
 
 A gentleman travelling in his gig in a lonely part of 
 the Highlands, was met by a ewe, who came up to him 
 bleating. She cried louder as he drew near, and looked 
 up to him as if to ask assistance. He stopped, went to 
 her, and when she turned, he followed her. She led him 
 to a little hill at some distance, where he found a lamb 
 which had fallen down between two large stones, and 
 lay crying and struggling to extricate itself. He pulled 
 away one of the stones, and helped the lamb to get out ; 
 and then the mother, in evident delight, poured forth 
 her thanks in a long-continued bleat.
 
 142 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 11 One day in last April," says a writer in the 
 Magazine of Natural History, " I observed a young 
 lamb entangled among briars. It had struggled for 
 liberty till it was nearly exhausted. The mother then 
 attempted to release it, both with her head and her feet, 
 but all in vain. Finding the task too much. for her, she 
 turned round and ran away, baa-ing with all her might. 
 She went across two or three fields, and through their 
 hedges, till she came to a flock of sheep. In about five 
 minutes she returned, bringing with her a large ram, 
 whose horns gave just the help that was wanted. They 
 went together to the poor lamb, and the ram imme- 
 diately set about the work of releasing it, dragging 
 away the briars with his horns." 
 
 A similar narrative is given by Cuvier, who relates 
 how a sheep applied, bleating, to a cow ; and when the 
 cow followed her, led her to a lamb which had fallen into 
 a ditch, and lay feet uppermost, unable to release itself. 
 The cow, by a careful use of its horns, lifted the lamb 
 out of its hole, and placed it upon its feet again. 
 
 Mr. St. John says that he received from a most reli- 
 able informant the following relation : 
 
 "Very early one morning, he saw a fox eyeing most 
 wistfully a number of wild ducks feeding on the rushy 
 end of a Highland lake. After due consideration, the
 
 In t he ~ Fie Id. 143 
 
 fox, going to windward of the ducks, put afloat on the 
 lake several bunches of dead rushes or grass, which 
 floated down among the ducks without causing the least 
 alarm. After watching the effects of this manoeuvre for 
 some time, Reynard, taking a good bunch of grass in 
 his paws, launched himself into the water as quietly as 
 possible, floating down, as the preceding bunches had 
 done, towards the ducks. He took care to leave nothing 
 but the tip of his nose and ears above water, and these 
 were concealed among the grass. In this way he drifted 
 among the ducks, and soon made booty of a fine mallard. 
 When we remember what numbers of wild ducks, pigeons, 
 hares, and other wild animals every fox contrives to 
 catch, for his own support and that of his family, this 
 story seems by no means incredible." 
 
 The fox will counterfeit death in a most extraordinary 
 manner. It will sometimes allow itself to be taken by 
 the brush or tail, and flung out upon a dunghill, and 
 then, soon after, will awaken up and take to its heels, to 
 the dismay of the bystanders. " On one occasion," says 
 Mr. Mudie, " a man going to his work through furze- 
 bushes, on a common, came upon a fox, lying stretched 
 out at length under one of the bushes. He drew the 
 creature out by the tail, and swung it to and fro, and 
 then threw it on the ground ; but not a sign of life did 
 it show. He then took the fox by the tail, and swung it
 
 144 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 over one shoulder, hanging his mattock over the other, 
 and so trudged along the high road. The fox had 
 shammed death to admiration ; but the mattock ren- 
 dered his present position intolerable, for the point of 
 it came against his ribs. So, at last, he gave a snap, 
 or bite, which penetrated the flesh at the lower part of 
 the man's back, and forced him instantly to throw down 
 his load. At first he could not imagine what had 
 happened, but looking round, he saw the fox, which he 
 had imagined to be dead, making off for the nearest 
 thicket at the greatest possible speed." 
 
 At Kilmorac, in Inverness, the parochial minister was 
 a man of great taste and much hospitality. He kept a 
 good stock of poultry ; but, as foxes were numerous, it 
 was needful to provide the fowls with a house for greater 
 safety. A visitor found on the breakfast- table, not only 
 salmon fresh and salmon preserved, but new-laid eggs 
 in daily abundance. One morning the servant, whose 
 duty it was to provide the latter, took the key, and the 
 usual basket, and repaired to the fowl-house, to bring in 
 the usual supply. But when she opened the door, terrible 
 was the scene. Blood was here and there, and dead 
 hens lay on every side. In the midst lay a full-grown 
 fox, apparently as dead as the hens. The servant 
 stared, and wondered, and supposed that the fox must 
 have eaten himself to death. After some exclamations
 
 In the Field. 145 
 
 and evil-speaking, she took the beast up by the tail, and 
 flung him out of the window, on to the dungheap out- 
 side. But what was her astonishment to see the crea- 
 ture, so soon as he alighted on the heap, spring up, alive 
 and vigorous, and scour away for the neighbouring 
 woods ! 
 
 A fox, partly tamed, was kept fastened by a chain to 
 a post in a court-yard, and was chiefly fed on boiled 
 potatoes. Many fowls also were kept in the same yard, 
 but they had sense enough to keep out of reach of the 
 fox. He was, however, too cunning for them at last. 
 He bruised and scattered some of the potatoes given 
 him for dinner as far to the extremity of his circle as the 
 chain would allow, and then, retiring in an opposite 
 direction, he laid himself down and feigned to be fast 
 asleep. After awhile his stratagem succeeded ; some 
 of the fowls, seeing their enemy entirely dormant, 
 ventured near, and began to pick up pieces of the 
 potatoes. But the fox was silently watching them, and 
 when he saw one of them within his reach, he made a 
 spring, and instantly got a fowl for his dinner. 
 
 Captain Lyon writes that he had an Arctic fox, whose 
 tameness was so remarkable that he did not like to have 
 him killed; but kept him on deck, 'in a small hutch, 
 with a length of chain which allowed him to take some 
 
 10
 
 146 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 exercise. But the fox found that people were glad to 
 get hold of this chain, and with it to drag him out of 
 his hutch, to gratify their curiosity. , To prevent this, 
 he adopted the precaution of drawing all the chain after 
 him into the hutch, so that no one could get hold of it 
 without putting his fingers within reach of the animal's 
 teeth. 
 
 Captain Lyon also remarks of these Arctic foxes, that 
 they can so modulate their bark as to make the hearer 
 think that the fox is at a distance, when all the while 
 it is lying at his feet. They have also the power of 
 decoying other animals, by imitating their voices. He 
 once observed a fox prowling about on a hill-side, and 
 imitating the cry of a wild goose. 
 
 Mr. St. John, in his ''Sports of the Highlands," 
 describes a fox whose manoeuvres he had himself 
 watched : 
 
 "Just after daylight I saw him come quietly along. 
 He looked with great care over the turf-wall into the 
 field, and seemed to long very much to get hold of 
 some of the hares which were feeding within it ; but 
 apparently knew that he had no chance of catching one 
 by dint of running. He seemed, therefore, to form a 
 plan. With great care and in silence he scraped a 
 small hollow in the ground, just where the walk seemed 
 to be most frequented ; he threw up the sand as a
 
 In the Field. 147 
 
 screen, stopping often to take a view of the field. 
 When he had prepared his ' rifle-pit,' he laid himself 
 down, in the best position for springing on his prey, 
 and remained quite motionless, except an occasional 
 look towards the feeding hares. When the sun began 
 to rise, the hares thought it time to leave the field for 
 the plantation ; and his ambush was laid with a view to 
 this. Three passed by him, but he stirred not : they 
 were scarcely within his reach. Two more came 
 directly towards him ; and now, with the quickness of 
 lightning, he had sprung upon one, and killed her 
 instantly. He took possession, and was carrying her 
 off, when my rifle-ball stopped his course." 
 
 Mr. Jesse says that, when a fox is troubled with fleas, 
 he will go into the water, not suddenly, but at first to a 
 small depth, the water only covering the lower part of 
 his body. The fleas then creep upwards, and rise to his 
 back. Presently he will go deeper, till the water covers 
 his body, and only his head is above it. The fleas are 
 then driven forward, till they get together in a swarm 
 on his head and nose. At last he will lay in breath 
 enough, and plunge his whole head under water, washing 
 the fleas entirely off. A friend told Mr. Jesse he saw a 
 fox doing this in a lake in Italy. 
 
 Mr. Garratt describes another sort of sagacity. A
 
 148 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 farm-servant was ploughing a small field for wheat, in 
 Ireland, and was surprised to see a fox pacing slowly 
 along in the furrow just before the plough. Soon he 
 heard the cry of the hounds ; but, turning round, he 
 saw the whole pack brought to a stand at the other end 
 of the field, just where the fox must have entered on the 
 land under the plough. Somehow the animal must 
 have thought of this way of breaking the scent. 
 
 In Leicestershire, an old fox, often hunted, was always 
 lost at a particular place ; after coming to which, the 
 hounds always lost the scent. It was at last discovered 
 that he jumped upon a close-clipped hedge, ran along 
 the top of it, and then crept into the hollow of a/i old 
 pollard-tree, where he lay snugly concealed till the 
 hounds were baffled and drawn off. 
 
 An old man was walking along the banks of a river, 
 when he observed a badger moving leisurely along the 
 ledge of a rock on the opposite bank. After a while 
 a fox came running up, followed the badger's track 
 for some distance, and then leaped into the water. In 
 a few minutes a pack of hounds came up in full cry. 
 Seeing no fox, they fell upon the badger, who, in a 
 minute or two, was torn to pieces. Meanwhile the fox 
 was going down the stream, breaking the scent ; and at 
 last crept into a hole by the river side.
 
 In the Field. 149 
 
 Mr. Moffat, in the Naturalist, thus describes a fox 
 which he himself had tamed : 
 
 " For several days (being very young) it was very 
 discontented with its new situation, and kept almost 
 constantly calling out in a sort of quick, yelping bark. 
 But it lapped milk readily, and soon became reconciled, 
 and so tame, that until it was twelve months old it had 
 its liberty about the house like a dog, which in many 
 points of character it closely resembled. When more 
 than half-grown, it used to follow me about the garden 
 and village, and frequently made little excursions 
 amongst the cottages by itself, popping into the houses 
 to investigate their larders, to the no small terror of the 
 old women: and frequently have I seen them endeavour 
 ing to drive him out with a broom ; but Reynard would 
 contrive, somehow or other, still to pop past them with 
 the most impudent effrontery, and not to leave the 
 house, in spite of invective, till it suited him to do so. 
 Every night, while it remained an inmate of the dwell- 
 ing-house, it slept upon a mat at the foot of the stair- 
 case, and as each member of the family came down in 
 the morning it used to meet them half-way, and to 
 express its joy by leaping against them, and uttering 
 a sort of hoarse scream, much after the manner of an 
 affectionate dog, and fanning its tail in the -same way ; 
 only the expression of its satisfaction seemed more 
 extravagant. When nearly full-grown, Reynard's natu-
 
 150 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 ral predilection for poultry manifested itself one day, 
 in his being met by the servant carrying in his mouth a 
 turkey-hen, which he had taken from her nest in the 
 yard. For this act of felony he was confined, for the 
 future, by a chain on a grass-plat, behind the house, 
 with a dog-coop for shelter. But he preferred a hole of 
 his own digging, in which he generally lay. His con- 
 fidence and affection for the family was not impaired by 
 this confinement ; but his disposition towards strangers 
 was much altered. He seemed now distrustful and 
 suspicious of every one with whom he was not ac- 
 quainted ; he watched them with intense attention, and 
 on their approach ran into his hole, from which it 
 required much force to drag him. Still, if any of our- 
 selves went towards him, he would try to meet us at the 
 stretch of his chain, uttering a peculiar scream indica- 
 tive of his satisfaction. I have even seen him leave his 
 meal, to welcome my youngest sister, who was an 
 especial favourite. And, what was most singular in an 
 animal naturally so wild, he would allow me to open 
 his mouth, to place my fingers in it, even down to the 
 throat, as often as I pleased, without once attempting 
 to bite. I could also, at any time, take him up in my 
 arms : a liberty I should not like to take even with the 
 quietest dog." 
 
 "A gentleman," says Mr. Youatt, "near Laggan,
 
 /;/ the Field. 151 
 
 in Scotland, had a bull which grazed with the cows in 
 the open meadows. As fences were little known in 
 those parts, a boy was kept to watch lest the cattle 
 should trespass on the neighbouring fields, and injure 
 the corn. The boy was idle and drowsy, and often 
 fell asleep ; then the cattle trespassed, and he was 
 punished. In his turn, he revenged himself on the 
 cows, whom he punished for their transgression with an 
 unsparing hand. The bull seemed to observe this, and 
 to understand it. He began to keep the cows within 
 bounds, and to punish them if they strayed over the 
 boundary. He himself never entered the forbidden 
 ground, and if he saw them approach it he placed 
 himself in the way in a threatening attitude. At last 
 his honesty and watchfulness became so obvious, that 
 the boy was withdrawn and set about other work, and 
 the duty was left wholly to the bull." 
 
 The sheep is usually regarded as a creature of small 
 intelligence and little sympathy ; but this notion chiefly 
 arises from our disregard and want of observation. One 
 who knew them well, said, " The marked character 
 of the sheep is that of natural affection, of which it 
 possesses a great share." Mr. Youatt (writing some 
 years since) said, " At the present moment there is, in 
 the Regent's Park, a poor sheep with a very bad foot- 
 rot. Crawling along the pasture on its knees, it with
 
 152 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 difficulty contrives to procure for itself subsistence ; 
 and the pain it suffers when compelled to get on its feet 
 is evidently very great. At a little distance a com- 
 panion, watching over it, is always to be seen ; and that 
 companion is always the same animal." 
 
 Mr. Hall, in his travels in Scotland, says, " I was 
 one day climbing the mountain of Belrennis. On 
 reaching the top, I found myself wrapped in a mist, 
 beyond which I could only see a few yards. I waited 
 in hope that the mist would disperse, so that I might 
 see my way. Cold and hungry, and walking about to 
 keep myself warm, I perceived something uncommon 
 at a little distance, and approached it, not without some 
 fear. I soon found it to be a phalanx of sheep, drawn 
 up on the top of the hill, and ready to defend themselves 
 against any attack. In the centre of the line was a large 
 ram, with a black forehead and a tremendous pair of 
 horns. The weaker ones of the flock were in the rear. 
 Not one of them was eating, but all looking sternly upon 
 me. Seeing them in this warlike array, I began to feel 
 a little alarm, and slowly retired. Had I approached 
 them, I believe that they would have made a simultane- 
 ous rush upon me." 
 
 The he-goat is a most powerful animal for its size, 
 and sometimes presumes upon its strength in a most
 
 In the Field. 153 
 
 intolerable manner. William Howitt tells us of one 
 who became the tyrant of the village. When it left its 
 customary yard, and marched down the village street, 
 the women and children all kept within doors. On one 
 of these occasions a poor old woman, who was creeping 
 down the road, was either too weak or too deaf to get 
 out of his way. Without the least hesitation the goat 
 knocked her down. The whole population was greatly 
 excited, and all the men agreed that " it was a shame" ; 
 but no one liked to "tackle the bully." At last one 
 man produced a heavy pole, or bed-post, and with it 
 made a charge, and the blow resounded on the goat's 
 head only to add to his wrath. He made one spring 
 upon his assailant, dashed the pole out of his hand, and 
 laid him flat on his back the victor standing in triumph 
 over him. All was terror and confusion ; when, happily, 
 two men came in search of the runaway. One of them 
 knew how to deal with him. Taking hold of his beard 
 with a firm grasp, the hero was led off, complaining 
 greatly. 
 
 " Two robbers," says Mr. Morris, "took a pig, weigh- 
 ing fourteen stone, out of its sty, and drove it along a 
 lane leading to Rotherham. On coming to a lonely 
 path across the fields, they thought it would be prudent 
 to kill the animal in this quiet, out-of-the-way place, 
 where its cries would scarcely be heard. One of them
 
 154 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 took out a knife, and began cutting the pig's .throat. 
 But the creature, thus alarmed, struggled violently, and 
 managed to escape out of his hands, running squealing 
 into the next field, with a gash in its throat. The men 
 ran after it, but found in the field a bull grazing; and 
 this animal at once took the pig under his protection. 
 As the robbers came towards the pig, the bull ran at 
 them, and they only narrowly escaped being tossed into 
 the air. Rushing back through the fence, they lingered 
 outside, hoping for another chance ; but piggy kept 
 close to his new friend, and they had to go home at last 
 without him. On their apprehension, some time after- 
 wards, they confessed ; and the pig's owner thus had 
 the mystery cleared up how his pig came to be found 
 in a distant field, with its throat partly cut, and keeping 
 close company with a bull." 
 
 The deer tribe are, generally, very fond of music. 
 Mr. Playford says, " Some years since, I met on the 
 road near Royston a herd of about twenty bucks, who 
 were following a bagpipe and violin. While the music 
 played, they followed it ; when it ceased, they stood 
 still ; and in this way they were brought out of York- 
 shire as far as Hampton Court." 
 
 "The deer," says Mr. Wood, "are very gentle, 
 except at certain times of the year, when it is dangerous
 
 In the Field. 155 
 
 to come near them ; for the bucks are ready to fight 
 anything that comes in their way. It was at such a 
 time that a gentleman, fond of sketching, had ventured 
 into a park, thoughtless of the danger, and was engaged 
 in his work, when a deer saw him, and instantly 
 charged down upon him. He was only too happy to 
 escape by sacrificing everything, and swinging himself 
 up into a tree, one of the branches of which happily 
 hung near him." 
 
 Mr. St. John adds, " I once saw, in a public garden 
 near Brighton, a beautiful but small roebuck fastened 
 with a chain which seemed heavy enough for an 
 elephant. I pitied the poor animal ; but the keeper told 
 me that this heavy bondage was necessary, for only a 
 few days before he had killed a boy of twelve years old, 
 inflicting more than fifty wounds in a very few 
 moments." 
 
 A nobleman, towards the end of the last century, took 
 a fancy to tame four stags, and to make them run in 
 a light carriage. Naturally this freak excited great 
 attention, and the owner of this novel equipage was 
 fond of exhibiting himself in it. But, unfortunately, he 
 was driving, one day, near Newmarket, when a pack of 
 hounds, out for the day, crossed the road just behind 
 him. The stags instinctively set off at their utmost
 
 156 
 
 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 speed, and the dogs followed, nothing loth. The pace 
 grew more and more furious, and the driver began to 
 fear for what might happen ; when, happily, an inn in 
 Newmarket came in view, where he was in the habit of 
 stopping. The whole cortege dashed into the yard, and 
 the hostlers and attendants were just able to keep the 
 dogs from pouring in after them. 
 
 /
 
 In the Wood. 157 
 
 V. 
 IN THE WOOD. 
 
 A GENTLEMAN of Worthing writes, 
 
 " An instance of squirrel sagacity has lately been re- 
 lated to me by an eye-witness. A tame squirrel, having 
 climbed up the bell-rope, threw down from the end of 
 the mantelshelf an imitation egg and egg-cup in one. 
 He immediately descended, and tried, having secured it 
 in his paws, to re-ascend and put it back into its place 
 again. Not being able to do this, he again climbed up 
 the rope ; but, not satisfied, he came down again, and 
 now, having managed to secure the ornament in some 
 way which left his paws at liberty, he again ascended 
 the rope, and replaced the thing on the mantel- 
 shelf." 
 
 " Owls," says Bishop Stanley, " have been noticed for 
 extraordinary attachment to their young. One day, in 
 the month of July, a young bird, having strayed or fallen 
 from the nest, was caught by some servants. It was 
 shut up in a large hen-coop; and the next morning a fine
 
 158 
 
 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 young partridge was found lying dead before the door 
 of the coop. Night after night did the old birds pay a 
 similar visit, for the same purpose. The provision thus 
 brought was usually young birds, newly killed. A watch 
 was set, several nights, to observe how this supply was 
 
 
 brought ; but the parent-owls were very quick-sighted, 
 and observed any moment when the watch was relaxed, 
 and at those moments the food was placed before the 
 coop."
 
 In the Wood. 159 
 
 Mr. Couch adds, 
 
 " A brown owl had long been in possession of a con- 
 venient hole in a hollow tree ; and in this nest had 
 deposited its young, season after season, but only to be 
 robbed by some of the people of the farm, who had 
 watched and discovered its retreat. At last, in the very- 
 presence of the mother, a plunderer was seen ascending 
 the tree, when the parent-bird, aware of the danger, 
 grasped her young one in her claws, and bore it away ; 
 and never after that was the nest placed in that perilous 
 position." 
 
 The Dumfries Courier vouches for the following 
 story : 
 
 " While Mr. Charles Newall, granite-hewer, in Dal- 
 beattie, was plying his vocation in Craignair quarry, his 
 attention was suddenly arrested by cries strongly indi- 
 cative of distress, proceeding from one or more of the 
 feathered denizens of the wood. On throwing down his 
 tools, and hurrying to the spot whence the sounds pro- 
 ceeded, he discovered a robin, apparently in a state of the 
 greatest agitation, whose movements quickly showed him 
 the true cause of alarm. An adder, twenty inches long 
 and one inch in circumference, had managed to drag 
 itself up the face of the quarry, and was at that moment 
 in the act of protruding its ugly head over the edge of
 
 160 Half Hours ivith the Animals. 
 
 a nest built among the stumps of brush wood, which 
 contained poor Mother Robin's infant offspring. She 
 was engaged, when Mr. Newall first got his eye on her, 
 in alternately dashing down upon the intruder, darting 
 her beak into its forehead, and then rising on the wing to 
 the height of a yard or so above the scene of danger. 
 In a moment Mr. Newall had dislodged the aggressor ; 
 but in doing so, two of the little birds were thrown out 
 of the nest into which, however, they were speedily 
 returned. While Mr. Newall was engaged in killing the 
 adder, the joy of the parent-bird was so excessive that she 
 actually perched on the left arm of her benefactor, and 
 watched with intense delight every blow inflicted on her 
 merciless enemy ; and when that enemy was dead, she 
 gratified her feelings by alighting on and pecking the 
 body with all her vigour. She then returned to her 
 nest, and, having ascertained that all was safe, she flew 
 to a neighbouring branch and sang her song of triumph 
 and hymn of thanksgiving." 
 
 A singular anecdote is related by Mrs. Lee of a pair 
 of goldfinches. They had built their nest on a small 
 branch of an olive tree ; but it appeared that when 
 the brood was hatched, and began to grow, the weight 
 of the nest was too great for the bough on which it 
 depended. Something was necessary to be done. The 
 parent-birds found a small piece of string lying on the
 
 In the Wood. 161 
 
 walk; and with it they fastened the bough, with its de- 
 pendent nest, to another and a stronger bough, which 
 hung a little above it, and thus made all safe. 
 
 Lord Brougham gives us the following story, which,, 
 he says, was told by Dupont de Nemours, who adds 
 that he himself witnessed the affair : 
 
 " A swallow, at Paris, had entangled its foot in a 
 noose of a cord attached to a pump in the College des 
 Quatres Nations, and it soon found that its struggles to 
 get free only drew the cord tighter, so as to make its 
 escape more and more impossible. It fluttered and 
 struggled till its strength was exhausted, and it could 
 then do nothing but utter cries of distress and despair. 
 These cries, however, brought together a large number 
 of its companions indeed, it seemed as if all the 
 swallows of the Tuilleries and Pont Neuf were collected 
 together at the spot. For a time they seemed to con- 
 sult as to what could be done. At last a plan was 
 decided upon, and they all began a rapid and con- 
 tinuous flight, swallow after swallow, every one darting 
 its beak at the string which kept the foot in bondage. 
 This assault went on, unceasingly, for about half an 
 hour, and then the string gave way, having sustained a 
 thousand pecks ; and the prisoner, in a moment, found 
 himself free. A loud chirping and chattering followed, 
 of joy and congratulation, and then the assemblage 
 
 ii
 
 1 62 Half Hours with the Annuals. 
 
 ended, and each bird betook himself to his own 
 affairs." 
 
 The following story is given by the Rev. T. O. 
 Morris : 
 
 " Living in the City portion of the great Metropolis, I 
 observed, one afternoon, in the aperture generally left for 
 the cellar or kitchen window, an unfledged house-sparrow, 
 which had fallen down into this underground place, across 
 which was laid, obliquely, an iron bar, which extended 
 within a foot of the surface. The mother was at the top 
 of the opening, looking down with pity and alarm at the 
 condition of the child. Many and ingenious were the 
 attempts of both mother and child to raise the latter out 
 of its perilous position, but all of them proved unavailing. 
 I looked on with anxiety, lest the affair should end in the 
 mother's giving up the attempt as hopeless, and desert- 
 ing her child ; but the event proved that there was no 
 ground to fear any such desertion. Several plans and 
 attempts were frustrated, one after the other ; but at last 
 the parent hit upon a new one. Flying away for a few 
 minutes, it at length returned with a stout straw in its 
 beak, and rested with it for a minute on the edge. 
 At once the little nestling, called by its mother by 
 divers chirps, climbed up the iron bar, till it reached the 
 highest point, and there received one end of the straw in 
 its beak, and was raised, to my astonishment, by the
 
 In the Wood. 163 
 
 mother, who held fast the other, till it reached the level 
 ground." 
 
 A writer in Science Gossip says, 
 
 " I had heard that swallows will ' mob ' and put to 
 flight a kestrel-hawk ; but I was rather sceptical till 
 lately, when I happened to have ocular demonstration. 
 I had gone to see an old castle in the neighbourhood, 
 which was built on the only hill for miles round, and 
 was therefore certain to be the haunt of a pair or two 
 of hawks. I kept my eyes open, and was soon re- 
 warded by the appearance, on the brow of the hill, of 
 a bird, which, by its graceful form and the hovering 
 motion of its wings, I knew to be a kestrel. His active 
 little enemies, the swallows, a flock of which were 
 disporting themselves close by, were as quick to see 
 him as I. They at once advanced to meet the intruder, 
 and with the utmost audacity brushed past him in all 
 directions, one from one quarter and one from another, 
 wheeling and then returning, the hawk making futile 
 dashes now and again, but always too late to reach 
 his nimble little opponents.' At last, tired of the un- 
 equal warfare, the hawk beat a hasty retreat. But he 
 was not allowed to get off easily, but was followed by his 
 victorious foes ; and the apparent mystery was quite 
 cleared up ; for though he made off at his best speed, 
 the swallows, with the utmost ease, fetched him up,
 
 1 64 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 passed him, wheeled round and .met him, and then, 
 taking another sharp turn, repassed him ; repeating 
 these manoeuvres a dozen times or more." 
 
 Mr. Morris tells us that 
 
 " On one occasion a pair of martins built their nest 
 on an archway of the stables of Woburn Abbey, Bed- 
 fordshire, and as' soon as they had completed it, a 
 sparrow took possession of it. The martins tried 
 several, times to eject him, but they were unsuccessful. 
 Nothing daunted, they flew off to get help, and in a 
 short time returned with thirty or forty martins, who 
 dragged the intruder out, took him to the grass-plot 
 dose by, and there fell upon him and killed him." 
 
 In another case, the same sort of friendly co-ope- 
 ration was given, not for revenge, but for a better 
 purpose. Mr. Jesse says, 
 
 "A swallow's nest, built in a corner of a window 
 facing the north, and containing a brood of young ones, 
 was so much softened by the beating of the rain upon it, 
 that it finally gave way, fell, and was broken in the fall, 
 leaving the young ones exposed to the weather. The 
 owner of the house, compassionating the young crea- 
 tures, ordered a covering of some sort to be thrown over 
 them. As the storm subsided, many other swallows, 
 interesting themselves in the parents' trouble, gathered
 
 In the Wood. 165 
 
 about the spot ; and when, at last, they saw the cover- 
 ing removed, and the little ones safe, they showed every 
 sign of joy. While the parents fed their young, the 
 other swallows set to work, each one collecting clay and 
 other materials, and helping in the work, till they had 
 built over the brood a sort of arched canopy, and so 
 sheltered them from the weather. From the time it 
 took the whole flock to perform this, it was clear that 
 the young ones must have perished of cold and hunger 
 before the parents could have completed a fifth part of 
 the undertaking." 
 
 The Rev. Philip Skelton says, 
 
 " I once saw a remarkable instance of the sense and 
 humour of the swallows, played off upon a cat which 
 had, on a very fine day, placed herself on the top of a 
 gate-post, as if in quiet contemplation, when about a 
 dozen swallows, knowing her to be an enemy, took it 
 into their heads to tantalize her. One of these birds, 
 coming from behind, flew close to her ear, and she 
 made a snatch at it, but was too late. Another, in five 
 or six seconds, did the same, and she made the same 
 unsuccessful attempt to catch it. Then followed a third, 
 and a fourth, and all the rest ; and every one, when it 
 passed, seemed to set up a laugh at the disappointed 
 enemy. They then formed a kind of circle in the air, 
 and flew round and round her for nearly an hour ; till
 
 1 66 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 at last pussy, tired of being made a butt of, jumped 
 down and fled, as much huffed, I believe, as I had 
 been diverted." 
 
 A similar community of thought and action is found 
 among another large family of " winged things." Major 
 Norgate, who had long been an observer, says, 
 
 " The crows hold meetings for some reason or other. 
 Two or three will begin cawing, and in a minute or 
 two, forty or fifty others will come flying to the place 
 by twos and threes, from every quarter. They then 
 form a kind of ring round one crow, who appears to 
 have been an offender against some of their rules ; 
 and they remain still for some minutes, the culprit 
 never attempting to escape. Then, all of a sudden, 
 five or six of them will fall upon the prisoner, pecking 
 him, and striking him with their wings. On one occa- 
 sion, I saw the crow left dead on the spot ; and on 
 another, its wing was broken. Of course, as to why these 
 crows are punished can only be a matter of surmise." 
 
 Mr. Wood confirms this statement, on the authority of 
 a lady who, herself out of sight, was witness to one of 
 these strange assemblies. A long confabulation was 
 held, and then the bird who was condemned was nearly 
 pecked to pieces, his mangled body being left on the 
 ground.
 
 In the Wood. 167 
 
 Mr. Drew also, in Science Gossip, of October 1871, 
 describes a similar trial, conviction, and execution, of 
 which he was witness, at Nansladron, in Cornwall. 
 
 The following- narrative comes from Germany : 
 
 "A gentleman of property, residing in a mansion 
 near Berlin, found that a pair of storks had built a nest 
 on one of the large chimneys of his house. Curiosity 
 led him to mount a ladder and to inspect it, and when 
 he found in the nest one egg, in size much like that of 
 the goose, the idea struck him that he would exchange 
 it for one belonging to that bird. This was done, and 
 the birds seemed to take no notice of the exchange. 
 But when the egg, in due time, was hatched, the male 
 stork soon perceived the difference, and flew round and 
 round the nest, making loud cries, and at last disap- 
 peared, and did not return until two or three days had 
 elapsed. Then, however, about the fourth morning, the 
 people of the house were disturbed by loud cries ; and, 
 looking out, they perceived a large assemblage of storks, 
 which they estimated at ' five hundred.' These assem- 
 bled in one body, and an old bird seemed to be address- 
 ing the rest with great earnestness. When he had 
 finished, another followed, and then a third ; and, at 
 last, the whole body simultaneously rose in the air, 
 uttering dismal cries. The female, all this while, had 
 been sitting on the nest, sheltering the young bird, and
 
 1 68 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 showing 1 signs of alarm. All at once, the whole body of 
 storks poured down upon her, knocked her out of the 
 nest, and soon left her dead, destroying also the poor 
 gosling-, and leaving not a vestige of the nest itself. 
 They then separated, and soon disappeared, and the 
 tragedy ended." 
 
 We return, for a moment, to the vicinity of our homes. 
 
 Bishop Stanley tells us that 
 
 " A water-hen, observing a pheasant feed out of one 
 of those boxes which open when the bird stands on the 
 rail in front of the box, went and stood in the same 
 place as soon as the pheasant left it. Finding that its 
 weight was not sufficient to raise the lid of the box, it 
 kept jumping on the rail to give additional impetus. 
 But this not being sufficient, it presently flew away, and 
 returned with another bird of its own species. The 
 weight of the two proved sufficient, and they gained the 
 reward of their sagacity." 
 
 Dr. Stanley describes a pair of Muscovy ducks that 
 were landed at Holyhead from a Liverpool vessel. The 
 male was sent to a gentleman's house, and put with 
 other ducks ; but to these he showed the greatest in- 
 difference. He evidently pined for the loss of his mate. 
 After a time she was brought to him, and let loose in
 
 In the Wood. 
 
 169 
 
 the yard. At first he did not see her. But when, on 
 turning his head, he caught a glimpse of her, he rushed 
 to her with a joy which was quite affecting. Nothing 
 after that would induce him to leave her ; he laid his 
 beak upon hers, he nestled his head under her wing, 
 and often gazed at her with evident delight. 
 
 "The wild duck," says Sir William Jardine, "gene- 
 rally frequents some chosen piece of water or morass, 
 
 where the flock remains, making excursions, morning 
 and evening, to various feeding-grounds. As twilight 
 approaches they may be seen by the watcher, early in
 
 170 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 the night, coming from the daily resting-places. They 
 at first fly round in circles, gradually lowering and 
 surveying the ground ; but as the night advances, they 
 fly straight to the spot and alight at once." 
 
 Our tame species comes from the mallard, or wild 
 duck ; and they never lose their preference for marshy 
 places and bogs. 
 
 No bird is an object of so much terror as the hawk. 
 The alarm in a dove-cote when one is seen approach- 
 ing, or the agony of fright into which a hen is thrown 
 when a hawk hovers over the poultry yard, is well 
 known to all dwellers in rural places. Mr. St. John 
 tells us that he one day found a sparrow-hawk standing 
 on a large pigeon on the drawing-room floor, and 
 plucking it, having entered by the open window in 
 pursuit of the unfortunate bird, and having killed him 
 in the room. 
 
 Dr. Stanley tells us that a gentleman, walking ovei 
 his fields in Yorkshire, saw a small hawk attempting to 
 fly off with some prey it had captured, but which proved 
 too heavy for it. It was pursued by a hare, which, 
 whenever it came within her reach, struck at it, and at 
 last succeeded in knocking it down, when it relinquished 
 its prey. This proved to be a young leveret, and the
 
 In the Wood. 171 
 
 hare was its mother. The little thing was wounded ; 
 but the mother's care might revive it. 
 
 From the wild-duck to the gull, the transition is easy. 
 
 " There is naturally less fear of man shown by gulls," 
 says Mr. Morris, " than by most other birds. One can 
 
 scarcely be for a few hours at sea, or by the water in a 
 harbour-town, without some of them, from curiosity or 
 carelessness, coming round so close to one as to afford
 
 172 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 proof of this. I was once fishing outside the harbour at 
 Stornaway, and I threw over, with a short rod and line, 
 two gulls which were flying close to us, attracted by a 
 hope of a share in our fish. The first, when released, 
 continued to hover round us, not exhibiting the slightest 
 fear. I took him in my lap and offered him some nice 
 bits of fish. At first he pretended to be angry, and 
 pecked at my fingers, as if to ask whether I thought it 
 possible he would accept my donations under restraint. 
 But having got hold of a piece of fish, down it went ; 
 and then, apparently thinking that he might do worse, 
 he set to work in good earnest, and soon got through 
 the most part of a haddock. On regaining his liberty, 
 he continued to fly backwards and forwards, within a 
 few feet of our heads. The captain of a Dover steamer 
 told me he had seen a gull come and take off the 
 taffrail food which had been placed there for him. 
 They are, in fact, the most fearless of birds." 
 
 Mr. Drosier, of Norfolk, gives the following descrip- 
 tion of a fight between some gulls and an eagle : 
 
 " As I was intently observing the majestic flight of 
 the eagle, on a sudden he altered his direction, and 
 descended rapidly, as if in the act of pouncing. In a 
 moment five or six of the gulls passed over my head 
 with astonishing rapidity ; they soon came up with the 
 eagle, and a desperate engagement ensued. The short
 
 In the Wood. 173 
 
 bark of the eagle was heard above the cry of the gulls. 
 They never ventured to attack him in front, but taking 
 circular flights around him, one of them would make a 
 desperate sweep or stoop, and striking the eagle on the 
 back, would dart up again almost perpendicularly, 
 waiting for an opportunity to repeat the attack. Thus 
 passing in quick succession, the gulls harassed the 
 eagle most unmercifully. If, however, he turned to- 
 wards one of them, the gull quickly fled without touch- 
 ing him. This engagement continued for some time, 
 the eagle turning and wheeling as well as his ponderous 
 wings would allow, till he approached some rocks ; and 
 then the gulls made off." 
 
 We are not in the habit of attributing such feelings 
 as those of sympathy and attachment to such a creature 
 as a hawk. Mr. Knox, however, in his book on " Wild 
 Fowl," endeavours to correct our ideas in this matter. 
 He gives us the following story : 
 
 " The late Colonel Johnson, of the Rifle Brigade, was 
 ordered to Canada with his battalion ; and being fond of 
 falconry, he took with him two of his favourite pere- 
 grine-falcons on his voyage. He accustomed them to 
 a flight every day, feeding them before starting, that 
 they might not be led away by the calls of hunger. 
 Sometimes their rambles were very wide ; at others, 
 theywould ascend to a height which almost defied the
 
 174 Half Hours ivith the Animals. 
 
 eye to follow them. Still, as they retained the habit of 
 returning to the ship each evening, no anxiety was 
 felt as to their movements. At last, however, after a 
 longer flight than usual, one of the falcons returned 
 alone. The other, the favourite, was missing. Day 
 after day passed, and Colonel Johnson began to make 
 up his mind to the loss ; when, arriving in Canada, 
 and casting his eye over a Halifax newspaper, he 
 was struck by a casual mention that the captain of an 
 American schooner, just arrived, had brought with him 
 a fine hawk, which had alighted upon his vessel during 
 his voyage from Liverpool. It occurred to Colonel 
 Johnson that this probably was his much-prized falcon ; 
 and hence, asking for leave of absence, he set out for 
 Halifax. On arriving there, he soon found out the 
 American captain, and explained the object of his visit. 
 But the present possessor of the bird was in no hurry 
 to part with it, and boldly declared his disbelief of the 
 whole story. In this difficulty Colonel Johnson could 
 only appeal to the Americans present, asking for a 
 fair trial, in which the bird should show, or should 
 refuse to show, any signs of recognition of her old 
 master. So challenged, the American captain could 
 hardly, with a fair character, evade the trial. He went 
 upstairs, and returned with the falcon. The door was 
 scarcely opened before the bird darted to her old 
 protector, showing in every way her delight, rubbing
 
 In the Wood. 175 
 
 her head against his cheek, and biting the buttons of 
 his coat in playfulness. The verdict of the bystanders 
 was instantly given, and the bird was restored to its 
 owner." 
 
 Bishop Stanley gives us one or two stories of wild and 
 domestic birds, from which we copy these : 
 
 " An officer, settled on a farm near the Missouri, 
 observed one day, when walking near the banks of the 
 river, a large eagle, which seemed to be frequently dart- 
 ing down to the water, and then rising again. Drawing 
 nearer, he perceived that the object of attack was a wild 
 goose, which was floating on the water, and which 
 dived beneath whenever its enemy stooped. But the 
 goose was exhausted, after a time, by these efforts to 
 escape ; and at last it fled to the shore, where two men 
 were at work, to whom it surrendered rather than fall 
 into the talons of the eagle. It found the protection it 
 sought, and in two or three days seemed quite reconciled 
 to its new position." 
 
 " A game cock at Ashford, in Kent, priding himself 
 on his valour and prowess, happened to take offence 
 at a goose, who was then sitting, attacked her with 
 great fury, pecked out one of her eyes, and broke 
 several of her eggs. The gander, seeing the danger, 
 came to his mate's assistance, and a battle took place.
 
 176 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 The next day the cock renewed his attack upon the 
 goose ; when the gander, hearing the quarrel, hurried up, 
 and seizing the cock, dragged him to the pond, where 
 he held him under water till he was actually drowned." 
 
 " At Astbury, near Congleton, some geese were 
 feeding near a barn where some men were threshing. 
 A sparrow was near them, pecking up what it could. 
 A hawk saw it, pounced down, and the poor sparrow's 
 end would have been speedy, had not a gander rushed 
 to the spot, and with its beak struck the hawk such a 
 blow that it was stunned, and almost killed." 
 
 " A goose belonging to a clergyman in Cheshire 
 began to sit upon six or eight eggs. The dairymaid, 
 thinking these too few, added some ducks' eggs. The 
 next morning she went to see if all was right, but found 
 all the ducks' eggs picked out and lying on the ground. 
 She replaced them, but next morning the same scene 
 met her view : all the ducks' eggs had been turned out. 
 For fear of disgusting and driving the goose away, the 
 experiment was tried no further." 
 
 Mr. Kirkham writes to the Naturalist 
 
 "A friend of mine who, a few years ago, resided at 
 Bank House, Burnley, was in the habit of feeding daily 
 a well-known and favourite robin. An envious sparrow,
 
 In the Wood. 177 
 
 coming- one day to join in the good things provided, was 
 driven away by the robin ; and, not well pleased at the 
 treatment it had received, came again, attended by 
 superior numbers, so that now it was the red-breast's 
 turn to be defeated. But Robin had a resource. The 
 next day, to the surprise of all, a crow appeared with 
 his red-breasted friend, and kept at a distance all rivals 
 and intruders. The two then partook amicably together 
 of whatever was provided. This continued for several 
 days, and then, something having occurred, they came 
 no more." 
 
 "The swan," says Yarrell, in his "British Birds," 
 " exhibited, eight or nine years ago, one of the most 
 remarkable instances of what we call * instinct ' that ever 
 was recorded. She was sitting on four or five eggs, 
 and was observed to be very busy in collecting weeds, 
 grasses, leaves, or what not, to raise her nest. A farm- 
 ing-man was ordered to take down half a load of haulm, 
 with which she most industriously raised her nest, some 
 two feet and a half higher than usual. The next night 
 there came down a tremendous fall of rain, which flooded 
 all the lowlands, and did great damage. Men had made 
 no preparation; the bird had. Her eggs were above, 
 and only just above, the water. 
 
 A writer in the " Encyclopaedia Britannica" says, 
 " Last spring a pair of crows made their nest on a 
 
 12
 
 [78 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 tree, of which there are several round this garden. One 
 result was, a constant warfare between them and a cat. 
 One morning the battle raged fiercely, till at last the 
 cat gave way, and took shelter under a hedge, to look 
 out for some opportunity. The crows went on for some 
 time with threatening noises, but they soon saw that 
 noises went for nothing. Then, after consideration, one 
 of the crows took up a stone from the middle of the 
 garden, and waited with it in her claws till the enemy 
 should appear. When the cat began to creep along the 
 hedge, the crow accompanied her ; and when at last puss 
 ventured forth, the crow, hovering over her in the air, 
 let fall on her the stone which she held in her claws. 
 That there must have been some ratiocination in all this 
 is hardly to be denied." 
 
 " A pair of larks," says Mr. Wood, "had built their 
 nest in a grass field, where they hatched a brood of 
 young. Very soon after the young birds were out of 
 the eggs the owner of the field was forced to set his 
 mowers to work the state of the weather obliging him 
 to cut his grass sooner than usual. When the labourers 
 approached the nest, the parent-birds took alarm, and at 
 last the mother-bird laid herself flat on the ground, with 
 outspread wings and tail, while the male bird took one 
 of the young out of the nest, and, by dint of pushing 
 and pulling, got it on to its mother's back. She then
 
 In the Wood. 179 
 
 flew away with it over the fields, and soon returned for 
 another. This time the father took his turn, and carried 
 one of the young ones, the mother helping- to get it on 
 to his back ; and so they managed to remove the whole 
 brood before the mowers had reached their nest." 
 
 Mr. Webber describes a ruby-throated humming-bird, 
 which he was fortunate enough to capture alive : 
 
 " It occurred to me that a mixture of two parts of 
 loaf-sugar, with one of honey, and ten of water, would 
 make about the nearest approach to the nectar of flowers. 
 While my sister was preparing it, I gradually opened 
 my hand to look at my prisoner, and found, to my no 
 small amusement, that it was actually 'playing 'possum,' 
 that is, feigning to be dead. It lay on my open palm 
 motionless for some minutes, during which I watched it 
 with breathless curiosity. I saw it gradually open its 
 bright little eyes, to peep whether the way was clear, 
 and then close them again, when it caught my eye fixed 
 upon it. But when the ' nectar ' was ready, and a drop 
 was put upon the point of its bill, it came to life very 
 suddenly, and in a moment was on its legs, drinking 
 eagerly from a silver teaspoon. When it was satisfied, 
 it refused to take any more, and sat with entire self- 
 composure on my finger, pluming and trimming itself as 
 if it had been on its favourite spray. I was enchanted 
 with the bold, innocent confidence with which it turned
 
 180 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 up its keen black eyes to survey us, as if it would say, 
 ' Well, good folks, who are you ? ' Thus in less than 
 an hour the tameless rider of the winds was perched 
 pleasantly on my finger, and received its food with 
 eagerness from my sister's hand. By the next day it 
 would come from any part of either room, alight on the 
 side of a white china cup containing the mixture, and 
 drink eagerly, with its long bill thrust down to the very 
 bottom. It would alight on our fingers, and seem to 
 talk with us endearingly in its soft chirps. I never saw 
 any creature so thoroughly tamed in so short a time. 
 But after keeping it for about three weeks, it began to 
 droop, so that I felt obliged to let it have its liberty. 
 As soon as the window was opened, the bird darted 
 out like a meteor, and was instantly gone. In hope of 
 attracting him back again, a fresh cup of 'nectar' was 
 prepared, and the cage and the cup, hung with flowers, 
 was placed on the window-sill. After waiting about an 
 hour, the beautiful creature suddenly appeared, hovering 
 over the window. He was darting to and fro before 
 the window, as if the flowers perplexed him. At last 
 the well-known cup seemed to overcome his doubts, 
 and he settled upon it, as of old. We rushed forward, 
 while he was drinking, to secure him ; but a better 
 thought seemed to rebuke our want of trust, and we 
 threw open the cage-door again, and let him have the 
 day to himself."
 
 In the Wood. 1 8 [ 
 
 Wilson tells us that without the sun these little crea- 
 tures will die, or will simulate death : 
 
 " A beautiful male bird was brought to me this season, 
 which I put into a wire cage, and placed in a shaded part 
 of the room. After fluttering about for some time, as if 
 desirous to get out, the weather being cold, it clung to 
 the wires, and hung there in a torpid state for the whole 
 forenoon. I could perceive no motion of the lungs ; 
 the eyes were shut, and when touched by the finger, it 
 gave no sign of life or motion. I carried it out into the 
 air, and placed it in the rays of the sun, but sheltered 
 from the wind. In a few moments its respiration be- 
 came apparent, it breathed faster and faster, opened its 
 eyes, and began to look about. When it had recovered, 
 I gave it liberty, and it flew off to the top of a pear- 
 tree, where it sat for some time pluming itself, and then 
 shot off like a meteor." 
 
 Mr. Simeon, in his "Stray Notes," says, 
 " I was walking one day with a gentleman on his 
 home farm, when we observed the grass on about an 
 acre of meadow-land to be so completely rooted up and 
 scarified that he took it for granted it had been done 
 under the bailiff's direction, in order to clear it from 
 moss; and when he met the man, he asked whether 
 this was the case. The bailiff replied, ' Oh no, sir ; we 
 have not been at work there at all ; the rooks have done
 
 1 82 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 all that.' I had often seen places where the grass had 
 been pulled up by rooks ; but I never had seen such 
 clean and wholesale work as this. I found that the 
 object of the rooks had been the devouring- of a small 
 white grub, which had settled there in great numbers, 
 and which had hidden themselves a little below the 
 surface." 
 
 Dr. Stevelly, of Belfast, thus describes a magpie of 
 his acquaintance : 
 
 " He was particularly fond of any shining article, 
 such as spoons and trinkets : these he frequently stole ; 
 and we came upon his hiding-place in a remarkable way. 
 There was an old gentleman, a friend of my father's, 
 who resided with us a great deal. He was of a 
 studious disposition, but was fond of reading, standing 
 with his arms and breast resting on the back of a chair, 
 and the book lying on the table before him. After 
 reading for awhile, he would take off his spectacles, lay 
 them beside him, blow his nose, take a pinch of snuff, 
 and then remain pondering what he had read ; till, after 
 a while, he would resume his spectacles and proceed. 
 One warm day I lay reading at the end of a room out of 
 which a glass door led to the greenhouse. At a little 
 distance from me the old gentleman was pursuing his 
 studies. After a while the magpie perched on a chair 
 near him, eying him most intently ; and at last he
 
 In the Wood. 183 
 
 reached, with an active hop, the table, seized the spec- 
 tacle-case, and was out of the glass door in an instant. 
 I remained quiet, meaning to see the end of this. 
 After a short absence, 'Jack' was at his post again, 
 eying the old gentleman with a most business-like glance. 
 Presently off came the spectacles, and out came the 
 pocket-handkerchief and snuff-box. In a moment ' Jack ' 
 had lighted on the table, and was out by the open door 
 with his prize. And now he did not return : having 
 gained the object of his ambition, he thought it wiser to 
 get wholly out of sight. At length, the old gentle- 
 man having concluded his reflections, he wished to 
 resume his spectacles. As soon as his surprise at not 
 finding them on the table had abated, he moved his 
 chair, and searched all around, to find out where they 
 could be. Of course, when things had reached this 
 point, I burst into a fit of laughter, and the old gentle- 
 man angrily accused me of having played off some 
 joke. I assured him that I had never stirred from the 
 sofa ; and after a while I was obliged to explain to 
 him what I had seen, of ' Jack's ' manoeuvres. Then the 
 question arose, how the spectacles were to be recovered. 
 Somebody proposed to leave a teaspoon in his way. 
 This was done ; but ' Master Jack ' was too wary, he 
 would not approach us. At last, by dint of a most 
 resolute watch, it was found that he had a place of 
 deposit in a corner of the roof ; and here not only the
 
 1 84 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 spectacles were found, but sundry other things which 
 had for some time been missing." 
 
 In the Northampton Mercury, of August 1851, the 
 following curious anecdote was given : 
 
 " A stoat was making its way from an adjoining field, 
 across the road, with a young partridge in its mouth 
 which it had killed, when it was attacked and pursued 
 by two skylarks and a wagtail. The three birds, acting 
 together, rose a little in the air, and then pounced down 
 again and again upon their enemy, repeating their 
 attacks, so furiously that he was obliged to abandon his 
 prey. He strove to regain it, but their attacks were 
 renewed with the greatest courage ; till at last some one 
 approached, and the stoat ran off, leaving the partridge 
 behind." 
 
 The late Mrs. O'Brien, of Chelsea, had a canary 
 which was a ^reat favourite, but whose loud singing 
 often obliged her to put him outside the window among 
 the trees in front of the house. One morning, while 
 thus placed, a sparrow took pity on the prisoner. He 
 was observed to fly round and round it, to stand upon 
 the top, and twitter to the bird within, between whom 
 and itself some conversation seemed to pass. After a 
 while the sparrow flew away, but soon returned with a 
 worm in his bill, which he dropped into the cage, and
 
 In the Wood. 185 
 
 which the canary gladly received. Day after day these 
 visits were repeated, and fresh presents brought ; till the 
 canary at last received the food out of the sparrow's 
 bill. The sparrow was shy to human beings, but fond 
 of his own kind. When winter came, the canary was 
 taken in -doors, and the sparrow disappeared. 
 
 Dr. Edmonstone tells us that in northern Scotland 
 extraordinary meetings of crows are occasionally seen to 
 occur. They collect in great numbers, as if they had been 
 summoned for the occasion. A few of them sit with 
 drooping heads, and others sit like judges, while others 
 are exceedingly active and noisy. In the course of an 
 hour or two they disperse ; but it is not uncommon to 
 find, when they are gone, that one or two have been 
 left dead on the place of meeting. " Crows seem to 
 come from all quarters. When they have all assembled, 
 a genera] noise or conversation follows, and shortly 
 after the whole fall upon one or two of the number, and 
 put them to death. When this has been done they 
 quietly disperse." 
 
 Captain Brown writes : 
 
 " Mr. William Wright, a publican at Gilmerton, 
 near Edinburgh, had a tame jackdaw. On one oc- 
 casion half a glass of whisky was left on the table, 
 when ' Jackie ' flew up, and, after the first taste, liked
 
 1 86 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 it so much that he drank greedily. Soon symptoms of 
 intoxication began to appear : his wings dropped, and 
 his eyes were half closed. He staggered in his walk 
 in a most ludicrous manner. He moved to the edge of 
 the table, seeming not to know what to do ; till at last 
 his eyes closed, and he fell on his back, showing every 
 sign of death. Water was given him, but he could not 
 swallow it. He was rolled up in flannel, and put in 
 a box. The family never expected to see him again. 
 But next morning, when the door was opened, he flew 
 out, and made his way to a stone basin out of which 
 the fowls drank, where he copiously allayed his thirst. 
 He repeated his draughts of water during the day, but 
 never afterwards would he touch whisky." 
 
 Dr. Stanley is obliged to conclude that young cuckoos 
 have some quality which enables them to gain the 
 affections of other birds. As an instance of this, he 
 tells us that 
 
 " A young cuckoo was put into a cage, and, a few 
 days after, a scarcely- fledged thrush was also put in. 
 The thrush could feed itself, but the cuckoo was 
 obliged to be fed with a quill. In a short time, how- 
 ever, the thrush began to feed its fellow-prisoner, 
 bestowing on it every possible attention, and manifest- 
 ing the greatest anxiety to satisfy its continual craving 
 for food."
 
 /;/ the Wood. 
 
 He adds another instance : 
 
 " A young- thrush, just able to feed itself, was placed 
 in a cage. A short time after, a young cuckoo, which 
 could not feed itself, was placed in the same cage, and 
 fed by the owner. At length it was observed that the 
 thrush fed it the cuckoo opening- its mouth, sitting upon 
 the upper perch, and making the thrush hop down to 
 fetch its food. One day, while it was thus expecting its 
 breakfast, a worm was put in the cage, and the thrush 
 could not resist the temptation of eating it. Imme- 
 diately the cuckoo descended, attacked the thrush with 
 fury, and actually tore out one of its eyes, and then 
 hopped back. Yet even after this the thrush meekly 
 took it some food, and continued to do so till the cuckoo 
 was full grown." 
 
 Captain Brown tells us of a pigeon which belonged to 
 an innkeeper at Cheltenham : 
 
 " He was twelve years old when his partner deserted 
 him. He seemed deeply grieved, but made no new 
 alliance. For two years he remained widowed and for- 
 saken ; when at last his faithless partner returned, and 
 wished to be taken back again. He repelled her with 
 disgust, and when she became importunate he pecked 
 her severely, and drove her off. But in the course of 
 the night she managed to effect a lodgment; and the 
 next morning he seemed to be so far reconciled as to
 
 1 88 Hal/ Hours with Ihe Animals. 
 
 allow her a place in his home. But soon afterwards she 
 died. He now seemed sensible that by her death he 
 was set at liberty ; for he quickly took wing, and in a 
 few hours returned with a new partner." 
 
 The same writer tells us the following story of a 
 stork : 
 
 "A tame bird of this sort had taken up his abode for 
 some years in the yard of the college at Tubingen. On 
 a neighbouring house was a nest, where the storks that 
 resorted to the place used to hatch their eggs. One 
 day in autumn a young collegian fired a shot at this 
 nest. Probably he wounded the stork who was then 
 sitting. Still, at the usual time, all the storks took their 
 departure. Next spring a stork appeared on the roof 
 of the college, and by clapping his wings seemed to 
 invite the tame stork to come to him. But the latter 
 was unable, as his wings were clipped. After a time 
 the wild stork came down into the yard, and the tame 
 one went to meet him, clapping his wings in welcome ; 
 but the wild one attacked him with the greatest fury. 
 The people interfered and drove him away ; but all that 
 summer he came down into the yard, again and again, 
 to attack the other. The next spring, instead of one 
 stork, four of them came down into the yard, and attacked 
 the tame one : seeing his danger, the cocks, and ganders, 
 and turkeys rushed to help him, and managed to drive
 
 In the Wood. 189 
 
 the assailants away. Greater watch was now kept "; but 
 when the third spring- came, twenty storks or more 
 descended into the yard at once, and killed the poor 
 bird before any help could come to him." 
 
 Mr. Brew, of Ennis, says, 
 
 " An old goose that had been sitting on her eggs for 
 a fortnight, in a farmer's kitchen, was perceived on a 
 sudden to be taken violently ill. She soon after left the 
 nest, and repaired to an outhouse where there was a 
 goose of the first year, which she brought with her into 
 the kitchen. The young one immediately scrambled 
 into the old one's nest, sat, hatched, and brought up 
 the brood. The old goose, so soon as the young one 
 had taken her place, sat down by the side of the nest, 
 and shortly after died. As the young goose had never 
 been in the habit of entering the kitchen before, I 
 know no other way of accounting for this fact but by 
 supposing that the old bird had some way of communi- 
 cating her wants, which the other was perfectly able to 
 understand." 
 
 Mr. Graves says, in his " British Birds," 
 
 " A pair 6f sparrows had built their nest in a wall, 
 close by my house. I noticed that the old birds con- 
 tinued to bring food to the nest, some time after the 
 young brood had left it. I had the curiosity to place a
 
 1 90 
 
 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 ladder against the wall, and to look into the nest when, 
 to my surprise, I found a full-grown bird, which had 
 got its leg entangled in some thread, which formed 
 part of the nest, in such a manner as to prevent its 
 getting out. I observed that the parents continued 
 supplying it with food all the autumn, and part of the 
 winter ; but when the cold became severe I thought it 
 time to release it. It then flew away with its parents." 
 
 - J *^~
 
 Abroad. 191 
 
 VI. 
 
 ABROAD. 
 
 WE have left to the closing chapter of our review some 
 of the most remarkable instances, -without which our 
 investigation would be obviously imperfect. These are, 
 the King of Birds ; the most cunning of all creatures, 
 the Monkey ; and the Elephant, deemed by many writers 
 the wisest of the brute creation. A few sketches of 
 these remarkable animals will close our retrospect. 
 
 The chief disadvantage under which we must labour 
 consists in this, that especially in the case of the eagle 
 men have had but few opportunities of placing them- 
 selves on friendly terms with these creatures. Yet one 
 case is described by Bishop Stanley, in which a golden 
 eagle, captured while young in Ireland, became quite 
 domesticated, and attached itself to the place in which 
 it dwelt, without being put under any restraint. Its 
 wings had at first been cut, but they were suffered to 
 grow again, and on regaining the full use of them, the 
 noble bird would sometimes soar into the air, and remain 
 absent for two or three weeks. But it became much
 
 1 92 Half Hours with tne Animals. 
 
 attached to those who were in the habit of feeding or 
 caressing it. It had been provided with a house, but it 
 generally prepared a perch of its own choosing, on the 
 branch of a large apple-tree. It fed chiefly upon crows, 
 which were provided for it being shot for the purpose. 
 It often attempted to catch them ; but always in vain, 
 their power of turning rapidly in flight enabling them to 
 escape the eagle's pursuit. It lived thus in one home 
 for ten or twelve years, and was killed at last in a fight 
 with a mastiff, at which no one was present, but in which 
 the dog was so much injured that he died immediately 
 after. 
 
 Dr. Stanley also tells us of an extraordinary device 
 practised by the eagles in Heligoland, an island of 
 Denmark : 
 
 " Persons resident there state that the eagle will 
 plunge into the sea, so as to wet its feathers, and then 
 roll on the sand till it is quite covered with it. It will 
 then rise and hover over its victim, generally an ox ; 
 shaking itself and scattering the sand into its eyes, till 
 the animal, blinded and terrified, falls into some hollow 
 or over some cliff, and so becomes a prey to its pur- 
 suer." 
 
 Mr. Thompson writes, 
 
 " My friend, R. Langtrey, Esq., of Fort William,
 
 Abroad, 193 
 
 near Belfast, has a golden eagle, which is extremely 
 docile and tractable. It was taken from a nest in 
 Invernesshire, and came into his possession about the 
 end of September. It soon became attached to its 
 owner, who, after about a month, ventured to give it 
 liberty; a privilege of which it took no undue advantage. 
 It not only permits itself to be handled, but seems to 
 derive pleasure from its master's caresses. When it is 
 at large, Mr. S. has only to hold out his arm, and it flies 
 to him and perches on it. It usually keeps its master 
 in view, following him round the grounds, and keeping 
 him in sight." 
 
 Audubon, the naturalist, was engaged in collecting 
 cray-fish, near the Green River in Kentucky, when he 
 came upon a quantity of white ordure, which his com- 
 panion, who lived near the spot, said must be from the 
 nest of the brown eagle, and added that he had seen 
 one of those birds a few days before. The naturalist 
 seated himself near the foot of the rock, in high expec- 
 tation. Two hours elapsed before the parent-bird made 
 his appearance, which was announced by the hissing 
 noise of two young ones, who crawled out from the 
 hidden nest to receive a fine fish. In a few minutes the 
 mother arrived, bringing also a fish ; but her watchful 
 eye detected the observers ; and uttering a loud cry, 
 she alarmed her partner, and both of them hovered 
 
 13
 
 194 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 over the heads of Audubon and his friend, keeping up 
 threatening cries, to scare them from the neighbourhood 
 of the nest. Still, they pressed on, and found the nest ; 
 but the young ones had hidden themselves. They 
 watched for a long time in vain ; and returning the next 
 day, they found the place deserted. 
 
 We return to England, and even to the English me- 
 tropolis. On the Qth of April, 1848, a magnificent eagle 
 suddenly appeared, sailing over the towers of Westminster 
 Abbey ; and, after making various circles, it perched upon 
 the summit of one of the pinnacles. It formed a striking 
 object, and a crowd soon collected to gaze upon it. 
 Presently the bird rose, and began ascending by suc- 
 cessive circles to an immense height, and then floated off 
 to the north of London, occasionally giving a gentle flap 
 with his wings, but otherwise appearing to sail away to 
 the clouds, among which he was ultimately lost. The 
 history of this strange appearance was this. Early in 
 that year a white-tailed sea-eagle was brought to 
 London in a Scotch steamer, cooped up in a crib used 
 for wine-bottles, and presenting a most melancholy and 
 forlorn appearance. Mr. F. Buckland, happening to 
 see him, took pity on him, purchased him, and took him 
 to Oxford, where he soon regained his natural noble 
 aspect, delighting especially to dip and wash himself 
 in water, and then to sit on his perch, expanding his
 
 Abroad. 195 
 
 magnificent wings, basking in the sun, his head always 
 turned towards that luminary, whose glare he did not 
 fear. A few nights after his arrival at Oxford, we were 
 aroused by cries. The night was dark, but at length the 
 cause of the outcry was discovered. On the grass-plat 
 was the eagle, cowering over a victim with outspread 
 wings, and croaking a defiance to all intruders. Lights 
 being brought, the eagle retired, with his prey, to a 
 dark corner, where he was left to enjoy it. It turned 
 out that he had espied a hedge- hog, and had managed 
 to uncoil him with his sharp bill, and to devour him. 
 The eagle soon became the terror of all the smaller 
 animals in the house. A beautiful little kitten soon dis- 
 appeared ; several guinea-pigs and a jackdaw shared 
 their fate; and " Jacko," the monkey, only saved his life 
 by swiftness of foot. One fine summer's morning the 
 window of the breakfast r room was thrown open, previous 
 to the appearance of the family. Soon the lady of the 
 house appeared, and startling was the sight. A fine 
 ham stood in the middle of the table, and on it was 
 perched the eagle, tearing away at it with boundless 
 appetite, his talons firmly fixed in the rich deep fat. 
 Being disturbed, the eagle's first attempt was to fly off 
 with his prize ; but finding it too heavy, he dropped it 
 on the carpet, snatched up a cold partridge, and made 
 a hasty exit through the window. Some time after this 
 the eagle was taken to London, and placed in a court-
 
 1 96 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 yard near Westminster Abbey, where he dwelt in solitary 
 majesty. It was from this court-yard that he made his 
 escape oh the gth of April. He just managed to flutter 
 up to the top of the wall, and from thence he ascended, 
 with difficulty, until he had cleared the houses ; but as 
 he ascended into mid-air, his strength returned, and he 
 soared, in the usual style of an eagle. His owner said, 
 " Well, I've seen the last of him ; " but, hoping that he 
 might possibly find his way back, a chicken was tied to 
 a stick in the court-yard, and just before dark the 
 eagle came down, seeking for food, and speedily de- 
 voured his prey. While he was thus engaged, a plaid 
 was thrown over him, and he was easily secured. After 
 this one escape he was soon handed over to the Zoolo- 
 gical Gardens. 
 
 A remarkable story is told by Mr. Elaine, of the 
 patience, discretion, and self-command of a golden 
 eagle, which was for some time in the Jardin dcs Plantcs 
 at Paris. The bird was taken in a trap for foxes, which 
 broke his claw, and effectually lamed him. The cure 
 was a tedious one, and a painful operation was necessary, 
 which was borne by the eagle with a patience seldom 
 equalled by human sufferers. While the operation was 
 being performed, his head was left at liberty ; but he 
 offered no opposition to the handling or dressing of the 
 wounded limb. Then, swathed in a napkin, and laid on
 
 Abroad. 197 
 
 his side, he passed the whole night without motion* The 
 next day, when the bandages were loosened, he placed 
 himself on a screen, where he remained for twelve hours 
 without once resting on the wounded foot. He made no 
 attempt to escape, though the windows were often open. 
 For several days he remained without food ; at last he 
 received eagerly a rabbit which was given him. Having 
 eaten it, he resumed his quiet position, and not until the 
 twenty-first day after his accident did he begin to try 
 the wounded limb. He gradually regained the use of it 
 by cautious and moderate exercise. He passed three 
 months in the room occupied by the man who attended 
 to him. In the morning, as soon as the fire was lighted, 
 he came up to it, and suffered himself to be caressed ; 
 in the evening he mounted his screen, where he passed 
 the night. No one could have shown more resignation, 
 more courage, it might almost be said, more reason, 
 than was shown by this bird during his long illness. 
 
 We pass on, from the noble and majestic eagle, to a 
 very dissimilar creature the grotesque, nimble, and 
 cunning monkey. No two creatures could be more 
 unlike, yet each has its own point of interest. 
 
 A friend of Mr. Wood's gave him the following 
 account of a pet monkey, which caused considerable 
 annoyance to those who lived in its neighbourhood :
 
 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 " He was one of the most imitative and mischievous 
 little animals that ever existed. His imitative tricks 
 caused the servants so much trouble, that he had not a 
 friend among them. One day he observed the ladies' - 
 maid washing her mistress's lace, and his offers of 
 assistance having been somewhat roughly repulsed, he 
 went, chattering and scolding, in search of adventures. 
 Our house was next door, and as the windows were 
 open, he got in, with the idea of washing fresh in his 
 head. Curiosity led him to open two small drawers, 
 from which he soon abstracted their whole contents- 
 lace, ribbons, and handkerchiefs. He threw all these 
 things into a foot-pan, pouring in all the water and soap 
 that happened to be in the room ; and he must then 
 have washed away with great vigour, for when I 
 returned to my room, after an hour or two's absence, I 
 found him, to my astonishment, busily engaged in his 
 laundry operations, spreading out the torn and dis- 
 figured remnants to dry. He must have been conscious 
 that he was doing wrong, for, without a word from me, 
 he made off instantly, and hid himself in the clock-case 
 in the kitchen in his own home. The servants saw that 
 he had been in some mischief, for this was his constant 
 place of refuge when he was in disgrace or trouble. 
 One day he watched the cook while she was preparing 
 some partridges for dinner, and apparently came to the 
 conclusion that all birds ought to be so treated ; for he
 
 THE CAT'S PAW.
 
 Abroad. 199 
 
 managed to get into the yard, where his mistress kept a 
 few bantam fowls, and, after robbing them of their eggs, 
 he secured one of the poor hens, with which he pro- 
 ceeded to the kitchen, and at once commenced plucking 
 it. The noise that the poor bird made brought some of 
 the servants to the rescue ; but they found the bird in 
 such a pitiable and bleeding state that in mercy it was 
 at once killed. After this the monkey was chained up, 
 which so mortified him that he refused his food, and 
 soon after died." 
 
 Dr. Guthrie tells the following anecdote of a monkey : 
 
 " ' Jack,' as he was called, seeing his master and 
 some of his friends drinking, with" the imitative faculty 
 for which all monkeys are remarkable, got hold of a 
 glass half full of whisky, and drank it off. Of course 
 it flew to his head, and very soon ' Jack ' was drunk. 
 Next day, when they wished for a repetition of the per- 
 formance, he was nowhere to be seen. At last he was 
 found, curled up in a corner of his box. At his master's 
 call he reluctantly came out, but one hand applied to 
 his head signified very plainly that he was ill that 
 ' Jack ' had got a headache. So they left him for a few 
 days, to recover. Then, supposing him to be well again, 
 they called him to join them in another jovial party, 
 expecting to have ' rare fun ' with him. But he eyed 
 the glasses with evident dread, and when his master
 
 2OO Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 tried to induce him to drink, he was upon the house-top 
 in a moment. They called him to come down ; but he 
 refused. His master shook a whip at him ; but it had 
 no effect. A gun was then pointed at him, he 'got 
 behind a stack of chimneys. At length, in fear of 
 being dragged from his refuge, he actually descended 
 the chimney; risking a scorching rather than be made 
 to drink. At last his master gave way, and though 
 ' Jack ' lived for twelve years after, his repugnance to 
 whisky remained as strong as ever, and his master 
 gave way to it." 
 
 " My monkey, ' Jacko,' " says Mr. Buckland, " was a 
 pretty little fellow; his bright eyes sparkled like two 
 diamonds from beneath his deep-set eyebrows ; his 
 teeth were of pearly whiteness, and of these, whether 
 through pride or a wish to intimidate, he made a 
 formidable display. Having arrived at the hotel, it 
 became a question as to what was to become of ' Jacko ' 
 while his master was away. A little closet, opening out 
 of the bedroom, offered itself as a temporary prison. 
 ' Jacko ' was tied securely (I thought) to one of the rows 
 of pegs that ran along the wall. As the door closed 
 upon him, his eyes seemed to exclaim, ' Now I'll do 
 some mischief! ' and sure enough he did. When I came 
 back to release him, the walls, which half an hour before 
 were covered with an ornamented paper, now stood out
 
 Abroad. 201 
 
 in the nakedness of lath and plaster ; the pegs were all 
 loosened, and an unfortunate garment that happened 
 to be hung in the closet was torn into a thousand pieces. 
 When 'Jacko' arrived at his ultimate destination, a com- 
 fortable home was provided for him in the stall of a 
 stable, where was an aperture communicating with the 
 hay-loft ; so that he could either sleep at his ease in the 
 regions above, or, descending into the manger, amuse 
 himself by tearing to pieces everything he could get at. 
 But after a while the donkey was brought out of the 
 field and placed in these comfortable quarters. A 
 supper of hay was placed before the hungry animal, 
 which it began to devour with great eagerness. An 
 hour after, the groom happened to go into the stable to 
 see that all was right. But now the donkey was pulling 
 away at her halter, and trying to keep her head as far as 
 possible from the bundle of hay. Soon the mystery was 
 explained. When the donkey approached the hay a 
 tiny pair of hands were thrust out, and the ears were 
 seized. The little rascal, looking down from the loft, 
 had seen the hay spread out, and had thought that it 
 would make a capital bed for himself, of which he had 
 therefore taken possession, quite regardless of poor 
 Jenny. After a while 'Jacko' got loose. He now quietly 
 sneaked into the knife-house, and tried his hand at 
 cleaning the knives. But the handles were the parts 
 he attempted to polish on the brick-board, and a cut
 
 2O2 Half Hours with the Animah. 
 
 was found in the middle of his hand next day. He next 
 set to work to clean the shoes, in imitation of the man 
 who had charge of him. He covered a shoe all over, 
 sole and all, with blacking, and then he emptied all 
 that was left in the bottle into the inside of the shoe, 
 nearly filling it. A day or two after, when the servants 
 returned from the parlour into the kitchen, they found 
 that 'Jacko' had taken all the candlesticks out of the 
 cupboard, and arranged them on the fender, before the 
 fire, as he had seen done before. Finding the black-lead 
 in the same place, he took it to a bowl of water, wetted 
 it, and was diligently rubbing the table all over with it 
 when he was caught in the act. On the entrance of the 
 servants he retreated to his basket in the corner, trying 
 to look as if nothing had happened." 
 
 " I have two monkeys," says the same writer, "of whom 
 I am exceedingly fond. One is * The Hag,' and the 
 other is ' Tiny.' ' The Hag ' was originally called 
 ' Fanny ; ' but she has so much of the disagreeable old 
 woman about her that I always call her ' The Hag.' 
 'Tiny' is a very little monkey indeed, not much 
 bigger than a large rat. She was turned out of the 
 Zoological Gardens as a dead monkey ; she was indeed 
 ' as good as dead,' a mere skeleton, and with very 
 little hair on her. She arrived tied up in an old canvas 
 bag. I put her into ' The Hag's ' cage. The old lady
 
 Abioad. 203 
 
 at once took to her, and assumed the office of nurse. 
 She cuddled up poor ' Tiny' in her arms, and showed her 
 teeth to anybody who came near. They had port-wine- 
 negus, quinine, beef-tea, egg and milk, and everything 
 she could eat; and 'The Hag' always gave her the first 
 offer of everything. After awhile ' Tiny ' could stand ; 
 then she could run; her hair came again, and she is now 
 one of the most wicked, intelligent, pretty little beasts 
 that ever committed an act of theft. Steal ! why her 
 whole life is devoted to stealing, for the pure love of the 
 thing. The moment I come down to breakfast I let out 
 the monkeys. I keep a box of sardines especially for 
 * The Hag,' who immediately helps herself, and sits on 
 the table grunting with pleasure as she licks her oily 
 fingers. The moment 'Tiny' is let loose she steals what- 
 ever is on the table ; and it is great fun to see her 
 snatch off the red-herring from the plate, and run off 
 with it to the top of the book-shelves. While I am 
 recovering my herring, ' Tiny ' runs to the breakfast- 
 table again, and, if she can, she steals the egg. This 
 she tucks under her arm and bolts away, running on her 
 hind-legs. But she is rather fearful of eggs, for she 
 once stole one that was quite hot, and burnt herself. 
 She cried out, and ' The Hag ' left off eating sardines, 
 shook her tail violently, and opened her mouth at me, 
 as much as to say, * You dare hurt my Tiny ! ' If I 
 keep too sharp a look out upon ' Miss Tiny,' she will run
 
 2O4 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 like a rabbit across the table, and upset whatever she can. 
 She generally tries the sugar first, as she can then steal 
 a bit; or she will just pull over the milk-jug. 'Tiny' 
 and ' The Hag ' sometimes go out stealing together. 
 They climb up my coat, and search all my pockets. I 
 generally carry some cedar-pencils; the monkeys get 
 hold of these and bite off the cut ends. But the prime 
 delight is to pull and try the door of a glass cupboard 
 till it comes open, and then they can get at the hair-oil, 
 which they know is there. Any new thing that comes, 
 they must examine, and when a hamper arrives I let the 
 monkeys unpack it, especially if I know that it contains 
 game. They generally end by upsetting the basket, 
 and then run away crying, ' There's something 
 alive ! ' Once I received a snake in a basket, and I let 
 the monkeys unpack it ; I knew that they had a mortal 
 horror of 'snakes. When they found out what was 
 inside, they flew off as fast and as far as possible, cry- 
 ing out, in their language, ' Murder ! thieves ! ' The 
 parrot talks at them, but they care nothing for old Poll. 
 ' Tiny ' steals her seed, and while she runs after ' Tiny ' 
 ' The Hag ' pulls her tail. ' Tiny ' is very attentive to her 
 old friend. She takes much of what she .steals to ' The 
 Hag's ' cage, and is fond of poking paper through the 
 bars. These things the old monkey tears up, merely to 
 pass away the time."
 
 Abroad. 205 
 
 Professor Cope had a tame monkey, one of the com- 
 mon Capuchin sort. The creature was kept in a cage, 
 or, rather, was supposed to be kept in it; but it had a 
 strong objection to confinement, and never failed to get 
 loose sooner or later. He generally directed his atten- 
 tion to the hinges ; and no matter how firmly they were 
 fixed, the monkey always managed, before long, to 
 extract the staples, pull out the nails, and so open 
 the door at the hinges and not at the latch. Finding 
 that the cage could not hold him, his master had him 
 confined by a strap fastened round his waist, after the 
 manner of monkeys. But the strap proved of no more 
 use than the cage, for the monkey soon contrived to 
 open it. This he did by picking out the threads by 
 which the straps were sewn to the buckles, and so render- 
 ing the fastenings useless. But having rid himself of 
 the strap, he thought that he might apply it to soire 
 practical purpose. Having perceived that some iood 
 had fallen out of his reach, he took the strap, threw it 
 over the morsel of food, and so drew it towards him. 
 
 "A great humble-bee," says Mr. Wood, "that had 
 maimed itself, was pushed into the monkeys' cage. Of 
 course it set up a tremendous buzzing, which instantly 
 drew the attention of the monkeys. They were evi- 
 dently much alarmed at the entrance of such a strange 
 intruder. They approached it with great care, and
 
 206 Half Hours with the Animats. 
 
 evident trepidation. At last, one of them, having well 
 considered the matter, picked up a piece of paper which 
 some one had thrown into the cage, and dextrously 
 twisted it up into a sugar-loaf form. He then carefully 
 approached the humble-bee, which was lying on its 
 back, spinning round and round, and making a great 
 hubbub, and swept it in an instant into the paper-recep- 
 tacle, twisting it up without a moment's hesitation, 
 and then patted it and rolled it about till the poor bee's 
 noise was effectually stopped, by its being mashed into 
 a pulp. And then, gathering courage, the monkey 
 boldly snatched up the paper, and flung it through the 
 bars of the cage." 
 
 There are several sorts of animals, possessing clever- 
 ness in various degrees, among whom there is percep- 
 tible a strong sense of humour. Thus a French traveller, 
 M. Mouhot, speaks of amusing scenes he has witnessed 
 between the monkey and the crocodile, 
 
 " The latter will be seen lying half-asleep on the 
 bank of a river, and is espied by a crowd of monkeys, 
 who inhabit the trees on the bank. They seem to con- 
 sult, to approach, to draw back, and at last to proceed 
 to overt acts of annoyance. If a convenient branch is 
 within reach, a monkey will go along it, will swing him- 
 self down by the end of it, hanging by a hand or a foot, 
 till he can reach to deal the crocodile a slap on the
 
 Abroad. 207 
 
 nose, instantly scrambling up the branch, so as to be 
 far out of the enraged brute's reach. Sometimes, if 
 the branch be not near enough, or sufficient, several 
 monkeys will hang to each other, so as to form a chain, 
 and then, swinging backwards and forwards over the 
 crocodile's head, the lowermost monkey will torment the 
 creature to his heart's content. Sometimes the croco- 
 dile is so far irritated as to open its enormous jaws, and 
 make a snap at the monkey, just missing him. Then 
 are heard screams and chatterings of exultation among 
 the monkeys, and great gambols are executed among 
 the branches. 
 
 Mrs. Bowdich, in the Magazine of Natural History, thus 
 describes a monkey of her acquaintance, 
 
 " He was a native of the Gold Coast, and was of the 
 Diana species. He had been purchased by the cook of 
 the vessel in which I sailed from Africa, and was con- 
 sidered his exclusive property. I had embarked with 
 more than a mere womanly aversion to monkeys, mine 
 was absolute antipathy, and though I often laughed at 
 ' Jack's ' freaks, still I kept out of his way, till a circum- 
 stance brought with it a closer acquaintance, and cured 
 me of my dislike. I was sitting alone on the deck, read- 
 ing, when, in an instant, something jumped upon my 
 shoulders, twisted its tail round my neck, and screamed 
 close to my ears. My consciousness that it was * Jack'
 
 208 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 scarcely relieved me ; but there was no help. I dared 
 not cry for assistance, because I was afraid of him ; and 
 I dared not try to beat him off, for the same reason. I 
 therefore became civil from necessity, and from that 
 moment an alliance between ' Jack ' and me commenced. 
 He gradually loosed his hold, looked into my face, ex- 
 amined my hands and rings with the most minute atten- 
 tion, and soon discovered the biscuit that lay by my side. 
 When I became reconciled to his society, he became a 
 constant source of amusement. Like all other nautical 
 monkeys, he was fond of pulling off the men's caps as 
 they slept, and throwing them into the sea ; of knocking 
 over the parrots' cages, to drink the water as it ran over 
 the deck ; of stealing the carpenter's tools ; in short, of 
 teasing everything and everybody. Whenever the pigs 
 were let out, to take a run on deck, he took his station 
 behind a cask, whence he leaped on the back of one of 
 them as it passed. The nails he stuck in the pig's back 
 to keep himself on, produced a squealing, but ' Jack ' was 
 never thrown. Confinement was the worst punishment 
 he could receive, and when threatened with it, he would 
 cling to me for protection. At night, when about to 
 be sent to bed in an empty hen-coop, he generally hid 
 himself under my shawl, and at last no one but I could 
 put him to rest. He was particularly jealous of the 
 other monkeys on board, and managed to put two of 
 them out of the way. Of course he was scolded and
 
 Abroad. 209 
 
 flogged. But his spite against his own race was mani- 
 fested at another time in a very original way. The men 
 had been painting the ship's side with a streak of white, 
 and being called to dinner, left their brushes and paint 
 on deck. He called a little black monkey to him, who, 
 like the others, immediately crouched to his superior. 
 'Jack ' seized him by the nape of the neck, took the brush, 
 dripping with paint, and covered him with white from 
 head to foot. Both the man at the helm and I burst into 
 a laugh ; upon which ' Jack ' dropped his victim, and 
 scampered up the rigging. The unhappy little beast 
 began licking himself, but I called the steward, who 
 washed him so well with turpentine that all injury was 
 prevented. ' Jack ' was peeping through the bars of 
 the maintop, apparently enjoying the confusion. For 
 three days he remained aloft, fearful of a flogging. At 
 last hunger brought him down. He dropped, from 
 some height, upon my knees, and I could not deliver 
 him up to punishment." 
 
 Mrs. Lee relates that, having annoyed one of the 
 monkeys in the Jardin des Plantes, in Paris, by preventing 
 him from taking the food of one of his companions, and 
 having given him a knock on the paw, the creature 
 never forgave the offence. Whenever she came into 
 the garden, at subsequent times, he would show the 
 greatest rage so soon as he heard her voice. And when,
 
 2io Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 after the lapse of months, she again visited the place, 
 happening to approach too near to his cage, he seized 
 upon her gown, dragged the skirt of it within his bars, 
 and bit a large piece out of it. 
 
 Another monkey showed the same gift of memory, but 
 in a more pleasing way. Mrs. Lee had brought him from 
 Senegambia, and not finding him a pleasant inmate in a 
 European house, she gave him to the Jardin des Plantcs. 
 While she stayed in Paris she paid him frequent visits. 
 When she left, the monkey showed, as the keeper after- 
 wards told her, great disappointment, constantly watch- 
 ing for her return. Two years afterwards she revisited 
 the place, and sought him out, and when she said, 
 " ' Mac,' do you know me ? " he gave a scream of de- 
 light, put both his paws through the bars, stretching 
 them out to her, held his head down to be caressed, 
 uttering a low murmur of pleasure, and showing every 
 sign of delight at the meeting. 
 
 In Mr. Forbes's " Oriental Memoirs" we read, 
 
 " On a shooting party one of my friends killed a 
 female monkey, and carried it to his tent, which was 
 soon surrounded by forty or fifty of the tribe, who made 
 a great noise, and advanced in a menacing manner. 
 When he presented his fowling-piece, they retreated ; 
 but one stood his ground, chattering and menacing in a 
 furious manner. At length he came nearer to the tent-
 
 Abroad. 211 
 
 door, and finding that his threatenings were of no avail, 
 he began a lamentable moaning, and by every expres- 
 sion of grief seemed to beg for the body. It was given 
 to him. He took it up in his arms, eagerly pressed it to 
 him, and carried it off in a sort of triumph to his com- 
 panions." 
 
 An orang-outang, or Great Monkey of Asia, was 
 procured by Captain Methven from the south coast of 
 Borneo. He was put on board the Cczsar, and while left 
 at liberty made no attempt to escape, but when put 
 into confinement, became violent, shaking the rails of 
 his cage, in an effort to break them. Finding that they 
 did not yield, he tried them one by one, and perceiving 
 one to be weaker than the rest, he worked at it unceas- 
 ingly till he had broken it, and then he forced his 
 way out. After several attempts to secure him effec- 
 tually, he was at last allowed to wander freely about the 
 ship, and then he soon became familiar with all the 
 sailors. They often chased him, for fun, about the 
 rigging ; but in dexterity he soon shewed himself their 
 superior. Sometimes he would outstrip his pursuers by 
 mere speed ; and when pressed, he would catch hold of 
 a loose rope, and swing himself out of their reach. At 
 other times he would wait patiently till his pursuers 
 almost reached him, and then suddenly seize a rope 
 which hung near him, and lower himself to the deck
 
 212 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 while they were still on the shrouds or at the mast-head. 
 Sometimes, in a playful humour, swinging by a rope, he 
 would swing within arm's length of his pursuer, and 
 then, dealing him a blow on the face with his hand, 
 would fly rapidly away. While on board ship, he usually 
 slept at the mast-head, wrapping himself in a sail. If a 
 sail was not to be got, he would run off with one of the 
 sailor's jackets. In cold latitudes he suffered much 
 from the weather, coming down from the mast in the 
 morning shivering with cold, and glad to climb into the 
 arms of any of his friends, to get warmth from them. 
 He was generally eager for food, and would follow an 
 acquaintance all over the ship to obtain it. He would 
 eagerly rifle and empty the pockets. He soon became 
 strongly attached to those who used him kindly ; sitting, 
 whenever he could, by their side, and taking their hands 
 to his lips. From the boatswain he learnt to eat with a 
 spoon, and might often be seen at his cabin-door, 
 enjoying his coffee, and seeming quite indifferent to 
 the gaze or the remarks of the bystanders. 
 
 "Next to the boatswain," says Dr. Abel, "I was 
 perhaps his most intimate acquaintance. He would 
 often follow me to the mast-head, when I went there for 
 an hour's quiet reading ; and having satisfied himself 
 that my pockets contained no eatables, he would lie 
 down, and, pulling a topsail over him, would quietly
 
 Abroad. 213 
 
 wait and "watch my movements. On shore his favourite 
 amusement was swinging from the branches of trees, 
 passing from one tree to another, and in climbing over 
 the roofs of houses. While on board ship, he delighted 
 in romping with the ship-boys. To provoke them to a 
 game, he would strike them with his hand in passing, 
 and then, springing away, would engage in a race and a 
 scuffle, in which he used his hands, his feet, and his 
 mouth. Three small monkeys from Java were brought 
 on board ; but of them he took little notice, not treating 
 them as equals, nor condescending to romp with them, as 
 he did with the boys of the ship. The monkeys, how- 
 ever, had evidently a great desire for his company, for 
 whenever they got loose they always found their way 
 to his resting-place, and tried to gain his protection. 
 Once only he showed violent alarm. At the Island of 
 Ascension eight large turtles were brought on board, 
 and so soon as he caught sight of them he climbed 
 with all possible speed to the highest point of the mast 
 that he could reach, and looking down upon the turtles, 
 uttered sounds like the grunting of a pig. After a 
 while he ventured cautiously to descend, but could not 
 be induced to come within many yards of them." 
 
 A red orang-outang exhibited in Edinburgh gave a 
 proof of intelligence and dexterity. His master gave 
 him one day the half of an Orange, a fruit of which he
 
 214 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 was very fond, putting the other half on an upper shelf, 
 out of his reach and sight, a proceeding of which the 
 creature seemed to take no notice. But when his master 
 threw himself on the sofa, and closed his eyes, the 
 orang began to prowl about and to plan. He first 
 came near the sofa, and tried to be sure that his master 
 was really asleep. The man, who was watching him, 
 succeeded in preserving the appearance of slumber. 
 The monkey then ventured to climb up to the shelf, and 
 getting possession of the rest of the orange, quickly 
 devoured it, all but the peel, which he carefully con- 
 cealed in the grate, among some paper and shavings. 
 
 An Indian paper tells the following story, 
 
 " A Madrassee had a monkey which he was very fond 
 of. The man had occasion to go on a journey, and 
 took with him money and jewels, and his chum, the 
 monkey. Some rogues determined to rob him of every- 
 thing he had ; accordingly they lay in wait for him and 
 murdered him. Having secured the money and jewels, 
 they threw the murdered man into a dry well, and 
 having covered the body with twigs and dry leaves, 
 they went home. The monkey, who was on the top of 
 a tree, saw the whole proceedings, and when the mur- 
 derers departed, he came down, and made his way to the 
 tahsildar's house, and by his sighs and moans attracted 
 the attention of that functionary. Inviting the tahsildar
 
 Abroad. 2 1 5 
 
 by dumb signs to follow him, the monkey went to the 
 well and pointed downwards. The tahsildar thereupon 
 got men to go down, and, of course, the body was dis- 
 covered. The monkey then led the men to the place 
 where the jewels and money were buried. He next 
 took them to the bazaars, and as he caught sight of one 
 of the murderers he ran after him, bit him in the leg, 
 and would not let him go till he was secured. In this 
 way all the murderers were caught. The men, it is 
 said, have confessed their crime, and they now stand 
 committed for trial before the Tellicherry Court, at the 
 ensuing session. That monkey ought to be made an 
 inspector of police." 
 
 Many anecdotes have been published of the memory 
 of the Elephant, and of its exhibition of anger, or of 
 gratitude. The variety and frequency of these anec- 
 dotes tend to confirm their truth. That which has 
 been observed only at one time, and in one place, may 
 be doubted ; but if similar relations are offered, from 
 different places, by different persons, the various stones 
 give a probability, and therefore a confirmation, to each 
 other. 
 
 Thus, the narrative of the tailor at Delhi has been 
 known for more than half a century. .He had been in 
 the habit of gratifying an elephant that daily passed by 
 his shop, with an apple, or some other acceptable eat-
 
 216 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 able, till the animal had grown quite accustomed to the 
 gift. But one day, being out of humour, the tailor, 
 when the elephant thrust in its trunk to receive the 
 customary gift, thrust his needle into the proboscis, as 
 a warning to be gone. The creature passed on, disap- 
 pointed, but not forgetting. On its return, passing a 
 pool of dirty water, it filled its trunk, and on coming to 
 the tailor's shop- window, discharged the muddy water 
 over the poor artisan. 
 
 Just such another anecdote is told of another elephant, 
 who was kept in the menagerie at Versailles. A painter, 
 desirous of drawing the creature with its trunk uplifted, 
 desired a boy to encourage the creature to take this 
 posture by throwing, or offering to throw, fruit into his 
 mouth. But being deceived more than once or twice, it 
 grew angry, and, with elephantine understanding, it did 
 not punish the boy, but the painter who employed him. 
 It filled its trunk with water, and discharged it over the 
 paper or canvas on which the painter was trying to 
 delineate it. 
 
 In another case, in the present menagerie at Paris, a 
 sentinel was very careful to warn the spectators not to 
 give the elephant anything to eat. This caused great 
 displeasure in the animal's mind, who soon understood 
 that it was the sentinel that kept food from being given.
 
 Abroad. 217 
 
 One day, filling her trunk with water, she showed her 
 resentment, so soon as he interposed, by discharging 
 over him a shower of water. The spectators laughed 
 loudly, but the sentinel was not to be daunted. He 
 presently renewed his cautions to fresh visitors ; but 
 now the elephant, growing still more angry, seized his 
 musket with her trunk, trod it under her feet, and did 
 not allow him to recover it till she had made it wholly 
 useless. 
 
 Mr. Jesse tells us that he was one day feeding the 
 elephant at Exeter 'Change (now long since demolished) 
 with potatoes, which the animal took eagerly out of his 
 hand. One of them, at last, fell on the floor, just out 
 of the reach of the creature's proboscis. After several 
 fruitless attempts to reach it, he seemed to give a few 
 moments to consideration, and then blew so violently 
 against the potato that it was driven to the opposite 
 wall, and thence rebounding, came within reach of the 
 animal's trunk. 
 
 Buffon quotes from M. Phillipe, who was himself an 
 eye-witness, a description of the workmanlike qualities 
 of an elephant at Goa. A large ship was building in that 
 place, and the elephant was employed to carry down the 
 timber. A heavy beam was bound with a rope, and the 
 rope was then handed to the elephant. Often it was so
 
 2 1 8 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 large that twenty men could scarcely have moved it. But 
 alone, without any direction, the elephant dragged it 
 down to the place where he knew that it was wanted. 
 Some obstructions would present themselves, and at 
 once, like a human being, the elephant would lift the end 
 of his beam over others, or edge it forward, precisely as 
 an experienced carpenter or builder would have done. 
 
 The elephant will also imitate, or from his own con- 
 sciousness adopt, a similar course to that taken by men, in 
 appealing to his strength and power. Thus, some young 
 camels, travelling with the British army in India, came to 
 the river Jumna, and a boat was provided to carry them 
 across. But they were frightened, and refused to go into 
 the boat. An elephant, who was in the expedition, was 
 brought forward, and seemed at once to comprehend the 
 difficulty. He instantly took a posture of command, 
 made a loud trumpeting, shook his ears, roared, struck 
 the ground vehemently, and made the dust rise in clouds. 
 The poor camels, in a fright, were but too glad to rush 
 into the boat to get out of his way. And then at once 
 the elephant resumed his wonted tranquillity, and all was 
 over. 
 
 In one of the Indian campaigns in Scinde and the 
 Punjaub, a body of artillery was proceeding up a hilly 
 road, and the elephants were of great use in drawing
 
 Abroad. 2 1 9 
 
 the heavy guns. On one of the gun-carriages sat an 
 artilleryman, resting himself, in the hot and fatiguing 
 day. Just behind him followed another gun-carriage, 
 drawn also by an elephant. The artilleryman on the first, 
 overcome by the heat, slipped from his seat, and fell 
 upon the road. The second, following, would, appar- 
 ently, pass over and crush him. But the elephant of 
 the second, seeing the danger, and being unable to 
 reach the man, seized the wheel of the carriage he was 
 drawing, and lifted it up, so as to pass over the poor 
 man on the road, and then dropped it on the other side. 
 
 An officer, out upon a field-sport excursion in India, 
 was traversing a jungle, on the back of a favourite 
 elephant. All at once he saw a tiger, crouching for a 
 spring, just a little in advance of the elephant's head. 
 Instantly he shouldered his rifle ; it missed. He threw 
 it on the ground to seize another, when, to his surprise, 
 the elephant picked up the fallen gun with his trunk, 
 and returned it to him, as if aware that it might soon 
 be wanted. 
 
 On another occasion, the same gentleman, when 
 tiger-hunting, perceived that a tiger was lurking in a 
 thick jungle near to him, but from which it was not easy 
 to expel him. The mahout, or driver, was bidden to 
 let the elephant know that he was to beat the bushes
 
 22 o Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 with a branch of a tree. This he did so vigorously 
 that the tiger sprang out, and was shot. The sportsman 
 was so pleased, that he told the mahout to give the 
 elephant some sugar (of which those creatures are very 
 fond) when they got home. The mahout forgot this 
 order ; but in the evening the elephant found out his 
 master, rubbed him with his trunk, and gave him evi- 
 dent signs that the promise was not forgotten. 
 
 On one occasion an elephant was ordered to drag a 
 tree from the place where it lay ; but the weight proved 
 too great for its strength. At last the chains or cords 
 broke, and the elephant was free. It fled, and it was 
 supposed that it had gone into the jungle, and to mix 
 with the wild elephants who wandered there. But in- 
 stead of this, it returned, in an hour or two, and with it 
 came two other elephants ; and these, by their united 
 strength, proved able to perform the task. 
 
 Mr. Swainson gives an anecdote of an elephant who 
 always refused to carry what he deemed too heavy a 
 burden. If more than enough was piled up, he pulled 
 it off with his trunk. One day a quarter-master, irritated 
 at what he deemed perverseness, threw a tent-pole at his 
 head, and walked away. The elephant did not then 
 pursue -him, but meeting him a few days after, on the
 
 Abroad. 221 
 
 public road, he lifted him up into a large tamarind-tree, 
 and left him to get down how he could. 
 
 Another elephant, while passing through London, 
 was followed by a man who took hold of his tail. He 
 resented the indignity by turning round, seizing the 
 man with his trunk, and pressing him up against some 
 iron rails, from which he was only released by the 
 keeper's interference. 
 
 The Bristol Times avouches the truth of the following 
 narrative : 
 
 "A few days ago a fine Asiatic elephant was landed 
 at Southampton, and purchased by Mr. A. Fairgrieve. 
 It had been shipped at Bombay, and had been placed 
 under the care of a Sumatran named Rainee Jhandegar, 
 to whom the creature was particularly attached, and who 
 had brought it into perfect subjection. During the 
 voyage, for the first few days everything went on satis- 
 factorily; but when bad weather came, a spirit of in- 
 subordination appeared among the crew. Some of 
 them, contemplating mutiny, used to meet near the 
 wheel-house on the main deck, close to the elephant 
 and to Rainee. There they talked over their plans. 
 The Sumatran feigned to be asleep ; but he listened to 
 what the mutineers were saying. He heard them plan 
 the murder of the captain and the chief of the crew ;
 
 222 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 and he heard that the attempt was to be made that 
 night. It seemed necessary to warn the captain ; but 
 how to do it he knew not, for it would have been 
 necessary to pass through the mutineers, who would not 
 have hesitated to murder any one who seemed about to 
 give an alarm. He took the only course possible. He 
 set the elephant at liberty. Springing into the midst of 
 the mutineers, and giving a sign to the elephant, the 
 creature laid about it with its trunk, and the surprised 
 sailors were quickly prostrated on the deck, wounded, 
 and calling for help, and for mercy. The captain, hear- 
 ing the noise, was soon in the midst of them, and Rainee 
 explained what had occurred. The mutineers were at 
 once placed in irons, and order was restored. During 
 the same voyage the elephant performed other services. 
 Once, during a heavy gale, he saw a man slipping off 
 the bulwarks, and saved him from a watery grave by 
 seizing hold of his jacket. On another occasion, an 
 angry mastiff was flying at the throat of the mate ; when 
 the elephant, taking hold of him with his trunk, hurled 
 him over the side of the ship into the sea. 
 
 In 1869, at Mongghyr, in India, a railway-train ap- 
 proached a mango-tope, in which about seventy elephants 
 were stationed. This unusual sight, the red lights, the 
 smoke, and the noise, produced a terrible commotion 
 among the poor brutes, who all attempted to break
 
 Abroad. 223 
 
 away from their fastenings. One of the largest and 
 strongest succeeded in breaking loose, and he rushed 
 forward to oppose the approaching enemy. He 
 mounted the line just as the train came up he 
 charged it with head and tusks ; but the power of 
 steam and machinery was too great. He was knocked 
 down and killed, but the train was thrown off the line, 
 and eleven carriages were capsized into a ditch. The 
 injuries to the passengers were not many. 
 
 Sir Emerson Tennant mentions an incident which 
 occurred to him in Ceylon. 
 
 " One evening, while riding in the vicinity of Kandy, 
 through a jungle, my horse showed some alarm at a 
 sound which approached us, and which consisted in a 
 cry of ' Urmph ! urmph /' in a hoarse and dissatisfied 
 tone. Suddenly we came upon a tame elephant, who 
 was labouring painfully to carry a heavy beam of timber, 
 which he balanced across his tusks ; but the pathway 
 being narrow, he was forced to bend his head to allow 
 it to pass end-ways, and the trouble this gave him called 
 forth the noise and grumbling which had alarmed us. 
 On seeing us halt, the elephant raised his head, looked 
 at us, and then flung down the timber, and forced him- 
 self backward among the brushwood so as to leave a 
 passage, of which he expected us to avail ourselves. 
 My horse still hesitated, and the elephant, observing
 
 224 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 this, thrust himself still deeper into the jungle, en- 
 couraging- us to come on. .Still the horse trembled, 
 and again the elephant wedged himself still farther in 
 among the trees, and waited impatiently for us to pass 
 him. When the horse had at last done so, I looked 
 back, and saw the sagacious creature stoop and take 
 up again his heavy burden, balancing it on his tusks, 
 and resuming his way, snorting, as before, his discon- 
 tented remonstrance." 
 
 In Pondicherry, in the East Indies, an elephant, 
 whose keeper was for a short time absent, was amusing 
 himself while waiting, when a man who had committed 
 a theft, and was pursued by the officers, and by a crowd 
 of people, threw himself upon the protection of this 
 powerful animal, creeping under his belly. The ele- 
 phant seemed pleased with this mark of confidence, and 
 seemed at once to take the fugitive under his care. He 
 raised his trunk in a threatening manner, and showed 
 himself so determined in the fugitive's defence that 
 neither the crowd, nor even his keeper, who entered 
 into the strife, could prevail upon him to give up the 
 man. The contest continued for a long time, till at 
 last the governor, hearing of it, came to the spot, and 
 was so much struck by the generous zeal of the animal 
 that he pardoned the criminal, and, with the keeper's 
 help, made the elephant understand that the man was
 
 Abroad. 225 
 
 safe. The pardoned offender, in an ecstacy of grati- 
 tude, embraced the trunk of the elephant, who ap-. 
 parently was so well satisfied that he became perfectly 
 quiet, and went away with his keeper as placidly as if 
 nothing had happened. 
 
 The Baron de Lauriston relates that when an epi- 
 demic disorder was raging at Lucknow, and the road to 
 the palace was covered with the sick and dying, the 
 nabob one day came out of the palace, seated on his 
 elephant. His servants made no attempt to clear the 
 road, or to prevent the poor sufferers from being trodden 
 under foot. But the elephant, of his own accord, took 
 thought for this. He lifted some of them out of the 
 path with his trunk, and among the others he stepped 
 with so much care and caution that none of them, ulti- 
 mately, were injured. 
 
 Mr. Forbes, in his "Oriental Memoirs," says of the 
 elephant on which he was accustomed to ride, 
 
 "Nothing could exceed the sagacity, docility, and 
 affection of this noble quadruped. If I stopped to 
 enjoy a prospect, he remained perfectly immovable 
 until my sketch was finished. If I wished for ripe 
 mangoes, growing out of the common reach, he would 
 select the most fruitful branch, and breaking it off with 
 
 15
 
 226 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 his trunk, give it to his driver to be handed to me. 
 Any part of it given to himself he accepted with a 
 salaam, raising his trunk three times above his head, 
 and after expressing his thanks by a murmuring noise. 
 If a bough obstructed the howdah in which I sat, he 
 twisted his trunk round it and broke it off; and often 
 would he gather a leafy branch as a fan, to wave around 
 us with his trunk. He generally paid a visit to the 
 tent-door during our breakfast, where he always received 
 some sugar-candy or fruit. No spaniel could be more 
 innocent or playful, or fonder of those who took notice 
 of him, than this noble creature." 
 
 A female elephant which, some years since, was kept 
 at the Duke of Devonshire's villa, at Chiswick, showed 
 both great docility and much cleverness. 6he had a 
 house of large dimensions, and a paddock of consider- 
 able extent. She was thus well provided for, and she 
 was not backward in showing herself sensible of the 
 kind treatment she received. When called by her 
 keeper, she would instantly come out of her house, and 
 take up a broom, ready to do his bidding in sweeping 
 the grass or the paths. Or, if bidden, she would follow 
 him with a pail or a watering-pot. Her reward was 
 generally a carrot and some water. If a bottle of soda- 
 water was given to her, she would hold it against the 
 ground with her foot, while with her trunk she gradually
 
 Abroad. 227 
 
 twisted out the cork, then reversing the bottle so as to 
 empty the contents into her proboscis, delivering the 
 empty bottle to her keeper, and then discharging from 
 her proboscis the soda-water into her mouth. Her 
 affection for her keeper was most evident. If he was 
 absent for more than a few hours, she became restless, 
 and shewed her anxiety by cries. At last the English 
 climate told upon her, and she died, at the age of 
 twenty-nine years, of something resembling that which 
 in human beings is called pulmonary consumption. 
 
 Mr. Wood says, 
 
 " One of my friends insulted, in some way, one of 
 the elephants at the Zoological Gardens, I believe, by 
 offering an apple and then taking it away ; or some 
 other slight. The elephant shewed no resentment, and 
 my friend went away. He strolled round the gardens, 
 and presently came back again, and was going towards 
 the elephants, when one of the keepers told him to 
 keep out of the way of the large elephant, for it had 
 got a heap of stones and brick-bats ready for him, and 
 if he did not want to have them on his head, he had 
 better keep out of the creature's way. He inquired a 
 little further, and found that the elephant had really 
 piled up six or seven large bricks or stones in a con- 
 venient place, and would probably have sent them upon 
 his head if he had not avoided showing himself."
 
 228 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 At Travancore, in the year 1811, a lady living with 
 her husband was astonished to see an elephant, unat- 
 tended, march into the court -yard of the fort, carrying 
 in his trunk a box, evidently of no small weight. This 
 he deposited in a suitable place, and went his way. He 
 soon returned with another, and a third, and a fourth ; 
 continuing till he had formed a pile, arranged in excel- 
 lent order. It turned out that the Rajah of Travancore 
 had died in the night, and the English resident, for 
 greater security, had removed the more valuable part of 
 his possessions to the fort adjacent ; and the elephant 
 performed the part of a gigantic and careful porter, 
 acting, from his own consciousness, with the greatest 
 prudence and foresight. 
 
 In another case an elephant was frequently left in 
 charge of a baby, while the mother went about some 
 necessary avocations ; and no nurse could have been 
 more careful or watchful over the little creature. The 
 child, with the usual restlessness of infancy, would soon 
 begin crawling about and getting into danger, and the 
 elephant would, with care and tenderness, lift it into a 
 better position, tending it with almost a mother's care, 
 and giving it back, at last, unharmed and safe. 
 
 In a similar case an elephant took such a fancy to a 
 little child as never to be quite comfortable except when
 
 Abroad. 229 
 
 the baby was within sight. The nurse would often take 
 the child out of its cradle, and place it near to the 
 elephant. At length he became so accustomed to this 
 that he would hardly eat his food unless the child was 
 near. When the baby slept, he would drive away the 
 flies ; and if it was fretful, he would rock the cradle till 
 it fell asleep. 
 
 Daniel Wilson, Bishop of Calcutta, says that "an 
 elephant belonging to an engineer-officer in his diocese 
 had a disease in his eyes, and had for three days been 
 completely blind. His owner asked Dr. Webb, a physi- 
 cian intimate with the bishop, if he could do anything for 
 the relief of the animal. Dr. Webb replied that he was 
 willing to try on one of the eyes the effect of nitrate of 
 silver, which was a remedy commonly used for similar 
 diseases of the human eye. The animal was accordingly 
 made to lie down, and when the nitrate of silver was 
 applied, uttered a terrific scream at the acute pain which 
 it occasioned. But the effect of the application was 
 wonderful, for the sight was in a great degree restored, 
 and the elephant could partially see. The doctor was 
 in consequence ready to operate similarly on the other 
 eye on the following day. The animal, when he was 
 brought out and heard the doctor's voice, lay down of 
 himself, placed his head quietly on one side, curled up 
 his trunk, drew in his breath, like a human being about
 
 230 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 to endure a painful operation, heaved a sigh of relief 
 when it was over, and then, by motions of his trunk and 
 other gestures, gave evident signs of wishing to express 
 his gratitude. Nothing could more plainly show memory, 
 understanding, and reasoning." 
 
 The two following stories are of a similar character : 
 
 During one of the wars in India, many Frenchmen 
 had an opportunity of observing one of the elephants 
 that had received a flesh wound from a cannon-ball. 
 After having been twice or thrice conducted to the 
 hospital, where he extended himself to be dressed, he 
 afterwards used to go alone. The surgeon did whatever 
 he thought necessary, applying even fire to the wound ; 
 and though the pain made the animal often utter the 
 most plaintive groans, he never expressed any other 
 token than that of gratitude to this person, who by 
 momentary torments endeavoured to relieve him, and in 
 the end effected his cure. 
 
 In the last war in India, a young elephant received a 
 violent wound in its head, the pain of which rendered it 
 so frantic and ungovernable that it was found impossible 
 to persuade the animal to have the part dressed. When- 
 ever any one approached, it ran off with fury, and would 
 suffer no person to come within several yards of it. The 
 man who had the care of it at length hit upon a contriv-
 
 Abroad. 231 
 
 ance for securing it. By a few words and signs he gave 
 the mother of the animal sufficient intelligence of what 
 he wanted. The sensible creature immediately seized her 
 young one with her trunk, and held it firmly down, though 
 groaning with agony, white the surgeon completely 
 dressed the wound ; and she continued to perform this 
 service every day till the wound was healed. 
 
 Two very young elephants were brought from Ceylon 
 into Holland. For the convenience of the transit it was 
 found necessary to separate them which was not effected 
 without difficulty. From Holland they were conveyed 
 to Paris, where a spacious dwelling had been prepared 
 for them. It was divided into two compartments, which 
 communicated with each other by a door. The whole 
 was enclosed by a strong wooden paling. On their 
 arrival, they were taken to this habitation the male 
 arriving first. Immediately on entering his dwelling, 
 he began a close scrutiny, examining every beam and 
 trying the strength of every fastening. When he came 
 to the door which connected the compartments, he soon 
 discovered that it was fastened only by a single sliding 
 bolt, which he at once lifted up, opened the door, and 
 went into the other compartment, where he ate his break- 
 fast. Presently the female arrived, who had only been 
 separated from him, months before, with great trouble. 
 The joy with which the two now met was hardly to be
 
 232 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 described. Running to each other, they uttered loud 
 cries of delight, blpwing the air from their trunks with 
 a noise that shook the building. Their ears moved 
 rapidly ; their trunks were intertwined, and then thrown 
 round each other, and then applied to the ears, and 
 carried to the mouth. The male showed his ecstasy 
 by shedding abundance of tears. When their delight 
 had thus spent itself, they were allowed to have their 
 dwelling in common ; and their evident attachment 
 interested all beholders. 
 
 We have not written a "Natural History," or the 
 hundredth part of one. Our object has merely been to 
 direct the reader's attention to a few facts in that history, 
 which are interesting in themselves, and have an obvious 
 bearing on questions which are often now-a-days 
 brought into discussion. 
 
 Our subject has been, the existence of mind, of soul, 
 and spirit, in the animal creation. And while we have 
 been compiling the preceding pages, a fresh testimony 
 has been given by a pen which has often, in past days, 
 dealt with these subjects. 
 
 The Duke of Argyll, in a recent paper in a London 
 periodical, gives three instances of "Instinct" which had 
 come under his notice during the preceding Autumn.
 
 Abroad. 233 
 
 "A pair of birds, known as the Dipper, or water-ousel, 
 had built their nest at Inverary, in a hole in the wall 
 of a small tunnel, constructed to carry a rivulet under 
 the walks of a pleasure-ground. The season was one 
 of great drought, and the rivulet, during the whole time 
 of incubation, and of the growth of the young in 
 the nest, was almost entirely dry. One of the nest- 
 lings, when almost fully fledged, was taken out of the 
 nest, by the hand, for examination ; an operation which 
 so much alarmed the others that they darted out of the 
 hole, and ran and fluttered down the tunnel towards its 
 mouth. At that point a considerable pool of water had 
 survived the drought, and lay in the path of the fugitives. 
 One of them stumbled into the pool. Never before 
 could he have seen water. When he touched it, there 
 was a moment of pause, as if the creature were surprised. 
 Then, instantly, there seemed to wake within it the 
 sense of its inherited powers. Down it dived ; and the 
 action of its wings under the water was a beautiful 
 exhibition of that peculiar adaptation which belongs to 
 the wings of most of the diving-birds. The young bird 
 was lost to sight among some weeds, and so long did it 
 remain under water that I feared it must be drowned. 
 But in due time it re-appeared, and was recaptured and 
 replaced in the nest. 
 
 " Later in the season, I observed, on a secluded lake, 
 a Dun- diver, or female of the red-breasted Mergauser,
 
 234 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 with her brood of young" ones. On giving chase, we 
 soon found that the young ones, though not above a 
 fortnight old, had such extraordinary powers of swim- 
 ming and diving that it was almost impossible to 
 capture them. The distances they went under water, 
 and the unexpected places in which they emerged, 
 baffled all our efforts. And yet it was but two weeks 
 before that time when these little things had been, each 
 of them, coiled inside the shell of an egg ! 
 
 "A third case was of a different kind. Walking along 
 the side of a river, I came suddenly upon a wild-duck, 
 whose young were just out. Springing from under the 
 bank, she fluttered out into the stream, with loud cries, 
 and with all the struggles, the flapping, and the 
 wriggling of a badly-wounded bird. When she found 
 that she could not induce us to follow her, she made 
 resounding flaps on the surface of the water; all these 
 efforts having the same object to draw our attention 
 away from her young." 
 
 The Duke then argues, with great force, that there 
 was nothing in either of these cases which could have 
 been learnt, or gained by experience. Instinct, an intui- 
 tive knowledge or perception born with these creatures, 
 was the sole cause of these movements or actions. 
 
 It is useful, and serves to excite a fresh interest 
 in the question, thus to be reminded of old facts
 
 Abroad. 235 
 
 by new proofs and instances. But such incidents 
 as these are familiar to all students of Natural History ; 
 and it is almost like advancing fresh evidence in 
 favour of the Solar System, to give us proofs now-a- 
 days of the reality and wonderful character of that 
 " Instinct," which is inherent from the moment of birth, 
 in a vast number of the creatures that we find, both on 
 the land and in the water. 
 
 But can we be content with perceiving and recog- 
 nising such a fact as this, without involuntarily going 
 forward to certain natural conclusions ? From our 
 infancy we have been accustomed to the obvious ques- 
 tion, " He that planted the ear, shall He not hear ? 
 He that formed the eye, shall He not see? " 
 
 It has been admitted now for a long time past, by 
 earnest thinkers, even of a sceptical turn of mind, that 
 Paley's example of the watch affords a valid basis for an 
 argument. A traveller, passing over a heath, finds a 
 watch, in motion, which has been dropped, or left there by 
 some preceding passenger. He takes it up, examines it, 
 discovers its character, its purpose ; and assuredly he will 
 never be brought to believe that " it grew there," or 
 came there by virtue of any " law " of " development," 
 or of any other kind. Half an hour's reflection, or less, 
 will bring him to an undoubting conclusion that this 
 little machine, with its complex contrivances, its obvious 
 purpose, and its regular performance, had a Maker.
 
 236 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 That it made itself, or came into existence, slowly, by 
 some law of development, he will see, in the course of a 
 few minutes' reflection, to be mere talk without mean- 
 ing. Even if it could be imagined, for a moment, that 
 certain pieces of steel, of gold, and of other metals, 
 could be strangely thrown together, it would be utterly 
 inconceivable that, even in a thousand centuries, those 
 pieces of metal could form themselves into a watch. 
 And then, lifting up his eyes as the twilight and the 
 darkness came on, and passing from the lowest to the 
 highest from the smallest to the largest he would 
 fix his thoughts on that other watch, that great Solar 
 System, which proceeds on laws as intelligible and 
 as well-known as the diminutive machine which he now 
 holds within his fingers. The planets, with the sun as 
 their centre, move much as the watch moves, but with 
 an immenseness of area, and a certainty of action, 
 to which the watch can only be compared as the eye of 
 an ant may be compared with the eye of an archangel. 
 Thus, then, whether the observer looks above or below, 
 to the wondrously-constructed cell of the bee or web 
 of the spider, or to the immensity of the higher heavens, 
 with its countless zones of solar systems, everything 
 tells him alike of one wondrous, incomprehensible, and 
 overwhelming Power, the Creator, Upholder, and Gover- 
 nor of all things, whose will called everything visible 
 and invisible into being; and by whose will they con-
 
 Abroad. 237 
 
 tinue, so long, and only so long, as His pleasure shall 
 ordain. 
 
 Mind cannot proceed from anything less than mind. 
 A mouse, or an oyster, renewed year by year, and 
 proceeding, in endless succession, through ten thousand 
 years, will never rise to be a parrot, or a pointer-dog. 
 The simple story told to us in the first chapter of 
 Genesis is not only to be received because it is the 
 Word of God, but also as the only credible and the only 
 intelligible account we have of the rise of " The Animal 
 Creation." " God made the beast of the earth after his 
 kind, and everything that creepeth upon the earth after 
 his kind, and God saw that it was good." 
 
 The words of the Lord Jesus were not idle words ; no 
 one knew better than He, how absolutely true they were. 
 " Consider the lilies of the field; I tell you that Solomon 
 in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." We 
 try to appreciate and understand these words, and we 
 soon discover that they are true, but that their truth 
 surpasses our understanding. " There is not a fish that 
 swims in the sea whose scales are not more beautifully 
 woven than any texture ever fabricated by man. The 
 variety, too, is endless. The fibres in the scale of a 
 pike are quite different from those in the scale of a carp 
 or a perch, while these latter equally differ from those 
 of all other fishes. The dust on the wing of a butterfly 
 proves, in the microscope, to be a number of exquisitely-
 
 238 Half Hours with the Animals. 
 
 formed feathers, exhibiting the most delicate and admi- 
 rable arrangement in all their parts. The moth, again, 
 has a plumage wholly different from that of the butter- 
 fly ; and each species has feathers differently formed 
 from all others. The sting of a bee or of a gnat is 
 found to be formed with surprising beauty, and with the 
 most exact regularity. There is a polish without flaw 
 or blemish, ending in a point too fine to be discerned. 
 The silkworm's web is found to be perfectly smooth and 
 shining, and every thread equal and of astonishing fine- 
 ness. The spider's web- is still more delicate. The 
 minutest hair and fibre on a flea, a gnat, or a fly, is 
 smooth and beautifully polished ; in fact, turn where we 
 will, beauty, order, and perfection meet our gaze. 
 Myriads of creatures fill the air, the sea, and the forest, 
 whose bodies, or wings, or limbs, are embellished as 
 with jewels : they are coloured with azure, green, red, 
 or vermilion ; yet in all there is nothing gaudy or 
 incongruous. Truly must the student of nature exclaim 
 with Eliphaz, ' God doeth great things and unsearch- 
 able; even marvellous things without number.' " ("Essays 
 on the Bible," Essay VI.) 
 
 Still, mind claims pre-eminence over matter. Re- 
 garded merely as a machine, the man, the eagle, the 
 humming-bird, the moth all are "fearfully and wonder- 
 fully made." But that which dwells within the outward 
 frame is still more wonderful, and much more interesting.
 
 Abroad. 239 
 
 " God created man in His own image, and said, Let 
 them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over 
 the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over every 
 creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." This 
 dominion was not merely that of the strong over the 
 weak. The event has proved that the " dominion " was 
 not a supremacy of force, but of something higher. 
 
 Those creatures which are most useful and most 
 interesting to man such as the horse and the dog 
 show, in the most explicit manner, their willingness, 
 their desire, to be his servants-, and, as far as they may 
 be, his friends. Others, such as the ox and the sheep, 
 resign themselves willingly to the condition in which 
 God has placed them, and readily occupy the pastures 
 which man prepares for them. A third class the birds 
 like the first, gladly occupy places in man's family, and 
 rejoice to receive his notice, and to be valued by him. 
 
 We ought not to overlook these facts, or to disregard 
 them. The preceding pages have been filled with a 
 large number of instances of them ; and they all tend 
 one way. They all teach us to exclaim, with the 
 Psalmist, " O Lord, how manifold are Thy works ! in 
 wisdom hast Thou made them all ; the earth is full of 
 Thy riches. . . Thou sendest forth Thy Spirit, they are 
 created ; and Thou renewest the face of the earth. The 
 glory of the Lord shall endure for ever; the Lord shall 
 rejoice in His works."
 
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