MEEEY'S BOOK 
 
 OF 
 
 ANIMALS. 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 UNCLE MERRY. 
 
 NEW-YORK: 
 H. DAYTON, No. 36 HOWARD STREET. 
 
 INDIANAPOLIS, IND. ! ASHER & CO. 
 
 1860. 
 
(Mir. Libraiy, uc Sante Craz t999 
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1859, by 
 H. DAYTON, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the 
 Southern District of New York. 
 
 J. J..RBKD, PRINTER &. STERKOTVPER, 
 43 & 45 Centre Street. 
 
0-S 
 
 COSFTEFTS. 
 
 PAOH 
 
 The Shepherd Boy, 13 
 
 The Pet Goat, 19 
 
 Harry Hatchet's Dog, 23 
 
 The Polar Bear, 30 
 
 The Names of Animals, 33 
 
 A Dead Shot, 85 
 
 Think of It, 37 
 
 Hunting Deer in the Highlands, 38 
 
 A Monkey's Memory, v 41 
 
 The Leopard 46 
 
 The Shepherd's Dog, 49 
 
 Peculiarities of the Reindeer, 50 
 
 The Coach Dog, 52 
 
 The Rhinoceros, 59 
 
 Anecdotes of the Crocodile, 64 
 
 Gratias the Caterpillar, 69 
 
 Theda's Pussey, 76 
 
 Elephants How Taken and Managed, 79 
 
 The Foolish Mouse, 83 
 
 Men vs. Animals, 84 
 
 Monkey Luck, : 87 
 
 The Royal Tiger, 88 
 
 A Visit to a Menagerie, 90 
 
 Hippopotamus Hunting 99 
 
 A Spidor Drowned Out, ; 106 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 PACK 
 
 The Ichneumon Fly, 107 
 
 Deacon Short's Cattle, 109 
 
 Communication of Ideas Among Cattle, 112 
 
 Dr. Dunlop and the Tiger, 114 
 
 Duelling Among Musquitoes, 115 
 
 The Rabbit, 116 
 
 TheLizzaYd, 117 
 
 The Whale, f 120 
 
 Rats, 122 
 
 The Pet Chicken, 129 
 
 The Pangolin, 133 
 
 Gazelles and Gazelle Hunting, 135 
 
 The Elephant, 139 
 
 The Traveled Monkey, 147 
 
 The Camel, 165 
 
 The Hamster or Marmot, 167 
 
 My Squirrel 173 
 
 The Grey Squirrel, 178 
 
 The Lion, 179 
 
 The Elk 188 
 
 How Apes Catch Crabs and Crabs Catch Apes, 192 
 
 The Bears and Bees, 196 
 
 The Giraffe 197 
 
 The Witch Rabbit, 207 
 
 The Rabbits, 211 
 
 The Good Dog and Bad Boy, 213 
 
 A Remarkable Cat., 216 
 
 The Homed Owl, 218 
 
 Reynard, The Filibuster, .' 220 
 
 The Opossum, 224 
 
 The Lynx, 227 
 
 The Ages of Animals, 229 
 
 The Ibex, 231 
 
 Don't Kill the Butterflies 233 
 
 The Horse,.. . 237 
 
Turning out the Sheep, 13 
 
 Lost on the Mountain, 17 
 
 The Pet Goat, 19 
 
 The Pets, 24 
 
 Our Rover, 26 
 
 The Playmate, 28 
 
 The Polar Bear 30 
 
 Sporting Fish, 35 
 
 The Deer, 38 
 
 Antelopes, 39 
 
 A Knowing Monkey, 41 
 
 The Leopard, 4fl 
 
 The Reindeer, 50 
 
 The Coach Dog, ' ; 52 
 
 The Rhinoceros, 59 
 
 The Two Horned Rhinoceros, 62 
 
 The Crocodile, 65 
 
 Gratias the Caterpillar, 69 
 
 The Chrysalis, 73 
 
 Theda's Pussey, 76 
 
 Puss Playing Ball 77 
 
 Tiger Hunt with Elephants, 78 
 
 Trapping Elephants, 81 
 
 "The Foolish Mouse, 83 
 
 Cats-Paw, 87 
 
 The Royal Tiger, ." 88 
 
 The Menagerie, 90 
 
 The Leopard, 91 
 
Vlll ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Hyena, 02 
 
 The Bear,. 93 
 
 The Playing Monkey, 94 
 
 The Elephant, 95 
 
 The Zebra, 97 
 
 The Camel Leopard, 97 
 
 The Ostrich, 98 
 
 Hippopotamus, 99 
 
 Spearing Hippopotami,. 103 
 
 Ichneumon Fly, 107 
 
 Deacon Short's Cattle, 109 
 
 The Whale, 120 
 
 The Pet Chicken, 129 
 
 The Pangolin, 132 
 
 The Gazelle, 135 
 
 The Elephant, 139 
 
 The Encounter The Rescue, 145 
 
 A Traveled Monkey, 147 
 
 The Camel, 165 
 
 The Grey Squirrel, 177 
 
 The Lion, 179 
 
 The Elk, 189 
 
 The Giraffe, 197 
 
 Witch Rabbit, 209 
 
 Pet Rabbits, 212 
 
 The Dog, 215 
 
 The Cat, 216 
 
 Reynard, the Filibuster, 220 
 
 The Fox, 222 
 
 The Chase, 223 
 
 The Opossum, 224 
 
 The Lynx, 227 
 
 The Ibex, .231 
 
 Don't Kill the Butterflies, 233 
 
 The Horse, 237 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 E have had many a pleasant " chat n with our 
 young friends about matters and things in gene- 
 ral, and some in particular. We now invite them, one 
 and all, to a special chat about the animal creation 
 not a brutal chat, but a chat about brutes. Come, let 
 us ramble in the fields, and in the woods, let us walk 
 about the farm-yards, and peep into the menageries and 
 museums, and see what we can find to interest us. 
 
 The animals the beasts of the field and the forest 
 were created before man ; but they were brought to 
 Adam to be named. He was their acknowledged lord. 
 Adam must have known a great deal of the characters 
 and habits of the animals, to be able to give them ap- 
 propriate names. How did he becom'e acquainted with 
 them so soon ? 
 
 Noah, too, must have understood the animals very 
 well, to be able to provide for so many, and take care 
 of them a whole year, in his great floating menagerie. 
 
X PBEF ACE. 
 
 Solomon is said, also, to have studied and written 
 much about the beasts. The books he wrote about them 
 were not preserved. They are all lost. How much 
 would not the world now give to see one of those 
 books. Great and wise men have always loved to study 
 the works of God the trees the animals the stars. 
 There is no study more interesting than that of animals. 
 We never can become acquainted with the whole of 
 them, perhaps ; but we can always be learning some- 
 thing about them. New wonders will be always meet- 
 ing our eyes, as we read and study. And we shall be 
 constantly gaining new and enlarged ideas of the wis- 
 dom, power, and goodness of God. 
 
 The study of the animal creation is not only interest- 
 ing, but very useful, to young persons. They ought to 
 learn, as early as possible, all they can about the 
 characters and habits, not only of those domestic ani- 
 mals which they have about them at home, but of those 
 around in the fields and forests, with which they often 
 have much to do. Without this knowledge they can- 
 not derive as much advantage as they otherwise might 
 do, from the tame and useful animals, nor guard them- 
 selves wisely from the injuries which the wild, or veno- 
 mous might inflict upon them. It is by knowing what 
 animals are, and observing their habits, that men are 
 
PREFACE. XI 
 
 able to manage them, train them to be submissive and 
 useful, and turn them to profitable account. It is hoped 
 that all our young friends will become interested in this 
 study, and improve every opportunity to pursue it. In 
 the present little work, we may tell them some things 
 which many of them know already. But we think there 
 are few of them who will not learn something new, and 
 some things that will amuse and please them. We think, 
 too, that mpst of them will eagerly ask for " more." 
 
THE SHEPHERD BOY. 
 
 THERE was once a little boy named Dick. He 
 took care of his father 's sheep. His father was 
 a farmer in the neighborhood of Paris. One day, 
 
14 MERRY'S BOOK. 
 
 a little boy, one of his schoolmates, came to pass 
 the day with him on the mountain. 
 
 This was little Albert. He was very fond of 
 Dick, and he was glad that his parents had given 
 him permission to pass a day with his friend, and 
 see how he took care of his sheep. 
 
 After they had walked about and played till they 
 were tired, they sat down under a shady tree to 
 rest, and Dick told Albert a story of what happen- 
 ed to him when he first began to look after the 
 sheep. 
 
 One day, when his father thought he had been a 
 particularly good boy, he gave him a little lamb for 
 his own, and said to him, " Dick, you have taken such 
 good care of my sheep, that it is but fair I should 
 repay you. This lamb is your own property put 
 a collar and bell about it, and take care not to let it 
 get lost." 
 
 Dick thanked his father. He was delighted with 
 his little lamb : he caressed it and it shared his 
 luncheon with him. 
 
 One day, when Dick as usual drove his flock to 
 pasture on the mountain, after having eaten a part 
 of the provision which he had in his basket, he fell 
 asleep. The poor child did not look forward to the 
 misfortunes which threatened him. While he was 
 asleep, Ba-ba, for that was the name he had given 
 his favorite, in browsing and running about, got 
 over to the other side of the mountain. It was 
 
OP ANIMALS. 15 
 
 lost its cries could not be beard it looked for its 
 master, and the more it sought him, the farther it 
 strayed from the right way.* Poor Dick awoke, he 
 called Ba-ba, but it did not come ; he rubbed his 
 eyes to try to discover it, but all his searching was 
 in vain ; his misfortune was certain. " Oh dear," 
 cried he, " what shall I tell my father, who has 
 given me this lamb ? how careless he will think I 
 have been of his present, which I really prized so 
 highly. And you, poor Ba-ba, what can have be- 
 come of you ! You will die of hunger, and it will 
 be my fault." And poor Dick could not help cry- 
 ing bitterly. 
 
 Suddenly he saw an old woman approaching him, 
 who could scarcely walk, she was so tired. Dick 
 was so full of his own trouble, that he did not at 
 first pay her much attention ; but presently she 
 spoke to him, and said, " Good-day, my good shep- 
 herd, you seem afflicted, and I am in trouble myself, 
 for I have lost my way ; I have been traveling for 
 six hours, and I have had no breakfast, and it is so 
 hot that I am dying with thirst." 
 
 On hearing these words Dick went to his basket. 
 " There, good mother," said he, " take this piece of 
 cake and these cherries ; I am very glad I had not 
 eaten up all my luncheon wait a moment." 
 
 He then ran to a brook which was at the foot ot 
 the hill, and came back out of breath, with his little 
 tin mug full of water, and he came very gently that 
 he need not spill it. 
 
16 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 " How kind and good you are I" said she, when 
 she had drank it. Now tell me what you were cry- 
 ing for when I came up to you ?" 
 
 Then Dick told her his trouble. 
 
 " My son," said the old woman, " dry your tears, 
 for I know where your lamb is, and " 
 
 " Is it possible," cried Dick, hugging the old wo- 
 man, " is it possible that I shall see again my poor 
 little Ba-ba ? Tell me quickly where she is, that I 
 may run after her. Ah, my good mother, how 
 much I am obliged to you ; where is it, where is my 
 poor little lamb ?" 
 
 " My son," said the old woman, " I will lead you 
 there, but wait till I am a little rested." 
 
 " But tell me, mother, only tell me, and I can go 
 myself." 
 
 " No, no, I will go with you." 
 
 Dick was much vexed at being obliged to wait, 
 but he knew how to show the proper respect to old 
 age. He did not insist any further, but sat down 
 near her and waited till she was ready to set out. 
 
 " Here, my son," said she, " I should be glad to 
 make acquaintance with you ; your kind heart in- 
 terests me. I am very old I know a great many 
 things, and I may be useful to you in the course of 
 your life. What is your father's name ?" 
 
 " Michael." 
 
 " Ah, I know him ; he is a good man ; and your 
 name ?" 
 
OP ANIMALS. 
 
 17 
 
 " Dick, ma'am. But, my good ma'am, it seems 
 to me that you do not look hot now, and we might 
 set out." 
 
 LOST ON THE MOUNTAIN. 
 
 " Have patience, little boy, you have better legs 
 than mine." 
 
 " Pardon me, my good mother, I will wait as long 
 .as you please." 
 
18 M ERRY J S B OOK 
 
 " Oh, well," said she, getting up, " I will make an 
 exertion for your sake, you are so gentle and pa- 
 tient ; give me your arm." 
 
 Then she led him to the place where she found 
 the little lamb, which she had asked a peasant to 
 keep for its owner. Dick took his dear Iamb, in 
 his arms, thanked the old woman over and over 
 again, and invited her to go with him to his father's 
 house. 
 
 The good old woman was so much pleased with 
 Dick, that she took upon herself to teach him to 
 read and write and he was better educated than 
 any of the neighboring boys, for they were em- 
 ployed most of the time in keeping their father's 
 sheep. He did all he could to instruct his compan- 
 ions, so that they were much improved. 
 
 This story Dick told Albert, but not exactly in 
 these words, but this was the true state of the case. 
 Albert was greatly pleased with it, and Dick 
 showed him his lamb, which had grown up into a 
 stout sheep, and had furnished its master with more 
 than one pair of stockings. 
 
 Dick continued to study all his leisure hours and 
 improve himself, till at last he became the school- 
 master of his native village. He was a very great 
 favorite of the papas and mammas, and all the old 
 ladies ; and was as much liked by the children as 
 any schoolmaster could be. 
 
OF ANIMALS. 
 
 19 
 
 
 o 
 
 THE PET GOAT. 
 
 NE bleak day in February, as little Fannie was 
 returning home from school throucrh thp, woods 
 
BOOK 
 
 she found a little kid, apparently but a day old. 
 The ground was covered with snow, and the poor 
 little creature was so benumbed by the cold that it 
 could scarcely move. Fannie took it in her arms, 
 and hastened home. Her mother gave her permis- 
 sion to keep it as a pet, and Fannie immediately got 
 a basket of nice dry hay, and laid the kid in it'. 
 She then got it some milk, which it lapped up, and 
 appeared to like very much, as it got up and frisk- 
 ed around the room. Fannie wished to give her 
 pet a name, and she at last bestowed upon it the 
 name of " Billy." 
 
 He became very fond of her, and her presence 
 created a sort of sunshine to him ; when she was 
 with him, he would frisk about and appear very 
 happy. He grew finely, and was soon large enough 
 to do a great deal of mischief. He would nip off 
 the buds of young roses in Fannie's garden, and soil 
 her clothes by rubbing against her and trying to 
 jump into her lap. In this way he would sometimes 
 make his mistress angry, but she soon made friends 
 with him again. 
 
 He was of a very pretty color, white, with black 
 spots all about the head and neck, black feet, and a 
 black nose. One day Fannie was very much fright- 
 ened about her little pet, for as she was walking 
 along in the meadow, with little Billy frisking along 
 by her side, a large mastiff belonging to one of the 
 neighbors came up and began to bark and worry 
 
OP ANIMALS. 21 
 
 Mm. Fannie screamed, and soon one of her broth- 
 ers ran to the assistance of Billy. But before he 
 could drive away the dog it had bitten Billy's leg 
 and broken it. Fannie cried a great deal about it, 
 but, with her brother's assistance, she got the poor 
 creature home, and washed and dressed its leg. In 
 the course of three weeks it was perfectly well. 
 
 Billy was very fond of following his mistress, and 
 very often wished to go to school with her, but he 
 was always driven home. One day, however, Billy 
 thought he would go to school, whether his mistress 
 was willing or no ; so he followed her at a distance, 
 and she had been in school but a few minutes when 
 she heard all the children laugh, and looking to find 
 the cause of their mirth, what should she see but 
 little Billy sitting by her side ! Of course he was 
 sent home again. 
 
 A short time after this, Fannie's father sold his 
 farm, and purchased another in a different state, 
 and he said it would be too much trouble to carry 
 Billy along with them ; but Fannie would not hear 
 of any such thing as leaving her pet behind ; so 
 after a great deal of persuasion, and many tears on 
 her part, her father consented to take him along. 
 The day they were to depart, Billy was nowhere to 
 be found. The servants and Fannie's brothers 
 searched every part of the house and yard, and, at 
 last, found him snugly taking a nap on some straw 
 in the coal-house. He was so dirty that Fannie 
 
22 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 hardly knew him. However, the only thing she 
 could do was to wash him, and caution him not to 
 go into such a place again. 
 
 Billy's horns had come out, and it would make 
 you laugh to see him butt. Billy liked his new 
 home very well. There was a nice garden in front 
 of the house, and a large meadow behind it, through 
 which ran a pleasant little brook, its borders cover- 
 ed with wild flowers ; and every pleasant morning 
 you might see Fannie and Billy skipping along, 
 Fannie picking wild flowers, and Billy, every now 
 and then, nipping off a daisy. Here Billy had no 
 ugly mastiff, to fear. 
 
 But he could not always be young. He has now 
 grown old and sedate, and does not frisk and play 
 as he used to. He still likes Fannie as well as ever, 
 but he does not follow her as much. He likes to 
 sit down in the sun, with his head down as if med- 
 itating on some great subject. He has a nice house 
 and lives very comfortably. The last time I saw 
 him he was quite gray ; his beard was long and 
 grizzly, and his aspect quite venerable. 
 
 SIMPLIFYING A SPELLING LESSON. " Spell cat," 
 said a little girl of five, the other day, to a small 
 one of only three. "I can't," was the reply. 
 " Well, then, if you can't spell cat, spell kitten." 
 
OF ANIMALS. 
 
 23 
 
 HARRY HATCHET'S DOG. 
 
 ESSIE," said Harry one 
 morning at breakfast, " I'm 
 to have a fine dog one of 
 these days." 
 
 " You are to have," ex- 
 claimed Uncle Hiram ; " why 
 I should think you already 
 have all you can possibly 
 need ; let me see Watch 
 
 is one.' 1 
 
 " He is not mine, he's the house-dog ; you want 
 him to keep watch according to his name," said 
 Harry. 
 
 " Well, there's Topsey, and Rover" 
 
 " Oh, they are only fit for pets for the girls," said 
 Harry, " and then * Sport' he is a first-rate fellow, 
 but he is not fit for every thing." 
 
 " Yery well what is your new dog to be then ?" 
 asked Uncle. 
 
 " A first-rate, a No. 1 hunting dog." 
 
 " So," whistled Uncle Hiram, "your trip last year 
 and sporting experience therein, has given you a 
 taste for that amusement ?" 
 
 " Yes, indeed," exclaimed Harry ; " I was never 
 so happy in my life ; and when I am more used to 
 it, I shall do so much better, that I shall enjoy it 
 
24 
 
 ME-RRY'S BOOK 
 
 more I was so free and independent and, more- 
 over, I'm a very good shot, I would have you 
 know." 
 
 THE PETS. 
 
 " But you have not told us where this wonderful 
 dog is to come from, Harry," said Jessie. 
 
 " Oh, I forgot," said Harry ; " Clem Harding, 
 who was with us last year, promised him to me, I 
 took such a fancy to him he was so very intelli- 
 gent." 
 
 " Which ? Clem, or the dog ?" asked Uncle. 
 
OFANIMALS. . 25 
 
 " The dog ?" said Harry ; " Clem is intelligent 
 enough, everybody knows, without my telling it." 
 
 " That's what always puzzles me, father," said 
 Edith, looking up earnestly ; " dogs are intelligent, 
 and seem almost to think ; then why haven't they 
 minds as well as men and women ?" 
 
 " A great many wiser heads than yours have 
 been puzzled with such questions," answered her 
 father ; " we cannot certainly say in what consists 
 man's superiority nor how far the reasoning fac- 
 ulty of animals reaches." 
 
 " They sometimes seem to think just as much as 
 any one of us, and just as well, too," said Edith. 
 
 " That they do," cried Harry ; " and /never saw 
 any dog that could think as well and sensibly as 
 Clem's ' Ranger ;' that's what took me com- 
 pletely." 
 
 " Won't you tell us about him. then ?" said 
 Jessie. 
 
 " Oh, yes nothing would please me better, for I 
 want you all to have a liking for my new pet when 
 he comes. Let me see, he did so many sensible 
 things, that I don't know where to begin." 
 
 " Oh, anything the first thing you think of," 
 cried Jessie, eager to hear anything in the shape of 
 a story. 
 
 ** Well, once when we were trying to shoot some 
 ducks, we left our hats, etc., quite a distance from 
 the river, and crept through the reeds so that they 
 
26 
 
 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 might not see us and fly away, before we had a 
 chance at them ; when we got there we fired, and 
 didn't do much execution, so we concluded to lie 
 still, and have another shot when the birds alighted 
 again. Of course we wanted our hats ; so Clem 
 sent Ranger back for them ; first he took Clem's 
 
 OUR ROVER. 
 
 and started to bring that, but Clem motioned him 
 back, and he understood that he must bring both. 
 You ought to have seen him work. First he would 
 take one, and then try to get tho other up, but the 
 broad stiff brims wouldn't let him, and away would 
 go the first one ; once he almost succeeded. The 
 two were fairly -in his laouth, out they >YI nM not 
 stay there. He stopped, and was evidently deep 
 in thought. He stood perfectly still for about a 
 
OP ANIMALS. 27 
 
 minute, looking at the hats, and then took one hat, 
 put it inside of the other, pushed it down with his 
 paw, and in the most satisfied, triumphant manner 
 seized them and brought them to us. Don't you 
 call that thinking ?" 
 
 " Bravo, Ranger," cried Uncle Hiram, " he cer- 
 tainly can reason pretty well." 
 
 " When is this wonderful Ranger coming ?" asked 
 Lucy. 
 
 " In a day or two," said Harry, springing up and 
 catching Jessie in his arms, to give her a lesson in 
 waltzing, as he called it, swinging her rapidly 
 round. 
 
 " He'll beat all the dumb creatures about here, 
 for sense /mean. We shan't hear anything more 
 of the squirrel after that ;" and so saying he waltzed 
 himself out of the room. 
 
 " Oh, father, that poor little boy and his squir- 
 rel don't you remember ?" said Lucy and Edith in 
 one breath. 
 
 " We ought to go and see them, certainly," said 
 Uncle Hiram. " You must make some appoint- 
 ment for me, and I will keep it." 
 
 " Shall it be this afternoon, then, father ?" said 
 Edith, who could never wait long for any pleasure. 
 
 " Yes, this afternoon, if you please," said Uncle, 
 " only don't insist upon going too early we will 
 walk there about sunset." 
 
 " Now I think of it," added Uncle Hiram, " I have 
 
XX MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 another story of the sagacity of a dog who belonged 
 to one of my friends, and which is a pretty fair 
 match for Harry's Ranger. I wish he was here to 
 hear it. 
 
 " This was a large, powerful, quiet dog, of the 
 Newfoundland family, who was trained to go to 
 market, and do other errands for the family. They 
 w-uld wrap the money in paper, put it into a bas- 
 
 THE PLAYMATE. 
 
 ket, and send Rover with it to the grocer's, or to 
 the market. The change, if any, was sent back in 
 the same way, with the articles purchased, and al- 
 ways were safely delivered. 
 
 ** His master had a little boy who went to school, 
 and Rover was sometimes employed to carry the 
 boy's cap, or some other article. One day, when 
 it rained, Rover was called up, and told to carry 
 
OFANIMALS. 29 
 
 Charley's India rubbers to him, at school. He took 
 them in his mouth, and was going out of the door 
 v ith them, when he chanced to notice Charley's 
 cap, on the hat tree. He dropped the shoes, took 
 down the cap, and then for some time puzzled him- 
 self to get hold of the three articles together. At 
 length, stopping and taking an earnest look at the 
 matter, he very deliberately took up the shoes, 
 placed them in the cap, and then marched gravely 
 off, with an expression of perfect satisfaction that 
 was amusing to the lookers-on, as it was comfort- 
 able to himself." 
 
 a 
 
30 
 
 MERRY 'S BOOK 
 
 THE POLAR BEAR. 
 
OF ANIMALS. 
 
 31 
 
 THE POLAR BEAR. 
 
 HE Polar bear is sometimes called 
 the maritime bear, because it is so 
 fond of the sea. He is not exactly am- 
 phibious, but is an excellent diver and 
 swjmmer, and lives as nearly as much in 
 the water as on the land. 
 The Polar bear is always white, very large, power- 
 ful, ferocious, and daring ; a terrible fellow to en- 
 counter unless you are remarkably well afmed. 
 He is more fond of animal food than any other 
 species of bear, though equally capable of living on 
 vegetable food. He finds an ample supply even in 
 the desolate regions where he chooses to reside, of 
 seals, young whales, and the carcasses of whales, 
 which are thrown out by the whalers, after they 
 have taken what they want for oil, etc. How he 
 manages to live in such regions of perpetual ice, it 
 is difficult to imagine ; but he is never found except 
 in the high northern latitudes, along the borders of 
 ice-bound seas. He seems to require a large range 
 of coast for his domain ; for lie never comes down 
 
32 
 
 into Siberia or Kamschatka, on the Eastern Conti- 
 nent, or to the same latitudes on the Western, ex- 
 cept occasionally to the upper shores of Hudson's 
 Bay. He is not even found in the islands that lie 
 between the two continents. He is sometimes, 
 though very rarely, caught out of his latitude. 
 This is when some field of ice, on which he has fix- 
 ed his temporary residence, breaks away from its 
 moorings, and is floated by the currents out into 
 the open sea. Some of them perish in this way, 
 not being able to regain the land, and their ice- 
 boat melting under them as it comes into a warmer 
 region. Some of them are taken or killed by the 
 sailors who discover them in this situation, though 
 it is generally found a very dangerous kind of sport 
 to meddle with them. 
 
 The Polar bear is very seldom seen in our cara- 
 vans or menageries, because in the first place it is 
 almost impossible to catch them, and in the second 
 place, quite impossible to keep them alive in our 
 warm climate. There was one, and' a very fine 
 large one, exhibited in New York in the spring of 
 1826. Though the weather was very- cool at the 
 time, he suffered greatly, bathing himself in cold 
 water as often as he could, 'and seeming never 
 satisfied except when he could have ice in his cage 
 to live upon. Uncle Merry says he saw him, and 
 he was sweating and panting like a race-horse in 
 August. 
 
OF ANIMALS. 
 
 33 
 
 THE NAMES OF ANIMALS, 
 
 ! N the American Association for the 
 Advancement of Science, recently, at 
 Albany, Dr. Weinland read an inter- 
 ^ esting paper on " The Names of Animals 
 with reference to Ethnology." Very many 
 of the names of the North American animals are 
 taken from European animals thus, buffalo, grouse, 
 robin, lizard, chamois. Nations have only names 
 for their native animals. Thus, lion in all modern 
 languages, is leo hardly changed.* The camel and 
 the tiger derive their names from their native 
 countries, other nations adopting these names with 
 slight modifications. The elephant is so called in 
 all countries. The ass got his name from the old 
 Hebrews. The hare and the deer, which occur 
 both in Europe and Asia, and have two names, one 
 native in each country the former lepus, and the 
 later cervus. Nations try to reduce all foreign ani- 
 mals to the names of their own, by adding a de- 
 scriptive designation, as Guinea-pig, camel-leopard, 
 river-horse, etc. The Anglo-Saxons who lived on 
 the sea, had names for all sea-animals, but the Ger- 
 
34 
 
 mans of the interior called them all by some land 
 name, with the addition of " sea," thus, sea-horse, 
 sea-dog, sea-lion, sea-tiger, sea-mouse, sea-devil. 
 
 Almost all animals were originally named from 
 their qualities. The name of the ass comes from a 
 root, meaning " walk slowly ;" the serpent to " glide 
 quickly ;" the rabbit to " burrow in the ground." 
 Prof. Haldeman said reindeer meant " running ani- 
 mal ; fox is from the Greek phuxos, " sharp ;" ser- 
 pent from the Latin serpo, " to creep ;" and tiger 
 from the Persian, " an arrow." Indian tribes call 
 a lion by a name meaning " having a long tail ;" a 
 horse by a name meaning " like a deer ;" a mole, 
 " having his right hand on the left shoulder ;" a 
 squirrel by a name meaning " he can stick fast in a 
 tree." The Indians have also a name for ahorse 
 meaning "having only one toe." Apropos of names, 
 it was remarked that the potato is called in German 
 the " ground pear." 
 
 THE bound of the tiger, when springing upon his 
 prey, is tremendous, extending, as it is said, to the 
 distance of 100 feet. It is from this spring that the 
 animal gets his name. He, as it were, " shoots him- 
 self at his prey ;" and tiger, in the Arminian lan- 
 gustge, signifies an arrow the name also given to 
 the river Tigris, on account of its velocity. 
 
OF ANIMALS. 
 
 85 
 
 A SPORTING FISH. 
 
 A DEAD SHOT. 
 
 AN interesting account is given in the eleventh 
 number of the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, 
 of the Jaculator fish of Java, by a gentleman who 
 had an opportunity of examining some specimens 
 of it in the possession of a chief. 
 
36 
 
 The fish were placed in a small circular pond, 
 from the centre of which projected a pole upward 
 of two feet in height ; at the top of this pole were 
 inserted several small pieces of wood, sharpened at 
 the points, on each of which were transfixed some 
 insects of the beetle tribe. 
 
 When all had become quiet, after the beetles had 
 been secured, the fish, which had retired during 
 the operation, came out of their hiding-places, and 
 began to circle round the pond. 
 
 One of them at length rose to the surface of the 
 w r ater, and, after steadily fixing its eyes for some 
 time upon an insect, discharged from its mouth a 
 small quantity of water-like fluid, with such force 
 and precision of aim, as to drive the beetle off the 
 twig into the water, where it was instantly swal- 
 lowed. 
 
 After this, another fish came and performed a 
 similar feat, and was followed by the rest, till all 
 the insects were devoured. 
 
 The writer observed, that if a fish failed in bring- 
 ing down its prey at the first shot, it swam around 
 the pond until it again came opposite the same ob- 
 ject, and fired again. 
 
 In one instance, he remarked one of the fish re- 
 turned three times to the attack, before it secured 
 its prey ; but in general, they seemed to be very 
 expert shots, bringing down the game at the very 
 first discharge. 
 
OP ANIMALS. 37 
 
 The Jaculator, in a state of nature, frequents the 
 banks of rivers in search of food. When it spies a 
 fljf settling on the plants that grow in shallow 
 water, it swims on to the distance of from five to 
 six feet of them, and then with surprising dexteri- 
 ty, ejects from its tubular mouth a single drop of 
 fluid, which rarely fails to strike the fly into the 
 water, where it is immediately swallowed. 
 
 THINK OF IT. 
 
 A HUMMING-BIRD once met a butterfly, and, 
 being pleased with the beauty of its person 
 and the glory of its wings, made an offer of perpet- 
 ual friendship. 
 
 "I cannot think of it," was the reply, "as you 
 once spurned me, and called me a crawling dolt." 
 
 " Impossible," exclaimed the humming-bird, " I 
 always entertained' the highest respect for such 
 beautiful creatures as you." 
 
 " Perhaps you do now," said the other ; " but 
 when you insulted me, I was a caterpillar. So let 
 me give you this piece of advice : never insult the 
 humble, as they may one day become your supe- 
 riors." 
 
 Boys and girls, think of this. 
 
38 
 
 HUNTING DEER IN THE HIGHLANDS, 
 
 THE DEER. 
 
 THE hart is an animal of the antelope species ; 
 in size it is rather smaller than the fallow deer. 
 Its colors vary somewhat in the different countries 
 in which it is found. It is generally, however, of 
 a dusky brown, mixed with red ; the body under- 
 neath the breast and the inside of the limbs are 
 white ; but on the head, back, and outside of the 
 limbs, the hair is considerably darker than on any 
 other parts of the body. The orbits of the eyes 
 are white, and there is a small patch of the same 
 on each side of the forehead. The horns are per- 
 fectly black, and have three curves ; they are 
 marked with circles almost to the top ; they are 
 sixteen inches long. The female has no horns. 
 This animal has a sort of substance in its stomach 
 which is called bozoar, which is sometimes of a 
 blood color, sometimes pale yellow, and of all the 
 
OF ANIMALS. 
 
 39 
 
 shades between the two. It is as hard as stone, 
 and is generally glossy and smooth, with a smell 
 which is considered very agreeable. It varies in 
 size from that of an acorn to that of an egg ; and 
 the larger the size, the more valuable it is. There 
 was a time when a stone of this kind, weighing 
 four ounces, sold in Europe for above two hundred 
 
 ANTELOPES. 
 
 pounds, but at present they are of comparatively 
 little value. The word bezoar is derived from the 
 Arabic language, where it signifies antidote, or 
 counter poison. It has been given for various dis- 
 eases, such as palpitation of the heart, colic, jaun- 
 dice ; and in those countries where the price, and 
 
40 
 
 not the real use of the medicine is considered, it 
 has been given for almost every disease which can 
 be mentioned. It probably possesses merely the 
 virtues of common chalk, and is only used where 
 the knowledge of medicine has advanced but little. 
 
 The antelope is a very graceful creature, partic- 
 ularly when running. It is found principally in the 
 hilly parts of the countries which it inhabits. It is 
 very cunning, and requires carefnl watching and 
 much tact to be shot or taken. They run in herds, 
 and rarely lie down altogether ; but by an instinct 
 given them by Providence, some are always on the 
 watch, and when they are fatigued, they give notice 
 to those who have rested, who arise at once and re- 
 lieve the sentinels of the preceding hours, and thus 
 they often preserve themselves from the attacks of 
 wolves and huntsmen. They are exceedingly swift, 
 and will outrun the fleetest horse or greyhound. If, 
 however, they are bitten by a dog, they at once fall 
 down, nor will they even offer to rise again. 
 
 Deer hunting is a favorite amusement in many 
 countries. These animals are found in America, 
 from Canada in the North, to the banks of the Oro- 
 noco in South America ; also in many parts of Eng- 
 land ; although they are not so plentiful as formerly, 
 they are, however, still lo be found in the Highlands 
 of Scotland in considerable numbers. 
 
OP ANIMALS. 
 
 41 
 
 A MONKEY'S MEMORY. 
 
 A KNOWING MONKEY. 
 
 A UTHORS generally think that the monkey raco 
 JL\. are not capable of retaining lasting impres- 
 sions, but their memory is remarkably tenacious 
 when striking events call it into action. A monkey 
 which was permitted to run free, had frequently 
 seen the men-servants in the great country kitchen, 
 with its huge fire-place, take down a powder-horn 
 that stood on the chimney-piece, and throw a few 
 
42 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 grains into the fire, to make Jemima and the rest 
 of the maids jump and scream, which they always 
 did on such occasions very prettily. Pug watched 
 his opportunity, and when all was still, and he had 
 the kitchen all to himself, he clambered up, got pos- 
 session of the well-filled powder-horn, perched him- 
 self very gingerly on one of the horizontal wheels 
 placed for the support of saucepans, right over the 
 warming ashes of an almost extinct wood-fire, 
 screwed off the top of the horn, and reversed it 
 over the grate. The explosion sent him half way 
 up the chimney. Before he was blown up, he was 
 a snug, trim, well-conditioned monkey as ever you 
 would Wish to see on a summer day ; he came down 
 a carbonated nigger in miniature, in an avalanche 
 of burning soot. The weight with which he pitch- 
 ed upon the hot ashes, in the midst of the general 
 flare up, aroused him to a sense of his condition. 
 He was missed for days. Hunger at last drove 
 him forth, and he sneaked into the house, close-sin- 
 ged, begrimmed, arid looked scared and ugly. He 
 recovered with care ; but, like some great person- 
 ages, he never got over the sudden elevation and 
 fall, but became a sadder if not a wiser monkey. 
 If ever Pug forgot himself and was troublesome, 
 you had only to take down a powder horn in his 
 presence, and he was off to his hole like a shot, 
 screaming and shattering his jaws like a pair of cas- 
 tanets. 
 
OFANIMALS. 43 
 
 Monkey are quadrumana four-hand. But, while 
 four feet contribute to swiftness, and four hands to 
 agility, that combination of the two, as in man, 
 which gives two hands and two feet, with separate 
 and distinct functions, is not only far the most con- 
 venient, but confers far greater power, variety, and 
 versatility of action. To no animal, except man, is 
 the upright position natural. The monkey assumes 
 it occasionally, for convenience, or in obedience to 
 the training of a human master. 
 
 There are three distinct families of monkeys, 
 differing from each other in some respects widely, 
 but having the same general characteristics. 
 
 The SIMTAD^B include all the animals of the Old 
 World, known as apes, monkeys, and baboons. 
 The ape has no tail, the monkey a long one, and 
 the baboon a short one. 
 
 The Chimpanse is a species of ape, approaching 
 more nearly to man than any other animal. Even 
 in a natural state he sometimes walks erect, sup- 
 porting himself witty a cane. Some of them have 
 been tamed and trained to various kinds of useful 
 labor, such as bringing water from the well, wash- 
 ing dishes, and even waiting upon table. It is a 
 native of Central Africa. 
 
 The Ourang-Outang belongs also to the ape fami 
 ly. His countenance resembles the human face 
 more than that of any other. His dwelling is 
 principally in trees, and he moves with difficulty 
 
44 MERRY'SBOOK 
 
 on the ground. He is of a quiet, grave, and even 
 melancholy disposition* He has great strength, 
 and when excited-to rage is often very savage. He 
 belongs chiefly to the peninsulas and islands of 
 Eastern Asia. 
 
 The Ourang-Outang, which, in the Malay lan- 
 guage, means " wild man" is incapable of walking 
 upright. He is not very large, being about two 
 feet seven inches high. The hair on his back is 
 five or six inches long. 
 
 The Saloon has usually a very short tail, or none 
 at all. It is distinguished from the ape and the 
 monkey by the protuberance of the muzzle, which 
 gives it a ferocious aspect. It has a loud and dis- 
 cordant voice, and is less companionable and docile 
 than the other species. It is revengeful, and re- 
 tains for a long time a remembrance of an injury 
 done it. 
 
 The Monkey, properly so called, is also of the ape 
 species a bright, smart, mischievous, cunning fel- 
 low, making lots of fun for children, in all our towns 
 and cities, but often very cruelly treated by their 
 masters. 
 
 We should not take as much pleasure in witness- 
 ing the curious antics of monkeys, if we knew how 
 hardly, and under what severe treatment, they 
 learned their lessons. 
 
 In England, a fight was instigated between a 
 monkey and bull-dog, on a wager of three guineas 
 
OF ANIMALS. 45 
 
 to one, that the dog would kill the monkey in six 
 minutes. The owner of the dog agreed to permit 
 the monkey to use a stick about a foot long. Hun- 
 dreds of spectators assembled to witness this in- 
 human sport. The owner of the monkey taking 
 from his pocket a thick, round rule, about a foot 
 long, threw it into the hand of the monkey, saying, 
 " Now look sharp mind that dog." " Then here 
 goes for your monkey," cried the butcher, letting 
 the dog loose, which flew with a tiger-like fierce- 
 ness at him. The monkey, with astonishing agility, 
 sprang at least a yard high, and falling on the dog, 
 laid fast hold to the back of his neck with his teeth, 
 seizing one ear with his left paw, so as to prevent 
 his turning to bite. In this unexpected situation, 
 Jack fell to work with his rule upon the head of 
 the dog, which he beat so forcibly and rapidly, 
 that the creature cried out most eloquently. In a 
 short time the dog was carried off in nearly a life- 
 less state, with his skull fractured. The monkey 
 was of the middle size. 
 
46 
 
 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 THE LEOPARD. 
 
 
 HAVE you ever seen a wild leopard ? Probably 
 not, and very probably you would not like to 
 see him very near, unless he was chained or caged. 
 His appearance in the wild state is exceedingly 
 beautiful, his motions in the highest degree easy 
 and graceful, and his agility in bounding among 
 the rocks and woods quite amazing. He usually 
 shuns a conflict with a man, but, when driven to 
 desperation, becomes truly a formidable antagonist. 
 Two African farmers, returning from hunting the 
 hartebeest (antilopc babulis), roused a leopard in a 
 mountain ravine;, and immediately gave chase to 
 
OFANIMALS. 47 
 
 him. The leopard at first endeavored to escape by 
 clambering up a precipice ; but being hotly press- 
 ed, and wounded by a musket ball, he turned upon 
 his pursuers with that frantic ferocity peculiar to 
 this animal on such emergencies, and springing on 
 the man who had fired at him, tore him from his 
 horse to the ground, biting him at the same time 
 on the shoulder, and tearing one of his cheeks 
 severely with his claws. The other hunter seeing 
 the danger of his comrade, sprang from his horse, 
 and attempted to shoot the leopard through the 
 head ; but, whether owing to trepidation, or the 
 fear of wounding his friend, or the quick motions 
 of the animal, he unfortunately missed. The leo- 
 pard, abandoning his prostrate enemy, darted with 
 redoubled fury upon his second antagonist, and so 
 fierce and sudden was his onset, that before the 
 boor could stab him with his hunting-knife, the 
 savage beast struck him on the head with his claws, 
 and actually tore the scalp over his eyes. In this 
 frightful condition, the hunter grappled with the 
 leopard : and, struggling for life, they rolled to- 
 gether down a deep declivity. All this passed far 
 more rapidly than it can be described in words. 
 Before the man who had been first attacked could 
 start to his feet and seize his gun, they were rolling 
 one over the other down the bank. In a minute or 
 two he had reloaded his gun, and rushed forward 
 to save the life of his friend. But it was too late. 
 
48 MERRY'SBOOK 
 
 The leopard had seized the unfortunate man by the 
 throat, and mangled him so dreadfully, that death 
 was inevitable ; and his comrade (himself severely 
 wounded) had only the melancholy satisfaction of 
 completing the destruction of the savage beast, al- 
 ready exhausted with the loss of blood from several 
 deep wounds by the desperate knife of the expiring 
 huntsman. 
 
 The fur of the leopard (leo-pard, or spotted lion) 
 is yellow, with ten ranges of black spots, or clusters 
 of spots, on each side. Each spot is made up of a 
 number of smaller spots. 
 
\ 
 
 OF 'ANIMALS. 49 
 
 THE SHEPHERD'S DOG. 
 
 A GENTLEMAN sold a considerable flock of sheep 
 JTL to adealer, which the latter had not hands to 
 drive. The seller, however, told him he had a very 
 intelligent dog, which he would send to assist him 
 to a place about thirty miles off ; and that when he 
 reached the end of his journey, he had only to feed 
 the dog and desire him to go home. The dog ac- 
 cordingly received his orders, and set off with the 
 flock and the drover ; but he was absent for so 
 many days that his master began to have serious 
 alarms about him, when one morning, to his great 
 surprise, he found his dog returned with a very 
 large flock of sheep, including the whole that he 
 had lately sold. The fact turned out to be, that 
 the drover was so pleased with the colley that he 
 resolved to steal him, and locked him up till the 
 time when he was to leave the country. The dog 
 grew sulky, and made various attempts to escape, 
 and one evening he succeeded. Whether the brute 
 had discovered the drover's intention, and supposed 
 that the sheep were also stolen, it is difficult to say 
 but by his conduct it looked so, for he immediately 
 went to the field, collected the sheep, and drove 
 them all back to his master. 
 
50 
 
 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 PECULIARITIES OF THE REINDEER. 
 
 THE REINDEER. 
 
 reindeer is the color of the stag, and is not 
 J_ much larger. The horns of this animal are 
 somewhat higher than those of the stag, but more 
 crooked, hairy, and not so well furnished with 
 branches. Of the milk of the females they make 
 good butter and cheese. These animals, indeed, 
 constitute the greatest and almost the only riches 
 ..t the Fin Laplanders. In Finmark there are vast 
 
OF ANIMALS. 51 
 
 numbers of them, both wild and tame, and many a 
 man there has from six or eight hundred to a thou- 
 sand of these useful creatures, which never come 
 under cover. They follow him wherever he is 
 pleased to ramble, and when they are put to a 
 sledge, transport his goods from one place to an- 
 other. They provide for themselves, and live 
 chiefly on moss, and on the buds of leaves and trees.- 
 They support themselves on very little nourish- 
 ment, and are neat, and clean, and entertaining 
 creatures. It is remarkable when the reindeer 
 sheds his horns, and others rise in their stead ; they 
 appear at first covered with a skin, and till they are 
 of a finger's length, are so soft that they may be 
 cut with a knife like a sausage, and are delicate 
 eating, even raw therefore the huntsmen, when 
 far out in the country, and pinched for the want of 
 food, eat them, and find that they satisfy both their 
 hunger and their thirst. When the horn grows 
 bigger, there breeds within the skin a worm which 
 eats away the root. The reindeer has over his eye- 
 lids a kind of skin, through which he peeps, when 
 otherwise, in the hard snows, he would be obliged 
 to shut his eyes entirely a singular instance of the 
 benevolence of the great Creator in providing for 
 the wants of each creature according to its destined 
 manner of living. 
 
OF ANIMALS. 
 
 THE COACH DOG. 
 
 THIS dog is a native of Dalmatia, a mountainous 
 district of European Turkey. He has been 
 domesticated in Italy for upwards of two centuries, 
 and is now often to be met with both in Europe 
 and this country. 
 
 The Dalmatian is often used as a pointer, to 
 which his natural propensity more inclines him. 
 He is handsome in shape ; his general color is white, 
 and his whole body and legs are covered with small 
 irregular-sized black or reddish-brown spots. A 
 singular opinion prevailed at one time in England, 
 that this beautiful dog was rendered more hand- 
 
MERRY'SBOOK 53 
 
 some by having his ears cropped : this custom has 
 now gone out of use. 
 
 The chief use of this dog seems to be as an at- 
 tendant upon a carriage, for which the symmetry 
 of his form and beauty of his skin peculiarly fit 
 him. 
 
 My young readers may have before met with the 
 following remarkable instance of sagacity in a dog : 
 " A surgeon, of Leeds, in England, walking in the 
 suburbs of that town, found a little spaniel, who 
 had been lamed. This dog, which probably had 
 its name from Spain, belongs to a differing species 
 from the coach-dog. Well, the surgeon carried the 
 poor little lame animal home, bandaged up his leg, 
 and, after two or three days, turned him out. The 
 dog returned to the surgeon's house every morn- 
 ing, till his leg was perfectly well. 
 
 At the end of several months, the spaniel again 
 presented himself, in company with another dog, 
 who had been lamed ; and he intimated, as well as 
 piteous and intelligent looks could intimate, that 
 he desired the same kind assistance to be rendered 
 to his friend, as had been bestowed upon himself." 
 
 The famo of an English dog has been deservedly 
 transmitted to posterity by a monument in basso 
 relievo, which still remains on the chimney-piece 
 of the grand hall, at the Castle of Montargis, in 
 France. The sculpture, which represents a dog 
 fighting with a champion, is explained by the fol- 
 lowing : 
 
54 OF ANIMALS. 
 
 Aubri de Mondidier, a gentleman of family and 
 fortune, traveling alone through the Forest of 
 Bondi, was murdered and buried under a tree. 
 His dog, an English bloodhound, would not quit his 
 master's grave for several days ; till at length, com- 
 pelled by hunger, he proceeded to the house of an 
 intimate friend of the unfortunate Aubri's at Paris, 
 and by his melancholy howling seemed desirous of 
 expressing the loss they had both sustained. He 
 repeated his cries, ran to the door, looked back to 
 see if any one followed him, returned to his master's 
 friend, pulled him by the sleeve, and with dumb 
 eloquence entreated him to go with him. 
 
 The singularity of all these actions of the dog, 
 added to the circumstance of his coming there with- 
 out his master, prompted the company to follow the 
 animal, who conducted them to a tree, where he 
 renewed his howl, scratching the earth with his 
 feet, and significantly entreating them to search 
 that particular spot. On digging, the body of the 
 unhappy Aubri was found. 
 
 Some time after, the dog accidently met the as- 
 sassin, who is styled, by all the historians that re- 
 late this fact, the Chevalier Macaire ; when instant- 
 ly seizing him by the throat, he was with great 
 difficulty compelled to quit his prey. In short, 
 whenever the dog saw the chevalier, he continued 
 to pursue and attack him with equal fury. Such 
 obstinate virulence in the animal, confined only to 
 
OF ANIMALS. 55 
 
 Macaire, appeared very extraordinary ; especialty 
 to those who at once recollected the dog's remark- 
 able attachment to his master, and several instances 
 in which Macaire's envy and hatred to Aubri had 
 been conspicuous. 
 
 Additional circumstances created suspicion ; and 
 at length the affair reached the royal ear. The 
 king (Louis VIII) accordingly sent for the dog, who 
 appeared extremely gentle till he perceived Ma- 
 caire in the midst of several noblemen, when he 
 ran fiercely toward him, growling at and attacking 
 him as usual. 
 
 The king, struck with such a collection of cir- 
 cumstantial evidence against Macaire, determined 
 to refer the decision to the chance of battle ; in 
 other words, he gave orders for a combat between 
 the chevalier and the dog. The lists were appoint- 
 ed in the Isle of Notre Dame, then an uninclosed, 
 uninhabited place, and Macaire was allowed for his 
 weapon a great cudgel. 
 
 An empty cask was given to the dog as a place 
 of retreat, to enable him to recover breath. Every 
 thing being prepared, the dog no sooner found 
 himself at liberty, than he ran round his adversary, 
 avoiding his blows, and menacing him on every 
 bide, till his strength was exhausted ; then, spring- 
 ing forward, he griped him by the throat, threw 
 him on the ground, and obliged him to confess his 
 guilt, in the presence of the king and his whole 
 
56 
 
 court. In consequence of this, the chevalier, after 
 a few days, was convicted upon his own acknow- 
 ledgment, and beheaded on a scaffold in the Isle of 
 Notre Dame. 
 
 The Newfoundland dog, in a state of purity, and 
 uncontaminated by a mixture of an inferior race, is 
 certainly the noblest of the canine tribe. His great 
 size and strength, and majestic look, convey to the 
 rnind a sort of awe, if not fear, but which is quickly 
 dispelled when we examine the placid serenity and 
 the mild expressive intelligence of his countenance, 
 showing at once that ferocity is no part of his dis- 
 position. 
 
 The full-sized Newfoundland dog, from the nose 
 to the end of the tail, measures about six feet and 
 a half, the length of the tail being two feet. This 
 dog was but recently introduced into Europe from 
 the island whose name he bears, and may be con- 
 sidered as a distinct race. 
 
 The Newfoundland dog is docile to a very great 
 degree, and nothing can exceed his affection. Na- 
 turally athletic and active, he is ever eager to be 
 employed, and seems delighted to perform any 
 little office required of him. Nature has given him 
 a great share of emulation, and hence to be sur- 
 passed or overcome is to him the occasion of great 
 pain. Active on every emergency, he is the friend 
 of all, and is naturally without the least disposition 
 to quarrel with other animals. He .seldom or never 
 
OPANIMALS. 57 
 
 offers offence, but will not receive an insult or in- 
 jury with impunity. Such is the capacity of his 
 understanding, that he can be taught almost every 
 thing which man can inculcate, and of which his 
 own strength and frame are capable. His sagacity 
 can only be exceeded by his energies, and he per- 
 severes with unabated ardor in whatever shape he 
 is employed, and while he has a hope of success he 
 will never slacken in his efforts to attain it. The 
 amazing pliability of his temper peculiarly fits him 
 for the use of man, and he never shrinks from any 
 service which may be required of him, but under- 
 takes it with an ardor proportionate to the difficulty 
 of its execution. Taking a singular pride in being 
 employed, he will carry a stick, a basket, or a bun- 
 dle, for miles, in his mouth, and to deprive him of 
 any of these is more than a stranger could accom- 
 plish with safety. 
 
 Sagacity and a peculiar faithful attachment to 
 the human species are characteristics inseparable 
 from this dog, and hence he is ever on the alert to 
 ward off from his master every impending danger, 
 and to free him from every peril to which he may 
 be exposed. He is endowed with an astonishing 
 degree of courage, whether to resent an insult or 
 to defend his friends, even at the risk of his own 
 life. 
 
 The qualifications of this dog are extensive in- 
 deed ; as a keeper or defender of the house, he is 
 
58 
 
 far more intelligent, more powerful, and more to be 
 depended upon than the mastiff. As a watch dog, 
 and for his services upon navigable rivers, none can 
 compete with him ; and various sportsmen have 
 introduced him into the field as a pointer with great 
 success, his kind disposition and sagacity rendering 
 his training an easy task. 
 
 . The usual fate of other fine dogs attends this 
 generous race among us ; they are too often de- 
 graded and degenerated by inferior crosses, which 
 with so noble an animal should be avoided by every 
 possible means. 
 
 At the commencement of an action which took 
 place between the Nymph and Cleopatra, during 
 the late war, there was a large Newfoundland dog 
 on board the former vessel, which the moment the 
 firing began ran from below deck, in spite of the 
 endeavors of the men to keep him down, and climb- 
 ing up into the main-chains he there kept up a 
 continual barking, and exhibited the most -violent 
 rage during the whole of the engagement. 
 
 When the Cleopatra struck, he was among the 
 foremost to board her, and there walked up and 
 down the decks, seemingly conscious of the victory 
 he had gained. 
 
OF ANIMALS. 
 
 59 
 
 THE RHINOCEROS. 
 
 OF all South African animals, not the least cu- 
 rious, perhaps, is the rhinosceros. He is, more- 
 over, an inhabitant of Bengal, Siam, China, Java 
 and Ceylon ; but these are a different species from 
 those found in Africa. Thus, there are the black 
 and the white, and both species are extremely 
 fierce, and excepting the buffalo, are the most dan- 
 gerous of all animals in Southern Africa. His ap- 
 pearance is not unlike an immense hog shorn of his 
 bristles, except a tuft at the ears and tail. As if in 
 mockery of its great size, its eyes are ludicrously 
 small, so as to be almost imperceptible. 
 
 " Two officers belonging to the troops stationed 
 at Dunap'ore, went down to the river to shoot and 
 hunt, and they had heard at Derrzapore of a rhino- 
 
60 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 ceros having attacked and murdered travelers in 
 this region. One day, before sunrise, as they were 
 about starting out to hunt, they heard a violent up- 
 roar, and on looking out, found that a rhinoceros 
 was goring their horses, both of which, being fas- 
 tened by head and heel, were unable to resist or 
 escape. Their servants took to their heels, and 
 concealed themselves in a neighboring jungle. The 
 gentlemen had just time to climb up into a small 
 tree close by, before the furious beast, having de- 
 voured the horses, turned his attention to the mas- 
 ters. They were barely out of his reach ; so after 
 keeping them for some time in terrible suspense, 
 vainly endeavoring to dislodge them, seeing the 
 sun rise, he retreated, not, however, without glanc- 
 ing back occasionally, as if regretting the loss of so 
 fine a feast." 
 
 " Once," says Mr. Oswell, " as I was returning 
 from an elephant chase, I observed a huge rhinoce- 
 ros a short distance ahead. I was riding a most 
 excellent hunter, the best and fleetest steed I pos- 
 sessed during my shooting excursions in Africa ; 
 but it was a rule with me never to pursue a rhino- 
 ceros on horseback, for this reason, that they were 
 more easily surprised and killed on foot. On this 
 occasion it seemed as if fate had interfered. Turn- 
 ing to my servant, I called out, ' That fellow has a 
 magnificent horn ; I must have a shot at him !' 
 * " Saying this, I clapped spurs to my horse, who 
 
OF ANIMALS. 61 
 
 soon brought me alongside the huge beast, and the 
 next instant I had lodged a ball in his body but as 
 it turned out, without effect. On receiving my 
 shot, the rhinoceros, to my surprise, instead of re- 
 treating, stopped short, turned round, and having 
 eyed me for some seconds, walked toward me. I 
 never dreamed of danger, but instinctively turned 
 my horse's head. It was too late, for although the 
 rhinoceros had been only walking, the distance was 
 so inconsiderable that contact was unavoidable. In 
 a moment I saw his head bend low ; with a thrust 
 upward he struck his horn into the ribs of the horse 
 with such force as to penetrate to the saddle on the 
 opposite side, where its sharp point pierced my leg. 
 The violence of the blow was so tremendous as to 
 cause the horse to* perform a complete somerset in 
 the air, coming down heavily on his back. As for 
 myself, I was violently precipitated to the ground. 
 "The rhinoceros seemed satisfied with his re- 
 .venge, and started off on a canter. My servant 
 having now come up, I rushed up to him, almost 
 pulled him from his horse, leapt into the saddle and 
 without a hat, my face streaming with blood, pur- 
 sued the retreating animal, and had soon the satis- 
 faction of seeing him fall lifeless at my feet. My 
 friend, by whom I was accompanied on this journey, 
 soon after joined me, and seeing my head and face 
 covered with blood, supposed me to be mortally 
 wounded ; but, with the exception of a severe blow 
 
62 
 
 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 on the head, caused by the iron stirrups, I received 
 no injury, although my much prized horse was 
 killed on the spot. 
 
 " On another occasion, while wending my steps 
 toward my camp on foot, I espied at no great dis- 
 tance two rhinoceroses called keitloa. They were 
 feeding, and slowly approaching me. I immediate- 
 ly crouched, arid quietly awaited their arrival ; but 
 
 THE TWO HORNED RHINOCEROS. 
 
 though they soon came within range, I was unable 
 to fire, as they were facing me, and a shot in the 
 head is useless. In a short time they had approach- 
 ed so close that owing to the level open nature of 
 the ground, I could neither retreat nor advance, 
 
OF ANIMALS. 63 
 
 and my situation was most critical. I was afraid 
 to fire, for even had I succeeded in killing one, the 
 other would in all likelihood have run over and 
 trampled me to death. In this dilemma, the thought 
 struck me that on account of their bad sight I might 
 possibly save myself by running past them. No 
 time was to be lost, and as the foremost animal al- 
 most touched me, I stood up and dashed past it. 
 The brute, however, was too quick for me, and be- 
 fore I had gone many steps, I heard a violent snort- 
 ing at my heels. I had only time to fire my gun 
 at random toward him, when I felt myself impaled 
 on his horn. The shock completely stunned me. 
 The first return to consciousness was, I recollect, 
 finding myself seated on one of my ponies, and a 
 Cyffre leading it. I had an indistinct idea of hav- 
 ing been hunting, and on seeing the man, asked 
 why he did not follow the animal. By accident I 
 touched my right hip, and on looking at my hand, 
 found it clotted with blood. While in my confused 
 state, trying to understand what it meant, I saw my 
 men coming toward me, who told me they were 
 coming to fetch my body, as they had been told I 
 was killed. The wound I received was dangerous, 
 and though after a long time it healed, still the 
 scars will remain as long as I live." 
 
64 
 
 P ANIMALS . 
 
OP ANIMALS. 
 
 65 
 
 ANECDOTES OP THE CROCODILE FAMILY. 
 
 HE crocodiles of the eastern conti- 
 nent and the alligators of our own are 
 all of one family, but there appears to 
 be some difference in their dispositions. Dar- 
 win describes one of them as follows : 
 
 " Erewhile emerging from the brooding sand, 
 With tiger paw he prints the brineless strand ; 
 High on the flood with speckled bosom swims, 
 Helmed with broad tail, and oared with giant limbs ; 
 Rolls his fierce eyeballs, clasps his iron claws, 
 And champs with knashing teeth his massy jaws : 
 Old Nilus sighs through all his cane-crowned shores, 
 And swarthy Memphis trembles and adores." 
 
 This may stand as a good and fair likeness of the 
 whole a sort of family portrait of the grandpapa 
 of crocodiles and alligators. Thus the governor of 
 Angostura informed Mr. Waterton, that while he 
 was one fine evening walking by the banks of the 
 Oronoco, he saw a large cayman rush out of the 
 river, seize upon a man, and carry him away in his 
 horrid jaws. " The screams of the poor fellow were 
 terrible, as the cayman was running off with him, 
 
66 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 He plunged into the river with his prey ; we in- 
 stantly lost sight of him, and never saw or heard 
 him more." 
 
 So also in regard to the African species, we m&y, 
 among many other recorded examples of their fierce- 
 ness, recall to mind the circumstance of Mungo 
 Park's negro guide Isaaco being twice seized by a 
 crocodile while crossing the Ba Woolima with his 
 asses, and escaping immediate death only by his 
 presence of mind enabling him to gouge the eyes 
 of the insatiate monster with his thumbs. He 
 gained the shore bleeding profusely with a deep 
 wound in each thigh, and the marks of several 
 teeth upon his back. He w T as unable to renew the 
 journey for six days. 
 
 These, and many other anecdotes of the same 
 kind, justify the general bad character given to 
 these creatures. But, on the other hand, it appears 
 that some of them are of a more gentle nature. It 
 is perfectly well known that the ancient Egyptians 
 worshiped crocodiles, and it appears that the priests 
 kept many of them, which seem to have been quite 
 tame and friendly. So Mr. Audubon informs us, 
 that in North America the alligators, in some parts, 
 are so disinclined to annoy the human race, that he 
 and his companions have often waded up to the 
 waist among hundreds of them, while the cattle- 
 drivers may be seen beating them away with staves, 
 before they cross the rivers with their live stock ; 
 
OF ANIMALS. 67 
 
 for it is admitted that they readily attack cattle, 
 and will seize upon such animals as dogs and deer, 
 or even horses. 
 
 Although a full grown, case-hardened crocodile, 
 with its armature of " scaly rind," and formidable 
 jaws beset with bristling teeth, need fear nothing 
 short of a rifle-bullet through the eye, or a volley 
 of slugs in the softer part of the abdomen, yet the 
 eggs and young fall a frequent prey to many natu- 
 ral enemies. The ichneumons of Egypt, the otters 
 and even ibises of the new world, and the great 
 tortoises belonging to the genus Trionyx, attack 
 them generally in one or other of these defenceless 
 states ; while, at least so far as concerns the North 
 American species, the male parent, repudiating all 
 the claims of filial affection, throws, not his arms, 
 but jaws around his unprotected young, and gulps 
 them down in dozens. However, the negroes will 
 attack even the adult animals, and kill them by 
 separating the tail from the body by blows of their 
 hatchets. The oil (obtained by boiling) is used 
 for machinery ; and a practice prevailed, at one 
 time, of making boots and shoes of alligator leather. 
 The South American Indians eat the tail of these 
 creatures, and they catch the owner of the tail by 
 means of a small hook baited with a bird, or any 
 small quadruped, and fastened to a tree by an iron 
 chain. " The flesh/'' according to Catesby, " is 
 delicately white, but hath so perfumed a taste and 
 
68 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 smell that I never could relish it with pleasure." 
 The eggs of the crocodile are regarded as a luxury 
 by som'e of the African tribes. 
 
 In regard to the geographical distribution of 
 these great reptiles, we need scarcely inform our 
 readers that no species occurs in Europe. Neither 
 has any been found in New Holland. The caymans 
 or alligators are peculiar to America ; the croco- 
 diles, properly so called, are natives of both the 
 old and new world ; the gavials are confined to 
 Asia, to the verdent banks. 
 
OF ANIMALS. 
 
 69 
 
 GRATIAS THE CATERPILLAR. 
 r\ RATIAS had several queer adventures.- Once 
 VJT a large green frog, with a cold nose and gog- 
 gle eyes, snapped at him as he was looking over 
 the edge of the fish-pond ; but there was some slimy 
 mos3 on the stone where Freckle stood ; and just 
 as his mouth was about to close on Gratias, his long 
 hind legs slipped and sprawled ; he went back into 
 
/ 70 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 the water with a splash, and our brown friend 
 traveled off so fast, he never saw the garden wall 
 before him till he bumped his head against it. 
 Then, once, he had gone to sleep in the very mid- 
 dle of a red rose the last one on the bush, for it 
 was now autumn and the rose being picked by a 
 very little white hand, that belonged to Miss Sac- 
 charissa, Gratias began ta quirl for joy ; he thought 
 she would be good to him if he was not pretty, for 
 her blue eyes were so very soft and shallow, just 
 like the pond on a summer day ; but when Saccha- 
 rissa saw the innocent worm, she gave a loud shriek 
 and threw rose and all on to the gravel path so hard, 
 that Gratias had scarcely time to make a ball of 
 himself and roll away, to hide his bruised head and 
 his hurt feelings behind the garden roller for two 
 days. But a diet of chickweed and rain water 
 cured both those ailments, and soon he crept out 
 again over the big roller, which just at that hour 
 the gardener was accustomed to use, and poor 
 Gratias began to feel it move under him before he 
 was half way across it, and expected nothing less 
 than to be directly crushed to a jelly ; but the 
 gardener found his roller was out of order, a loose 
 screw threatened to let the handle go every mo- 
 ment ; and while he replaced that, Gratias had 
 time to save himself, and dropping to the ground, 
 toddled awa} T , half a mind to be discouraged and 
 say he would not try to live any more, he was so 
 
OP ANIMALS. 71 
 
 lonely and so ugly, and so full of fear ; however, a 
 little honey-bee just then began to sing on a late 
 bean-flower, and her song was so gay and so good, 
 that the worm found himself trying to sing too. 
 
 " Buzz, buzz, buzz 
 
 Making honey 
 
 When it's sunny, 
 Sleeping all the rainy day. 
 " Buzz, buzz, busy bee, 
 
 All the posies 
 
 Are not roses, 
 
 But they all are sweet to me. 
 Buzz, buzz away!" 
 
 " Whew I" said Mr. Powsy, who turned the ear- 
 ner just then ; " a nice little song, Mrs. Sweeting ! 
 do } T ou think winter won't come ?" 
 
 "I shall go to sleep then, sir, and there's honey 
 in the hive," answered the little woman. 
 
 But Gratias shivered. " Is it almost winter, Mr. 
 Powsy ?" 
 
 " Yes, creeper crawler j almost time for the white 
 frosts. I've been hard at work, to-day, picking out 
 a place for my hole ; soon I shall have to dig it," 
 
 " And where are all the creatures I know going 
 this year ?" said Gratias, in a dismal tone. 
 
 " Oh ! I go to sleep. Buzz and Mrs. Sweetser 
 stay and nod in their combs, Mrs. Pelopidan went 
 South yesterday, and Mrs. Roberts has taken a 
 house for the winter in the great barn ; when it is 
 
72 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 very cold she may go to Maryland, I can't say. As 
 for Whiz, Fiz's brother, nobody seems to know ex- 
 actly what he will do. I think he wjll^die off. 
 Freckle, the frog, is a low creature ; he lives in the 
 mud, and comes out in the spring with such a host 
 of little polliwogs ! It is so absurd to have children 
 with tails, and no legs ! I don't see how he can be 
 so proud of the little wretches !" 
 
 " I wonder what I shall do ?" said Gratias ; but 
 Mr. Powsy had hopped off after a blue-bottle fly, so 
 he got no answer. Then he went up the nearest 
 tree and lay in the sunshine, till he felt so lazy and 
 dreamy that he thought he would spin a little ; and 
 he drew out a nice fine thread, longer than ever he 
 could before, till he thought how nice it would be 
 to spin himself a house for the winter, and resolved 
 to begin immediately j so first he spun a stout cord 
 from the tree bough, and then a filmy veil large 
 enough for the outside of his house, and then an- 
 other and another layer, till he had but just room 
 to coil himself up and go to sleep, rocked by the 
 winds that began to blow cold and loud in the tree- 
 tops. But as he was getting very sleepy indeed, 
 he happened to think that he was so fast shut up 
 in his house that he could not possibly get any- 
 thing to eat or drink, and what should he do ? For 
 a few minutes he was somewhat troubled, and 
 would have liked to unspm his new covering ; but 
 then he remembered that he had all his life been 
 
OP ANIMALS 
 
 73 
 
 taken care of, when he could not help himself, and 
 he would not be afraid now ; so he curled down 
 again, safe because he was helpless, and went sound 
 asleep. 
 
 THE CHRYSALIS. 
 
 Now came the dim shape once more that Mrs. 
 Pelopidan had seen, and took its stand by the grey 
 house of the sleeping worm, to defend it from harm 
 till spring should come. Gentian, the blue jay, 
 that lived hard by, peered curiously at the swing- 
 ing shell, but dared not touch it, for he saw the 
 
74 
 
 awful shadow that stretched upward to the pure 
 skies, and kept guard over earth. 
 
 Flisk, the squirrel, chattered at a yard's distance, 
 about this queer nut to his wife Flisky, but came 
 no nearer ; and even the snow and rain beat to one 
 side, rather than freeze or wet the quiet home of 
 the hidden caterpillar. 
 
 At last spring came ; the grass began to shoot up 
 in the level meadows ; all the birds came back with 
 songs of pure love and joy ; the little wood flowers 
 opened their soft eyes, and kissed the south wind 
 back again till it was as sweet as their own hearts ; 
 the tender rain wept for gladness, till all the buds 
 on the dim trees opened into leaves under its gen- 
 tle caress ; and far and wide the grey woods melt- 
 ed into pale green masses ; the hill-sides grew 
 opal-colored with maple blossoms and bursting 
 buds ; the orchards blushed like rosy clouds on the 
 distant mountain slopes ; and all the world was so 
 happy, that a little stir of its new life came to Gra- 
 tias where he slept, and the dim shape vanished in 
 the east. Warmer and warmer shone the sun on 
 the grey house, and the worm felt its glow through 
 every little bone ; he stretched himself well, and 
 the bands that seemed to hold him tightty, parted 
 gently ; he saw a tiny gleam of day and crept to- 
 wards it, every motion growing easier and making 
 the spot of light wider, till at length he stood on 
 the outside of his winter dwelling in the noon-day 
 
OP ANIMALS. 75 
 
 sun, dazzled and happy, but feeling as if he could 
 not crawl. 
 
 " Whew 1" said a well-known voice, and looking 
 down he saw Mr. Powsy under the tree ; " are you 
 paid now for your patience, friend ? Do you like 
 your wings as well as Fiz did his ?" 
 
 " "Wings ! have I got wings ?" said Gratias. 
 
 " To be sure you have ; sail across the pond and 
 see yourself." 
 
 He spread the silken sails that now he felt on 
 either side j lifted his dainty feet from the bough, 
 and aided by a little puff of wind, away he glided 
 with the most beautiful motion over flower-beds 
 and paths to the great ponds, and poising above 
 the blue surface, he looked down and saw himself 
 his ugly body was gone ; his wings were gold- 
 colored, all spotted with black and blue ; his breast, 
 mixed rings of black and gold ; his eyes as bright 
 as dew, and two slender, graceful, curling horns on 
 either side of his head. He had not been so trust- 
 ful and patient in vain ; he was no more a worm, 
 but a gay and beautiful butterfly, and he soared 
 back to Mr. Powsy, almost too happy to fly straight. 
 
 " Ho ! ho !" said the toad. " Now you're fine 
 and must eat honey ; I can't eat you now, if I want- 
 ed to. You must have a new name, friend ; Gra- 
 tias did very well for the worm, but the butterfly 
 shall be called Gloria !" 
 
 And that was his name 
 
76 MERRY'S BO OK 
 
 THEDA'S PUSSY. 
 
 f 
 
 Is this you, my pussy ? 
 
 Why, just now I saw 
 Your back rounded upward, 
 
 And nails on each claw. 
 
 You were spitting so fiercely, 
 
 Because little Trip 
 Would, in your nice breakfast, 
 
 His saucy mouth dip. 
 
 'Twas an ungallant action 
 
 In the dog, I own ; 
 But your cat indignation 
 
 Was too roughly shown. 
 
 It is very low manners, 
 To bluster and scratch ; 
 
 And it's worse, because useless 
 For Trip you're no match. 
 
OF ANIMALS. 
 
 This is far more becoming 
 
 The soft velvet paw, 
 Which o'er dieek and o'er eyelid 
 
 I now love to draw. 
 
 Run, and set your ball rolling ; 
 
 The ball you may strike 
 Whiz it off to the corner, 
 
 As hard as you like. 
 
 77 
 
 LEARNING TO ROLL SALL. 
 
 Now your lovely, my pussy, 
 And mother smiles too ; 
 
 Oh ! we both think so pretty, 
 The spry tricks you do 
 
78 
 
 M ERRY'fr B OOK 
 
OP ANIMALS. 79 
 
 ELEPHANTS, HOW TAKEN AND MANAGED. 
 
 A RRIAN, a Greek writer of the second century, 
 jLJL thus describes the ancient mode of catching 
 elephants : A large circular ditch is first made, in- 
 closing space sufficient for the encampment of an 
 army. The earth thus removed is heaped up on 
 each margin of the ditch, and serves as a wall. In 
 these walls there is one opening toward the south, 
 with a bridge across the ditch, covered with earth 
 and grass. In the outer wall are several excava- 
 tions, near the bridge, in which the hunters secrete 
 themselves, and watch, through loop-holes, the 
 movements of the elephants. Several tame female 
 elephants are placed in the inclosure, to attract the 
 wild ones from without. When a sufficient number 
 have entered the trap, the hunters issue from their 
 hiding places, and take up the bridge. After a 
 day or two, when the captives are somewhat weak- 
 ened by want of food and water, they muster a 
 large company of men with tame elephants, replace 
 the bridge, and send the tame elephants into the 
 inclosure. A battle ensues, which naturally termi- 
 nates in favor of the tame animals, their opponents 
 being quite exhausted by what they have previous- 
 ly suffered. The men now coming up tie their feet. 
 After this, the process of taming and training them 
 is not difficult. 
 
80 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 It is remarkable, that in every mode of capturing 
 the wild elephant, man avails himself of the docility 
 of those he has already subdued. Birds may be 
 taught to assist in insnaring other birds, but this is 
 simply an effect of habit and training. The ele- 
 phant, on the contrary, has an evident desire to 
 join its master in subduing its own race. It enters 
 into it with alacrity, and exercises ingenuity, 
 courage, and perseverance, that are astonishing. 
 
 It is often noticed that large male elephants, the 
 very ones that would be selected from a flock as 
 most desirable for use, or for sale, are wandering 
 away by themselves, apart from the herd. These 
 are watched, and followed cautiously by day and 
 night, with several trained females, called Koom- 
 kies. Approaching gradually nearer, and grazing 
 with apparent indifference, the Koomkies at length 
 press round their victim, and begin to caress him. 
 If he is in good humor, and submits to their ca- 
 resses, his capture is certain. The hunters cau- 
 tiously creep under him, and while he is dallying 
 with his new-found friend, bind his forelegs together 
 with a strong rope. Some of the more wily of the 
 Koomkies will not only protect their masters, while 
 doing this, but actually assist in fastening the cords. 
 Sometimes the hind legs are fastened in the same 
 manner ; when the hunters retire to a distance to 
 watch the motions of the captive. The Koomkies, 
 satisfied that he is secure, now leave him. He at- 
 
OP ANIMALS. 
 
 81 
 
82 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 tempts to follow, but is unable. He now becomes 
 furious, throwing himself down and tearing the 
 earth with his tusks. If he succeed in breaking 
 the cords, and escaping to the forest, the trappers 
 dare not pursue him. If not, he is soon exhausted 
 with his own rage. He is then left until hunger 
 makes him submissive, when under the escort of 
 his treacherous friends, he is conducted to an in- 
 closure, where he is fed, trained, and completely 
 subdued. 
 
 The inclosure, surrounded by a ditch, is still in 
 use in India. But not content with enticing their 
 victims to the place, they gather in large numbers, 
 and with fire-arms, and all kinds of noisy instru- 
 ments, drive whole herds of them in, the way be- 
 ing first strewed with the fruits they most like, to 
 tempt them onward. From this inclosure they 
 never come out till they are perfectly tamed. Each 
 elephant has his own malwut, or master, and will 
 obey no other. 
 
OP ANIMALS. 83 
 
 THE FOOLISH MOUSE. 
 
 ALWAYS nibbling, little mouse, 
 Fear you not your teeth to spoil, 
 Gnawing wood, cake, cheese, and nut-shells] 
 Have you dentists with gold foil 1 
 
 Betsey daily tries to kill you, 
 
 Know you that, you silly elf 1 
 Sure as fate, and will you nill you, 
 
 Springing trap is on that shelf. 
 
 There you go, pell-mell, head foremost, 
 Anywhere you'll go for cheese 
 
 Snap ! now Betsey's trap has got you 
 That must be "von too much" squeeze. 
 
84 
 
 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 MEN VS. ANIMALS. 
 
 jr HEN Alexander of Macedon was 
 seeking realms to conquer, he 
 met with a people who lived in 
 a remote and obscure corner, who had 
 never heard of war or conquerors, and 
 who enjoyed their humble cottages in 
 profound peace. They met the Macedonian king, 
 and conducted him to the dwelling of their ruler, 
 who received him hospitably, and set before him, 
 as a feast, dates, figs, and other fruits, made of gold. 
 " What ! do you eat gold here ?" asked Alexan- 
 der. 
 
 " No ; but we imagined thou hadst food enough 
 to eat in thine own country, and that it was a de- 
 sire of gold that led thee forth from it. Why, 
 therefore, hast thou come to us from so far a coun- 
 try ?" 
 
 " It was not for your gold I came," replied Alex- 
 ander ; " but I desired to learn your customs." 
 
 " Even so ; then abide among us as long as thou 
 wilt." 
 
OF ANIMALS. 85 
 
 While the ruler and the Grecian were conver- 
 sing, two men of the tribe came in, to appeal to the 
 ruler's judgment. The complainant spoke : 
 
 " I bought a piece of ground from this man, and 
 when I was digging it found a treasure. The trea- 
 sure is not mine, for I purchased only the ground. 
 I never included in the purchase any hidden trea- 
 sure, but this man who sold me the land refuses to 
 receive the treasure from me." 
 
 The defendant now replied : 
 
 " I am as conscientious as my neighbor. I sold 
 him the ground, and everything that might be in 
 it ; therefore, the treasure is justly his, and I can- 
 not take it." 
 
 " The ruler took time to understand the case 
 clearly, and then asked one of the parties : 
 
 " Hast thou a son ?" 
 
 ".I have." 
 
 He inquired of the other : 
 
 " Hast thou a daughter ?" 
 
 " Yea." 
 
 " So, then, the son shall marry the daughter, and 
 the young couple shall have the treasure as a wed- 
 ding portion. 
 
 Alexander betrayed some emotion. 
 
 " Is not my judgment just ?" inquired the ruler. 
 
 ' ; Perfectly just," returned Alexander, " but it 
 surprises me." 
 
86 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 " How, then, would the case have been decided 
 in thy country'?" 
 
 . " To own the truth," said Alexander, " both the 
 men would have been taken in custody, and the 
 treasure seized for the king." 
 
 " For the king !" said the ruler, full of astonish- 
 ment ; " does the sun shine in that land ?" 
 
 " Surely." 
 
 " Does the rain fall ?" 
 
 " Of course." 
 
 " Wonderful ! but are there gentle, grazing ani- 
 mals there ?" 
 
 " There are, and of many kinds." 
 
 " Then," said the ruler, " it is for the sake of 
 those innocent animals that the all-merciful Crea- 
 tor permits the sun to shine and the rain to fall 
 upon your land ; ye deserve it not." 
 
 tl /~10ME, sonny, get up," said an indulgent fa- 
 \J ther to a hopeful son, the other morning 
 " Remember that the early bird catches the first 
 worm 1" 
 
 " What do I care for the worms ?" replied the 
 iiopeful, " mother won't let me go a-fishing." 
 
OF ANIMALS. 
 
 MONKEY LUCK. 
 
 87 
 
 CATS-PAW. 
 
 SEE the saucy rogue! How imprudently he 
 laughs at the joke he is perpetrating on the 
 poor helpless cat. The nuts are in the fire, all 
 roasted, and ready to burn. Jocko wants them, 
 and will have them, but don't mean to burn his own 
 delicate fingers, by pulling them out. So he pro- 
 mises Miss Puss a liberal share of the delicacies, if 
 she only lends him her paw to take them out of 
 the fire. Puss demurs, and screams vociferously, 
 but all to no purpose. She is in the scrape, having 
 helped him to steal the nuts, and now she must 
 bear the penalty of being in bad company. Puss 
 is sadly burned, so that she cannot eat a morsel, and 
 Jocko takes the entire spoil to himself, chuckling 
 over his ready wit and good fortune. Look out 
 sharp, boys, for the company you keep. 
 
88 
 
 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 THE ROYAL TIGER. 
 
 THE Royal Tiger is a native of India, though 
 sometimes found in the surrounding countries. 
 ,*t inhabits the low lands and jungles which are 
 covered with briers, and thick shrubs, so compact 
 
OF ANIMALS. 89 
 
 as to be almost impassable to man. Its ferocious 
 nature, extraordinary beauty, and great power, are 
 its prominent characteristics, and give it a promi- 
 nence among the whole animal creation. But 
 though strong and powerful enough to defy man or 
 beast, yet it prefers to get its prey by a stealthy 
 attack, rather than by an open and bold assault. 
 
 Those who visited Batty 's menagerie in Dublin, 
 will remember that he had two lions and a tiger 
 tamed together in the same cage, and whilst exhib- 
 iting at Roscre, a few days ago, the keeper of these 
 animals, whilst in the cage with them, missed his 
 foot and fell upon the tiger, which was asleep at the 
 time. The animal became enraged, and jumping 
 up, caught the unfortunte man by the thigh. A 
 thrill of horror pervaded the hundreds of specta- 
 tors who were visiting the exhibition at the time, 
 and the man's destruction was deemed inevitable ; 
 when to the inexpressible joy, as well as amaze- 
 ment of all present, the lion seized the tiger by the 
 neck, and caused it at once to relinquish its hold, 
 whilst the man was dragged out of his cage bleed- 
 ing in a dreadful manner. He was immediately 
 placed under the care of a doctor, and after a long 
 and severe illness finally recovered. 
 
90 
 
 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 A VISIT TO A MENAGERIE. 
 
 AT the entrance there was a band playing to at- 
 tract attention, and a crowd of boys gathered 
 round, looking at the stuffed ostrich at the window, 
 and at the privileged persons admitted inside. As 
 soon as we got in, there was the strong menagerie 
 smell, which is unavoidable, however clean the ani- 
 mals are kept. On one side of the room was a row 
 of cages ; over the first was printed "Royal Tigers," 
 and royal looking animals were the two splendid 
 beasts inside. They lay stretched out at full length, 
 showing to advantage their beautifully striped 
 skins. After admiring them for some minutes, we 
 turned to the next cage, the African lion's. The 
 
OF ANIMALS. 91 
 
 king of beasts was walking restlessly up and down 
 his little space, so different from the vast deserts 
 he had been accustomed to roam in his native 
 country. He was about the size of the tigers, I 
 thought, but shorter and thicker built. I think 
 even if one had not heard so much of the lion's no- 
 ble, king-like appearance, he would at once single 
 him out as the most noble animal of all. I don't 
 think too much can be said of his beauty. His face 
 was so full of expression, and his great mane, mixed 
 with black, gave him a most majestic appearance. 
 A Java tiger was in the next cage ; and curled up 
 in the next, lay a creature looking like a great black 
 cat, but two or three times as large. This was a 
 
 black leopard; the man 
 poked at it with his stick 
 to make it get up, but it 
 only snarled, showed its 
 teeth, and caught at the 
 THE LEOPARD. stick. The man said it was 
 
 a most fierce creature, and quite as dangerous as 
 the larger animals. We next came to two lionesses. 
 Their ladyships lay stretched out, one at each end 
 of their cage, half asleep. Certainly the animals 
 seemed rather lazy here, but perhaps they had 
 caught the city custom of keeping their beds late, 
 and hadn't yet aroused themselves, though it was 
 after ten. They differed from the lion in being 
 smaller, lighter built, and not having manes. The 
 
92 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 Brazil tiger, or jaguar, looked more like a leopard 
 than a tiger, but is larger ; he, too, was lying down. 
 
 The next comer, the 
 hyasna, couldn't be ac- 
 cused of laziness ; he was 
 walking round his cage 
 with most praiseworthy 
 THE HYAENA, industry, going as if the 
 
 fate of the- nation or his dinner depended on his 
 getting round quick enough. As he comes tramp- 
 ing along, not heeding where he goes, he kee*ps run- 
 ning his nose against the wall, and the bars of the 
 cage. His hide is a dirty yellow, or yellowish 
 brown, with brown spots over it. He was certain- 
 ly an ugly looking creature, and he didn't look the 
 better for having the handsome jaguar on one side, 
 and a lion on the other. I have always thought 
 the hyaena a perfectly un tameable animal, but read- 
 ing an account of him when I got home, I found 
 this passage : <fc lt is a common, but erroneous idea, 
 that the hyaena is wholly savage and untameable. 
 Both species have been tamed, and instances are 
 recorded of their manifesting all the attachment of 
 a dog. The striped hyaena has recently been do- 
 mesticated in the Cape territory, and is considered 
 one of the best hunters after game, and as faithful 
 as any of the common domestic dogs." We now 
 came to the Bengal or Asiatic lion, who differs from 
 the Cape or African lion, in being smaller, and of 
 
OF ANIMALS. 93 
 
 a lighter, more uniform color. The man poked at 
 him with his stick, until, after some resistance, he 
 got up and began walking his cage. How dignified 
 and majestic he looked as he walked up and down ! 
 It seemed a shame to poke at and torment the no- 
 ble animal. And he looked nearly as well lying 
 down as standing up. Among the last animals in 
 the row were two bears. One of them was indulg- 
 ing in a strange exercise, viz : 
 moving his four feet in succes- 
 sion t first forward, or partly 
 sideways, and then back again, with the regularity of 
 a machine. This strange habit is peculiar to bears ; 
 they will do it for hours together. Bruin stood 
 with his back to the company, very impolitely, and 
 with his head down, seemed absorbed in watching 
 his toes. He was evidently practising the steps of 
 some cotillion, although he was the last individual 
 from whom dancing would be expected. Once he 
 turned round, looked gravely at the company a mo- 
 ment, as if expecting applause, and again became 
 absorbed with his steps. But now we heard sounds 
 from the lion's cage, and turned back to it. His 
 majesty, it seems, could not disguise his dissatisfac- 
 tion towards his visitors, and favored them with a 
 series of sounds, half growl, half yawn, as if to hint 
 to them that their presence was wearisome to him. 
 Such utter, intense disgust, the sound, and the very 
 look of his face expressed ! We were very much 
 
94 
 
 amused. But leaving him, we went to the upper 
 part of the room, where were the cages of the 
 trained animals that Herr Driesbach goes in among 
 every day. There was also a blue-faced baboon. 
 This creature is found on the Gold Coast, and in 
 several other parts of Africa, and also in the East 
 Indies.. He is the largest of the baboon kind, be- 
 ing from three to five feet high. He is a horrid, 
 ugly, disgusting looking creature, seeming to be 
 possessed of the concentrated ugliness of all the 
 monkey and baboon tribe. His cheeks are of a 
 deep blue color, and have no 
 hair on them. A narrow, 
 blood-red ridge extends down 
 the middle of his face, and term- 
 inates in the nose, giving him 
 an ugly enough appearance. 
 - " ~ - As he is entirely brutal and 
 
 untameable, and of enormous strength, he is of 
 course a dreadful creature to come in contact with. 
 But now again hearing sounds from the lion, we 
 repaired to his cage. As we passed the cages, we 
 saw Bruin still practising his dancing, and the per- 
 severing hyaena still tramping round, catching his 
 nose. The unhappy lion had evidently been re- 
 flecting over his grievances his being stared at, 
 poked at, and poked up both his person and his 
 temper for the amusement of visitors ; and he 
 now gave full utterance to his indignation and 
 
OP ANIMALS. 95 
 
 wrath in a series of roars. But one of the keepers 
 came up, and with his loud voice and stick soon 
 silenced him. Poor fellow ! After enduring so 
 much, not even to be allowed the satisfaction of 
 grumbling at it, was the greatest wrong of all, and 
 the hardest to bear. But as there was an elephant, 
 rhinoceros, and llama down stairs we left the in- 
 jured lion to see them. Every one has read about 
 the elephant, so I will not describe him, but merely 
 state a few facts I saw in the newspaper about this 
 particular elephant. He is 
 the largest in America, being 
 eleven feet high, and weighing 
 11,000 pounds. He is forty 
 years old ; that, however, is 
 not old for an elephant ; they 
 are said to live to one hundred 
 years, and some say to three or four hundred. 
 Every day he eats 400 pounds of hay, three bush- 
 els of oats, and drinks four barrels of water ; then 
 he also gets a good many cakes, apples, etc., from 
 his visitors. There's a glutton for you ! The rhi- 
 noceros is, perhaps, the most worth seeing of all the 
 collection. They are very hard to keep alive in 
 this country. One reason is, in their own country 
 they are accustomed to live by rivers, and in marshy 
 places, where they wallow a good deal in the mud ; 
 and in this country, they must miss the water very 
 much, kept in cages as they are. This one looked 
 
96 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 not unlike a great hog, particularly as he had no 
 horn, it having been broken off. Their horns are 
 often from three and a half, to four feet high. 
 Think what a weight to carry on the nose. The 
 largest rhinoceros' have, I read, nearly as great 
 bodies as elephants, but having such short legs 
 they do not appear so large. In the next pen there 
 was a llama, a pretty, delicately formed animal, 
 quite a contrast to the great, bulky rhinoceros. You 
 all know how useful she is in South America, car- 
 rying burdens, so I will not enlarge upon that. This 
 one was about four feet high, with long reddish 
 hair on her body, slender legs, and a small pretty 
 head. She seemed quite tame and gentle, letting 
 me pat her head, and eating cake and apple from 
 my hand. But when I had no more to give her, she 
 was much displeased, stamped her foot, put up her 
 head and spit in my face. A grateful return, cer- 
 tainly ! Her ladyship might have found some more 
 delicate way, I should think, of expressing her dis- 
 pleasure. The llama is generally gentle and docile, 
 but if ill-treated, she becomes spiteful, and uses 
 this strange mode of retaliation. We went down 
 stairs to see Herr Driesbach enter the animals' cage. 
 Before he went in, he passed through the menag- 
 erie looking at the animals. When he came to the 
 cages he was to enter, the animals immediately be- 
 gan to jump about, as if they were delighted to see 
 him. The lioness particularly, seemed transported 
 
OP ANIMALS. 
 
 97 
 
 with joy ; she jumped up against 
 the bars of the cage, threw her- 
 self on the ground and rolled, and 
 testified in every way the great- 
 est joy at seeing him. It evident- 
 THE ZEBRA. ly was joy, not fear. The parti- 
 tions that divided the cages were soon taken away, 
 and gas was lighted round the cage, which added 
 much to the effect. A few minutes after, Herr 
 Driesbach entered the cage. The per- 
 formances were wonderful. He made 
 the animals come to him, lie down be- 
 side him, jump up, on, and over him, 
 open doors, and do several other things. 
 It was wonderful to see these naturally 
 fierce animals play ing and leaping about 
 him, obeying his every command, even 
 letting him examine their teeth, and OAMEL "<>PAM> 
 put his head in the lion's mouth. I don't think 
 there is any cause at such exhibitions for being 
 nervous and frightened for fear of their getting 
 provoked and hurting the man, for though we know 
 them to be fierce, treacherous creatures, the man 
 must know it still better, and know how to be on 
 his guard against them. He would know how fer 
 he could go, without rousing them, and how far to 
 insist on their obedience. Before I saw them, I 
 thought there must be great cruelty used to subdue 
 them so, and that they must be kept in most abject 
 
98 MERRY'SBOOK 
 
 fear, but this was evidently not the case ; they 
 seemed perfectly free and familiar, only having 
 such wholesome awe of their master as would make 
 them fear to disobey. I do not see why there should 
 be greater cruelty used towards them than is used 
 to a dog ; who, though fond of his master, fears to 
 disobey him, knowing he will be pun- 
 ished ; and as these animals' training: 
 begin when they are cubs, I should 
 not think it would-be very hard to 
 keep them in proper restraint. Afte r 
 the performances we left, and I really 
 felt quite a tender feeling for the 
 THE OSTRICH, dear old hyaena, blue-faced baboon, 
 and all the other animals, and felt quite sad to think 
 I might never see them again. 
 
OF ANIMALS. 
 
 99 
 
 HIPPOPOTAMUS HUNTING. 
 
 TO cut a supply of wood for a whaling cruise is a 
 work re quiring some days, and often even weeks, 
 and it had been determined that the first, and if 
 need be the next day likewise, should be devoted 
 to a thorough inspection of the facilities of the 
 
100 
 
 place, in order that we might work at as little dis- 
 advantage as possible. 
 
 Consequently we, the mate's boat's crew, had 
 been ordered to prepare for a general cruise. We 
 provided ourselves with a store of bread and beef, 
 filled the boat's breaker with water, spread our sail 
 to the breeze, and pointed the boat's bow toward 
 the nearest island. Landing here, we found nought 
 but a wilderness of low jungle, which was scarcely 
 penetrable, together with a poor landing. We ex- 
 amined three or four of the islets, and having at 
 last fixed upon a suitable place where to commence 
 operations, were about to return on board, when 
 the mate said : 
 
 " Trim aft, Tom, there's a good breeze, fair com- 
 ing and going, and we'll take a look at the main- 
 land." Accordingly, the boat's head was laid shore- 
 ward, and we spread ourselves out at full length 
 upon the thwarts, enjoying an unusual treat of 
 some cigars which our chief officer had good natu- 
 redly brought with him. 
 
 When within about a mile and a half of the main- 
 land, we found the water shoaling, being then not 
 more than three fathoms eighteen feet deep. 
 
 " I saw black skin glisten in the sun just then," 
 said the boat-steerer, who was aft, the mate having 
 stretched himself upon the bow-thwart to take a 
 nap. 
 
 " It was nothing but a puffing pig," said he, 
 drowsily. 
 
OF ANIMALS. 101 
 
 " There it is again, and no puffing pig either 
 nor no," said he, with some degree of animation 
 " nor any thing else that wears black skin that I 
 ever saw before." 
 
 This had the effect of rousing us up, every one 
 casting his eyes ahead to catch a sight of the ques- 
 tionable " black skin." 
 
 " There he blows !" " and there again I" " and 
 over here, too," said several voices in succession. 
 
 " It ain't a spout at all, boys ; let's pull up and 
 see what it is !" 
 
 We took out our oars, and the boat was soon 
 darting forward at good speed toward the place 
 where we had last seen the object of our curiosity. 
 
 " Stern all !" suddenly shouted the mate, as the 
 boat brought up " all standing" against some ob- 
 ject which we had not been able to see on account 
 of the murkiness of the water, the collision nearly 
 throwing us upon our backs into the bottom of the 
 boat. As we backed off, an enormous beast slowly 
 raised his head above the water, gave a loud snort, 
 and incontinently dove down again, almost before 
 we could get a fair look at it. 
 
 " What is it ?" was now the question which no 
 one could answer. 
 
 " Whatever it is," said the mate, whose whaling 
 blood was up, " if it comes within reach of my iron, 
 I'll make fast to it, lads so pull ahead." We were 
 again under headway, keeping a bright look-out for 
 the reappearance of the stranger. 
 
102 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 " There they are, a whole school," said the mate, 
 eagerly, pointing in shore, where the glistening of 
 white water showed that a number of the nonde- 
 scripts were evidently enjoying themselves. "Now, 
 boys, pull hard, and we'll soon try their mettle." 
 
 " There's something broke water, just ahead," 
 said the boat-steerer. 
 
 " Pull easy, lads I see him there way enough 
 there's his back !" 
 
 " Stern all !" shouted he, as he darted his iron 
 into a back as broad as a small sperm-whale's. 
 
 " Stern all back water back water, every man!" 
 and the infuriated beast made desperate lunges in 
 every direction, making the white water fly almost 
 equal to a whale. 
 
 We could now see the whole shape of the crea- 
 ture as, in his agony and surprise, he raised him- 
 self high above the surface. We all recognized at 
 once the Hippopotamus, as he is represented in 
 books of natural history. 
 
 Our subject soon got a little cooler, and giving a 
 savage roar, bent his head round until he grasped 
 the shank of the iron between his teeth. With one 
 jerk he drew it out of his bleeding quarter, and 
 shaking it savagely, dove down to the bottom. 
 The water was here but about two fathoms deep, 
 and we could see the direction in which he was 
 traveling along the bottom, by a line of blood, as 
 well,as by the air-bubbles which rose to the surface 
 as he breathed. 
 
OF ANIMALS. 
 
 103 
 
 tl 
 
 \. 
 
104 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 " Give me another iron, Charley, and we'll not 
 give him a chance to pull it out next time." 
 
 The iron was handed up, and we slowly sailed in 
 the direction which our prize was following along 
 the bottom. 
 
 " Here's two or three of them astern of us," said 
 the boat-steerer. 
 
 Just then two more rose, one on either side ol 
 the boat, and in rather unpleasant proximity ; and 
 before we had begun to realize our situation, the 
 wounded beast, unable any longer to stay beneath 
 the surface, came up to breathe just ahead. 
 
 " Pull ahead a little ; let's get out of this snarl. 
 Lay the boat round so now, stern all !" and the 
 iron was planted deep in the neck of our victim. 
 With a roar louder than a dozen of the wild bulls 
 of Madagascar, the now maddened beast made for 
 the boat. 
 
 " Back water ! back, I say ! Take down this 
 boat-sail, and stern all ! Stern, for your lives, men !" 
 as two more appeared by the bows, evidently pre- 
 pared to assist their comrade. He was making the 
 water fly in all directions, and having failed to 
 reach the boat, was now vainly essaying to grasp 
 the iron, which the mate had purposely put into 
 his short neck, so close to his head that he could 
 not get it in his mouth. 
 
 " Stick out line till we get clear of the school, 
 and then we'll pull up on the other side of this fel- 
 low, and soon settle him with ;i lance." 
 
 * 
 
OP ANIMALS. 105 
 
 This was done ; and as we again hauled upon the 
 still furious beast, the mate poised his bright lance 
 for a moment, then sent it deep into his heart. 
 With a tremendous roar, and a desperate final 
 struggle of scarcely a minute's duration, our prize 
 gave up the ghost, and after sinking for a moment, 
 rose again to the surface, lying upon his side, just 
 as does the whale when dead. 
 
 His companions had left us, and we now, giving 
 three cheers for our victory, towed the carcass to 
 the not far distant shore. When we here viewed 
 the giant, and thought of the singular agility he 
 had displayed in the water, we could not help ac- 
 knowledging to one another that to get among a 
 school of Hippopotami would be rather a desperate 
 game. 
 
106 
 
 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 A SPIDER DROWNED OUT, 
 
 NE of my friends, while re- 
 dlining on a sofa yesterday, had 
 .his ear selected by a down-look- 
 spider, for a pleasant outpost. 
 The eaves-dropper settled himself 
 i v\ ^) in the inner chamber, before my 
 t 4 j| friend was aware of his intent. 
 "Lend me only one of your ears," 
 said the considerate intruder. The question arises, 
 what was his object ? Did he mean to lure flies in- 
 to his retreat, or to watch for and seize upon them 
 from his hiding-place ? 
 
 Possession is ten-tenths of spider-law ; and he 
 forthwith arranged (arraignee) his limbs, and fold- 
 ed himself nicely up in his new lodgings, not partic- 
 ularly to the comfort of the rightful owner thereof. 
 After several unsuccessful attempts to dislodge 
 him, the bright thought of pouring in water was 
 resorted to ; and having a whole lake of that valu- 
 able remedy, we spared not, and so floated Mr. Spi- 
 der from the premises. 
 
 He spoedily ran off to higher ground for his en- 
 
OP ANIMALS. 107 
 
 camprnents, the flood being too much for him, and 
 we generously let him go. My friend, Uncle Toby- 
 like, said, the world was wide enough, only, noses 
 and ears must be left unmolested. 
 
 ICHNEUMON FLY. 
 
 Did you ever, my dear little observers, did you 
 ever notice the plans and ways of this wasp-shaped 
 insect? I never studied about him, and perhaps 
 you can tell me more than I can tell you. I will 
 tell you what I saw. I saw these little architects 
 construct many houses of mud just large enough to 
 hold one of themselves. No mason could build 
 smoother, or construct an edifice piece by piece, so 
 that you could not see the joining. They choose 
 an upright board,, or a roof of wood, sheltered from 
 rain, against which to secure these homes for their 
 children. Instead of a house, suppose I call it a 
 cradle, for it bears that shape. 
 Within each, at the extreme 
 end, in a smooth little hollow, 
 is placed the infant fly, in the 
 form of an egg. Only one in 
 every separate cradle. I nev- 
 er yet saw twins. Now, the 
 ICHNEUMON FLY. parents go spider - hunting. 
 Having captured a good fat one, they put him 
 asleep by magnetism, all their own, and place him 
 carefully by the little egg. Then another and an- 
 
108 M EERY'S BOOK 
 
 other, until ten are packed in. Ten living spiders, 
 but all lying dormant, fill the nest. 
 
 Then the open door at the top is shut tight and 
 sealed with the same mud material of which the 
 cradle is composed. 
 
 After many days, a nice young grub awakes to 
 eat, and there is his food all prepared. He begins 
 at one spider, and by the time he has eaten the ten 
 he is so stout and well-grown, he commences to 
 break out of jail, as it were. And he does come 
 forth. 
 
 When his fly life begins, what a joy it must be ! 
 How he spreads his gauzy wings in the sun, and 
 hums his delight. He has all the happiness he is 
 capable of receiving. Watch him, admire his beau- 
 tiful organization. See that slight thread of con- 
 nection, through which all the nerves and all the 
 digestive powers exist. 
 
 "God is good," is the written word to be read in 
 the life of every living thing. 
 
OF ANIMALS. 109 
 
 DEACON SHORT'S CATTLE. 
 
 A CCORDINa to the best of my knowledge and 
 ./JL belief, all horned cattle, so far as their habits 
 and manners are concerned, are very much alike. 
 Deacon Short's cattle, I am persuaded, would not 
 behave at all differently from Squire Long's cattle, 
 in similar circumstances. It may be worth while, 
 nevertheless, to notice how the deacon's cattle act- 
 ed on a certain occasion. 
 
 I must first say, however, that Deacon Short was 
 a merciful man, and, therefore, was merciful to his 
 beasts. No living thing around him ever suffered 
 for the want of care. If he thought there was a 
 lack of comfort anywhere, he could not feel com- 
 fortable himself. Accordingly, at the time refer- 
 red to that is, near sundown, on a bitter cold day 
 in January he might haye been seen about the 
 
110 OF ANIMALS. 
 
 shed where his cattle were quartered, making lib- 
 eral additions to their straw beds. "Of course, then 
 they had a good comfortable night's lodging." 
 Don't be too sure of that, my friend. They might 
 have slept much more comfortable than they did, 
 had they been a little more accommodating. There 
 was old Brindle, in particular. She pushed her in- 
 feriors about without mercy, and seemed to care 
 a great deal more for herself than for all the rest 
 together. She meant to have the very best place 
 under the shed, if she could find where it was. 
 Young Spot, too, gave signs of a determination to 
 do as well as she could. The good deacon was 
 quite displeased to see them treat their companions 
 with so much rudeness, and, to teach them better 
 manners, gave them two or three pokes apiece with 
 the tail of his pitchfork. All that amounted to but 
 little, however. As soon as he was fairly out of 
 sight, they began to perform as before. Any steer 
 or heifer that ventured too near them got a cruel 
 thrust of their horns for being so imprudent. They 
 finally took possession of that part of the shed 
 which seemed, on the whole, most desirable. They 
 could not agree, however, to lie down very near 
 each other. The rest had more kindly feelings 
 among themselves, and huddled down together in a 
 remote part of the shed. 
 
 In the morning when Deacon Short entered his 
 barn-yard, there stood Spot and Brindle shivering 
 
OF ANIMALS. Ill 
 
 with cold. The wind had changed during the night 
 and whirled in upon them a pretty thick covering 
 of snow ; while the rest of the herd, by lying close 
 together, had, in a measure, protected and warmed 
 one another. The deacon understood the case at 
 once. "You selfish old creature," said he, address- 
 ing himself to Brindle in particular, as if she under- 
 stood English just as well as she did her own cow- 
 language. "Good enough for you. You would 
 have lost nothing, you see, being a little more ac- 
 commodating. Had you been willing to warm your 
 neighbors, they would have warmed you as much 
 in return." Then turning his reflections into a 
 talk to himself, he went on : " So it is. While self- 
 ishness is sure to get punished in some way, kind- 
 ness and benevolence are as certain to meet with 
 reward. A man is accommodating himself even 
 while he is accommodating his neighbor. He who 
 does good to another, does good to himself at the 
 same time." 
 
112 
 
 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 COMMUNICATION OF IDEAS AMONG 
 CATTLE. 
 
 HERE is a large shallow inlet on the 
 Prussian shore known as the Frische 
 Haff, crossed for the first time by 
 steamers ten or twelve years ago. Upon 
 their way the vessels paddle by a common 
 near the Elbing river, upon which the towns-peo- 
 ple turn cattle out to graze. When the first steam- 
 ers passed this common, they caused every flank 
 of beef to quake ; such fiends in dragon shape had 
 never appeared before to try the nerves of any 
 cow, or to excite wrath in the bully bosom of the 
 most experienced among the warriors of the herd. 
 With tails erect, therefore, and heads bent down, 
 the whole colony upon the common charged over 
 dykes and ditches inland, roaring horribly. Every 
 appearance of the steamer, to the great joy of the 
 crew, caused a panic and a scattering of oxen, un- 
 til, after a few days, the animals had become hard- 
 ened to the sight, and took it as a thing of course, 
 which meant no harm to them. Now, all the horn- 
 Od beasts on the common during that first year 
 
OF ANIMALS. 113 
 
 were in the usual way to be fatted. In the follow- 
 ing spring they had gone the way of beef, and their 
 place was filled by a new generation altogether. 
 So soon, therefore, as the Haff was clear of ice, 
 and the steamers began to ply daily upon the 
 route between Elbing and Konigsberg, the sailors 
 were on the alert again to witness the old scene of 
 uproar by the water side. But they were disap- 
 pointed. Though there were the pasture ground 
 well stocked with new recruits for the market, who 
 had come from distant inland farms or out of stalls 
 within the town, though scarcely one of them if 
 any one had ever seen the apparition of a steam- 
 boat, not a cow flinched. The members of the 
 whole herd went on grazing or stared imperturba- 
 bly at the phenomenon. It was a new thing, no 
 doubt, for them to see. Every spring the first pass- 
 ing of the steamers is in this way regarded by a 
 fresh generation on the common with complete in- 
 difference. The experience acquired by its fore- 
 fathers ten or twelve years ago seems to be now 
 added to the knowledge of every calf born in any 
 corner of our province. And yet, in what way, 
 have these calves been educated ? or, if this fact 
 has been taught to them at all, what else may they 
 not know 1 
 
114 
 
 MERRY'S BOOK. 
 
 DR. DUNLOP AND THE TIGER. 
 
 HE Dr. while in the East In- 
 dies conquered a royal tiger 
 (with a bladder of Scotch snuff. 
 Having crossed the river Gan- 
 ges with his quarterly allow- 
 ance (seven pounds) of snuff, he 
 observed a tiger at some dis- 
 tance. Being without guns, he 
 ordered his men to use their 
 oars as weapons of defence. They formed into a 
 close column, with our backs windward, while the 
 doctor emptied the contents of the bladder into a 
 piece of canvass, and danced upon it till it became as 
 fine as dust. The tiger continued winding, and oc- 
 casionally crouched. When he approached within 
 twenty yards of the party, the doctor discharged 
 about half a pound of the ammunition, part of which 
 was carried by the strong wind into the face of the 
 tiger, who growled, shook his head and retreated. 
 In a few minutes he returned to the charge, ap- 
 proaching the party cautiously, and rubbing his eyes 
 occasionally with his fore-legs. When within about 
 fifteen yards of the party he again crouched, and as 
 he was preparing to make his murderous spring, 
 the doctor and his party let fly at him about two 
 pounds of snuff, which told well, for the royal tiger 
 commenced roaring, and springing into the Ganges, 
 fled to the opposite shore. 
 
OF A N I M A L'S . 115 
 
 DUELLING AMONG MOSQUITOES. 
 
 WO mosquitoes one morning met 
 on a leaf in the garden. Both were 
 filled with the blood drawn from their last 
 nocturnal depredations t They were silent 
 and "dumpy," cross and savage. One of 
 them run out his sting, and wiped it on his 
 fore-leg. The other ran out his sting, and 
 pointed it towards the first musquito. This was 
 considered an insult. And so the offended mosquito 
 steps up to the other, and says : 
 "Did you turn up your sting at me ?" 
 The answer was "I run out my sting ; you can 
 apply it as you choose." 
 
 "Sir," says the first, "you are very impertinent." 
 Answer "Sir, your remark savors of rascality." 
 "Ha," exclaimed the other, "a downright insult I 
 No gentleman mosquito will submit to such treat- 
 ment without demanding satisfaction ! Draw, vil- 
 lain, and defend yourself at once 1" They rushed 
 together, and running one another through the body 
 died "honorable" deaths. 
 
116 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 If anybody is disposed to question the honor of 
 these two mosquitoes, or from their conduct to im- 
 pute any dishonor on their race, it should be said, 
 that they were not bona fide, uncontaminated, and 
 unsophisticated swamp mosquitoes, but that they 
 had been lurking about a boarding-house" where 
 they had learned something of. polite society, and 
 had acquired some uppish notions that made them 
 feel very grand. 
 
 THE RABBIT. 
 
 A. FABLE. 
 
 A rabbit young more weak than keen, 
 Held in its mouth a walnut green ; 
 His parents told it, "nuts have meat 
 The kernel of that nut is sweet !" 
 But nibbling its green coat uncouth, 
 The ignorant creature doubts the truth ; 
 Deems it unfraught with meat or bread, 
 And gives no heed to what is said : 
 His wisdom teeth were still uncut ; 
 The youngster threw away the nut. 
 A keen-eyed monkey watched the lad 
 Seized the same nut extremely glad ; ' 
 Held it compress'd with dextrous paw, 
 Then fairly cracked it with his jaw ; 
 Rejoiced and grinning o'er the troat, 
 Breakfast upon delightful meat. 
 Then young Rabbit says with sneer : 
 "Your parents told the truth my dear j 
 But idle boys, with giddy stem, 
 Knowledge is never to them." 
 
OF ANIMALS. 117 
 
 THE INDIAN LIZARD. 
 
 HE lizard is, in the warm country of 
 India, what the cricket is to the cold- 
 er parts of the world, belonging to us 
 and our races a familiar little creature with a 
 familiar little chirp. We all know that the 
 cricket has a song of his own. which he chants 
 when the hearth is cosy. Many have pleased them- 
 selves in listening to it, and sometimes making out 
 meanings for it. Mr. Dickens once heard a cricket 
 singing against a tea-kettle. The kettle began it, 
 as everybody knows. 
 
 These crickets and lizards are, in fact, members 
 of a very large family to which fanciful people have 
 at all times been extremely partial. The little 
 grass-hopping folks are spoken of by those who 
 have written earliest in the world, that is, the He- 
 brew prophets and singers ; the Greeks had an 
 idea they were born from the soil. For which rea- 
 son the beautiful maidens of Greece, who could 
 boast their descent from a long line of ancestry, in 
 their own country, used to wear golden grasshop- 
 pers, or cicadas, in their hair, as much as to say 
 
118 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 "we have the "best and noblest pedigrees on this 
 ground." Greek poets have made cheerful and 
 loving odes to the cicada one of the musical bro- 
 therhood, in fact, onty of a kind of lower order a 
 songster that always reminded them of the fine 
 weather and soft breezes, and the summer sports 
 and enjoyments under the shade of trees. Bards 
 of other countries, too, have made merry or tender 
 allusions to it. Lamartine has a melancholy little 
 ode to his cricket, and Lord Byron speaks of 
 The shrill cicadas, people of the pine, 
 Making their summer lives, one ceaseless song. 
 
 Those crickets and grasshoppers are as well 
 known to us, as to any other people, and we find 
 they are indeed almost incessant singers in the ge- 
 nial season. Sometimes, at night, when all other 
 sounds are still, they fill the air with their chirp- 
 ings, being then, doubtless, performing their orato- 
 rios, concerts, operas and charivaris, all together in 
 the open air. 
 
 But I began with the lizard and must not forget 
 it. As I was saying, the lizards are household crea- 
 tures in India, loving the open windows and veran- 
 dahs, as their Western cousins love the warm ingle- 
 nook. Many stories are told about them. The na- 
 tives say a benevolent lizard will watch the house 
 at night, and make a rousing noise, if robbers try 
 to break in. But a wickedly disposed lizard will 
 
OF ANIMALS. 119 
 
 actually encourage the villains, and come forward 
 to show them where the money is locked up. Some 
 of the natives say they understand the talk of the 
 izards as they see them in groups of parents and 
 children, on the verandahs. That is a very old 
 fancy of the Eastern people the power of under- 
 standing the speech of the speechless creatures. 
 A little boy one day, in a bungalow, near Madras, 
 told some European officers that he heard one liz- 
 ard say to another, outside the window, "My wife 
 is coming this evening 1" they laughed at the lad 
 and one of them cuffed him for telling lies. Aftei 
 dinner, a ramper of wine came from Madras, and 
 when it was opened, out jumped a lizard, and the 
 same little boy heard the other shouting away on 
 the verandah : "Here she comes, tak, tak, tak 1 I 
 knew she'd be here, tak-a-tak-a-tak 1" The unbe- 
 lievers then begged the little fellow's pardon and 
 gave him some sweetmeats to comfort him. Such 
 is one of the lizard stories told and believed by the 
 natives of that part of India. 
 
120 
 
 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 THE WHALE. 
 
 HALLO ! old fellow, laid high and dry, 
 
 Upon a cake of ice ; 
 Methinks you have found that "getting high," 
 
 Is not a convenient vice ; 
 And that "half-seas-over," as there you lie, 
 
 Is any thing but nice. 
 
 You'll doubtless protest, though the doctors still 
 
 The contrary declare, 
 That being kept dry against one's will, 
 
 The health is sure to impair ; 
 And it's quite as bad as an arsenic pill, 
 
 For a whale to "take the air." 
 
 But, where are you bound, in your flat-bottomed smack, 
 Without rudder, mast, or sail 1 
 
OP ANIMALS. 121 
 
 Do you take old England in your track, 
 And call on the Prince of Whales 7 
 
 Will you stop at New York, as you go back, 
 And with Governor Fish regale 1 
 
 You need not fear your craft to steer 
 
 Over Nantucket shoal ; 
 Nor deem it unsafe approaching near 
 
 New Bedford or Holmes' Hole ; 
 Nor that Judd or Macy, or any one here, 
 
 Will tap your brains for toll 
 
 Whale oil is no longer in vogue, you know 
 
 We're quite in another line. 
 Camphene, kerosene, ct cetera, now, 
 
 Have taken from you the shine ; 
 We get our light from shote and sow, 
 
 And the sperm d* the city is swine. 
 
 But, hark'ee, old fellow, don't flap your jibs 
 
 In Paris, or Broadway, please; 
 There's a terrible rage among our "ribs'* 
 
 For skirts of ample degrees ; 
 And the ladies will tear you all to nibs/ 1 
 
 Your bony parts to seize. 
 
MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 ^> HEN science was younger than 
 she is now, and less able to dis- 
 tinguish between being and 
 deeming to be, certain of her followers, 
 who fancied themselves learned in nat- 
 ural history, used to find marvellous at- 
 tributes in some of the animals they 
 wrote about. For reasons not easy to discover, 
 they seldom mentioned rats without expressions of 
 fear or abhorrence, giving the creatures credit for 
 more than human intelligence. There was no 
 wickedness that rats were not willing to perpetrate. 
 Then there appeared to be strange relations be- 
 tween the cunning rodents and human beings, in- 
 vesting them with a mysterious character, not only 
 in the eyes of the multitude, but in the opinion of 
 students. At times they were more than half sus- 
 pected to be agents of the Evil One. 
 
 Sou they, in his Doctor, remarks that whatever 
 man does, rat always takes a share in the proceed- 
 ings. Whether it be building a ship, or erecting 
 
OF ANIMALS. 123 
 
 a church, digging a grave, ploughing a field, stor- 
 ing a pantry, taking a journey, or planting a dis- 
 tant colony, rat is sure to have something to do 
 in the matter ; man and his gear can no more get 
 transported from place to place without him, than 
 without the ghost in the wagon that "flitted too." 
 How is it that a rat knows when a house is about 
 to fall, or a ship to sink ? Where did they learn 
 to carry eggs down stairs, from the top of the house 
 to the bottom, without breaking ! Who taught 
 them to abstract the oil from long-necked flasks, by 
 dipping their tails in, and then licking the unctuous 
 drops from the extremity ? What precedent had 
 they for leading a blind companion about by a 
 straw held in the mouth, and how did they know 
 he could not see ? All those are questions requir- 
 ing no small amount of ingenuity to answer. 
 
 As with nations, so with rats ; one tribe comes 
 and dispossesses another. The rats that used to 
 gnaw the bacon in Saxon larders in Alfred's reign ; 
 that squealed behind the wainscot when Cromwell's 
 Ironsides were carrying royalist mansions ; that 
 disturbed the sleep of George I., were a hardy 
 black species, now seldom seen, and doomed, ap- 
 parently, to become as rare as the dodo. Like the 
 Red Men in presence of the Palefaces, they have 
 had to retire before the Norwegian rat, larger in 
 size, and brown in color. Notwithstanding all the 
 
124 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 popular notions on the subject, it is difficult to ex- 
 plain why this was called the Norwegian rat ; for 
 it did not come from Norway. It may surprise 
 those, who are sticklers for their Scandinavian ori- 
 gin, to know that this rat was brought to England 
 from India and Persia, in 1730. 
 
 In 1750, the breed made its way to France j and 
 \ts progress over Europe has since been more or 
 less rapid. When Pallas was traveling in South- 
 ern Russia, he saw the first detachment arrive near 
 the mouth of the Volga, .in 1766. The species 
 multiplies so rapidly, breeding three times a year, 
 each litter numbering from twelve to twenty, that 
 a single family, if kept from harm's way, would pro- 
 duce nearly a million in two years. No wonder 
 they drove out our aboriginal black rat ! In Ire- 
 land, th^y did more ; they killed the frogs, once 
 numerous in that country ; and since the diminu- 
 tion of the croaking race, the waters, as peasantry 
 say, have been less pure than formerly. The Isle of 
 France was once abandoned by the Dutch, because 
 of the prodigious increase of rats j human life was 
 hardly safe from their attacks. 
 
 After making themselves comfortably at home in 
 England, the country of their adoption, they sent 
 colonies across the Atlantic rat empire, like men's 
 empire, taking its course westward. In the West 
 Indies they found congenial quarters, no cold, and 
 plenty of food ; and, multiplying in consequence 
 
OF ANIMALS. 125 
 
 at an astonishing rate, they became a destructive 
 and intolerable pest, until the inhabitants were 
 obliged, in self-defence, to poison them with arsen- 
 ic and pellets of cassava. The remedy was attend- 
 ed by dismal results, for tormented by thirst, after 
 eating the poison, the rats swarmed down to drink 
 at the streams, and falling in, the water was poi- 
 soned, and a great mortality followed among the 
 cattle that drank from the same rivers. 
 
 Besides this check, they have many natural ene- 
 mies in the islands ; the Fermica imnivora is not 
 the least formidable ; a battalion of this species, 
 known as the Raffle's ant, makes but short work of 
 clearing a plantation of every rat. At one time 
 the negroes used to catch the rats, and expose them 
 for sale in the markets of Jamaica, where the black 
 population were always willing purchasers. The 
 Chinese, too, have a weakness for "such small deer ;" 
 and it is a standing bit of fun on board ships lying 
 in Canton harbor, to catch a rat, and hold the strug- 
 gling animal up by the tail, in sight of the celestial 
 crews in the tea-lighters alongside. A shout is im- 
 mediately set up, and no sooner is the rat flung 
 from the ship than an uproarious scramble follows 
 for the possession of the coveted prize. 
 
 The Greeks knew a good many things ; but if 
 naturalists are to be believed, they did not know 
 either the Norwegian rat, or the black rat : a large 
 sized mouse was their familiar pest. Where the 
 
126 
 
 black rat originally came from, is a mystery. Some 
 suppose it to be a native of America. But how did 
 it get to Europe ? Did it cross the Behring's Strait 
 and traverse the whole continent of Asia ? One 
 cause of its present rarity, besides the invasion 
 mentioned above, is, that it brings forth not more 
 than five or six young at a time, and only once a 
 year. 
 
 There are about one hundred species of rats, 
 large and small, audacious and harmless ; very few, 
 however, devoid of the mischievous propensity. 
 
 Nine inches is a respectable length for a Norway 
 rat ; but the giant rat of Malabar is twenty-four 
 inches long one half body, the other half tail. 
 The hamster species swarm in the southern pro- 
 vinces of Russia, and has settlements in Hungary 
 and Germany. They are excessively fond of liquor- 
 ice, whether wild or cultivated, and find abundance 
 of either in those countries, committing sad havoc 
 in the plantations. 
 
 For winter use, they store up in their burrows 
 from twelve to one hundred pounds of grain in the 
 ear, and seeds in pods, all well cleaned and dried. 
 The hamster is about the size of the Norway rat, 
 but with a tail not more than three inches in length. 
 It has a pouch in each cheek, not seen when empty, 
 but when full they resemble blown bladders coated 
 with fur. These pouches are the animal's panniers, 
 and are generally carried home well filled from fo- 
 
OP ANIMALS. 127 
 
 raging expeditions, when they are emptied by 
 pressing the forepaws against them. Dr. Russell, 
 who dissected one of these rats, found the pouches 
 filled with young French-beans, packed one upon 
 another, so closely and skillfully that the most ex- 
 pert fingers could not have economized the recep- 
 tacle to greater advantage. When taken out and 
 laid loosely, they formed a heap three times the 
 bulk of the creature's body ! The hamster, more- 
 over, is brave as well as prudent, and shrinks from 
 no enemy, be it man, horse, or dog ; mere size has no 
 terrors for it. If facing a dog, the rat empties his 
 pouches of their contents, and then inflating them 
 to the utmost, gives such a big, swollen appear- 
 ance to his head and neck, as to present a most ex- 
 traordinary contrast to his body. 
 
 The two sexes live apart in their habitations 
 the males in one set of chambers, the females in 
 the other ; a practice which again shows analogy 
 between rats and some human sects. The peasants 
 dig down to the burrows in winter, and seizing the 
 stores of grain, and the torpid rats, they eat the 
 flesh of the latter in some places, and sell their 
 skins. In Germany, rewards are given by the au- 
 thorities for all the rat skins brought in ; and it is 
 on record in the town hall of Gotha, that not fewer 
 than 145,000 were paid for during three seasons. 
 
 Somewhat similar in habit is the economic rat, 
 which is found inhabiting the American and Asiatic 
 
128 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 shores of the Arctic Ocean. This species general- 
 ly form their abode in a turfy soil, where they ex- 
 cavate chambers a foot in diameter, with a flat 
 arched roof, and at times thirty entrance-passages 
 ramifying in different directions. Besides the lodg- 
 ing-vaults, they dig others, to be used as store- 
 houses, and employ themselves during the summer 
 in filling these with edible roots ; and so careful 
 are they over the task, that if the least trace of 
 damp appears, they bring out the roots again and 
 again on sunshiny days ' till they are sufficiently 
 dried. 
 
 Like their German congeners, they are exposed 
 to pillage, especially in Kamtschatka, where the na- 
 tives in winter often run short of provisions. They 
 are found also in Iceland ; but food being scant in 
 that inhospitable country, the economic foragers 
 have frequently to cross and recross rivers and 
 lakes in their search for provant. Olaffsen relates 
 that on such occasions "the party consisting of from 
 six to ten, select a flat piece of dried cow-dung, on 
 which they place the berries they have collected, 
 in a heap in the middle ; and then, by their united 
 force, drawing it to the water's edge, launch it, and 
 embark, placing themselves round the heap, with 
 their heads joined over it, and their backs to the 
 water, their tails pendant in the stream, and serv- 
 ing the purpose of rudders. 7 ' 
 
OF ANIMALS. 
 
 129 
 
 THE PET CHICKEN 
 
 HENRY'S father was a farmer, and bad a great 
 many hens and chickens. One morning, when 
 Henry went out to assist in feeding them, he saw one 
 of the little chickens whose foot had been injured, 
 so that she was quite lame, and she could not run 
 
130 
 
 after the rest of the brood. Chickens do not show- 
 much affection for each other, and never seem to 
 care much if one of their companions is hurt ; they 
 probably do not know any better ; so they all ran 
 off to some newly ploughed ground where there 
 were plenty of worms, and left poor little Lamefoot 
 to peep and hobble along by herself. 
 
 Henry took the little thing up carefully. Lame- 
 foot peeped and screamed very loud, when she 
 found herself held fast in Henry's hand, and strug- 
 gled to get away, but she found that by struggling 
 she only hurt her lame foot more, and so she con- 
 cluded to lie still and bear confinement as patient- 
 ly as she could. 
 
 Henry carried the chicken in and showed it to 
 his mother. She put a little cold cream on the 
 chicken's foot, and told Henry she thought if he 
 could keep her from running about for a few days, 
 she would get as well as ever. So Henry made her 
 a little coop in a shady corner at the back of the 
 house, and shut her up in it. 
 
 He took care to feed his little patient two or three 
 times a day, and keep her well supplied with cater- 
 pillars, so that Lamefoot became quite contented 
 with her situation. In a short timelier foot be- 
 came as well as ever ; but she had become so at- 
 tached to her quiet little corner, that after she was 
 able to run about everywhere, she always came 
 
OF ANIMALS. 131 
 
 back every night to roost in the little coop which 
 Henry had made her. 
 
 And he became so fond of bis little pet, that he 
 used often to carry her out corn, or grain, or fruit, 
 whatever he thought she would like, and she would 
 come to him and eat out of her hand. 
 
 By and by Lamefoot grew up to be a great hen, 
 and furnished Henry with a good supply of eggs, 
 which he always ate with a better relish than any 
 others ; and the next spring she brought him out 
 a fine brood of chickens, of which she took such ex- 
 cellent care that they were considered the finest in 
 the farm yard, and his mother was very glad to ac- 
 cept from Henry a couple of pair for her Thanks- 
 giving Chicken Pie, when that joyful occasion 
 came round. 
 
132 
 
 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 THE PANGOLIN. 
 
OF ANIMALS. 133 
 
 THE PANGOLIN. 
 
 WHAT do think of that, boys ? Is that a fish, a 
 beast, or a bird ? 
 
 "I am sure I don't know. I should think it was 
 some sort of a dog, with his forelegs cut off," says 
 one. 
 
 'And I should think," says another, "it was a 
 young crocodile, or something belonging to that 
 family." 
 
 "And I," said a third, "I don't know what it is. 
 [ wish you would tell us." 
 
 Well, it is the Pangolin, sometimes known by the 
 name of the scaly ant-eater, and a scaly looking ras- 
 cal he certainly is. He is a native of Asia and Af- 
 rica, and lives on ants. He has no teeth, but is 
 armed, instead, with a long, thin like tongue, which 
 he pushes into the narrow passages' of the anthills 
 and draws out his victims with great ease. He 
 does not seize them, or impale them, but his tongue 
 being furnished with a thick, gummy saliva, the in- 
 sects stick to it, and are drawn out easily. 
 
 This queer fellow seems to have but two legs, and 
 so indeed he has ; but, a substitute for forelegs, 
 which he does not need, he has, as you see, just un- 
 der his head, a fierce array of nail's, or claws, as if 
 bis legs were drawn in, out of sight. With these 
 
134 
 
 claws, which are strong and sharp, he can tear open 
 the ants' nests, climb trees, and defend himself from 
 his enemies. 
 
 The Pangolin has a very queer way of rolling 
 
 himself up in a heap, with his scales all on the out- 
 side, so that even the hyama and the tiger cannot 
 hurt him. Sometimes, when he has climbed a tree 
 in search of food, he saves himself the trouble of 
 creeping down, by rolling himself into a ball, and 
 dropping to the ground. The tail, with its point- 
 ed scales, is used to assist him in climbing. Some- 
 times, when going up a tree or a post, he will hold 
 on by his feet and tail, and throw his body back, 
 as represented in this cut, and swing himself to and 
 fro, as if he enjoyed the exercise. 
 
OF ANIMALS. 
 
 135 
 
 GAZELLES AND GAZELLE-HUNTERS. 
 
 THE gazelle is one of the most beautiful animals im- 
 aginable. Did you ever see one ? Probably not. 
 The gazelle is not a native of our country, and is 
 very seldom brought here. I saw two or three at 
 the famous Zoological Gardens in London, and I 
 assure you they furnished me a great deal of amuse- 
 ment. 
 
 Of all the animals in the world, unless the poets 
 deceive us, the gazelle has the most beautiful eye. 
 You recollect what Thomas Moore says on that 
 point, in one of the sweetest lyrics in the English 
 language : 
 
136 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 "Oh, ever thus from childhood's honr, 
 
 I've seen my fondest hopes decay; 
 I never loved a tree or flower, 
 
 But 'twas the first to fade away ; 
 I never nursed a dear gazelle, 
 
 To glad me with its soft blue eye, 
 But when it came to know me well, 
 
 And love me, it was sure to die." 
 
 Passing over the poet's unhappy mood of mind, 
 occasioned, probably, as my good old uncle Barna- 
 bas used to say, by eating rather too freely of un- 
 ripe fruit, from the little I have seen of the gazelle, 
 I don't know that its eye is overpraised in this 
 stanza. Still I think I have seen human eyes quite 
 as attractive. They were to me at all events. 
 
 The gazelle is a native of Asia and Africa. The 
 chamois with which I became quite familiar while 
 traveling in Switzerland, though it greatly resem- 
 bles the gazelle, is not placed in the gazelle family. 
 There are some twelve distinct species of this ani- 
 mal, each differing but very little from the rest. 
 They have all small limbs in proportion to the oth- 
 er parts of the body, and are well adapted for run- 
 ning gracefully and swiftly. They have a cloven 
 foot, like the sheep. Their hair is short, but fine 
 and glossy. 
 
 In some countries where the gazelle abounds, 
 f, Jcons are bred to capture them. The mode in 
 which t&e capture is effected is cruel in the extreme. 
 Whenever the hunters see a gazelle at the proper 
 
OF ANIMALS. 137 
 
 distance, they let the bird loose. The falcon, with 
 the swiftness of an arrow, flies to the poor gazelle, 
 which is unable to escape. The talons of the bird 
 are fixed, one in the gazelle's cheek, the other in 
 its throat ; and the innocent creature is so faint, 
 from the loss of blood, that its pursuers overtake 
 it and kill it. 
 
 Sometimes, too, the gazelle is hunted by means 
 of the ounce, a very savage animal, which, however, 
 can be tamed so as to be perfectly docile. The 
 ounce sits on the horse with the hunter, and re- 
 mains there, with the composure of a cat in the 
 chimney corner, until a gazelle is pointed out. Then 
 the fierce animal creeps along carefully, without 
 making any noise, until he comes within a few feet 
 of his prey, when he pounces upon him, and de- 
 stroys him almost instantly. 
 
 There is another way in which the gazelle is 
 caught. A tame gazelle is bred for the purpose, 
 which is taught to join a herd of wild ones, when- 
 ever it perceives them. The hunter places a noose 
 around the horns of the tame gazelle in such a man- 
 ner that, when he comes in contact with the others 
 (for they invariably fight at such a meeting,) the 
 horns of the wild gazelle will be entangled in the 
 noose on the head of the tame one, in which case 
 the two fighters can't separate themselves. 
 
 Another mode of catching the gazelle is by means 
 
138 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 of the lasso. The natives surprise the gazelles in 
 a thicket, arid then dexterously throw the lasso so 
 that it is wound around the legs of the animal. 
 
 You see that in all these different ways of cap- 
 turing the gazelle there is nothing that looks very 
 'ike honorable warfare. If people should adopt the 
 same methods of hunting the gazelle that are re- 
 sorted to by the chamois-hunter, the gazelle might 
 laugh at all the military tactics of his enemies. 
 Give the gazelle a fair field, and he would most 
 certainly win the day. His legs would be his sal- 
 vation. 
 
OP ANIMALS. 
 
 139 
 
 THE ELEPHANT. 
 
 THE elephant is the most sagacious and intelli- 
 gent of all quadrupeds, and the nearest in its 
 approach to human reason. Its enormous size and 
 immense strength render it a formidable enemy 
 when provoked, but even in a wild state it is not 
 ferocious. It is easily tamed by kindness and ca- 
 resses, and when properly treated it is obedient, 
 grateful, and discriminating to a degree that proves 
 it to be endued with a portion of something very 
 similar to rationality. Elephants, even when wild, 
 evince signs of great ingenuity, forethought and 
 
140 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 memory ; and show much regard and considera- 
 tion for each other. They generally go in herds or 
 companies ; sometimes carrying in their trunks 
 branches of trees which they use as fans to cool 
 themselves. If one of them gets hurt, the others 
 take care of him, bringing him food and nursing 
 him till he recovers. In crossing a river the old 
 ones swim over first, to seek a proper landing place : 
 and when safe on the other side, give a signal, by 
 a sort of cry or shout, for the young ones to follow. 
 The little elephants then venture across, support- 
 ing each other by interlacing or locking their trunks 
 together. The old elephants sometimes carry the 
 very small ones laid high across their tusks, twin- 
 ing their trunks round them to prevent their fall- 
 ing. If they find a dead elephant in the woods, 
 they stop and cover him with grass or with the 
 boughs of trees. 
 
 The elephant will eat almost every sort of vege- 
 table food, and is extravagantly fond of confection- 
 ery, but abhors flesh and fish. I have seen them 
 drink wine and porter, taking the bottle in their 
 trunk, which they bend under to the mouth, hold- 
 ing back the head so as to let the liquor run down 
 their throat. In India the tame elephant is used 
 for various services. He will perform more work, 
 and carry or draw greater burdens, than six horses : 
 but he must be well fed and properly taken care 
 of. It is said that he will eat a hundred pounds of 
 
OP ANIMALS. 141 
 
 rice in a day, drinking forty gallons of water : but 
 his diet should be varied with fruit and herbage, 
 and he must be led to the river twice a day for the 
 purpose of bathing. 
 
 There is a story of an elephant becoming so fond 
 of his keeper's child that he could scarcely bear to 
 have it taken out of his sight. At last he would 
 not eat his food unless the infant's cradle was placed 
 between his feet, and as soon as this was done he 
 ate heartily. If the child awoke and cried, the 
 elephant frequently put it to sleep again by rocking 
 the cradle with his trunk. 
 
 The Duke of Devonshire had a very fine elephant 
 which he kept in the grounds of his villa at Chis- 
 wick, near London, in a handsome stone building of 
 one story, erected purposely for the accommodation 
 of the animal, who went in and out on a slanting 
 platform or inclined plane. Some relatives of mine 
 saw it there a few years since. The elephant was 
 walking about under the trees. He seemed very 
 proud of a rich mantle or pall of blue and crimson 
 which was thrown over him. At the desire of his 
 keeper he took it off with his trunk, spread it even- 
 ly on the grass, carefully smoothing every wrinkle, 
 then folded it square and neatly, and laying it on 
 his back carried it into his house and put it away. 
 
 A gentleman who came from India in the ship 
 which brought the elephant Caroline, told me that 
 the tediousness of the long passage was much re- 
 
142 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 lieved by the interest they all took in this animal, 
 and the constant amusement she afforded them. 
 There was a great friendship between her and a 
 dog who stayed about her almost continually. At 
 the commencement of the voyage she was provided 
 with a covering, lest she should be chilled by the 
 sea air. But being still in the warm climate of the 
 torrid zone, she did not then feel the want of cloth- 
 ing, and immediately stripped off the garment and 
 threw it aside. Afterwards, when they proceeded 
 into a cooler latitude, and the covering was again 
 put on, she seemed very glad to have it, and wore 
 it without any further objection. At the termina- 
 tion of the voyage, the vessel encountered a vio- 
 lent storm, and was wrecked near the mouth of the 
 Delaware. The crew and passengers saved them- 
 selves in the long-boat. When they reached the 
 shore, they grieved exceedingly at having left the 
 poor elephant in the ship abandoned to her fate. 
 Some of the men volunteered to go back for her in 
 the boat, notwithstanding the terrors of the storm 
 and the imminent risk of their own lives. When 
 they reached the ship ; they found the elephant in 
 great tribulation ; but they could not prevail on 
 her to come away ^ ith them till she had provided 
 for the safety of her friend the dog, by taking him 
 in her trunk and handing him down to the boat. 
 This done, she gladly allowed the men to make her 
 fast by a rope to the stern of the boat, and thus 
 
OF ANIMALS. 148 
 
 she swam after them to the shore. The elephant 
 Caroline was afterwards exhibited in Philadelphia. 
 
 Once, when she was thrusting her trunk about 
 miong the spectators in search of something good 
 to eat, a young man mischievously gave her some 
 tobacco, which the elephant (not knowing what it 
 was) conveyed immediately to her mouth, but in- 
 stantly put it out again with signs of the greatest 
 disgust, in which she showed her sense. A few 
 days afterwards, the same young man was there 
 again. The elephant directly remembered him, 
 and singling him out from the crowd, put forth her 
 trunk, and seizing the offender's hand, squeezed 
 and pinched it so hard as to make him cry out 
 with pain. 
 
 The tusks of the elephant supply the whole world 
 with ivory. It is valued for its whiteness, hard- 
 ness, and the fine polish of which it is susceptible. 
 There is a small insect, invisible to the naked eye, 
 which sometimes gets into articles made of ivory 
 and eats holes in them in a very ingenious manner. 
 Miss Leslie says : " 1 have a fan entirely of ivory, 
 which is almost as thin as the best white paper, 
 and is carved all over in a sort of delicate lace or 
 open work. It was made for me in Canton, when 
 a girl, and has in the centre the initials of my name 
 elegantly cut. In a few years the unseen worm 
 commenced his depredations, and my beautiful fan 
 is now eaten in small square holes of so regular a 
 
144 MERRY'S BOOK. 
 
 form* tha/ they look as if made purposely with an 
 instrument. One of my sisters had a fine set of 
 ivory chessmen that came from China, and after a 
 while they were found perforated with mall holes 
 not larger than if pierced by a small needle. The 
 chess-king was drilled completely through, from his 
 crown down to his feet. It is probably a similar 
 invisible insect that eats off the points of camel's 
 hair pencils as they lie in the boxes at the station- 
 er's, making them square at the ends, and there- 
 fore useless." 
 
 The spirited engraving represents a scene which 
 took place in India, at a hunting-party, and is re- 
 lated by Captain Mundy, in his " Sketches in In- 
 dia," in the following narrative : 
 
 <k A gentleman of our party had, perhaps, as per- 
 ilous an adventure with a lion as any one ; he hav- 
 ing enjo) T ed the singular distinction of laying for 
 some moments in the very clutches of the royal 
 quadruped. Though I have heard him recount the 
 incident more than once, and have myself sketched 
 the scene, yet I am not sure that I relate it cor- 
 rectly. The main feature, however of the anec- 
 dote, affording so striking an illustration of the 
 sagacity of the elephant, may be strictly depended 
 upon. 
 
 " A lion charged my friend's elephant, and he, 
 having wounded him, was in the act of leaning for- 
 ward in order to fire another shot, when the how- 
 
OP ANIMA LS 
 
146 
 
 dah (which is the box upon the elephant's back) 
 suddenly gave way, and he was thrown over the 
 head of the elephant into the very jaws of the 
 furious beast. The lion, though severely hurt, 
 immediately seized him, and would shortly have 
 put a fatal termination to the conflict, had not the 
 elephant, urged by his mahout, or driver, stepped 
 forward, though greatly v alarmed, and grasping in 
 her trunk the top of a young tree, bent it down 
 across the back and loins of the lion, and thus 
 forced the tortured animal to quit his hold ! My 
 friend's life was thus saved, but his arm was broken 
 in two places, and he was severely clawed on the 
 breast and shoulders." 
 
OF ANIMALS. 
 
 147 
 
 THE TRAVELED MONKEY. 
 
 "Oft has it been my lot" to meet, 
 Men of small wit, and large conceit, 
 Who, having visited, perchance, 
 The shores of Egypt, Greece or France, 
 Having seen the Pyramids, or sat 
 'Neath Sinai's shade, or Ararat, 
 Mounted St. Peter's or St. Paul's, 
 Or bathed benltth Niagara Falls 
 
148 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 Deem their poor stock of knowledge worth, 
 The hoarded wisdom of the earth, 
 And their mere dictum worthy quite, 
 To set all knotty questions right. 
 
 IN the central province, Chang Fou Tse, of the 
 Flowery Kingdom of the Sun, there was an ex- 
 tensive forest, remarkable for the magnitude and 
 beauty of its trees, the variety and richness of its 
 flowers, and the abundance of its delicious fruits. 
 But it was still more remarkable as the residence 
 of a tribe of monkeys, the most sagaciously human, 
 the most provokingly civilized, of any that have 
 ever been known to caricature the ways of man. 
 So exceedingly apt were they in learning the man- 
 ners and customs of their more intelligent neigh- 
 bors, that it was commonly remarked, that a more 
 vain, self-conceited, selfish race of thieves, pick- 
 pockets, and highway robbers was never known. 
 From the universal prevalence of these elements 
 of moral depravity among them, it was currently 
 believed by the philosophers of that age, that this 
 was the identical family from which Lord Mombo- 
 do, and others of the same school, traced their gen 
 ealogy direct. 
 
 If this could be satisfactorily proved, either by 
 authentic documents, or unquestionable tradition, 
 it would be a fact of great interest and importance 
 to the scientific world, as it would afford a natural 
 and easy explanation of certain psychological phe- 
 
OF ANIMALS. 149 
 
 nomena, always exhibited in that family of philos- 
 ophers. I refer to their singular talent for dispu- 
 ting everything that is certain, and believing eve- 
 rything that is doubtful. Nature has a less decided 
 and unchangeable abhorrence of a vacuum, than 
 these men of the simplicity and directness of truth. 
 They will grope through weary volumes of misty 
 speculation, and impalpable conjecture in quest of 
 the "vestiges of creation," which, like foot-prints 
 in the solid rock, are graven on every page of the 
 volume of nature, and illustrated, in characters of 
 light, in the book of revelation. 
 
 The tribe that occupied this beautiful forest of 
 Chang Fou Tse, was known by the name of the 
 Hing-po-qua tribe. They were large and well form- 
 ed, with features more regular than others of their 
 race. They were cleanly and social in their habits 
 as well- as exceedingly loquacious and communica- 
 tive. Such a set of chatterers, babblers, and boast- 
 ers, the sun, in his circuit, never looked upon. The 
 imitative -faculty, so strongly developed in the 
 whole race, was pre-eminent in them, and was dis- 
 tinguished by a degree of refinement and taste else- 
 where unknown. They were rarely caught doing 
 anything ungenteel, or ungraceful, according to the 
 paradoxical terms. On this account, they were of- 
 ten taken to the great cities of the east, and some- 
 times sent to distant lands, to be exhibited for the 
 admiration of the curious. 
 
150 
 
 It happened in the year that one of the Hing- 
 po-quas became the prisoner of Henry Cabot r a 
 European merchant of great celebrity, who was ac- 
 quainted with nearly all the countries of the globe 
 and visited many different nations every year. The 
 animal was tall and finely formed r with a coat so 
 soft, smooth, and glossy, that his master gave him 
 the name of Joseph Silk, to which, in acknowledg- 
 ment of his remarkable gifts as a traveler, was add- 
 ed the surname of Munchausen. He accompanied 
 his master wherever he went, and was received 
 with marks of distinguished consideration, even in 
 the most fashionable circles of society, being allow- 
 ed the privilege of amusing gentlemen and ladies, 
 by mimicking their movements, and caricaturing 
 their looks. 
 
 On one occasion, being on a visit to the court of 
 the queen of England, he was greatly delighted 
 with the appearance of a very small page, in the 
 service of one of the ladies of honor. He was quite 
 a dwarf, and a good match, in point of size, for the 
 monkey. Silky Joe, as he was more generally call- 
 ed, annoyed this miniature page exceedingly, by 
 following him at all times, and acting over, with 
 the most ludicrous precision, all his attitudes and 
 motions. Happening, one day, to fine! the door of 
 trie page's room open, as he was passing, the mon- 
 key stole in, and helped himself to a complete suit 
 of court dress, of the richest materials, and of the 
 
OP ANIMALS. 151 
 
 gay and showy colors so much admired among the 
 fashionables of that period. In attempting to ar- 
 ray himself, he made some awkward mistakes. 
 Having satisfied himself, however, that all was 
 right, he hastened to take his place as the shadow 
 of the page. The court was in an uproar of laugh- 
 ter. The page was highly incensed, and demanded 
 satisfaction for the insult, vowing he would never 
 put on the dress again, after it had been so dishon- 
 ored. He was soon pacified with presents, and Mr. 
 Cabot purchased the dress at a high price. In- 
 duced, by this incident, to promote Joseph Silk to 
 the rank of a page in his own retinue, he also pur- 
 chased for him a variety of other costly dresses, 
 after the most approved costumes of the day. He 
 had his head powdered according to the prevailing 
 custom, and his face bleached, by a liberal use of 
 depilatory appliances and pearl white. 
 
 Joseph was thus a frequent visitor at court, and 
 in many of the palaces of the nobility. He was in 
 universal favor, especially with the ladies, for whose 
 attentions he always showed a marked preference. 
 His manners were graceful arid courteous in the 
 extreme. He could enter a room with the air of 
 an accomplished dancing-master. He flourished a 
 cane, an eye-glass, a pocket handkerchief, or a snuff 
 box, with the grace of a courtier. In fine, he was 
 a model of an accomplished beau, to whom brains 
 are superfluous. As to his tail that was no more 
 
152 
 
 in the way than a Chinaman's queue. It was im- 
 mediately adopted as a fashion, both by gentlemen 
 and ladies, the former attaching huge pig-tails to 
 their heads behind, and the latter making long trails 
 to their dresses. 
 
 After several years of absence, Mr. Cabot return- 
 ed to the Flowery Kingdom of the Sun, and visited 
 the province of Chang Fou Tse. Joseph Silk Mun- 
 chausen accompanied him, having become learned 
 in the manners and customs of men, and in the airs 
 and arts of travelers. Arrived within the precincts 
 of his native province, he was seized with a strong 
 yearning for the home of his youth, and an invin- 
 cible desire to astonish the natives, by showing off 
 his finery and his acquirements. Arraying himself 
 with great care in his choicest habiliments, as he 
 would have done for a presentation at court, he 
 seized an opportunity when Mr. Cabot was too much 
 occupied to notice his movement, and stole away, 
 with rapid strides, to the forest. Flourishing his 
 cane with vigor, he strode down the long avenues, 
 and through the favorite haunts of his childhood, 
 without encountering one familiar face. Supposing 
 him to be a human monster, "an outside barbarian," 
 the Hing-po-quas, his cousins and neighbors, hid 
 themselves from him, as from an enemy. At length 
 one of them, peeping after him, from a hollow tree, 
 discovered his tail, half concealed by the ample 
 flaps of his coat. Stealing noiselessly out, he seized 
 
OF ANIMALS. 153 
 
 the obtruding member, and gave it a violent pull, 
 as if to test its genuineness, and then, with a pro- 
 yoking chuckle, flew away into the tree. It was 
 answered by a hundred chattering voices in all its 
 branches. Gentleman Joe, though sorely offended 
 by the indignity offered to his person, instinctively 
 replied to the salutation, wheeling suddenly about, 
 and squinting scornfully through his eye-glass, to 
 see if he could detect the offender. The monkeys, 
 shrewd at all sorts of tricks themselves, readily sus- 
 pected some trick on this occasion. They there- 
 fore, kept a respectful distance, chattering to each 
 other, and making all manner of grimaces at the 
 intruder, as, with the most affected airs imaginable, 
 he strutted about, sometimes brandishing his cane 
 in defiance, and sometimes threatening to chastise 
 them for their insolence. He soon became cool, 
 however, and, revealing his true character, invited 
 them to a parley. 
 
 One by one the monkeys gathered around the 
 stranger, till he had a large audience, to whom he 
 made himself known as a friend and relative, and 
 very condescendingly related the marvels he had 
 seen in distant lands. Doubt it not, kind reader 
 Rousseau has settled that point long ago that an- 
 imals talk. The parrot, you know, is quite a lin- 
 guist, and talks Spanish, French, Dutch, German, 
 and whatever you may please to teach him. Other 
 animals have languages of their own, which have 
 
154 
 
 never been reduced to writing. And, in this re- 
 spect, I do not see why the brute is not entitled to 
 the pre-eminence, since many of them learn to un- 
 derstand, and some of them to speak, the various 
 human tongues ; while no man has yet been able 
 to learn any of their dialects. This question I 
 leave to the philosophers, and beg they will consid- 
 er whether it is does not intimate, if not prove 
 clearly, that we, in our arrogance and self-conceit, 
 have mistaken the direction of the scale of being, 
 when we have placed man at the head of it. 
 
 Joseph Silk Munchausen was a plausible, insinu- 
 ating monkey, easy of address, and ready of speech 
 on all occasions. He was now especially desirous 
 to make a grand impression. He had a remarkably 
 happy faculty of showing up all he had seen, and 
 giving it the coloring of his own fancy. Some of 
 his hearers were as credulous as the disciples of 
 Swedenborg, Mesmer, or Mormon ; though there 
 were many unbelieving wags among them, who 
 made the most quizzical grimaces, as he dilated 
 upon some of the impossible marvels of other lands. 
 Monkeys are associationists. They have all things 
 common. And when Joseph told them that the 
 people of England allowed a few of their number 
 to call the whole land their own, and to claim even 
 the forests, so that their neighbors and brothers 
 could not so much as walk under their shade, they 
 laughed outright at their folly. " It is even worse 
 
OP ANIMALS. 155 
 
 than that," said he, " there are a few who have 
 every year as much food as would serve ten thou- 
 sand, which they keep all for themselves, while the 
 rest die by hundreds for want of a root, or a nut." 
 
 " Oh ! whaf a whopper," said one, " don't I know 
 that the hungry would take it by force, if it were 
 not given them ?" 
 
 " If they should do that, they would be hung," 
 replied the traveler. " In truth it is only a grand 
 contrivance they have for getting rid of that mean 
 sort of people, that have not wit enough to make 
 themselves rich by wholesale robbery. They are 
 not allowed to have anything of their own. They 
 must either starve or steal, and if they steal they 
 are hung." 
 
 " Now we have caught you," said a grave old fel- 
 low, who had not spoken hitherto. " You say that 
 they hang those who steal. How could these rich 
 ones get so much land, and claim all the forests, 
 without stealing it ? It was not always thus. So 
 they should all be hung, and the land be common 
 again." 
 
 " You know nothing about human philosophy," 
 replied Joseph Silk. " He who steals a morsel, to 
 save himself from starving, is a villain, and must be 
 put to death. But he who steals a whole kingdom 
 is a hero, and men worship and serve him, as a 
 kind of god." 
 
 A sort of suppressed titter, expressive of extreme 
 
156 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 incredulity, was all the reply which the audience 
 deigned to give to what they conceived to be a 
 mere fiction of the speaker's fancy. He went on, 
 however, in the same strain, slandering the poor 
 humans with such malicious inventions as these : 
 " Let me tell you, moreover, that if any man kills 
 another, the law is that he shall be put to death. 
 But if he kills a hundred or a thousand, he is honor- 
 ed and rewarded as one of the greatest benefactors 
 of the race." 
 
 " Caught again in your own trap," replied the 
 philosopher " for he who had killed one in a pas- 
 sion, would only have to kill a hundred more, and 
 that would save him, and make a great man of him 
 at once." 
 
 " What is the matter with your face, cousin ?" 
 asked one, " that it is turned so pale and smooth? 
 You have lost entirely that fine ebon complexion 
 and hairy comeliness that we Hing-po-quas prize 
 so much." 
 
 " No, no," replied the traveler, " white is the 
 favorite color among men. So much so, that, in 
 some places, it is deemed a crime to have a black 
 skin." 
 
 " Impossible !" interrupted the sage before men- 
 tioned. " However, it is as well as could be ex- 
 pected from ourang-outangs without tails. I see 
 who it is. The same judgment of heaven which 
 deprived them of that fundamental ornament, de- 
 
OP ANIMALS. 157 
 
 prived them also of their powers of reasoning. 
 "We must pity them, for they do not know any bet- 
 ter." 
 
 " Tell that story to the Chop-picqs," cried one of 
 the doubters, " Hing-poquas are not so easily im- 
 posed upon." 
 
 " 'Tis true," reiterated Munchausen, " true, every 
 word of it. I have seen it with these eyes. The 
 whites have nothing to do with the blacks, but to 
 trample on them. They must not sit together, nor 
 walk together, nor even pray together. I should 
 never have seen any good society, much less should 
 I have been a general favorite there, if I had kept 
 my face black. Men dress their bodies in black, 
 and think nothing so fine as black eyes and black 
 hair ; but to have a black face is a sin." 
 
 With an air of perfect satisfaction, Joseph no- 
 ticed the indications of surprise and disgust among 
 the auditors ; for, like most other travelers, he 
 deemed it greater honor to himself, to excite the 
 wonder and tax the credulity of his hearers, than 
 to secure their confidence as a truth-telling and 
 honest observer. He, accordingly, went on with 
 his story, always taking care to make his human 
 brethren appear as ridiculous as possible. Among 
 other incredible things, he had the audacity to de- 
 clare, that a large majority of mankind were not at 
 all scrupulous of right that they practised lying, 
 and thieving, and all kinds of injustice that the 
 
158 
 
 weak were everywhere oppressed by the strong, 
 the simple overreached by the shrewd, and the ig- 
 norant imposed upon by the shallow pretenders to 
 knowledge. He even went so far as to state, as a 
 veracious historical fact, that the larger portion of 
 mankind, of all ranks, were in the daily habit of 
 drinking various kinds of slow poisons, by which 
 they were often made sick, and by which vast mul- 
 titudes were annually killed. " It was not uncom- 
 mon," he said, " for companies of them to meet to- 
 gether, with a view to see who could drink most of 
 such poisons. It always made them foolish, and 
 sometimes drove them mad, but still it is every- 
 where regarded as a sovereign remedy for all the 
 diseases it produces." 
 
 " That comes of their losing their tails," said the 
 philosopher. 
 
 " There is another custom," continued this vera- 
 cious reporter, " which is almost too vulgar for a 
 refined Hing-poqua to believe ; but, I assure you, 
 on the word of a traveler, that it is, in a sense, 
 omniprevalent. They have a certain kind of very 
 dry, nauseous dust, which they are fond of, and 
 which they always eat with their noses, though it 
 almost invariably throws them into sudden and 
 painful convulsions." 
 
 A general shout followed this burst of original 
 wit, and the old woods rang again with the mirth 
 it occasioned. Nothing abashed, the modest speaker 
 
OF ANIMALS. 159 
 
 waited a moment till the uproar had subsided, and 
 then gravely re-assured his hearers that it was 
 even so as he had said. " Why," said-he, " every 
 gentleman carries a box of this singular powder in 
 his pocket, offering it often to his friends, by way 
 of salutation, as he meets them. And you will 
 sometimes see a dozen of them together cramming 
 their noses Avith it, and then, when the convulsions 
 come on, shouting at each other, as if they were 
 madj and shedding tears, as if the operation were 
 highly painful." 
 
 No sooner was this said, than one of those unbe- 
 lieving wags before-mentioned, thrust his hand 
 into his cousin's pocket, to test the truth of his 
 statement. To his surprise, he there discovered a 
 small black shining box, with curious figures on the 
 top and sides. He opened it, and found it nearly 
 filled with a coarse, brown powder which, had a 
 very disagreeable smell. Determined to try its 
 quality, he took a handful of it, and crammed it 
 into his nose, in doing which he was unfortunately 
 not careful to keep it out of his eyes. Immediate- 
 ly his head seemed in a strange commotion. His 
 eyes contracted, his nerves tingled, and he seemed 
 about to swoon when, suddenly and involuntarily, 
 he uttered a convulsive shriek, that alarmed the 
 whole audience, and sent them scampering away. 
 The tears rolled down his cheeks, and he was left 
 in that foolish predicament, that he did not know 
 
160 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 whether he was laughing or crying, whether he 
 was hurt or pleased. The monkeys soon recovered 
 from their fright, and returned to inquire what was 
 the matter. They found the sufferer recovering 
 from his agony, the tears streaming down his face, 
 and mingling with the dirty brown powder, which 
 made him appear disgustingly filthy. He was 
 obliged to go to the brook and wash himself, and it 
 was long before his eyes ceased to smart, and his 
 nose to tingle under this unnatural stimulus. 
 
 This experiment Was not without its advantages 
 to the traveler. It gained him credit among his 
 hearers, by confirming a part of his tale, which led 
 them to suppose that the whole might be true. 
 He therefore went on boldly to say, that this sin- 
 gular powder was made of the dried leaves of a 
 plant, the various uses of which constituted some 
 of the chief pleasures of man. Sometimes they roll 
 up the leaves into a cylindrical shape, and then, 
 setting fire to one end of the tube, draw the smoke 
 into their mouths, and then puff it out again, till it 
 is all consumed. Sometimes without setting fire to 
 it, they put a large roll of it into their mouths, and 
 chew it. This mingling with the fluids of the 
 mouth, makes a very dirty mixture, which they are 
 so eager to get rid of, that they do not scruple to 
 spue it upon every object that is near them. It 
 often runs down upon their faces, and clothes ; and 
 I am compelled to say, that, in spite of all their 
 
OF ANIMALS. 161 
 
 pride and self-esteem, men are more filthy and vul- 
 gar in many of their habits, than any of the animals 
 I have seen." 
 
 " What could you expect of animals without 
 tails ?" asked the old sage, with the satisfied air of 
 a victor. " I tell you, my friends, it is in this beau- 
 tiful extension of the spinal column that the intel- 
 lect resides. Therefore it is placed at the base of 
 the column that it may sustain the whole. There- 
 fore it is made ornamental, that it may attract the 
 eye, and command the admiration of all. Therefore 
 it is made flexible and pliant, that it may reach to 
 every part of the body. And therefore, when that 
 is gone, the poor unfortunate animal is reduced in 
 the scale of being. He becomes a mere animal, 
 and is like a ship without a rudder." 
 
 " True, true," interrupted Joseph, sneeringly, 
 " but what do you know about ships ?' 
 * The philosopher deigned no reply, and there was 
 a momentary pause. 
 
 " How it is," asked one of the company, " that 
 your legs are so oddly shaped ? They are round 
 and smooth as the young willow twig." 
 
 * Oh ! that is the fashion where I have been. In 
 Europe, they have a class of men called tailors, who 
 are constantly employed contriving means to cover 
 up and hide the deformities of the human figure, 
 though they sometimes make them more deformed 
 than they were by nature. They were first em- 
 
162 
 
 ployed in devising various kinds of long skirts, as 
 substitutes for tails, and this gave them the name 
 which they are known by to this day. A tailor is 
 the most important man in human society. He 
 holds all the rest in absolute subjection. And, 
 while a king rules over one country only, a tailor 
 rules over many for all men must necessarily wear 
 the same kind of clothes, though they live in differ- 
 ent parts of the world, and speak different langu- 
 ages, and are at deadly enmity among themselves. 
 These tailors change the fashion as often as they 
 please, and all men, everywhere, are obliged to 
 adopt it. If they neglect, or are not able to do so, 
 they are not considered worthy of good society. 
 When the fashion is close and tight, fat men are 
 obliged to squeeze themselves almost to death, in 
 order to get into their clothes. When they are 
 large, lean men are obliged to stuff them out with 
 cotton, or feathers, or any other convenient thing,* 
 so that one can never know what a man's figure is 
 by his outward appearance. The tailor manages 
 that according to his own fancy or convenience." 
 
 "Poor, unfortunate race," exclaimed the sage, 
 " let us commiserate their infirmities, and be thank- 
 ful that, while our tails remain to us, we have no 
 need of tailors." 
 
 One by one, every article of the traveler's dress 
 was examined and commented upon, with number- 
 less questions in respect to their various uses. 
 
OF ANIMALS. 163 
 
 Seeing a sagacious old fellow puzzling himself with 
 various experiments to detect the quality and use 
 of an eye-glass, which was suspended by a chain 
 from his neck, Joseph condescended to enlighten 
 him, by assuring, that in good ; that is to say, gen- 
 teel society, it was not considered polite for one 
 person to look at another with the naked eye, and 
 glasses were invented, as a proper medium of vis- 
 ion for those who would show deference and respect 
 to each other. An eye-glass was, therefore, a kind 
 of passport to good society. And it was a singular 
 phenomenon, that, as soon as any one rose from a 
 low condition to good standing in society, he lost 
 the power of seeing clearly without the aid of a 
 glass. 
 
 Many other marvelous and ridiculous stories did 
 the Hing-po-qua Munchausen relate for the diver- 
 sion of his old friends and associates of the man- 
 ners and customs of different people, of their towns 
 and cities, their palaces and ships, and numberless 
 other matters, till they were weary of hearing what 
 they could not believe. At length, with a general 
 yawn, they bade him good night, and betook them- 
 selves to their several places of rest. Gentleman 
 Joe, being greatly fatigued with his travels, and 
 with his long effort to entertain his companions, 
 was glad of the opportunity to retire to the hollow 
 of an old tree, which was reserved for his special 
 use. 
 
164 MERRY'S BO OK ^ 
 
 As his custom was, he divested himself of all his 
 clothes, carefully hanging them on the twigs and 
 branches that grew about the door of his chamber. 
 Having acquired the genteel habits of civilized 
 society, his old friends were all awake and busy, 
 while he was yet but half refreshed. At length, at 
 a late hour in the morning, he opened his eyes, 
 yawned, stretched himself, and turned over for 
 another nap. In doing this, he caught a glimpse 
 of his elegant embroidered coat running swiftly 
 along the principal branches of a neighboring tree. 
 Starting suddenly up, he found to his chagrin and 
 utter dismay, that not one article of his finery 
 remained. His wakeful cousins had borrowed it 
 all, and there they were, one with his cap, an- 
 other with his shirt, a third with one stocking on 
 his leg, a fourth with another on his arm, capering 
 and frisking about, with infinite glee and merri- 
 ment. In vain did he attempt to recover them by 
 giving chase first to one and then to another. He 
 had lost a portion of his nimbleness and power of 
 climbing, and his old friends only laughed at him 
 for his present unavailing rage, as they had done 
 before for his vain pretensions. Deprived of his 
 trappings, and both ashamed and afraid to return, 
 in a state of nakedness, to his master, this accom- 
 plished traveler was obliged to return to his origi- 
 nal mode of living, and to the humble obscurity of 
 a mere monkey. 
 
OP ANIMALS 
 
 165 
 
 THE CAMEL. 
 
 A RABIA is a large country of Asia ; there are 
 jLL few rivers in it ; there are few towns or trees, 
 but there are a great deal of sand, and wide deserts. 
 Only a few of the people live in houses, the greater 
 number live in tents ; they have very fine horses ; 
 they love their horses very much, and are very 
 kind to them. The horses live with them in the 
 tents, and never kick or hurt the children. Some 
 of the Arabs are merchants ; some are shepherds, 
 and some are robbers. 
 
 The merchants cannot carry goods which they 
 buy, and sell, as we do in ships and boats ; because 
 there are not rivers to sail upon in Arabia. 
 
166 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 The Arabians have an animal which is very use- 
 ful to them. This is the camel. He travels for 
 them, gives them milk, and his hair makes their 
 slothes ; he is of as much use to the Arabian as the 
 norse, the cow, and the sheep are to us : he is as 
 iseful to him, as the reindeer is to the poor Lap- 
 lander. The camels carry loads of three or four 
 hundred pounds ; they kneel down to take up the 
 load, and rise when it is put on ; they will not al- 
 low more to be put upon their backs than they can 
 carry ; if more is put on, they cry loudly till it is 
 taken off. When they are loaded, the camel trots 
 about twenty-five miles in a day ; but when the 
 camel carries only a man on his back, he can tra- 
 vel one hundred and fifty miles in one day. 
 
 The camel drinks a great quantity of water at 
 once ; he has a safe place in his stomach, where he 
 can keep the water a long time, and when he is 
 thirsty, he wets his mouth by forcing up some of 
 the water. One sort of camel is called the drome- 
 dary. Some kinds of the camel have one bunch on 
 the back, others have two bunches. Camels live 
 forty or fifty years. 
 
OF ANIMALS. 
 
 167 
 
 THE HAMSTER OR MARMOT. 
 
 HIS little animal is a species of the 
 Rodentiaor gnawers, and is provided 
 with a pouch or bag on each side of 
 mouth, which when empty does not ap- 
 pear, but when filled, gives it a most ludic- 
 rous and droll appearance, causing >it to look very 
 much as little boys look when suffering with the 
 mumps. In these pouches the hamsters store their 
 pilferings in the grain field ; and when they have 
 packed away as much wheat or oats or rye as they 
 can carry, they scamper off to their burrows or un- 
 derground houses, and when they have unpacked 
 from these natural receptacles one load of "steal- 
 ings," they return to the fields after more, for they 
 are among the veriest little commorants in the 
 world ; and in this way, manage to plunder from the 
 farmer a surprising number of bushels of valuable 
 grain, which with their sharp teeth, they cut off 
 ear by ear, carrying it unthrashed to their own 
 neatly kept granary for their winter store. 
 
 This species of pouched rat is about nine inches 
 long from its nose to its tail, the tail being about 
 
168 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 three inches in length and with but little hair upon 
 it, resembling in this respect, the common rat. 
 The color of the hamster is a dark yellow, variega- 
 ted with black, yellow and white irregular spots. 
 It is sometimes found almost black in some cases, 
 relieved by lighter spots and with a white or yel- 
 lowish muzzle. 
 
 The hamster is a very rare and beautiful little 
 animal, and is an inhabitant of Saxony, that part of 
 Germany now under the government of Prussia, 
 and has thus become identified with the birth-place 
 of Martin Luther, the Reformer, as it is seldom 
 found elsewhere. Species of it, however, have 
 been captured in other parts of Germany, and 
 sometimes in Siberia and the southern parts of 
 Russia. 
 
 The hamster is very shy, but when attacked is 
 fierce and savage. A favorite resort of his, when 
 hard pushed, is to jump on the breast or shoulders 
 of the hunter who corners him, and striking his 
 long sharp teeth fast in the flesh of his enemy, thus 
 supports himself while he tears and scratches him 
 most vigorously with his piercing claws. 
 
 The houses of the hamster differ in size accord- 
 ing to the difference of their age. The young ones 
 do not burrow over a foot under ground, whilst the 
 old ones often dig to the depth of five feet, and in 
 diameter, the habitation for each family is frequent- 
 ly ten or twelve feet. The principal chamber, 
 
OF ANIMALS. 169 
 
 which is the bed chamber of the old couple and their 
 young family, is warmly lined with dried grass or 
 moss. The other chambers of the habitation are 
 used for storing provisions, and one is usually set 
 apart for the use of the head of the family, he be- 
 ing either fond of the seclusion of uninterrupted 
 retirement, or else willing to leave his wife sole 
 mistress of the domestic arrangements without any 
 meddlesome interference, which ladies usually so 
 loudly deprecate. 
 
 Each habitation has two holes, one for ventilation 
 and one for a passage of ingress and egress. One 
 of these descends in an oblique direction, and the 
 other perpendicularly. The young mature very 
 quickly, and, like rabbits, they would increase in 
 numbers with most amazing rapidity, were it not 
 for the efforts of the hunter, who lays all manner 
 of snares and traps for their destruction on account 
 of the value of their fur. 
 
 The fur of the hamster, though coarse, is highly 
 esteemed for cloak-linings, to which use it is for 
 the most part appropriated. It is also used for 
 other trimmings, and sometimes for ladies 7 muffs. 
 It is eagerly sought by the trapper, and commands 
 a good price. 
 
 As winter approaches, the hamster, who has ta- 
 ken such good care to store his cellars with provi- 
 sions, retires into his subterranean abode to return 
 no more to the upper air till spring. He carefully 
 
170 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 closes the main entrance after him, and thus secure, 
 feeds and fattens upon his palatable grains, until 
 the great cold of winter comes upon him. He then 
 rolls himself up into a ball, and sinks into a sleep 
 as profound as that of Rip Yan Winkle himself, 
 though of not so long duration, the sleep of the 
 hamster lasting only while the cold weather lasts. 
 In this state of torpidity curious physiologists have 
 experimented upon the poor animal; They have 
 found the body cold and the limbs inflexible as 
 though with death j the only signs of life, on open- 
 ing the animal, being in the heart, which has been 
 found to pulsate very slowly ; so slow as to be 
 scarcely perceptible. 
 
 THE ALPINE HARE, or as it is sometimes called, 
 Alpine Marmot, is another species of the Marmot 
 family, though somewhat larger in size, being six- 
 teen or eighteen inches long. Linnaeus and others 
 place it among the family of rats or gnawers, al- 
 though some naturalists deny its close relationship 
 to the marmot. 
 
 The Alpine hare is considered one of the most 
 interesting animals of its whole class on account of 
 its habits, the beauty of its fur, <fcc. In summer 
 the color of its fur on the upper part of its body is 
 of a grayish yellow or brownish ash, while in win- 
 ter it is of a snowy white, like the Ermine, all over, 
 with the exception only of the tips of its ears, which 
 are at all seasons of a jetty black. 
 
OF ANIMALS. . 171 
 
 The Alpine hare inhabits the mountainous re- 
 gions of Europe, more particularly those of Swit- 
 zerland and Saxony, from which it takes its name. 
 It delights particularly in regions just below per- 
 petual frost and snow, and in winter, instead of bur- 
 rowing in the ground, even when the storms are 
 most severe, and the cold most intense, it lives in 
 burrows made in the deep snow. And here, unlike 
 the marmot, it never falls into a torpid state, but 
 keeps up the high temperature of its body, even in 
 the severest cold. These burrows it generally 
 makes close beside the root of some small tree, or 
 upland bush, which, from being warmer than the 
 snow, melts it sufficiently around the bark to form 
 a sort of chimney or breathing hole for the saga- 
 cious dweller underneath. These snow palaces are 
 not, by any means, uncomfortable abodes ; snow be- 
 ing a non-conductor of heat, forms, in fact, a warm- 
 er shelter from the cold than a hole in the earth. 
 Then the white fur of the animal, which is warmer 
 than any other colored fur, prevents the heat of its 
 body from escaping, so that altogether, these imi- 
 tators of the Esquimaux have a very comfortable 
 life, and the little columns of smoke, which of a 
 clear cold day are seen arising from their breathing 
 chimneys, where there is a large colony of them, 
 appear not unlike a miniature settlement of the 
 snow huts of those Indians of the Polar regions 
 the Esquimaux with the smoke of their fires as- 
 
172 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 cending from their odd shaped windows. In fine 
 weather the Alpine hare loves to enjoy the sun- 
 shine, sitting outside its habitation upon its hind 
 feet in an erect position, and looking abroad upon 
 the scenery like any other amateur artist. But 
 they always take the precaution to place a sentinel 
 on guard, so that they need have no fear of a sur- 
 prise. While they are engaged in eating, the sen- 
 tinel keeps double watch, and at the slightest ap- 
 proach of danger gives a shrill whistle, and the 
 whole army of eaters disappear into their burrows. 
 These burrows are formed in this shape Y, like 
 the letter Y. The Alpine hare has not the same 
 facility for running that the common hare has, its 
 legs being much shorter, but as the eagle is almost 
 the only enemy it dreads, owing to its elevated 
 place of abode, it has not the same need for fleet- 
 ness of foot, that characterizes the common hare. 
 The eagle it manages to elude by darting under 
 cover, at the first cause for alarm. 
 
 The Histonwish, which is found in the wilds of 
 the western continent, is another species of the 
 marmot. There is also another, called the Quebec 
 marmot, found in the northern parts of North Ame- 
 rica. This species lives mostly in trees, makes its 
 burrows in dry spots, and passes a very solitary 
 life. 
 
OF ANIMALS. 
 
 173 
 
 MY SQUIRREL. 
 
 QUIRRELS are amusing 
 little fellows. I wonder if 
 any of my little Merry cou- 
 sins ever tamed one. I 
 have an idea floating around 
 in that part of my cranium 
 where the brains are sup- 
 posed to find an abiding- 
 place, that not many of them 
 ever undertook the task ; 
 not that it was laborious, oh no ; we of the Merry 
 family never think of that, but because it was al- 
 most, if not quite, absolutely impossible. 
 
 But somehow or another I was rather fortunate 
 in the taming of my squirrels. I am not bound to 
 know whether there was anything very attractive 
 about me, which induced " Bunriie" to place so 
 much confidence in me or not ; suffice it to say, he 
 did, and no other shares the trust. Now for how I 
 did it, for of course you all want to know that ; but 
 be patient, it will come in time ; my pen is scratch- 
 ing away for dear life now, it won't go any faster. 
 
 One day last summer, and a warm day it was too, 
 I took my usual walk to the brook, where, with a 
 book, or perhaps my sewing, (oftener the former,) 
 I've whiled away many a lonely hour, (quite ro- 
 
174 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 man tic that, isn't it?) On this particular day, 
 however, I had a book, but it would not engage 
 my attention in the least ; do what I would, my 
 mind would wander, and in sheer desperation I 
 threw it away from me, and betook myself to the 
 delightful occupation of tossing pebbles in the' 
 brook. For not long, however ; for suddenly, just 
 above me, I heard a remarkably strange chirp. 
 " That's no bird," thought I ; and looking up, there 
 on a limb, just over my head, was perched the 
 prettiest little squirrel you ever did see, its bushy 
 tail curled up over his jback, his fore paws holding 
 a nut to his teeth, and his little twinkling black 
 eyes dancing about with the most marvelous 
 celerity. 
 
 After watching him awhile, I ventured to call 
 " Bunnie." His eyes looked frightened, and glan- 
 cing about, they at last came down to me. There 
 they stayed, till after satisfying himself as to my 
 identity, he scampered off, up one limb, across an- 
 other, till out of sight I " How provoking 1" I ex- 
 claimed, when a bright thought struck me. I won- 
 der what kind of an effect " nuts " will have upon 
 his majesty ? I pondered, and the result was a 
 tramp to the house and back, with a pocketful of 
 nuts. A few were laid on the ground beside me, 
 and I sat very quietly awaiting the result of my 
 experiment. I waited a long time before there 
 was any demonstration of Bunnie's presence, and 
 
OF ANIMALS. 175 
 
 then I heard a slight rustle. I did not move ; then 
 another, and another, each one nearer, then glan- 
 cing out of the corner of my eye, I saw Bunnie's 
 identical self close to my heap of nuts ! I kept 
 perfectly still, and saw a little paw put out, which 
 clasped a nut, and away sped the little thief up the 
 tree, and away< Presently, back he came, and ap- 
 proaching my nuts, another was taken, and away 
 he scampered. And so he continued to come, each 
 time bolder than before, till there was but one nut 
 left ! As he reached his paw for that, my hand 
 took the paw ! A prisoner ! and oh, so frightened ! 
 " You'll be more comfortable in a minute, Bunnie ; 
 just look here !" and I held a nut before him. His 
 eyes glistened, and his little paw clutched it, like a 
 greedy little Shylock as he was. He cracked it, to 
 my infinite amusement and satisfaction, and picked 
 the meat out " beautifully," then looked up into my 
 face with a most " trustlike " expression in his lit- 
 tle eyes for " more." He had another and another, 
 till after a while I ventured to release him, when 
 he perched himself on my shoulder, and there he 
 sat very contented, nibbling the nuts I gave him, 
 now and then looking into my face with an expres- 
 sion very like " gratitude." 
 
 Ever since, whenever I have been down, he al- 
 ways comes out to meet me, and when I sit down, 
 perches himself on my shoulder. Sometimes I talk 
 to him, holding him in my hand the while, then he 
 
176 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 whisks his tail most understandingly, and looks 
 unutterable* ! 
 
 Yes, my squirrel is, I do believe, the knowing- 
 est, cunningest, prettiest, and nicest little squirrel 
 that ever lived. Now, shouldn't you think I'd love 
 it? and love it, too, better than a dozen little tame 
 playthings that always were, always are, and al- 
 ways will be, tame. Just you try it who can, and 
 then see if you don't coincide with me. 
 
 A recent exploit of one of these sprightly and 
 sharp-witted little creatures, belonging to a neigh- 
 bor of mine, has so much interested and surprised 
 me, as exhibiting passion, sagacity, and an obvious 
 process of reasoning so like the human race under 
 similar circumstances, that I think it cannot fail to 
 prove of some interest to others, and I therefore 
 am induced to offer a brief relation of the fact for 
 my numerous readers. 
 
 The squirrel in question, having been taken 
 when very young, had become as tame and familiar 
 as a kitten, and, up to the act by which he thought 
 fit to sacrifice his home for the gratification of his 
 resentments, he had shown himself quite amicable 
 and harmless. 
 
 On the day of the incident about to be related, 
 the owner having some company at the y house 
 whom he was treating with cracked walnuts, gave 
 one to his pet. This being greedily devoured, the 
 gentleman, by way of amusing himself and com- 
 
OF ANIMALS 
 
 177 
 
 pany, then selected a promising looking shell, care- 
 fully removed the meat, and putting the shell to- 
 gether again, placed it before his nut-loving favor- 
 ite. The squirrel, never having been before de- 
 ceived by a trick of the kind, confidently took up 
 the shell in his paws, when perceiving it empty, he 
 
 let it fall with an air of evident disappointment. 
 The experiment was then repeated. This was too 
 much for the patience and equanimity of his squir- 
 relship. On discovery that his second nut, thus in- 
 sultingly offered him, was, like the former, destitute 
 of the expected treat, he turned an angry glance 
 
178 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 upon the author of the trick, and springing up, 
 seized him by the thumb, which he bit to the bone, 
 and then, though no word or blow was offered or 
 given, running out of the house, immediately re- 
 treated to the woods, from which he has never re- 
 turned. 
 
 THE GREY SQUIRREL. 
 
 THE pretty Grey Squirrel lives up in the tree, 
 
 A gay little creature as ever can be ; 
 
 But, though gay, he is prudent, and works like the ant, 
 
 To provide in the summer, for cold winter's wants. 
 
 He seeks out a hole in an old tree's core, 
 
 Where he makes a warm nest, and lays up his store 
 
 And when winter comes, and the trees are all bare, 
 
 And the white snow is falling, and keen is the air, 
 
 He heeds not the cold, as he sits by himself 
 
 In his warm little nest, with his nuts on the shelf. 
 
 wise little squirrel ! no wonder that he 
 
 In the green summer woods is as gay as can be. 
 
OP ANIMALS. 179 
 
 THE LION. 
 
 riTHE lion is of a uniform gray or tawny color ; 
 1 tlie male, from his fourth year, has his head, 
 neck, and shoulders covered with a mane ; this 
 gives him a majestic appearance, and distinguishes 
 him from the rest of the feline tribe. His length, 
 from the muzzle to the tail, is about five feet two 
 inches ; his tail, which is furnished at the extremi- 
 ty with a tuft of hair, is about two feet two inches 
 in length. The female brings forth, at times, but 
 one whelp, and never more than six. The whelps 
 are born with their eyes open, and are as large as 
 our domestic cats ; at first their bodies are covered 
 with brown stripes, running diagonally ; their ears 
 do not erect themselves until they are two months 
 old ; the mother defends them with terrible fury. 
 
180 MEBEY'S BOOK 
 
 At the present day the lion is found only in Africa 
 and some parts of Asia : in old times he inhabited 
 Syria and Greece, between the rivers Nestus and 
 Archelaus. Next to the Asiatic tiger, and Ameri- 
 can jaguar, he is the most ferocious beast of prey. 
 He lives to a great age. In the year 1760, a lion 
 died in England, which had been confined in the 
 Tower for more than seventy years, and another 
 died there also at the age of three and sixty. 
 
 The following description will give us a correct 
 idea of the nature of the lion. 
 
 " The lion," says Lichtenstein, " like all the fe- 
 line tribe, springs upon his prey, and never at- 
 tacks a man or a beast that does not run from him, 
 without having first crouched to the ground at 
 a distance of ten or twelve paces, and measured 
 his leap. Hunters take advantage of this fact, and 
 it has become a rule with them never to fire until 
 he crouches, when at that short distance they can 
 take aim with such certainty, that the ball strikes 
 him exactly in the forehead. When a man is so 
 unfortunate as to encounter a lien unarmed, his only 
 hope of safety is in his courage and presence of 
 mind. If he attempts to run, he is infallibly lost ; 
 if he stands still quietly, the lion will not attack 
 him. He must not allow himself to be disturbed, 
 even if the animal approaches quite near him, and 
 crouches, as if about to take his leap he will not 
 venture this leap if the man has courage enough to 
 
OF ANIMALS. 181 
 
 stand motionless as a statue, and look calmly in 
 his eyes. There is something in the lofty form 
 of man which inspires the lion with respect and a 
 distrust of his own strength, and the calm attitude 
 of the body increases this impression every moment. 
 It would be banished by an imprudent movement, 
 which should betray fear, or challenge the beast to 
 the attack. The result shows that his fear has been 
 no less than that of the man ; for after a while he 
 rises slowly, retires some steps, continually looking 
 back ; crouches again retires still, at shorter and 
 shorter intervals, and at last, when he thinks him- 
 self beyond the dangerous proximity, takes to 
 flight with all his speed. Unanimously as this fact 
 is asserted by the inhabitants of all parts of Africa, 
 yet the experiment can scarcely have been made 
 very often. 
 
 Formerly, when lions were in greater abundance 
 and the colonists had not learned how to hunt them, 
 they arranged a great hunt in common against a 
 lion ; tried to lure him into the open country, and 
 formed a large circle about him. If he tried to 
 break through on one side, they fired at him from 
 the opposite, and when he turned angrily upon his 
 new assailants, he was easily overcome by the nu- 
 merous bullets which they discharged from all sides. 
 But he is now usually hunted by two in company ; 
 and skillful marksmen, who are sure of their aim, 
 and can depend upon their weapons, venture to go 
 
182 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 alone in pursuit of a lion, and even to seek him out 
 in his lair. Such an undertaking is very danger- 
 ous, however, and many accidents have occurred. 
 Here are two examples. 
 
 The field commandant Ijaard Vanderwald, and 
 his brother Johannes, were pursuing, not far from 
 their dwellings, on the eastern slope of the Schnee- 
 berg, the track of a lion, which had done great mis- 
 chief among their herds, and discovered him at last 
 in a ravine which was overgrown with thick bush- 
 es. They took their position on either side of the 
 entrance, and sent in their dogs to hunt the animal 
 out. They succeeded in this ; the lion rushed to- 
 ward the side where the last named brother stood, 
 crouched, and received the contents of his musket. 
 Unfortunately the shot had not hit him directly, 
 but had just grazed his ear and the side of his 
 breast. After an interval of hesitation, which last- 
 ed for a few seconds, the beast recovered himself, 
 and darted, furious with pain, with such rage upon 
 the hunter, that he had scarcely time to leap upon 
 his horse and endeavor to fly. But in a few bounds 
 the lion overtook him, leaped upon the back of the 
 horse, which, crushed by the weight, could not stir 
 from the spot, and struck his claws into the thigh 
 of the unhappy man, seizing him at the same time 
 with his teeth by his clothes. While he clings 
 with all his strength to the horse, to prevent him- 
 self from being dragged to the ground, he hears 
 
OF ANIMALS. 183 
 
 his brother galloping up behind him, and calls to 
 him to shoot, hit whom he might. The brave Ija- 
 ard leaps from his horse, calmly takes aim, and 
 shoots the lion through the head, and strangely for- 
 tunate, the ball passes through the saddle, without 
 injuring either horse or rider. 
 
 Another man was not so lucky a hunter called 
 Rendsburg, who, with a cousin of the same name, 
 went to hunt a lion. The adventure took exactly 
 the same turn as the former one, but the lion leap- 
 ed sidewise upon the horseman, and seized him 
 with his teeth by the left arm. His cowardly com- 
 rade, instead of assisting the unhappy man, ran to 
 call upon some men for help, who were posted not 
 far off, at another outlet of the thicket. 
 
 In the mean while, Rendsburg had resorted to 
 his last means of defence, and while the enraged 
 animal lacerates and crushes his left arm, he draws 
 with his right a knife from his pocket, and pierces 
 the breast of the furious beast in several places. 
 Those who had hastened to his assistance, found 
 him dragged from his horse, swimming in his blood, 
 his left arm entirely torn from his body, his side 
 dreadfully lacerated, and the dead lion lying upon 
 him, with the knife in his heart. After a few mo- 
 ments, the bold hunter, exhausted by loss of blood, 
 breathed his last. 
 
 A writer, whose testimony may be relied on, 
 tells us that, in many partfe of the mountains, not 
 
184 
 
 far from Elephant river, lions are found in such 
 abundance, that once, when on a journey, he saw 
 two and twenty of them in one spot. The most of 
 them were young, eight of them only being full 
 grown. He had just unharnessed his horses upon 
 an open place, and retreating with his companions 
 to a distance, without venturing a shot, he gave up 
 his beasts a prey to the wild beasts, who killed six 
 of them, and dragged them away. 
 
 Near Rietrieviersport we came to the house of a 
 man named Vanwyk. While we let our cattle feed 
 a little, and sought the shadow under the portico 
 of the house, Vanwyk related to us the following 
 story : It is somewhat more than two years since 
 I ventured a dangerous shot on the spot where we 
 now stand. Here in the house, close to the door, sat 
 my wife. The children were playing near her, and 
 I was without at the side of the house, busied with 
 my wagon, when suddenly, in broad day, a large 
 lion appeared and laid himself quietly down near 
 the threshold in the shadow of the portico. My 
 wife, benumbed with terror, and aware of the dan- 
 ger of flight, remained in her place ; the children 
 took refuge in her lap. Their cries attracted my 
 attention. I hurried towards the door, and you 
 can imagine my astonishment, when I found the 
 passage barred in this manner. Although the an* 
 imal had not seen me, yet, unarmed as I was, it 
 seemed impossible to save them. I turned, how- 
 
OF ANIMALS. 185 
 
 ever, almost involuntarily, toward the rear of the 
 house, towards the chamber in which stood my 
 loaded musket. 
 
 Fortunately I had, by chance, placed it in the 
 corner nearest the window, and could reach it with 
 my hand, for as you see, the opening is too small 
 to allow me to climb into the room, and still more for- 
 tunately the door of the chamber was open, so that 
 I could see the whole of the frightful scene. The 
 lion now made a movement ; it was perhaps about 
 to take a leap. I hesitated no longer, whispered a 
 word of encouragement to my wife, and fired, with 
 a low "God help me." The ball passed close to 
 my boy's curls, and struck the lion above his flash- 
 ing eyes upon the forehead, so that he fell dead in- 
 stantly. 
 
 It not unfrequently happens that the lion when 
 he sleeps is awakened by the hounds, which are 
 the constant companions of the caravans. Thus 
 Barchell relates the following adventure : One 
 bright day, at noon, as our dogs were diverting 
 themselves by beating the reed-covered bank of a 
 river, they suddenly broke out into a peculiar and 
 loud barking ; we sought for the cause of the cla- 
 mor, and were soon convinced that they had seen 
 a lion. We urged them on, and soon beheld a 
 large lion, with a black bushy mane, and a lioness. 
 We saw the latter but for an instant, she disappear- 
 ed so quickly amid the reeds. 
 
186 MERRY'S BOOK. 
 
 The lion, on the contrary, stood still, and gazed 
 steadfastly upon us. Our situation was not desti- 
 tute of danger, for the lion was but a few paces 
 distant from us, and seemed preparing to leap up- 
 on us. The most of us were on foot and without 
 suitable weapons. But we had no time for fear, 
 and necessity required an attack in order to escape 
 one. I kept well upon my guard indeed, held my 
 pistol in my hand, with my finger upon the trigger, 
 and the rest who were provided with firearms did 
 the same. 
 
 But soon the dogs began to throw themselves be- 
 tween us and the lion, surrounded him and kept up 
 a violent barking. The courage of the animals 
 was truly wonderful ; they approached closer and 
 closer toward the sides of the mighty beast, and 
 now threatened him in front, barking violently, and 
 without betraying the slightest signs of fear. The 
 lion, conscious of his strength, remained quiet, and 
 fixed his eyes only upon us. The dogs grew bold- 
 er and bolder, and ventured even within reach of 
 his mighty paws. He now became annoyed at their 
 din ; a slight movement of his paw, and two of his 
 bold antagonists lay dead upon the earth. This 
 was done without the least exertion, and so rapid- 
 ly that we could scarcely understand the result. 
 We fired at him, and a ball struck him beneath the 
 fore ribs, so that the blood flowed. He remained 
 for a while in the same position, and then retired. 
 
OF ANIMALS. 187 
 
 At the commencement of the previous century, 
 there was, among other animals in the menagerie 
 at Cassel, a lion, which was remarkably tame, at 
 least towards the woman who fed and tended it. 
 This was so much the case that the daring woman, 
 in order to excite the wonder of the spectators, of- 
 ten ventured to put, not only her hand, but even' 
 her head, within the animal's enormous jaws. She 
 had often done this without the slightest accident 
 occurring, and still the old and true proverb was 
 at last verified, " He who goes into unnecessary 
 danger perishes in it," 
 
 One day, as the woman entrusted again her head 
 to his jaws, the lion snapped them to, and broke 
 her neck, so that she died on the spot. This was 
 doubtless committed involuntarily by the lion, as, 
 unfortunately for the woman in this critical mo- 
 ment, he was compelled, tickled, perhaps by a hair 
 of his mane, to sneeze. The result at least seemed 
 perfectly to justify this supposition, for scarcely 
 had he remarked that he had caused the death of 
 his attendant, than the good natured and grateful 
 animal became exceedingly sorrowful, laid himself 
 down near the body, would not allow it to be re- 
 moved from him, refused all the food that was of- 
 fered him, and a few days after this misfortune died 
 from grief. 
 
188 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 THE ELK. 
 
 Elk, or Moose Deer, inhabits the northern 
 J_ forests of Europe, Asia, and America. It is 
 generally larger than the horse both in height and 
 bulk. Its horns are shed annually, and are of such 
 magnitude that some have been found that weigh- 
 ed upwards of sixty pounds. The neck of the Elk 
 is so short and its legs so long that it cannot graze 
 on level ground, but must browse the tops of large 
 plants and the leaves and branches of trees. It can 
 step without difficulty over a gate that is five feet 
 feet high. When disturbed it never gallops, but 
 escapes by a kind of quick trot. None of the deer 
 tribe are so easily tamed as this animal, which is 
 naturally gentle ; and when he is once domestica- 
 ted he manifests great affection for his master. 
 The Indians believe that there exists a gigantic 
 Elk, which can walk without difficulty in eight feet 
 of snow, is invulnerable to all weapons, and has an 
 arm growing out of his shoulder, which it uses as 
 we do ours. They consider him as the king of the 
 Elks, and imagine that he is attended by numerous 
 courtiers. With them the elk is also an animal of 
 good omen, and to dream of him often is looked 
 upon as an indication of long life. 
 
 The elk frequents cold but woody regions, in the 
 forests of which it can readily browse on the lower 
 
OP ANIMALS. 
 
 189 
 
190 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 branches and suckers of trees, its peculiar structure 
 rendering grazing an inconvenient and even pain- 
 ful action. In winter, when the snow sets in, and 
 when the wolves in particular, urged by hunger, 
 assemble in troops to hunt those animals which 
 they dare not attack, singly, the elks assemble in 
 herds for mutual protection and warmth in forests 
 of pines and other evergreens. These herds con- 
 sist of several families, the members of which keep 
 very close together. In the severest frosts, they 
 press one agains-t another, or trot in a large circle 
 till they have trodden down the snow. 
 
 Their favorite food, when the winter proves se- 
 vere, is the buds and bark of the buttonwood, birch, 
 and maple trees, <fcc. They browse against an as- 
 cent in preference to level ground, which, owing 
 to their long legs and short neck, they cannot 
 easily reach. In summer, to escape the torments 
 of gnats and other insects, they take to the water, 
 and swim great distances with ease ; and they are 
 able thus to gratify their appetite for aquatic 
 plants. 
 
 The elk is easily domesticated. It will follow its 
 keeper to any distance from home, and return with 
 him at his call. Hearne informs us that an Indian 
 at the factory of Hudson's Bay had, in the year 1777, 
 two elks so tame that when he was passing in a 
 canoe from Prince of "Wales Fort, they always fol- 
 lowed him along the bank of the river, and at night, 
 
OF ANIMALS. 191 
 
 or whenever he landed, they came and fondled on 
 him in the same manner as the most domesticated 
 animal would have done, and never attempted to 
 stray from the tents. One day, however, crossing 
 a deep bay in one of the lakes, in order to save a 
 very circuitous route along its bank, he expected 
 that the animals would follow him round as usual, 
 but at night they did not arrive ; and as the howl- 
 ing of wolves was heard in that quarter where they 
 were, it is supposed that the elks were destroyed 
 by them, for they were never seen afterward. 
 
192 
 
 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 HOW APES CATCH CRABS, AND CRABS 
 CATCH APES. 
 
 HE following amusing scene is related 
 by a traveler in Java, which he wit- 
 nessed in the company of the na- 
 tives : 
 
 " After walking close up to the old cam- 
 paign, they were upon the point of turning 
 back, when a young fellow emerged from the thicket, 
 and said a few words to the mandoor. The latter 
 turned with a laugh to Frank, and asked if he had 
 ever seen the apes catch crabs. Frank replied in 
 the negative, and the mandoor taking his hand, led 
 him gently and cautiously through the deserted 
 villages, to a spot which the young fellow had 
 pointed out, and where the old man had formerly 
 planted hedges, rendering it an easy task for them 
 to approach unobserved. 
 
 " At length they reached the boundary of the 
 former settlement a dry, sandy soil, stript of 
 beach, where all vegetation ceased, and only a sin- 
 gle tall pandanus tree, whose roots were thickly 
 interlaced with creeping plants, formed, as it were, 
 the advanced post of the vegetable kingdom. Be- 
 
OP ANIMALS. 193 
 
 hind this they crawled along, and cautiously raising 
 their heads, they saw several apes, at a distance of 
 two or three hundred paces, who were pertly look- 
 ing for something, as they walked up and down 
 the beach, while others stood motionless. 
 
 " It was the long-tailed, brown variety, and 
 Frank was beginning to regret that he had not his 
 telescope with him to watch the motion of these 
 strange beings more closely, when one of them, a 
 tremendous large fellow, began to draw nearer to 
 them. Carefully examining the ground, over which 
 he went on all fours, he stood at intervals to scratch 
 himself, or to snap at some insect that buzzed 
 around him. 
 
 " He came so close, that Frank fancied that he 
 fliust scent them, and give the alarm to the other 
 aaonkeys, when suddenly passing over a little ele- 
 vation covered with withered, reedy grass, he here 
 discovered a party of crabs parading up and down 
 on the hot sand. With a bound he was among 
 them, but not quick enough to catch a single one ; 
 for the crabs, though apparently so clumsy, darted 
 like lightning into a quantity of small holes or 
 cavities, which made the ground here resemble a 
 sieve, and th ape could not thrust his paws after 
 them, for the orifice was too narrow. 
 
 The paandoor nudged Frank gently, to draw his 
 attention, and they saw the ape, after crawling once 
 or twice up and down the small strip of land, and 
 
194 
 
 peeping into the various holes, with its nose close 
 to the ground, suddenly seated himself very grave- 
 ly by one of them, which he fancied most suitable. 
 He then brought his long tale to the front, thrust 
 the end of it into the cavity, until he met with an 
 obstacle, and suddenly made a face, which so amused 
 Frank, that he would have laughed loudly, had not 
 the mandoor raised his finger warningly. and direct- 
 ly the ape drew out his extraordinary line with a 
 jerk. At the end of it, however, hung the desired 
 booty, a fat crab, by one of its claws, and swinging 
 it round on the ground with such violence as to 
 make it loose its hold, he took it in his left paw, 
 picked up a stone with the other, and after crack- 
 ing the shell, devoured the savory contents with 
 evident satisfaction. 
 
 " Four or five he thus caught in succession, on 
 each occasion, when the crab nipped him, making 
 a face of heroic resignation and pain, but each time 
 he was successful, and he must have found, in the 
 dainty dish, revenge for the nip, and abundant 
 satisfaction for the pain he endured, or else he 
 would not have set to work again so soon. 
 
 " Thus, then, the ape, quite engaged with the 
 sport, and without taking his eyes off the ground, 
 had approached to within about twenty paces of 
 the party concealed behind the pandanns trees. 
 Here, again, the ground was full of holes, and look- 
 ing out the one he conjectured to be the best, lie 
 
OF ANIMALS. 195 
 
 threw in his line once, and probably felt that there 
 was something alive within, for he awaited the re- 
 sult with signs of the most eager attention. 
 
 " The affair, however, lasted longer than he an- 
 ticipated ; but, being already well filled by his past 
 successful hauls, he pulled up his knees, laid his 
 arms upon them, bowed his head, and, half closing 
 his eyes, he assumed such a resigned, and yet ex- 
 quisitely comical face, as only an ape is capable of 
 putting on under these circumstances. 
 
 " But his quiet was destined to be disturbed in a 
 manner as unsuspected as it was cruel. He must 
 have discerned some very interesting object in the 
 clouds, for he was staring up there fixedly, when 
 he uttered a loud yell, left hold of his knees, felt 
 with both hands for his tail, and made a bound in 
 the air as if the ground under him was beginning 
 to grow red hot. At the end of his tail, however, 
 hung a gigantic crab, torn with desperate energy 
 from his hiding-place, and Frank, who could re- 
 strain himself no longer, then burst into a loud 
 laugh. 
 
 " The mandoor at first retained his gravity ; but 
 when the ape, alarmed by the strange sound, looked 
 up and saw men, and then bounded off at full speed, 
 with the tormentor still dangling at the end of his 
 tail, the old man could no longer refrain either, and 
 they both 'laughed till the tears ran down their 
 cheeks." 
 
196 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 THE BEARS AND BEES. 
 
 A FABLE. 
 
 S two young bears, in wanton mood, 
 . Forth issuing from a neighboring wood, 
 Came where the industrious bees had stored, 
 In artful cells, their luscious hoard, 
 O'erjoyed, they seized, with eager haste, 
 Luxurious, on the rich repast. 
 Alarmed at this, the little crew, 
 About their ears vindictive flew. 
 
 The beasts, unable to sustain 
 The unequal combat, quit the plain ; 
 Half blind with rage, and mad with pain, 
 Their native shelter they regain : 
 There sit, and now discreeter grown, 
 Too late, their rashness to bemoan, 
 And this, by dear experience gain, 
 That pleasure 's ever bought with pain. 
 
 So when the gilded baits of vice 
 Are placed before our longing eyes, 
 With greedy haste we snatch our fill, 
 And swallow down the latent ill. 
 But when experience opes our eyes, 
 Away the fancied pleasure flies ; 
 It flies, but oh ! too late we find 
 It leaves a real sting behind. 
 
OP ANIMALS. 
 
 197 
 
 THE GIRAFFE. 
 
 THE Giraffe, or Camelopard, has been long known 
 4o naturalists, though they have had but few 
 opportunities of examining them in this country. 
 They are found mostly in Africa, and are very do- 
 cile and timid in their native state. What strikes 
 you as most peculiar in looking at them is the 
 enormous length of their neck and fore legs. The 
 trunk of their body is short in proportion to their 
 
198 MERRY'S BOOK. 
 
 neck. They are as tall as a small horse, and can 
 very easily see what is going on through the upper 
 windows of the building ; in fact, when they stretch 
 up their long, slim necks, it seems as if their heads 
 would be lost in the clouds. They feed upon the 
 leaves of trees mostly, as you see in the engraving, 
 though sometimes they take clover, barley, and 
 other grains. They chew the cud like the deer ; 
 resemble the camel in the length of their necks, 
 and the leopard in their spots. They are hunted 
 by the natives in Africa, for the sake of their large, 
 beautiful skin, and for the marrow of their bones, 
 which is considered a great delicacy. Some travel- 
 ers have asserted that their flesh is a very good 
 article of food. 
 
 As there has been brought into our country two 
 very beautiful Camelopards, we believe the follow- 
 ing account, taken from an English publication, 
 will be quite agreeable to our young readers. 
 
 The Camelopard, or Giraffe, although known to 
 the ancients, and captured for the purpose of add- 
 ing to the barbarous exhibitions of Rome,* has 
 been rarely introduced to Europe in modern times ; 
 and scarcely ever, we believe, had Great Britain to 
 boast of a living specimen of the Camelopard with- 
 in it, until the one arrived which was presented to 
 
 *Pompey, the triumvir with Crassus and Csesar, had ten of these animals 
 at one time exhibited at the theatre, where wild creatures, as previously 
 stated, were let loose upon each other. 
 
OF ANIMALS. 199 
 
 George IV., and which died shortly after its arrival. 
 The largest preserved specimens, which have 
 been exhibited in England are, we are assured, the 
 two still to be seen at the British Museum, which 
 we should think are about fifteen or sixteen feet 
 high ; since they appear, in their preserved state, 
 much larger and taller than the finest of the living 
 specimens lately imported ; and of these no less 
 than seven have arrived in London within the last 
 two months, previously to the period of our writ- 
 ing. Of these there are four at the Regent's Park, 
 and three at the Surrey Zoological Gardens ; the 
 latter being considerably larger than the former, 
 and much more lively when we saw them. At 
 each of the menageries the Giraffes are attended 
 by three Numidian keepers ; but the highest of the 
 four which first arrived, does not, we are assured, 
 exceed eleven feet ; we have seen them only when 
 they were lying down, upon which occasions it was 
 said they were not to be disturbed. 
 
 Of the three which are at the Surrey Gardens, 
 two are males, and about from thirteen to fourteen 
 feet in height ; the female much smaller. Mr. 
 Cross informed us that the largest of the males was 
 fourteen feet high, two years and a half old, and 
 that the two others were about eighteen months. 
 The expense of the capture, and subsequent re- 
 moval of these seven animals to this country, must 
 have been very great j and ^ach party of them, 
 
200 
 
 still attended by their Numidian friends, shows 
 they require more than ordinary care. 
 
 When we saw the three large ones at the Surrey 
 Gardens they were lively and playful as fawns, and 
 not in the least alarmed at the appearance of their 
 numerous visitors. They partook of their food, as 
 inclination prompted them, from a trough which 
 was placed at the height of an ordinary first floor 
 window. 
 
 The Giraffe, in a natural state, will grow to the 
 great height of seventeen feet, from the hoof to the 
 top of the head, whereon he has two small, erect, 
 and obtuse protuberances, like horns, which appear 
 to be covered with a tough skin. The shape of his 
 head is somewhat like that of the race-horse, yet 
 slender as the stag's ; his eye is dark and full ; 
 while his tongue is so peculiarly formed that he is 
 enabled to extend it a considerable length ; and by 
 encircling with it the tops of the light branches 
 and leaves of the trees upon which be feeds, he 
 thus obtains the chief part of his food. His neck, 
 when he stands erect, is graceful and swan-like ; 
 his shoulders are high, and fore legs very long ; 
 the back slopes downwards from the bottom of the 
 neck to the insertion of the tail, which is thin, with 
 a tuft at the end. The fore legs are about two- 
 fifths of the creature's height, since they were just 
 six feet, in one which was fifteen feet high, as mea- 
 sured by Mr. John Campbell. 
 
OF ANIMALS. 201 
 
 The body of the Giraffe is remarkably short, ac- 
 cording to its extreme height, and is not the length 
 of the neck from the top of the shoulder to the 
 tail ; the legs are slender and have a tuft of hair on 
 the knees ; the hoofs are hard and cloven, like 
 other animals that chew the cud ; and the color of 
 the skin is a light ash, or dun, marked all over with 
 dusky red, or chocolate-colored spots. In their 
 native solitudes they are hunted by the Arabs for 
 their flesh which is good eating and their skins. 
 They fly from the least noise, and ascend a preci- 
 pice with the swiftness and security of the goat, 
 the hoofs of both being similarly formed ; but 
 though ever ready to retreat, yet, if closely pressed, 
 this timid creature then uses its hoofs in its defence 
 with the rapidity of lightning, and often not with- 
 out effect. 
 
 M. Thibaut, who procured the Giraffes for the 
 proprietors of the menagerie in Regent's Park, in 
 a letter dated the 2d of January, 1836, and address- 
 ed to their secretary, says, " I availed myself of the 
 emulation which prevailed among the Arabs ; and, 
 as the season was far advanced and favorable, I 
 proceeded immediately to Kordofan.* It was on 
 the 15th of August, 1834, that I saw the first two 
 Giraffes. A rapid chase on horses accustomed to 
 the fatigues of the desert, put us in possession, 
 
 *Kordofan is a country of Africa lying to the westward of Nubia, or Sen- 
 naar. 
 
202 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 at the end of three hours, of the largest of the two ; 
 the mother of one of those now in my charge. Un- 
 able to take her alive, the Arabs killed her with 
 blows of the sabre, and cutting her to pieces, car- 
 ried the meat to the head-quarters, which we had 
 established in a wooded situation ; an arrangement 
 necessary to our own comfort, and to secure pas- 
 turage for the camels of both sexes which we had 
 brought with us in aid of the object of our chase. 
 We deferred until the morrow the pursuit of the 
 young Giraffe, which my companions assured me 
 they would have no difficulty in again discovering." 
 
 On the following day the party started at day- 
 break, " and at nine o'clock in the morning," says 
 M. Thibaut, " I had the happiness to find myself in 
 possession of the Giraffe." He is silent as to the 
 means adopted in its capture, but says, " a premium 
 was given to the hunter whose horse first came up 
 with the animal ;" the chase having been " pursued 
 through brambles and thorny trees." 
 
 He thus, proceeds : " Possessed of this Giraffe, 
 it was necessary to rest for three or four days in 
 order to render it sufficiently tame. During this 
 period, an Arab holds it at the end of a long cord. 
 By degrees it becomes accustomed to the presence 
 of man, and takes a little nourishment. To furnish 
 milk for it, I had brought with me female camels. 
 It became gradually resigned to its condition, and 
 
OF ANIMALS. 203 
 
 was soon willing to follow, in short stages, the route 
 of our caravan. 
 
 " The first Giraffe, captured at four days' journey 
 to the southwest of Kordofan, will enable us to 
 form some judgment as to its probable age at pre- 
 sent, as I have observed its growth and its mode of 
 life. When it first came into my hands, it was ne- 
 cessary to insert a finger into its mouth, in order to 
 deceive it into a belief that the nipple of its dam 
 was there ; then it sucked freely. According to 
 the opinion of the Arabs, and to the length of time 
 that I have had it, this first Giraffe cannot, at the 
 utmost, be more than nine months old. Since I 
 have had it, its size has fully doubled." 
 
 As we cannot imagine that any European can be 
 better qualified than M. Thibaut, to speak of the 
 habits of the Giraffe, we quote the following pas- 
 sages from his description of them. He tells us 
 that its first run is so exceedingly rapid that the 
 swiftest horse, if unaccustomed to the desert, would 
 scarcely come up with it. If it reach a mountain, 
 it passes the heights with rapidity ; its feet as al- 
 ready observed being like those of the goat, en- 
 dowing it with the dexterity of that animal ; and 
 with such incredible^power it bounds over the ra- 
 vines, that horses cannot, in such situations, com- 
 pete with it." 
 
 The Giraffe is fond of wooded country, where, as 
 we have said, leaves of trees are its principal food ; 
 
204 
 
 its conformation allowing it to reach the tops." The 
 one spoken of above, killed by the Arabs, measured 
 twenty-one (French) feet from the ears to the hoofs. 
 Green herbs are very agreeable to this animal, but 
 its structure does not admit of its feeding on them 
 in the same manner as our domestic quadrupeds, 
 such as the ox and the horse. It is obliged to 
 straddle widely ; its fore feet are gradually stretch- 
 ed apart from each other, and its neck being then 
 bent into a semicircular form, it is thus enabled to 
 collect the grass ; but on the slightest noise the 
 timid animal raises itself with rapidity, and has re- 
 course to immediate flight. It eats with delicacy, 
 taking its food leaf by leaf ; and, unlike the camel, 
 rejecting thorns and coarse herbage. 
 
 M. Thibaut obtained five Giraffes at Kordofan ; 
 but, owing to the cold weather of December, four 
 of them died, leaving him with only the one which 
 he had at first procured. He, however, persevered, 
 remaining three months in the desert ; and at length 
 'captured three others, all smaller than the one 
 which, it may be fairly said, he bred by hand. 
 With these four he has, after all his toils in an in- 
 hospitable desert, safely arrived in London. There 
 are three males and a female: and, having shown 
 the trouble the expense attending which may be 
 imagined of obtaining these living rarities, it will 
 readily be supposed that less of both could not 
 have been spared in procuring those, which are so 
 
OP ANIMALS. 205 
 
 much larger, in the possession of Mr. Cross, and 
 which need not, therefore, be narrated. 
 
 In its present domestic state. " as the grass on 
 which it is now fed," adds Mr. Thibaut, " must be 
 cut for it, it takes the upper part only, which it 
 chews until it perceives the stem to become too 
 coarse. Great care is necessary to its preserva- 
 tion, especially cleanliness. It is extremely fond of 
 society, and is very sensible ; I have observed one 
 of them shed tears when it no longer saw its com- 
 panions, or the persons who were in the habit of 
 attending to it.'^ 
 
 In conclusion, M. Thibaut adds, that the Giraffes 
 in his possession were " capable of walking for six 
 hours a day without the slightest fatigue ;" which, 
 in growing animals, shows the great strength they 
 must possess when in their full vigor. Those in 
 the Surrey Gardens were fifty-six days in coming 
 over to England. We have already spoken of the 
 graceful appearance of the neck of the Giraffe, 
 when he stands erect ; but we cannot particularize 
 any other part of his form as corresponding with 
 it ; so far from this, indeed, he appears altogether 
 a more awkward animal than many with which we 
 are better acquainted. In his wild state, and fly- 
 ing over the, wastes of an African landscape with 
 the swiftness of a hunted roe, he may appear, if not 
 a symmetrical, yet a beautiful object in the distance. 
 But we cannot admit that it is the elegance of his 
 
206 
 
 proportions, or the gracefulness of his movements, 
 which render him so great an object of attraction 
 among us. The action of his walk, trot, and canter, 
 appear very awkward ; the more especially, in con- 
 sequence of moving both legs on the same side at 
 the same time, and not transversely as do other 
 quadrupeds ; and to the comparative shortness of 
 his body at every step the hinder foot not follow- 
 ing the fore in a direct line, but passing it on the 
 outside, and reaching considerably beyond it. 
 
 It is a rarity which deservedly renders the Gi- 
 raffe an object of attraction among us, while his 
 gentle nature at once confirms all favorable impres- 
 sions which might have been previously created in 
 his favor ; and, certainly, the great expense, enter- 
 prise and perseverance employed to obtain these 
 productions of the desert, both in a national and 
 scientific point of view, ought to, as we have no 
 doubt it will, be liberally compensated. 
 
F ANIMALS . 
 
 207 
 
 THE WITCH RABBIT. ' 
 
 ABBITS were always great 
 pets with me, either as a 
 favorite around the house, 
 in the garden, or served up 
 on the table. We had gone 
 out upon our morning walk, 
 and as I was not in very 
 good health, Mr. W. car- 
 ried his gun along for the 
 purpose of shooting a young 
 squirrel or rabbit, which would be more dainty food 
 for my palled appetite. We went over the brook 
 into a bushy field, covered with a thiqk growth of 
 hazel and brambles, with here and there a large old 
 tree left standing. 
 
 We were pushing our way along a narrow path, 
 when, hearing a sudden rustle among the dried 
 leaves, we saw the white tail of a rabbit go bob- 
 bing up and down as he went bounding off. He 
 did not go far, however, but stopped in sight, just 
 in the thickest of all the hazel clumps. 
 
 We could see him through the slim stems, stand- 
 ing erect, with his great wide eyes staring at us, 
 just as you see him in the cut. 
 
 "A fine young rabbit ! and he will make you a 
 mceaeal !" said Mr. W., as he raised his gun to 
 
208 
 
 fire. Bang ! went the gun ; but Mr. Rabbit did 
 not even wink. 
 
 Now, Mr. W. prides himself particularly upon 
 being one of the best marksmen Kentucky has 
 ever produced. "Why," he exclaimed, with an ex- 
 pression of mortification, "miss a rabbit not more 
 than twenty paces off ! how ridiculous ! Why, the 
 creature is not even scared ! Wait a bit, my little 
 man, and I'll see if I can not scare you some 1" and 
 he proceeded rapidly to re-load, when to his disap- 
 pointment he found that in getting over the fence 
 he had lost the stopper to his shot-bag, and all his 
 small shot was gone, except about half a dozen. 
 But he happened to have a few rifle-bullets in his 
 pocket, so he put two of these into his gun along 
 with the half dozen small shot. 
 
 Mr. Rabbit, in the mean time, stood as immova- 
 bly staring at us as if he had been some goblin 
 statuette, hewn from brown stone, with great ebony 
 set eyes, and placed in some green nook to mock 
 the passing sportsman ; while the elfin creatures 
 peeped from out the flowers, and clapped their 
 hands in the mockery of tiny glee. 
 
 Bang ! went the gun again 1 and the white spots 
 showed themselves along the hazels in a direct 
 line with the creature. But not a motion did Mr. 
 Hare make ! 
 
 " How strange !" said Mr. W. with a perplexed 
 air. " You see the hazel stems are literally rifled 
 
OP ANIMALS. 
 
 209 
 
 all in a line with the creature, and yet he does not 
 stir 1 Can it be possible that he has died in that 
 strange attitude ? That is absurd ! However, we 
 will try him again I" and down went two more bul- 
 lets, which were the last. 
 
 Bang ! went the gun again. No more white 
 spots appeared upon the hazel stems, but Mr. Rab- 
 bit remained still immovable. I could not help 
 laughing at Mr. W.'s humorously perplexed look 
 as he exclaimed 
 
 " Well, the creature must be a Witch Rabbit, 
 surely ! I have no more shot, but I am not going 
 to give it up so ! Here's a hazel stem which will 
 about fit the bore of the gun, and they say that 
 hazel is deadly to witches, sol will shoot it at him. 
 
210 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 Bang ! went the gun once more, and the rabbit 
 remained, if anything, more immovable still. Mr. 
 W. stared a moment, and laughing said 
 
 11 1 am afraid this witch is too strong for even the 
 spell of the hazel ! You go round to the brook, 
 and get me a handful of the small gravel over which 
 it runs. I have frequently shot birds with it when 
 my shot gave out." 
 
 I clambered the fence, and was soon back with 
 the gravel, and to my great amusement, as well as 
 astonishment, saw Mr. Rabbit still standing there, 
 with his great wide unwinking eyes staring at us. 
 
 Mr. W. fired several times with the gravel, with 
 the same result as before, until we both burst into 
 shouts of laughter, which proved to have greater 
 effect upon our Witch Rabbit than all the roaring 
 of the gun, and he went bounding slowly off through 
 the thicket ; and as we turned to go, we caught a 
 glimpse of him a short distance off, staring after us 
 with the same immovable stare. 
 
 We had a good laugh over the incident as we 
 returned home. Mr. W. accounted for the quaint 
 incident by saying he had probably lost the shot 
 of the first charge out of his gun, by the loosening 
 of the light wad without his being aware of it for 
 it will be remembered, there were no white marks 
 after the first shot. The other shots with the two 
 bullets, although in a straight line, were glanced 
 by the thick hazel stems. The sticks were also 
 
OF ANIMALS. 211 
 
 glanced, and the gravel we found, on closer exami- 
 nation, to be of so light a quality, that it could only 
 be propelled a few feet from the muzzle of the 
 gun. 
 
 We returned the next morning, and found our 
 witch in the same "form," and Mr. W. shot him 
 easily, running, at the first fire. 
 
 Thus ended the mystery of the "Witch Rabbit, 
 which a superstitious person would have insisted 
 all his life in regarding as a supernatural event. 
 It might finally have become a legendary wonder. 
 Such is, undoubtedly, the origin of the marvelous 
 tales which fill the early literature of all lands con- 
 cerning weird animals. 
 
 THE RABBITS. 
 
 " I wish that you would come and see, 
 What Johnny Taylor offers me, 
 
 Two rabbits small and white ! 
 Do let me keep them in the yard : 
 I'll feed them well and be their guard, 
 
 And nurse them day and night. 
 
 Do not say ' no,' my dear papa, 
 
 They shall not plague you nor mamma, 
 
 For I will keep them clean ; 
 How very happy they should be, 
 If they, poor things, belonged to me ? 
 
 Such beauties ne'er were seen !" 
 
212 
 
 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 " Susan, could you in comfort dwell, 1 
 Within a dark and narrow cell, 
 
 ConfinM by bolts and locks 1 
 Or can my darling girl suppose, 
 Those rabbits e'er could feel repose, 
 
 Shut up in yonder box 1 
 To keep them thus would be unkind, 
 For they by nature were design'd 
 
 To ramble wild and free. 
 Then send them to their hills away : 
 There let them scamper, frisk and play, 
 
 Enjoying liberty." 
 
OF ANIMALS. 213 
 
 
 
 THE GOOD DOG AND BAD BOY. 
 
 guard his store at night, my neighbor 
 keeps a noble Newfoundland dog. Not 
 long since I was passing his store at mid-day, 
 f when he came out with Towser at his heels and 
 a pail in his hand. He told Towser to take the 
 pail and carry it to the house, a few rods across 
 the way. The dog did not whine over the com- 
 mand, nor curl his tail and refuse to go ; no, not 
 he. He obeyed at once, took the pail in his mouth 
 and away he went to the house. I watched hint to 
 see how well he fulfilled his master's orders. The 
 door was closed, so he sat down on the piazza and 
 waited a welcome. Five minutes passed, and no 
 one opened the door ; yet the dog was patient and 
 faithful. Five minutes more passed, and just as I 
 was about to leave, he was seen from the window 
 and admitted with his charge. Faithful dog, thought 
 I, never to refuse obedience, or wait for the second 
 bidding. 
 
 Then I thought of little Willie S - , who said 
 to his mother in my presence, "No, I can't do it ; 
 let Ned go he is not doing anything." 
 
 "Willie," exclaimed his mother in a commanding 
 
214 
 
 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
OF ANIMALS. 215 
 
 tone, "go and bring that wood immediately ; don't 
 let me have to tell you again." 
 
 The little fellow was mending his cart, but he 
 dropped his hammer, now that he saw there was 
 no escape, and started. "I always have the wood 
 to bring," he muttered as he left the room. He 
 obeyed very reluctantly. He went pouting and 
 murmuring after the wood, and when he returned 
 he threw it into the box with a violence that threat- 
 ened to break it to pieces. His mother looked 
 ashamed and heart-sick. I pitied her from the 
 depths of my soul. Think of it. Her son was less, 
 obedient than the dog ; for the dog went cheerful- 
 ly, wagging his bushy tail, and lifting his head, as 
 if to say, " I obey." 
 
 Learn a good lesson from the example of the dog, 
 and never let it be said of you, "Towser is more 
 obedient than Willie." 
 
 f f TjlATHER," said a cobbler's son as he was peg- 
 L ging away at an old shoe, "they say that 
 trout bite good now." 
 
 "Well, well," -replied the old gentleman, "you 
 stick to your work, and they won't bite you." 
 
216 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 A REMARKABLE CAT, 
 
 A CAT, which had been long remarked as one 
 of the wildest of those which frequented a 
 barn on the borders of a wood in Ayrshire, so 
 wild, indeed, as to be seldom seen, was several 
 times, during a sharp frost, observed, with no little 
 surprise, to pass and repass into the adjacent farm- 
 house, which it had not, for some years, been known 
 either to enter or Approach. It might have been 
 inferred that it was compelled by hunger, had not 
 this been the best season for catching birds ; but, 
 in one of its stealthy visits, it was seen snugly coil- 
 ed up beside a baby in the cradle, to the no small 
 horror of the mother, who imagined, in accordance 
 
OP ANIMALS. 217 
 
 with popular prejudice, that it had come to suck 
 the baby's breath. All that could be done to per- 
 suade her of the impossibility of the cat doing this 
 was of no avail, and orders were immediately given 
 to every servant on the farm to kill the poor cat 
 wherever she could be found. Her caution and 
 agility, however, were long successful in saving 
 her ; and, though the persecution she thus expe- 
 rienced rendered her, if possible, much wilder than 
 before, yet she "was not thereby deterred not 
 even after being wounded by a pitchfork, and her 
 leg lamed by throwing a hatchet at her from pay- 
 ing a daily visit to the baby in the cradle, because 
 it was the warmest place within her knowledge ; 
 and, next to food, she considered warmth as indis- 
 pensable to life. She persisted thus in venturing 
 to the cradle, till she was at length intercepted and 
 killed. 
 
218 
 
 MERRY S BOOK 
 
 THE HORNED OWL ; 
 
 NEVER TRUST TO APPEARANCES 
 
 HAVE a neighbor, who had a flock 
 of hens that roosted on the trees 
 around his house. One night he 
 heard a great commotion among the feather- 
 ed group, and suspecting some animal wish- 
 ed a fowl for his breakfast, he took a gun and went 
 out. Sure enough the depredator was there, and 
 he supposed by its looks that it was a barn-yard 
 owl with the chicken in its claws, just making its 
 exit, without stopping to say, lk Good-bye." The 
 man fired, and the thief dropped to the ground, 
 quitting his hold upon the chicken, and helpless 
 himself with a broken wing. 
 
 On inspection he proved to be a great horned 
 owl, a species rather rare in this region. As a 
 curiosity, he was taken into one of the village stores 
 for exhibition. 
 
 A group of boys were collected around him, but 
 rather afraid of his owlship, even in his disabled 
 state. As they stood at a respectful distance from 
 the bird, a gentleman, remarkable for his love oi* 
 
OF ANIMALS. 219 
 
 animals and his dislike of boys, came into the store. 
 " Ah I indeed, a horned owl ! a great curiosity ! 
 What are you afraid of, boys ? No animal will ever 
 hurt you if he is properly treated. There, now, 
 my good fellow 1" he said, pushing aside the boys, 
 and laying his hand upon the mottled plumage of 
 the bird, whose drooping wing and downcast look 
 made him appear like a pining captive, "I am sor- 
 ry for you." The bird no sooner felt the pressure 
 of the hand than he started, threw out his large 
 sharp claws, inflicting a wound upon the gentle- 
 man's hand, which made him regret his misplaced 
 confidence for some weeks. 
 
 This same gentleman came into my garden once, 
 as I was looking at the sun through a smoked glass, 
 during an eclipse. It was at the moment of great' 
 est obscuration, when there was a hush in all na 
 ture, as if the pall of death were about to be spread 
 over the earth. My own heart was full of awe and 
 wonder, and I was thinking of the desolation which 
 would follow if God should withdraw the light and 
 heat of the sun wholly from us, when a voice near 
 said, hastily, "I must go up to the pasture quick, 
 for my cows may be afraid." 
 
 I turned, and he was making his way out of the 
 gate as fast as possible, while my husband who 
 stood near with a glass in his hand, was smiling as 
 he watched his hasty departure. 
 
220 
 
 MERRY' s BOOK . 
 
 REYNARD, THE FILIBUSTER. 
 
 A TERRIBLE fellow was Reynard for stealing, 
 A trade he pursued without conscience or feeling ; 
 He cared no more for a crying hen 
 Than the pestilence cares for suffering men. 
 
 He would creep right up to a well-set roost, 
 
 And help himself to what he liked most ; 
 
 And would tear young chickens right out of the arms 
 
 Of screaming fathers and fluttering ma'ams. 
 
 Or, leaving the chickens to shirk as they could, 
 He would tear the fond mother away from her brood, 
 Making no more count of the " family figure,** 
 Than a sheriff would do in seizing a beggar. 
 
 What chickens to orphanage suddenly brought, 
 What ducklings or geese in extremities caught ; 
 What sensitive fowls rendered childless, or widdercd, 
 This hard filibuster in no wise considered. 
 
OF ANIMALS. 221 
 
 He prowled in the barn-yard, he skulked in the hedge, 
 Wherever through crevice or crack he could wedge ; 
 He was sly, he was shrewd, he was cunning and prudent, 
 There were some things he could do, and some things he couldn't. 
 
 He could run, he could hide, he could bkulk, he could fly, 
 He had to his safety a vigilant eye; 
 But there's always a but, soon or late, for the sinner 
 He had ventured too far to be always a winner. 
 
 He had fattened on chickens, and ducklings, and geese, 
 Till the fattest and fairest were quite common-place 
 And daintly seeking a dinner more rare, 
 He had poached on the park and abstracted a, hare. 
 
 This was reckoned too much for the gentry to stand, 
 'Twas a crime 'twas a trespass the laws of the land, 
 Which made nothing of common folks' chickens and hens, 
 By statute protected gentlemen's pens. 
 
 The fever was up. Poor Reynard was doomed, 
 A vagabond, fugitive, outcast, presumed 
 To have no condition but that of a thief, 
 From whom the said gentry demanded relief. 
 
 A hunt was got up by the true law-abiders, 
 There were all sorts of horses, and all sorts of riders, 
 Determined to get on the track of the rogue, 
 And make him, if found in his hole, disembogue. 
 
 Now a hole Reynard had, 'neath the roots of a tree, 
 
 He thought none would ever discover but he, 
 
 A hole so peculiarly guarded without, 
 
 You would say, should you see it, 'twas safe, without doubt. 
 
 And then, as if taking the hint from the creature, 
 Whom the dog Noble pestered with bark, (vide Beechor,) 
 The tree that protected his cabin was hollow, 
 And furnished a chamber where no dog could follow. 
 
MERRY S BOOK 
 
 THE FOX. 
 
 Well, the hunters turned out, and day after day 
 They scoured the beat in the usual way : 
 But Reynard, accustomed by moonlight to scout, 
 Stayed snugly at home while the hunters were out.' 
 
 But finding, one night, a new batch of fat chickens, 
 And relishing greatly the delicate pickings, 
 He staid out so late the rare feast to consume, 
 That morning o'ertook him while hurrying home. 
 
 So a hunter, who started with earliest light, 
 
 Observed the sly rascal, and cut off his flight; 
 
 He sounded his bugle, and soon the wholepack 
 
 Of hounds, boys, and huntsmen were dowu on his track. 
 
OF ANIMALS. 
 
 Suffice it to say that Reynard, the cunning, 
 Had eaten so much it affected his running ; 
 And ere he had finished two miles of the chase, 
 The hounds overtook him and cut short his race. 
 
 223 
 
224 
 
 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 THE OPOSSUM. 
 
 HUNTING THE OPOSSUM. The hunting of the opos- 
 sum is a favorite sport with the country people in 
 Virginia, who frequently go out with their dogs 
 at night, after the autumnal frosts have begun and 
 the persimmon fruit is in its most delicious state. 
 
 The opossum, as soon as he discovers the ap- 
 proach of his enemies, lies perfectly close to the 
 branch, or places himself snugly in the angle where 
 two limbs separate from each other. The dogs, 
 however, soon announce the fact of his presence by 
 their baying, and the hunter ascending the tree 
 discovers the branch upon wlm-h the animal is seat- 
 ed, and begins to shake it \\iih ^reat violence to 
 alarm and cause him to iv.Uix his hold. This is 
 soon effected, and the opossum attempting to es- 
 
OF ANIMALS. 225 
 
 cape to another limb, is pursued immediately, and 
 the shaking is renewed with greater violence, un- 
 til at length the terrified quadruped allows himselt 
 to drop to the ground, where hunters or dogs are 
 prepared to despatch him. 
 
 Should the hunter, as frequently happens, be un- 
 accompanied by dogs when the opossum falls to the 
 ground, it does not immediately make its escape, 
 but steals slowly and quietly to a little distance, 
 and then gathering itself into as small a "compass as 
 possible, remains as still as if dead. Should there 
 Be any quantity of grass or underwood near the 
 tree, this apparently simple artifice is frequently 
 sufficient to secure the animal's escape, as it is difficult 
 by moonlight, or in the shadow of the tree to dis- 
 tinguish it ; and if the hunter has not carefully ob- 
 served the spot where it fell, his labor is often in 
 vain. This circumstance, however, is generally at- 
 tended to, and the opossum derives but little from 
 his instinctive artifice. 
 
 After remaining in this apparently lifeless con- 
 dition for a considerable time, or so long as any 
 noise indicative of danger can be heard, the opos- 
 sum slowly unfolds himself, and creeping as closely 
 as possible upon the ground, would fain sneak off 
 unperceived. Upon a shout or outcry in any tone 
 from his persecutor, he immediately renews his 
 death-like attitude and stillness. 
 
 If then approached, moved or handled, he is still 
 
226 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 seemingly dead, and might deceive any one not ac- 
 customed to his actions. This feigning is repeated 
 as frequently as opportunity is allowed him of at- 
 tempting to escape, and is known so well to the 
 country folks as to have long since passed into a 
 proverb. He is playing "possum " is applied with 
 great readiness by them to any one who is thought 
 to act deceitfully, or wishes to appear what he is 
 not. 
 
OP ANIMALS 
 
 227 
 
 AMONG- the several species of the Lynx, some 
 are found in Asia and Africa, with black tips 
 on their ears, which make it a very conspicuous 
 animal. It lives on small quadrupeds, and birds, 
 which it pursues even to the tops of trees. The 
 Lynx has never been tamed always when confined 
 in a cage, it snarls at all who approach. The face 
 resembles the cat's, which animal it seems to come 
 near in the link of beings. It is larger, however, al- 
 ways being about two feet long, and more than a 
 foot in height. The Canada Lynx has longer and 
 
228 
 
 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 more curly fur, or almost hair ; and is remarkable 
 for its gait. Instead of walking, it always bounds 
 from all four feet at once, with the back arched. 
 It feeds principally on the American hare. It is 
 about three *feet long. The natives eat its flesh, 
 which is white and firm, and much like the flesh of 
 the hare. Its skin is an important article of com- 
 merce, and many thousands are yearly exported. 
 
OF ANIMALS. 229 
 
 THE AGES OF ANIMALS. 
 
 ATS live on an average of fourteen 
 years ; a bear rarely exceeds twenty 
 years ; a dog lives twenty years ; a 
 wolf, twenty ; a fox, fourteen or sixteen. Lions 
 are long lived Pompey lived to the age of 
 seventy. A squirrel and hare, seven or eight years ; 
 rabbits seven. Elephants have been known to live 
 to the great age of four hundred years. When 
 Alexander the Great had conquered one Porus, 
 king of India, he took a great elephant which had 
 fought valiantly fer the king, named him Ajax, and 
 dedicated him to the sun, and let him go with 
 this inscription : "Alexander, the son of Jupiter, 
 had dedicated Ajax to the sun." This elephant 
 was found three hundred and fifty-four years after. 
 Pigs have been known to live to the age of thirty 
 years ; the rhinoceros to twenty. A horse has 
 been known to live to the age of sixty-two, but av- 
 erages twenty-five to thirty. Camels sometimes 
 live to the age of one hundred. Stags are long- 
 lived. Sheep seldom exceed the age of ten. Cows 
 
230 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 live about fifteen years ; Cuvier considers it pro- 
 bable that whales sometimes live to the age of one 
 thousand. The dolphin and porpoise attain the 
 age of thirty. An eagle died at Vienna at the age 
 of one hundred and four years. Ravens have fre- 
 quently reached the age of one hundred. Swans 
 have been known to live three hundred and sixty 
 years. Mr. Mallerton has the skeleton of a swan 
 that attained the age of two hundred and ninety 
 years. Pelicans are long-lived. A tortoise has 
 been known to live to the age of one hundred and 
 seven. 
 
 THE Arabs say, that every race of animals is go- 
 verned by its chief, to whom the others are bound 
 to pay obeisance. The king of the crocodiles holds 
 his court at the bottom of the Nile, near Siout. 
 The king of the fleas, lives at Tiberias, in the Holy 
 Land, and deputations of illustrious fleas visit him 
 on a certain day, in his palace, situated in a beauti- 
 ful garden, in the Lake of Genesareth. 
 
OP ANIMALS 
 
 231 
 
 THE IBEX. 
 
 T 
 
 HE Ibex inhabits some of the mountainous re- 
 gions of Europe and Asia. It is sometimes 
 found among the Alps and Pyrenees. It is esteem- 
 ed a great prize by the hunters, who give them 
 chase with great eagerness, and run into perils and 
 hardships innumerable to procure them. The hoofs 
 are very strong and sharp, securing them a firm 
 footing on the rocks they inhabit. They are ex- 
 pert leapers, and the time between the leaps is so 
 short, that the animal resembles an elastic sub- 
 
232 
 
 stance, instead of a living creature renewing its 
 efforts at every leap. When pursued, they take to 
 the glaciers, along which they bound with great 
 rapidity, clearing chasms of a good many feet, 
 though, in general, they do not resort to such places 
 as they furnish no food. 
 
 Altogether, the Ibex is an interesting animal, 
 and it is not the less so that it is found only in the 
 wildest and most inaccessible places, and being 
 sought for at the extreme peril of the hunter. One 
 almost regrets their success, notwithstanding their 
 boldness, for the animals are very near extirpation. 
 
 The Ibex resembles the goat in form, but the 
 head is smaller in proportion. The eyes are large, 
 round and brilliant, and even fiery in expression. 
 The horns are flat ; they incline backwards and 
 downwards. 
 
OF A NIM ALS. 
 
 233 
 
 DON'T KILL THE BUTTERFLIES. 
 
 
 HOW delightful the early morning walk ! How 
 bracing the bright air of a fine October morn 
 ing especially ! And it seems to me as if children 
 more than others enjoy the early walk. Such was 
 my conclusion, at least, on the particular morning 
 whereon hangs my little story. How the sun did 
 shine ! how meekly did the harebell bow its delicate 
 head, quite unable to look up, because of its pearly 
 
234 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 jewels ! How beautiful the contrast between its 
 pale azure and the fine yellow of the ladies' bed- 
 straw ! Such are a few of the common things so 
 delightful to an observing eye, which met and lured 
 us on in that walk. Nor must I forget the butter- 
 flies blue, white, pink, brown, and gold flitting 
 about in the enjoyment of their brief, bright life. 
 No wonder that the children felt happy ; no won- 
 der that it was thought " time enough for school 
 yet I" And now, in the midst of all this beauty, 
 pause awhile hark ! hush I What did Edwin 
 say ? Again was the clear voice of the little boy 
 distinctly heard too distinctly for her who had 
 undertaken the mental training of the hitherto 
 misguided one. 
 
 " Kill it ! kill it ! There, I have it I" 
 
 " No, Edwin, you must not, can not kill so beauti- 
 ful a creature," said the lady before alluded to. 
 
 " Oh, yes, I always kill them 1 See how soon I 
 can bring it down !" and away he ran, hat in hand, 
 intent only on the destruction of the happy flutter- 
 ing insects which beautified his path. 
 
 No more was said just then, as by this time both 
 the butterfly and its pursuer were far away. Pre- 
 sently, however, was heard the cry of victory. 
 
 " I have killed it ! I have killed it 1 It led me a, 
 chase, but I brought it down at last ! There it 
 lies !" 
 
 "Yes," said the lady, " there it lies I its painted, 
 
OF ANIMALS. 
 
 Velvety wings lie in the dust ; no more will it wing 
 its way through the delicious morning air, and de- 
 light you and me when we again walk out. Edwin, 
 do you feel happier now that you have taken away 
 the life given to that little creature by its God and 
 yours ?" 
 
 The little boy hung his head, but made no reply j 
 and school-time having now fairly arrived, he was 
 left to his own thoughts, and the lady to hers ; the 
 latter not being without hope that the " word 
 spoken in season" might prove to be good. 
 
 Again was preparation made for the happy " go- 
 ing out." " I wonder, Edwin," said the lady, " if 
 the butterflies have trimmed their feathers this 
 morning ?" 
 
 " Feathers 1" said the little boy, in evident aston- 
 ishment ; " birds have feathers not butterflies !" 
 
 " Well," said the lady, " I am only sorry I have 
 no microscope, which would show you that what 
 appears like fine dust scattered on their wings, is in 
 reality feathers of delicate texture, and each fur- 
 nished with a quill, strange as it may seem to you. 
 
236 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 Moreover, the wings are finished by a fringe, of 
 more exquisite manufacture than ever adorned the 
 royal robes of any other than a fairy queen. On 
 the outside of its little eye-ball are placed no fewer 
 than forty thousand perfect lenses, or, if you will, 
 little eyes, which seem to say, so much beauty had 
 need to be well guarded." 
 
 The boy opened his blue eyes a little wider than 
 usual, but still said nothing. But why did the but- 
 terflies flit unmolested by Edwin in that walk ? 
 Why was the little straw hat unlifted, and the 
 hitherto ready arm unraised ? And who is it that 
 stands earnestly beseeching a group of boys to 
 spare the butter/lies ? It was Edwin. Need I speak 
 of the lady's feelings at these happy results ? or 
 need I say how much more of real pleasure that 
 little boy himself now feels since he has learned to 
 admire and spare the butterflies ? 
 
OF ANIMALS. 
 
 237 
 
 THE HORSE. 
 
 ORSES are among the no- 
 blest of animals if not the 
 most useful to man. In a 
 wild state they are found 
 in large droves, numbering 
 sometimes a thousand or 
 more. Powerful as they 
 are, however, they never 
 attack other animals, but 
 content themselves with 
 acting on the defensive. When they lie down to 
 rest, they generally leave some of their number as 
 sentinels, to give notice of the approach of danger. 
 When the alarm is given, by a loud neighing of the 
 sentinels, the whole troop start to their feet, and, 
 after taking a view of their enemy, either give 
 them instant battle, or gallop off with inconceivable 
 speed. 
 
 When they determine on battle, they close round 
 the enemy on all sides, and trample him to death. 
 If the attack is of a very serious character, they 
 form a circle, in the centre of which the young are 
 placed with their mothers. The rest arranging 
 themselves with their heels towards their foes, re- 
 pel the most vigorous attacks. 
 
 Many a careless boy, and unfortunate man, knows, 
 
238 
 
 MERE Y'S BOOK 
 
 from bitter experience, what a powerful instrument 
 of defence the horse possesses in his heels. 
 
 The most beautiful horses in the world are the 
 Arabian, though there are different races of them, 
 as well as in other countries. The most remarka- 
 
 THE HORSE. 
 
 blu and valuable among them, are the Kochlan, 
 who, to an uncommon gentleness and docility, and 
 a singular attachment to their masters, unite a 
 courage and intrepidity worthy of the best trained 
 war-horse. They have an astonishing power of re- 
 
OF ANIMALS. 
 
 membering the places where they have been, and 
 the treatment they have received. 
 
 The intelligence of this race of horses is 'almost 
 incredible. He knows when he is sold to a new 
 master, or even when his old master is bargaining 
 to sell him. When the proprietor and the purchas- 
 er meet for that purpose in the stables, the Koch- 
 Ian appears instantly to guess what is going on. 
 He becomes restless and dissatisfied ; casts fre- 
 quent angry glances from his beautiful eye at 
 the merchant, paws the ground impatiently with 
 his feet, and exhibits other unmistakable signs oi 
 discontent. Neither the buyer, nor any other 
 stranger, dares to come near him. But, when the 
 bargain is concluded, and the vender, taking the 
 Kochlan by the halter, gives him up to the pur- 
 chaser, and turns away, the horse becomes imme- 
 diately tractable and submissive. From that mo- 
 ment he is mild and faithful to his new master, as 
 he had been to his old one. This is no idle story. 
 It is w^ell attested by English residents in the East, 
 as well as by Turkish, Arabian, and Armenian mer- 
 chants. 
 
 We can hardly wonder at the extreme gentleness 
 and docility of the Arabian horses, when we con- 
 sider how they arc treated. The Arabs live con- 
 stantly in tents. These they always share with 
 their horses. The mare and her foal occupy the 
 same corner where the children sleep, and often 
 
240 
 
 MERRY'S BOOK 
 
 Svirve them for a pillow. They may often be seen 
 prattling to their colts as our children do to their 
 pet dogs, patting them on their necks and faces, 
 stroking down their soft hair, climbing on their 
 bodies, and hanging about their necks, with the 
 fondness and fearlessness of childhood. 
 
 The Arabian horses are always well fed, and 
 never whipped. The use of the lash is not known 
 among them, and it is only in the utmost extremity 
 that the spur is used, and then as sparingly as pos- 
 sible. They are seldom, if ever overburdened, or 
 overworked, but are treated with as much care and 
 tenderness as any member of the family. 
 
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