LXXXII

A TAME COLONY

A well-known traveller, in describing the Island of Tristan d'Acunha, states that the animals found on this lonely spot were so tame, that it was necessary to clear a path right through the mass of birds which were sitting on the rocks, and this was done by simply kicking them aside. One kind of seal did not move at all when struck or pelted, and at last some of the company amused themselves by mounting them, and riding them into the sea.



LXXXIII

THE BEAR CUBS

A mother bear, with two cubs, came too near a whaler, and was shot. The cubs not trying to escape, were taken alive. The little creatures, though at first seeming quite unhappy, at length became in some measure reconciled to their fate, and being quite tame, were allowed sometimes to go at large about the deck.

While the ship was moored to a floe a few days after they were taken, one of them having a rope fastened round his neck, was thrown overboard. It at once swam to the ice, got upon it, and tried to escape. Finding itself, however, held by the rope, it tried to free itself in the following clever way.

Near the edge of the floe was a crack in the ice. It was of considerable length, but only eighteen inches or two feet wide, and three or four feet deep. To this spot the bear turned; and when, on crossing the chasm, the bight of the rope fell into it, he placed himself across the opening; then suspending himself by his hind feet, with a leg on each side, he dropped his head and most all of his body into the chasm; and with a foot applied to each side of the neck, tried for some minutes to push the rope over his head.

Finding that this scheme did not work, he moved to the main ice, and running with great force from the ship, gave a strong put on the rope; then going backward a few steps, he repeated the jerk. At length, after repeated attempts to make his escape in this way, every failure of which he announced with an angry growl, he gave himself up to his hard fate, and lay down on the ice in angry and sullen silence.



LXXXIV

DECEIVING THE FOWLER

A young pointer, out with his master hunting, ran on a brood of very small partridges. The old bird cried, fluttered, and ran trembling along just before the dog's nose, till she had drawn him to a considerable distance; when she took wing and flew farther off, but not out of the field. At this the dog went back nearly to the place where the young ones lay concealed in the grass. The old bird no sooner saw this than she flew back again, settled first before the dog's nose, and a second time acted the same part, rolling and tumbling about till she drew off his attention from the brood, and thus succeeded in saving them.



LXXXV

ASKING ASSISTANCE

A party of a ship's crew was sent ashore on a part of the coast of India, for the purpose of cutting wood for the ship. One of the men, having strayed from the rest, was greatly frightened by the appearance of a large lioness, who came toward him. But when she had come up to him, she lay down at his feet, and looked very earnestly, first at him, and then at a tree a short distance off. After doing this several times, she arose and started toward the tree, looking back at the man several times, as if trying to make him follow her. At length he went, and when he reached the tree, he saw a huge baboon with two young cubs in her arms. He supposed they must belong to the lioness, as she lay down like a cat, and seemed to be watching them very anxiously. The man being afraid to climb the tree, decided to cut it down, and having his axe with him, he at once set to work, the lioness, meantime, watching to see what he was doing. When the tree fell, she sprang upon the baboon, and after tearing her in pieces, she turned round and fawned round the man, rubbing her head against him in great fondness, and in token of her gratitude for the service he had done her. After this she took the cubs away, one at a time, and the man went back to the ship.



LXXXVI

DOG SMUGGLERS

In the Netherlands, they use dogs of a very large and strong breed as they would horses. They are harnessed like horses, and chiefly employed in drawing little carts filled with fish, vegetables, and other produce. Before the year 1795, such dogs were also employed in smuggling; which was the easier, as they are exceedingly docile.

The dogs were trained to go back and forth between two places on the frontiers, without any person to attend them. Being well loaded with little parcels of goods, lace, and the like, they set out at midnight, and went only when it was perfectly dark. An excellent, quick-scented dog always went some paces before the others, stretched out his nose toward all quarters, and when he scented custom house officers, turned back, which was the signal for immediate flight.

Concealed behind bushes, or in ditches, the dogs waited till all was safe, then continued their journey, and at last reached, beyond the frontier, the dwelling-house of the receiver of the goods, who was in the secret. But here, also, the leading dog only at first showed himself. On a certain whistle, which was a signal that all was right, they all hastened up. They were then unloaded, taken to a nearby stable, where there was a good layer of hay and plenty of good food. There they rested until midnight, and they then returned in the same manner as they had come, back over the frontiers.



LXXXVII

PORUS SAVED BY HIS ELEPHANT

King Porus, in a battle with Alexander the Great, being severely wounded, fell from the back of his elephant. The Macedonian soldiers, supposing him dead, pushed forward, in order to rob him of his rich clothing and accoutrements; but the faithful elephant, standing over the body of its master, boldly drove back every one who dared to come near, and while the enemy stood at bay, took the bleeding Porus up with his trunk, and placed him again on his back.

The troops of Porus came by this time to his relief, and the king was saved; but the elephant died of the wounds which it had so bravely received in the heroic defense of its master.



LXXXVIII

A HUMANE SOCIETY

A large colony of rooks had lived for many years in a grove on the banks of a river. One quiet evening the idle birds amused themselves with chasing one another through endless mazes, and in their flight they made the air sound with many discordant noises. In the midst of this play, it unfortunately happened that one of the rooks, by a sudden turn, struck his head against the wing of another. The wounded bird instantly fell into the river. A general cry of distress followed. The birds hovered with every expression of anxiety over their distressed companion.

Encouraged by their sympathy, and perhaps by the language of counsel known to themselves, he sprang into the air, and by one strong effort reached the point of a rock that projected into the river. The joy became loud and universal; but, alas! it was soon changed into notes of sorrow, for the poor, wounded bird, in trying to fly toward his nest, dropped again into the river, and was drowned.



LXXXIX

A MOTHER WATCHING HER YOUNG

The following singular instance of the far-sighted watchfulness of the mother turkey over her young is told by a French priest. "I have heard," he says, "a mother turkey, when at the head of her brood, send forth the most hideous scream, without being able to see any cause for it. Her young ones, however, the moment the warning was given, hid under the bushes, the grass, or whatever else seemed to offer shelter or protection. They even stretched themselves at full length on the ground, and lay as motionless as if dead.

In the meantime, the mother, with her eyes directed upward, kept up her cries and screaming as before. On looking up in the direction in which she seemed to gaze, I discovered a black spot just under the clouds, but was unable at first to decide what it was. However, it soon appeared to be a bird of prey, though at first at too great a distance to be distinguished. I have seen one of those mother turkeys continue in this agitated state for four hours at a stretch, and her whole brood pinned down to the ground, as it were, the whole of that time, while their foe has taken its circuits, has mounted and hovered directly over their heads. When he, at last, disappeared, the mother changed her note and sent forth a different sort of cry, which in an instant gave life to the whole trembling brood, and they all flocked round her with expressions of pleasure, as if conscious of their happy escape from danger."



XC

A REFUGEE SQUIRREL

A squirrel, whose bad luck it was to be captured, was lodged for safe keeping in a trap used for taking rats alive. Here he remained for several weeks, till at length, panting for liberty, he managed to make his escape through a window, and went back once more to his native fields.

The family in which he had been pet, were not a little vexed at the loss of their little favorite, and the servant was ordered in the evening of the same day to remove the trap, that they might no longer be reminded of their loss. When he went to do this, he found to his surprise that the squirrel, all wet and ruffled by the storm, had come back, and again taken up his lodgings in the corner of the trap.



XCI

ESCAPE OF JENGIS KAHN

The Mogul and Kalmuc Tartars give to the white owl credit for preserving Jengis Khan, the founder of their empire; and they pay it, on that account, almost divine honors. The prince, with a small army, happened to be surprised and put to flight by his enemies. Forced to seek concealment in a coppice, a white owl settled on the bush under which he was hidden. At the sight of this bird, the prince's pursuers never thought of searching the spot, thinking it impossible that such a bird would perch where any human being was concealed. Jengis escaped, and ever after his countrymen held the white owl sacred, and every one wore a plume of its feathers on his head. The Kalmucs continue the custom to this day, at all their great festivals; and some tribes have an idol in the form of an owl, to which they fasten the real legs of this bird.



XCII

A SHREWD GUESSER

A French officer, more remarkable for his birth and spirit than his wealth, had served the Venetian republic for some years with great valor and fidelity, but had not met with that preferment which he deserved. One day he waited on a nobleman whom he had often solicited in vain, but on whose friendship he had still some reliance. The reception he met with was cool and mortifying; the nobleman turned his back upon the veteran, and left him to find his way to the street through a suite of apartments magnificently furnished.

He passed them lost in thought, till, casting his eyes on a most beautiful sideboard, where a valuable collection of Venetian glass, polished and formed in the highest degree of perfection, stood on a damask cloth as a preparation for a splendid entertainment, he took hold of a corner of the linen, and turning to a faithful mastiff which always went with him, said to the animal, "Here, my poor old friend, you see how these haughty tyrants indulge themselves, and yet how we are treated!" The poor dog looked his master in the face, and gave tokens that he understood him. The master walked on, but the mastiff slackened his pace, and laying hold of the damask cloth with his teeth, gave one hearty pull, and thus brought all the glass on the sideboard in shivers to the ground, thus robbing the unkind nobleman of his favorite exhibition of splendor.



XCIII

ARE BEASTS MERE MACHINES?

A gentleman one day talking with a friend said that beasts were mere machines, and had no sort of reason to direct them; and that when they cried or made a noise, it was only one of the wheels of the clock or machine that made it.

The friend, who was of a different opinion replied, "I have now in my kitchen two dogs who take turns regularly every other morning to get into the wheel. One of them, not liking his employment, hid himself on the day that he should work, so that his companion was forced to mount the wheel in his stead, but crying and wagging his tail, he made sign for those about him to follow him. He at once led them to a garret, where he found the idle dog, drove him out and killed him at once."



XCIV

AN ASS CAST AWAY

An ass, belonging to a captain in the Royal Navy, then at Malta, was shipped on board a frigate, bound from Gibraltar for that island. The vessel struck on some sands off the Point de Gat, and the ass was thrown overboard, in the hope that it might possibly be able to swim to the land. Of this, however, there did not seem to be much chance, for the sea was running so high, that a boat which left the ship was lost. A few days later, when the gates of Gibraltar were opened one morning the guard were surprised by Valiant, as the ass was called, presenting himself there for admittance. On entering, he went at once to the stable of a merchant, where he had formerly lived. The poor animal had not only swum safely to shore, but without guide, compass, or travelling map, had found his way from Point de Gat to Gibraltar, a distance of more than two hundred miles, through a mountainous and intricate country, crossed by streams, which he had never travelled over before, and in so short a period, that he could not have made one false turn.



XCV

QUARRELSOME APES

The town of Bindrabund in India is in high regard with the pious Hindoos, who resort to it from the most remote parts of the empire. The town is surrounded by groves of trees, which are the homes of numberless apes, whose fondness for mischief is increased by the religious respect paid to them in honor of a divinity of the Hindoo mythology, who is represented as having the body of an ape. Because of this superstition, such numbers of these animals are supported by the free-will offerings of pilgrims, that no one dares to resist or ill-treat them. Hence, access to the town is often difficult; for should one of the apes take a dislike to any unlucky traveller, he is sure to be assailed by the whole community, who follow him with all the missile weapons they can collect, such as pieces of bamboo, stones, and dirt, making at the same time a most hideous howling. Of the danger attending a meeting with enemies of this description, the following is a melancholy instance. Two young cavalry officers, belonging to the Bengal army, having occasion to pass through the town, were attacked by a body of apes, at whom one of the gentlemen had foolishly fired. The alarm instantly drew the whole body, with the fakeers, out of the place, with so much fury that the officers, though they were mounted upon elephants, were compelled to seek safety in flight; and in trying to pass the Jumna, they both of them were drowned.



XCVI

A FALSE ALARM

Some years ago, a soldier, who was doing duty at the castle of Cape Town, kept a tame baboon for his amusement. One evening it broke its chains unknown to him, and in the night it climbed up into the belfry, and began to play with and ring the bell.

Instantly the whole place was in an uproar; some great danger was feared. Many thought that the castle was on fire; others, that an enemy had entered the bay, and the soldiers actually began to turn out, when it was discovered that the mischievous baboon had caused the disturbance.

On the following morning a court-martial was held, when Cape justice decided that whereas the baboon had unnecessarily put the castle into alarm, its master should receive fifty lashes. The soldier, however, found someway to evade the punishment.



XCVII

A CHILD SAVED

A shepherd, in one of his trips to look after his flock, took with him one of his children, a boy three years old. After crossing his pastures for some time, followed by his dog, he found it necessary to ascend a hill at some distance, to obtain a better view of his range. As the climb was too much for the little child, he left him on a small plain at the bottom, telling him not to stir from it until his return. Scarcely had he gained the top of the hill, however, when the sky was darkened by a thick mist. The anxious father at once hurried back to find his child; but owing to the unusual darkness, he missed his way. After a fruitless search of many hours, he discovered that he had reached the bottom of the valley, and was near his own cottage. To renew the search that night was both vain and most dangerous; he was, therefore, compelled to go home, although he had lost both his child and his dog, that had attended him faithfully for many years. Next morning, by break of day, the shepherd, with many of his neighbors, set out to look for the child; but after a day of searching, he returned to his home, disappointed. He found that the dog which he had lost the day before had been to the cottage, and after getting a piece of cake, had at once gone away again. For several days the shepherd kept up the search, and on his return each evening, he found that the dog had been home, had received his usual allowance of cake, and then had instantly disappeared. Struck with this strange behavior on the part of the dog, he remained at home one day; and when the dog, as usual, left with his piece of cake, he decided to follow him, and find out the cause of this queer procedure. The dog led the way to a cataract at some distance from the spot where the shepherd had left the child. Down a rugged and almost perpendicular descent the dog began, without hesitation, to make his way, and at last disappeared by entering into a cave, the mouth of which was almost level with the torrent. The shepherd with difficulty followed; but on entering the cave, what was his joy, when he saw his lost baby boy eating with much satisfaction the cake which the faithful dog had just brought to him, while the noble creature stood by, looking at his young charge most lovingly. The child had probably wandered to the brink of the precipice, and then had either fallen or scrambled down till he reached the cave. The dog had tracked him to the spot; and afterward kept him from starving by giving up to him his own daily portion of food. He never left the child by day or night, except when he went for the food; and then he was always seen running at full speed to and from the cottage.

THE END