Transcriber's Note: One instance of each orang-otang and ourang-outang, left as in original text. * * * * * A HUNDRED ANECDOTES OF ANIMALS WITH PICTURES BY PERCY J. BILLINGHURST * * * * * A HUNDRED ANECDOTES OF ANIMALS [Illustration] * * * * * A HUNDRED ANECDOTES OF ANIMALS WITH PICTURES BY PERCY J. BILLINGHURST JOHN LANE THE BODLEY HEAD LONDON AND NEW YORK 1901. * * * * * Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO. At the Ballantyne Press * * * * * CONTENTS. Page A _Are Beasts mere Machines?_ 76 _Ass Cast Away, An_ 196 _Assisting the Aged_ 144 B _Bear and Child, The_ 48 _Bear Cubs, The_ 184 _Broken Heart, The_ 62 C _Calculating Crow, A_ 56 _Canine Sheep-Stealer, A_ 38 _Canine Smugglers_ 36 _Carrier's Dog, A_ 170 _Cat and Crows, The_ 26 _Catcher Caught, The_ 188 _Charitable Canary, A_ 166 _Child Saved, A_ 200 _Choice Retaliation, A_ 82 _Comedy of Quadrupeds, A_ 64 _Concerts of Animals_ 90 _Conversing Parrot, A_ 20 _Crab Fishing_ 152 _Cunning as a Fox_ 66 D _Death of Antiochus Revenged, The_ 52 _Deceiving the Fowler_ 190 _Dinner Bell, The_ 30 _Division of Labour_ 150 _Dog and Goose, The_ 40 _Dog of Montargis, The_ 46 _Dolphin, The_ 50 _Domesticated Seal, A_ 122 _Drawing Water_ 60 E _Elephant Rope Dancing_ 70 _Escape of Jengis Khan_ 176 F _Faithful Companion, A_ 8 _False Alarm, A_ 10 _Filial Duty_ 28 _Foraging_ 132 _Fox Chasing_ 174 G _Generous Revenge, A_ 74 _Goat, The_ 86 _Going to Market_ 134 _Good Finder, A_ 106 _Grateful Lioness, A_ 104 _Grateful Return, A_ 142 H _Heroism of a Hen, The_ 24 _Honours Paid to Living and Departed Worth_ 198 _Horse and Greyhound, The_ 84 _Humane Society_ 172 I _Immovable Fidelity_ 138 _Infant Fascination_ 120 L _Lion and his Keeper, The_ 136 _Long Lost Found Again_ 78 M _Making Sure_ 16 _Maternal Affection_ 116 _Mice as Navigators_ 54 _Mimic_ 22 _Monkey versus Snake_ 160 _More Faithful than Favoured_ 68 _Mother Watching her Young, A_ 88 _Musical Mice_ 162 _Musical Seals_ 108 N _Newfoundland Dog, The_ 4 _Newsman Extraordinary, A_ 182 _Noble Perseverance_ 186 O _Odd Fraternity_ 34 _Of Two Evils Choosing the Least_ 156 _Old Habits_ 192 _Ostrich Riding_ 80 _Oyster Opening_ 146 P _Philosophic Cat, A_ 194 _Pig Pointer, The_ 118 _Porus Saved by his Elephant_ 58 _Power of Music, The_ 18 _Providential Safe Conduct, A_ 72 _Pugnacity_ 168 R _Rare Honesty_ 154 _Refugee Squirrel, A_ 178 _Remorse_ 2 _Retaliation_ 180 _Retribution_ 124 _Rights of Hospitality, The_ 102 S _Sabinus and his Dog_ 42 _Sagacious Bruin_ 12 _Sense of Ridicule, A_ 112 _Shepherd's Dog, The_ 130 _Shrewd Guesser, A_ 96 _Singular Foster-Mother, A_ 128 _Singular Interposition, A_ 32 _Sly Couple, A_ 110 _Snake Destroyers_ 158 _Soliciting Succour_ 164 _Sonnini and his Cat_ 148 _Strange Mouser, A_ 14 _Strange Rooks_ 126 _Studying_ 6 T _Tame Colony, A_ 98 _Tame Hares_ 140 _Tame Sea-gull, The_ 114 _Travellers_ 92 U _Usurper Punished, An_ 100 W _Watch Dog, The_ 94 _Wrens Learning to Sing_ 44 * * * * * A HUNDRED ANECDOTES OF ANIMALS * * * * * ANECDOTE I. Remorse. An elephant, from some motive of revenge, killed his _cornack_, orconductor. The man's wife, who beheld the dreadful scene, took her twochildren, and threw them at the feet of the enraged animal, saying, "Sinceyou have slain my husband, take my life also, as well as that of mychildren. " The elephant instantly stopped, relented, and as if stung withremorse, took up the eldest boy with his trunk, placed him on its neck, adopted him for his _cornack_, and would never afterwards allow any otherperson to mount it. [Illustration] ANECDOTE II. The Newfoundland Dog. One of the magistrates in Harbour Grace, in Newfoundland, had an old dogof the regular web-footed species peculiar to that island, who was in thehabit of carrying a lantern before his master at night, as steadily as themost attentive servant could do, stopping short when his master made astop, and proceeding when he saw him disposed to follow. If his master wasabsent from home, on the lantern being fixed to his mouth, and the commandgiven, "Go fetch thy master, " he would immediately set off and proceeddirectly to the town, which lay at the distance of more than a mile fromthe place of his master's residence: he would then stop at the door ofevery house which he knew his master was in the habit of frequenting, andlaying down his lantern, growl and strike the door, making all the noisein his power until it was opened; if his master was not there, he wouldproceed farther in the same manner, until he had found him. If he hadaccompanied him only once into a house, this was sufficient to induce himto take that house in his round. [Illustration] ANECDOTE III. Studying. A magpie, belonging to a barber at Rome, could imitate to a nicety almostevery word it heard. Some trumpets happened one day to be sounded beforethe shop, and for a day or two afterwards the magpie was quite mute, andseemed pensive and melancholy. All who knew it were greatly surprised atits silence; and it was supposed that the sound of the trumpets had sostunned it, as to deprive it at once of both voice and hearing. It soonappeared, however, that this was far from being the case; for the bird hadbeen all the time occupied in profound meditation, studying how to imitatethe sound of the trumpets; and when at last master of it, the magpie, tothe astonishment of all its friends, suddenly broke its long silence, by aperfect imitation of the flourish of trumpets it had heard; observing withthe greatest exactness all the repetitions, stops, and changes. Theacquisition of this lesson had, however, exhausted the whole of themagpie's stock of intellect; for it made it forget everything it hadlearned before. [Illustration] ANECDOTE IV. A Faithful Companion. A gardener, in removing some rubbish, discovered two ground toads of anuncommon size, weighing no less than seven pounds. On finding them, he wassurprised to see that one of them got upon the back of the other, and bothproceeded to move slowly on the ground towards a place of retreat; uponfurther examination he found that the one on the back of the other hadreceived a severe contusion from his spade, and was rendered unable to getaway, without the assistance of its companion! [Illustration] ANECDOTE V. A False Alarm. Some years ago, a soldier doing duty at the castle of Cape Town, kept atame baboon for his amusement. One evening it broke its chains unknown tohim. In the night, climbing up into the belfry, it began to play with, andring the bell. Immediately the whole place was in an uproar; some greatdanger was apprehended. Many thought that the castle was on fire; others, that an enemy had entered the bay, and the soldiers began actually to turnout, when it was discovered that the baboon had occasioned thedisturbance. On the following morning a court-martial was held, when Capejustice dictated, that whereas the baboon had unnecessarily put the castleinto alarm, the master should receive fifty lashes; the soldier, however, found means to evade the punishment. [Illustration] ANECDOTE VI. Sagacious Bruin. The captain of a Greenland whaler being anxious to procure a bear, withoutwounding the skin, made trial of the stratagem of laying the noose of arope in the snow, and placing a piece of meat within it. A bear rangingthe neighbouring ice was soon enticed to the spot by the smell of thedainty morsel. He perceived the bait, approached, and seized it in hismouth; but his foot at the same time, by a jerk of the rope, beingentangled in the noose, he pushed it off with his paw, and deliberatelyretired. After having eaten the piece he had carried away with him, hereturned. The noose, with another piece of meat, being replaced, he pushedthe rope aside, and again walked triumphantly off with his capture. Athird time the noose was laid; but excited to caution by the evidentobservations of the bear, the sailors buried the rope beneath the snow, and laid the bait in a deep hole dug in the centre. The bear once moreapproached, and the sailors were assured of their success. But bruin, moresagacious than they expected, after snuffing about the place for a fewmoments, scraped the snow away with his paw, threw the rope aside, andagain escaped unhurt with his prize. [Illustration] ANECDOTE VII. A Strange Mouser. A gentleman once had in his possession a hen, which answered the purposeof a cat in destroying mice. She was constantly seen watching close to acorn rick, and the moment a mouse appeared, she seized it in her beak, andcarried it to a meadow adjoining, where she would play with it like ayoung cat for some time, and then kill it. She has been known to catchfour or five mice a day in this manner. [Illustration] ANECDOTE VIII. Making Sure. During the war between Augustus Cęsar and Marc Antony, when all the worldstood wondering and uncertain which way Fortune would incline herself, apoor man at Rome, in order to be prepared for making, in either event, abold hit for his own advancement, had recourse to the following ingeniousexpedient. He applied himself to the training of two crows with suchdiligence, that he brought them the length of pronouncing with greatdistinctness, the one a salutation to Cęsar, and the other a salutation toAntony. When Augustus returned conqueror, the man went out to meet himwith the crow suited to the occasion perched on his fist, and every nowand then it kept exclaiming, "_Salve, Cęsar, Victor Imperator!_" "Hail, Cęsar, Conqueror and Emperor!" Augustus, greatly struck and delighted withso novel a circumstance, purchased the bird of the man for a sum whichimmediately raised him into opulence. [Illustration] ANECDOTE IX. The Power of Music. One Sunday evening, five choristers were walking on the banks of a river;after some time, being tired with walking, they sat down on the grass, andbegan to sing an anthem. The field on which they sat was terminated at oneextremity by a wood, out of which, as they were singing, they observed ahare to pass with great swiftness towards the place where they weresitting, and to stop at about twenty yards' distance from them. Sheappeared highly delighted with the harmony of the music, often turning upthe side of her head to listen with more facility. As soon as theharmonious sound was over, the hare returned slowly towards the wood; whenshe had nearly reached the end of the field, the choristers began the samepiece again; at which the hare stopped, turned round, and came swiftlyback to about the same distance as before, where she seemed to listen withrapture and delight, till they had finished the anthem, when she returnedagain by a slow pace up the field, and entered the wood. [Illustration] ANECDOTE X. A Conversing Parrot. During the government of Prince Maurice in Brazil, he had heard of an oldparrot that was much celebrated for answering like a rational creaturemany of the common questions put to it. It was at a great distance; but somuch had been said about it that the prince's curiosity was roused, and hedirected it to be sent for. When it was introduced into the room where theprince was sitting, in company with several Dutchmen, it immediatelyexclaimed in the Brazilian language, "What a company of white men arehere!" They asked it, "Who is that man?" (pointing to the prince). Theparrot answered, "Some general or other. " When the attendants carried itup to him, he asked it, through the medium of an interpreter (for he wasignorant of its language), "Whence do you come?" The parrot answered, "From Marignan. " The prince asked, "To whom do you belong?" It answered, "To a Portuguese. " He asked again, "What do you there?" It answered, "Ilook after chickens. " The prince laughing, exclaimed, "You look afterchickens!" The parrot in answer said, "Yes, I; and I know well enough howto do it;" clucking at the same time in imitation of the noise made by thehen to call together her young. The prince afterwards observed that although the parrot spoke in alanguage he did not understand, yet he could not be deceived, for he hadin the room both a Dutchman who spoke Brazilian, and a Brazilian who spokeDutch; that he asked them separately and privately, and both agreedexactly in their account of the parrot's discourse. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XI. Mimic. A priest once brought up an ourang-outang, which became so fond of himthat, wherever he went, it was always desirous of accompanying him. Whenever therefore he had to perform the service of his church, he wasunder the necessity of shutting it up in his room. Once, however, theanimal escaped, and followed the father to the church; where silentlymounting the sounding-board above the pulpit, he lay perfectly still tillthe sermon commenced. He then crept to the edge, and overlooking thepreacher, imitated all his gestures in so grotesque a manner, that thewhole congregation were unavoidably urged to laugh. The father, surprisedand confounded at this ill-timed levity, severely rebuked his audience fortheir inattention. The reproof failed in its effect; the congregationstill laughed, and the preacher in the warmth of his zeal redoubled hisvociferation and his action; these the ape imitated so exactly that thecongregation could no longer restrain themselves, but burst out into aloud and continued laughter. A friend of the preacher at length stepped upto him, and pointed out the cause of this improper conduct; and such wasthe arch demeanour of the animal that it was with the utmost difficulty hecould himself command his gravity, while he ordered the servants of thechurch to take him away. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XII. The Heroism of a Hen. A contest of rather an unusual nature took place in the house of arespectable innkeeper in Ireland. The parties concerned were, a hen of thegame species, and a rat of the middle size. The hen, in an accidentalperambulation round a spacious room, accompanied by an only chicken, thesole surviving offspring of a numerous brood, was roused to madness by anunprovoked attack made by a voracious cowardly rat on her unsuspectingchirping companion. The shrieks of the beloved captive, while beingdragged away by the enemy, excited every maternal feeling in theaffectionate bosom of the feathered dame; she flew at the corner whencethe alarm arose, seized the lurking enemy by the neck, writhed him aboutthe room, put out one of his eyes in the engagement, and so fatigued heropponent by repeated attacks of spur and bill, that in the space of twelveminutes, during which time the conflict lasted, she put a final period tothe nocturnal invader's existence; nimbly turned round, in wild buttriumphant distraction, to her palpitating nestling, and hugged it in hervictorious bosom. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XIII. The Cat and Crows. A pair of crows once made their nest in a tree, of which there wereseveral planted round the garden of a gentleman, who, in his morningwalks, was often amused by witnessing furious combats between the crowsand a cat. One morning the battle raged more fiercely than usual, till atlast the cat gave way, and took shelter under a hedge, as if to wait amore favourable opportunity of retreating into the house. The crowscontinued for a short time to make a threatening noise; but perceivingthat on the ground they could do nothing more than threaten, one of themlifted a stone from the middle of the garden, and perched with it on atree planted in the hedge, where she sat, watching the motions of theenemy of her young. As the cat crept along under the hedge, the crowaccompanied her, flying from branch to branch, and from tree to tree; andwhen at last puss ventured to quit her hiding-place, the crow, leaving thetrees and hovering over her in the air, let the stone drop from on high onher back. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XIV. Filial Duty. A surgeon's mate on board a ship relates that while lying one eveningawake he saw a rat come into his berth, and after well surveying theplace, retreat with the greatest caution and silence. Soon after itreturned, leading by the ear another rat, which it left at a smalldistance from the hole which they entered. A third rat joined this kindconductor; they then foraged about, and picked up all the small scraps ofbiscuit; these they carried to the second rat, which seemed blind, andremained in the spot where they had left it, nibbling such fare as itsdutiful providers, whom the narrator supposes were its offspring, broughtto it from the more remote parts of the floor. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XV. The Dinner Bell. It is customary in large boarding-houses to announce the dinner-hour bythe sound of a bell. A cat belonging to one of these houses alwayshastened to the hall on hearing the bell, to get its accustomed meal; butit happened one day that she was shut up in a chamber, and it was in vainfor her that the bell had sounded. Some hours after, having been releasedfrom her confinement, she hastened to the hall, but found nothing left forher. The cat thus disappointed got to the bell, and sounding it, endeavoured to summon the family to a second dinner, in which she doubtednot to participate. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XVI. A Singular Interposition. A lady had a tame bird which she was in the habit of letting out of itscage every day. One morning as it was picking crumbs of bread off thecarpet, her cat, who always before showed great kindness for the bird, seized it on a sudden, and jumped with it in her mouth upon a table. Thelady was much alarmed for the fate of her favourite, but on turning aboutinstantly discerned the cause. The door had been left open, and a strangecat had just come into the room! After turning it out, her own cat camedown from her place of safety, and dropped the bird without having done itthe smallest injury. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XVII. Odd Fraternity. A gentleman travelling through Mecklenburg was witness to the followingcurious circumstance in an inn at which he was staying. After dinner, thelandlord placed on the floor a large dish of soup, and gave a loudwhistle. Immediately there came into the room a mastiff, a fine Angoracat, an old raven, and a remarkably large rat with a bell about its neck. These four animals went to the dish, and without disturbing each other, fed together; after which the dog, cat, and rat lay before the fire, whilethe raven hopped about the room. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XVIII. Canine Smugglers. In the Netherlands, they use dogs of a very large and strong breed, forthe purpose of draught. They are harnessed like horses, and chieflyemployed in drawing little carts with fish, vegetables, &c. , to market. Previous to the year 1795, such dogs were also employed in smuggling;which was the more easy, as they are exceedingly docile. The dogs weretrained to go backwards and forwards between two places on the frontiers, without any person to attend them. Being loaded with little parcels ofgoods, lace, &c. , like mules, they set out at midnight, and only went whenit was perfectly dark. An excellent quick-scented dog always went somepaces before the others, stretched out his nose towards all quarters, andwhen he scented custom-house officers, turned back, which was the signalfor immediate flight. Concealed behind bushes, or in ditches, the dogswaited till all was safe, then proceeded on their journey, and reached atlast 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 firstshowed himself; on a certain whistle, which was a signal that all wasright, they all hastened up. They were then unloaded, taken to aconvenient stable, where there was a good layer of hay, and well fed. There they rested until midnight, and then returned in the same mannerback, over the frontiers. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XIX. A Canine Sheep-Stealer. A shepherd, who was hanged for sheep-stealing, used to commit hisdepredations by means of his dog. When he intended to steal any sheep, hedetached the dog to perform the business. With this view, under pretenceof looking at the sheep, with an intention to purchase them, he wentthrough the flock with the dog at his foot, to whom he secretly gave asignal, so as to let him know the particular sheep he wanted, perhaps tothe number of ten or twelve, out of a flock of some hundreds; he then wentaway, and from a distance of several miles, sent back the dog by himselfin the night time, who picked out the individual sheep that had beenpointed out to him, separated them from the flock, and drove them beforehim, frequently a distance of ten or twelve miles, till he came up withhis master, to whom he delivered up his charge. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XX. The Dog and Goose. A goose was once observed to attach itself in the strongest and mostaffectionate manner to the house dog, but never presumed to go into thekennel except in rainy weather; whenever the dog barked, the goose wouldcackle, and run at the person she supposed the dog barked at, and try tobite him by the heels. Sometimes she would attempt to feed with the dog;but this the dog, who treated his faithful companion with indifference, would not suffer. This bird would not go to roost with the others atnight, unless driven by main force; and when in the morning they wereturned into the field, she would never stir from the yard gate, but sitthere the whole day in sight of the dog. At length orders were given thatshe should no longer be molested; being thus left to herself, she ranabout the yard with him all night, and what is particularly remarkable, whenever the dog went out of the yard and ran into the village, the goosealways accompanied him, contriving to keep up with him by the assistanceof her wings, and in this way of running and flying, followed him all overthe parish. This extraordinary affection of the goose towards the dog, which continued till his death, two years after it was first observed, issupposed to have originated in his having saved her from a fox, in thevery moment of distress. While the dog was ill, the goose never quitted him, day or night, not evento feed; and it was apprehended that she would have been starved to deathhad not a pan of corn been set every day close to the kennel. At this timethe goose generally sat in the kennel, and would not suffer any one toapproach it, except the person who brought the dog's, or her own food. Theend of this faithful bird was melancholy; for when the dog died, she wouldstill keep possession of the kennel, and a new house dog being introduced, which in size and colour resembled that lately lost, the poor goose wasunhappily deceived, and going into the kennel as usual, the new inhabitantseized her by the throat and killed her. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XXI. Sabinus and his Dog. After the execution of Sabinus, the Roman general, who suffered death forhis attachment to the family of Germanicus, his body was exposed to thepublic upon the precipice of the Gemonię, as a warning to all who shoulddare to befriend the house of Germanicus: no friend had courage toapproach the body; one only remained true--his faithful dog. For threedays the animal continued to watch the body; his pathetic howlingsawakened the sympathy of every heart. Food was brought him, which he waskindly encouraged to eat; but on taking the bread, instead of obeying theimpulse of hunger, he fondly laid it on his master's mouth, and renewedhis lamentations; days thus passed, nor did he for a moment quit the body. The body was at length thrown into the Tiber, and the generous creature, still unwilling that it should perish, leaped into the water after it, andclasping the corpse between its paws, vainly endeavoured to preserve itfrom sinking. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XXII. Wrens Learning to Sing. A wren built her nest in a box, so situated that a family had anopportunity of observing the mother bird instructing the young ones in theart of singing peculiar to the species. She fixed herself on one side ofthe opening in the box, directly before her young, and began by singingover her whole song very distinctly. One of the young then attempted toimitate her. After proceeding through a few notes, its voice broke, and itlost the tune. The mother immediately recommenced where the young one hadfailed, and went very distinctly through the remainder. The young birdmade a second attempt, commencing where it had ceased before, andcontinuing the song as long as it was able; and when the note was againlost, the mother began anew where it stopped, and completed it. Then theyoung one resumed the tune and finished it. This done, the mother sangover the whole series of notes a second time with great precision; and asecond of the young attempted to follow her. The wren pursued the samecourse with this as with the first; and so with the third and fourth. Itsometimes happened that the young one would lose the tune three, four, ormore times in the same attempt; in which case the mother uniformly beganwhere they ceased, and sung the remaining notes; and when each hadcompleted the trial, she repeated the whole strain. Sometimes two of theyoung commenced together. The mother observed the same conduct towardsthem as when one sang alone. This was repeated day after day, and severaltimes in a day. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XXIII. The Dog of Montargis. A Frenchman of family and fortune, travelling alone through a forest, wasmurdered and buried under a tree. His dog, an English bloodhound, wouldnot quit his master's grave, till at length, compelled by hunger, heproceeded to the house of a friend of his master's, and by his melancholyhowling seemed desirous of expressing the loss they had both sustained. Herepeated his cries, ran to the door, looked back to see if any onefollowed him, returned to his master's friend, pulled him by the sleeve, and with dumb eloquence entreated him to go with him. Struck by these actions, the company decided to follow the dog, who ledthem to a tree where he began scratching the earth and howling. Ondigging, the body of the unhappy man was found. Some time after, the dog accidentally met the assassin; when instantlyseizing him by the throat, he was with great difficulty compelled to quithis prey. As the dog continued to pursue and attack his master's murderer, although docile to all others, his behaviour began to attract notice andcomment. At length the affair reached the king's ear, who sent for the dog, whoappeared extremely gentle till he saw the murderer, when he ran fiercelytowards him, growling at and attacking him as usual. The king, struck with such a collection of circumstantial evidence, determined to refer the decision to the chance of battle; in other words, he gave orders for a combat between the assassin and the dog. The listswere appointed, and the man was allowed for his weapon a great cudgel. An empty cask was given to the dog as a place of retreat, to enable him torecover breath. The dog finding himself at liberty ran around hisadversary, avoiding his blows, and menacing him on every side, till hisstrength was exhausted; then springing forward, he gripped him by thethroat, threw him on the ground, and obliged him to confess before theking and the whole court. The assassin was afterwards convicted andbeheaded. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XXIV. The Bear and Child. Leopold, Duke of Lorraine, had a bear called Marco, of the sagacity andsensibility of which we have the following remarkable instance. During asevere winter, a boy, ready to perish with cold, thought proper to enterMarco's hut, without reflecting on the danger which he ran in exposinghimself to the mercy of the animal which occupied it. Marco, however, instead of doing any injury to the child, took him between his paws, andwarmed him by pressing him to his breast until the next morning, when hesuffered him to depart. The boy returned in the evening to the hut, andwas received with the same affection. For several days he had no otherretreat, and it added not a little to his joy, to perceive that the bearregularly reserved part of his food for him. A number of days passed inthis manner without the servants knowing anything of the circumstance. Atlength, when one of them came one day to bring the bear his supper, ratherlater than ordinary, he was astonished to see the animal roll his eyes ina furious manner, and seeming as if he wished him to make as little noiseas possible, for fear of awaking the child, whom he clasped to his breast. The animal, though ravenous, did not appear the least moved with the foodwhich was placed before him. The report of this extraordinary circumstancewas soon spread at court, and reached the ears of Leopold; who, with partof his courtiers, was desirous of being satisfied of the truth of Marco'sgenerosity. Several of them passed the night near his hut, and beheld withastonishment that the bear never stirred as long as his guest showed aninclination to sleep. At dawn the child awoke, was very much ashamed tofind himself discovered, and, fearing that he would be punished for hisrashness, begged pardon. The bear, however, caressed him, and endeavouredto prevail on him to eat what had been brought to him the evening before, which he did at the request of the spectators, who conducted him to theprince. Having learned the whole story, Leopold ordered care to be takenof the little boy, who would doubtless have soon made his fortune, had henot died a short time after. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XXV. The Dolphin. In the reign of Augustus Cęsar there was a dolphin in the Lucrine lake, which formed a most romantic attachment to a poor man's son. The boy hadto go every day from Baię to Puteoli to school, and such were the friendlyterms on which he had got with the dolphin, that he had only to wait bythe banks of the lake and cry, _Simo_, _Simo_, the name he had given tothe animal, when, lo! Simo came scudding to the shore, let fall the sharpprickles of his skin, and gently offered his back for the boy to mountupon. The boy, nothing afraid, used to mount instantly, when the dolphin, without either rein or spur, would speed across the sea to Puteoli, andafter landing the young scholar, wait about the vicinity till he wasreturning home, when it would again perform the same sort of civilservice. The boy was not ungrateful for such extraordinary favour, andused every day to bring a good store of victuals for Simo, which theanimal would take from his hand in the most tame and kindly mannerimaginable. For several years this friendly intercourse was kept up; itwas, in fact, only terminated by the death of the boy; when, as the storygoes, the dolphin was so affected at seeing him return no more, that itthrew itself on the shore, and died, _as was thought_, of very grief andsorrow! [Illustration: 'BUT PAST BELIEF, A DOLPHIN'S ARCHED BACK PRESERVED ARIONFROM HIS DESTINED WRACK; SECURE HE SITS, AND WITH HARMONIOUS STRAINSREQUITES THE BEARER FOR HIS FRIENDLY PAINS. '] ANECDOTE XXVI. The Death of Antiochus Revenged. When Antiochus was slain in battle by Centaretrius the Galatian, thevictor exultingly leaped on the back of the fallen king's horse; but hehad no sooner done so, than the animal, as if sensible that it wasbestrode by the slayer of his master, instantly exhibited signs of thegreatest fury, and bounding forwards to the top of a lofty rock, with aspeed which defied every attempt of Centaretrius to disengage himself, leaped with him over the precipice, at the foot of which both were founddashed to pieces. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XXVII. Mice as Navigators. Although there are few who would dispute the cleverness and sagacity ofthe larger animals, it is doubtful if there are many who credit the mousewith even average intelligence. The following instance may go far to raiseour humble friend in the popular estimation; more especially as it hasbeen vouched for by eye-witnesses. In countries where berries are butthinly dispersed, these little animals are obliged to cross rivers to maketheir distant forages. In returning with their booty to their magazines, they are obliged to recross the stream; in doing which they show aningenuity little short of marvellous. The party, which consists of fromsix to ten, select a water-lily leaf, or some other floating substance, onwhich they place the berries on a heap in the middle; then, by theirunited force, bring it to the water's edge, and after launching it, embarkand place themselves round the heap, with their heads joined over it, andtheir backs to the water. In this manner they drift down the stream, untilthey reach the opposite shore, when they unload their cargo, which theystore away for the proverbial rainy day. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XXVIII. A Calculating Crow. A carrion crow, perceiving a brood of fourteen chickens under the care ofthe parent-hen, on a lawn, picked up one; but on a young lady opening thewindow and giving an alarm, the robber dropped his prey. In the course ofthe day, however, the plunderer returned, accompanied by thirteen othercrows, when every one seized his bird, and carried off the whole brood atonce. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XXIX. 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 himdead, pushed forward, in order to despoil him of his rich clothing andaccoutrements; but the faithful elephant, standing over the body of itsmaster, boldly repelled every one who dared to approach, and while theenemy stood at bay, took the bleeding Porus up with his trunk, and placedhim again on his back. The troops of Porus came by this time to hisrelief, and the king was saved; but the elephant died of the wounds whichit had received in the heroic defence of its master. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XXX. Drawing Water. Some years ago, an ass was employed at Carisbrook Castle, in the Isle ofWight, in drawing water by a large wheel from a very deep well, supposedto have been sunk by the Romans. When the keeper wanted water, he wouldsay to the ass, "Tom, my boy, I want water; get into the wheel, my goodlad;" which Thomas immediately performed with an alacrity and sagacitythat would have done credit to a nobler animal; and no doubt he knew theprecise number of times necessary for the wheel to revolve upon its axis, to complete his labour, because every time he brought the bucket to thesurface of the well, he constantly stopped and turned round his honesthead to observe the moment when his master laid hold of the bucket to drawit towards him, because he had then a nice evolution to make, either torecede or to advance a little. It was pleasing to observe with whatsteadiness and regularity the poor animal performed his labour. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XXXI. The Broken Heart. During the French Revolution M. Des R----, an ancient magistrate and mostestimable man, was condemned to death on the charge of conspiracy andthrown into prison. M. Des R---- had a water spaniel, which had beenbrought up by him, and had never quitted him. Refused admission to theprison, he returned to his master's house, and found it shut; he tookrefuge with a neighbour. Every day at the same hour the dog left thehouse, and went to the door of the prison. He was refused admittance, buthe constantly passed an hour before it, and then returned. His fidelity atlength won over the porter, and he was one day allowed to enter. The dogsaw his master and clung to him. The gaoler with difficulty forced himaway. He came back the next morning, and every day; once each day he wasadmitted. He licked the hand of his friend, looked him in the face, againlicked his hand, and went away of himself. After the execution, at which the dog was present, he walked by the sideof the corpse to its burial-place, and after the ceremony laid himselfupon the grave. There he passed the first night, the next day, and thesecond night. The neighbour in the meantime, unhappy at not seeing him, goes in search of his friend, finds him by his master's grave, caresseshim, and makes him eat. An hour afterwards the dog escaped, and regainedhis favourite place. Three months passed away, each morning of which hecame to seek his food, and then returned to the grave of his master; buteach day he was more sad, more meagre, more languishing. He was chainedup, but broke his fetters; escaped; returned to the grave, and neverquitted it more. It was in vain that they tried to bring him back. Theycarried him food, but he ate no longer. For hours he was seen employinghis weakened limbs in digging up the earth that separated him from hismaster. Passion gave him strength, and he gradually approached the body;at last his faithful heart gave way, and he breathed out his last gasp, asif he knew that he had found his master. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XXXII. A Comedy of Quadrupeds. In a play exhibited at Rome, in the reign of Tiberius, there were twelveelephant performers, six males and six females, clothed in fancy costume. After they had, at the command of their keeper, danced and performed athousand curious antics, a most sumptuous feast was served up for theirrefreshment. The table was covered with all sorts of dainties, and goldengoblets filled with the most precious wines; and beds covered with purplecarpets were placed around for the animals to lie upon, after the mannerof the Romans when feasting. On these carpets the elephants laidthemselves down, and at a given signal they reached out their trunks tothe table, and fell to eating and drinking with as much propriety as ifthey had been so many honest citizens. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XXXIII. Cunning as a Fox. An American gentleman was in pursuit of foxes, accompanied by twobloodhounds; the dogs were soon in scent, and pursued a fox nearly twohours, when suddenly they appeared at fault. The gentleman came up withthem near a large log lying upon the ground, and felt much surprised tofind them taking a circuit of a few rods without an object, every trace ofthe game seeming to have been lost, while they kept still yelping. Onlooking about him, he discovered sly Reynard stretched upon the log, apparently lifeless. The master made several efforts to direct theattention of his dogs towards the fox but failed; at length he approachedso near the artful object of his pursuit as to see him breathe. Even thenno alarm was exhibited; and the gentleman seizing a club, aimed a blow athim, which Reynard evaded by a leap from his singular lurking-place, having thus for a time effectually eluded his rapacious pursuers. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XXXIV. More Faithful than Favoured. A gentleman once possessed a mastiff which guarded the house and yard, buthad never met with the least particular attention from his master. Onenight, as his master was retiring to his chamber, attended by his_faithful_ valet, an Italian, the mastiff silently followed him upstairs, which he had never been known to do before, and, to his master'sastonishment, presented himself in his bedroom. He was instantly turnedout; but the poor animal began scratching violently at the door, andhowling loudly for admission. The servant was sent to drive him away;still he returned again, and was more importunate than before to be letin. The gentleman, weary of opposition, bade the servant open the door, that they might see what he wanted to do. This done, the dog deliberatelywalked up, and crawling under the bed, laid himself down as if desirous totake up his night's lodging there. To save farther trouble, the indulgencewas allowed. About midnight the chamber door opened, and a person washeard stepping across the room. The gentleman started from his sleep; thedog sprung from his covert, and seizing the unwelcome disturber, fixed himto the spot! All was dark; and the gentleman rang his bell in greattrepidation, in order to procure a light. The person who was pinned to thefloor by the courageous mastiff roared for assistance. It was found to bethe valet, who little expected such a reception. He endeavoured toapologise for his intrusion, and to make the reasons which induced him totake this step appear plausible; but the importunity of the dog, the time, the place, the manner of the valet, all raised suspicions in his master'smind, and he determined to refer the investigation of the business to amagistrate. The perfidious Italian at length confessed that it was hisintention to murder his master, and then rob the house. This diabolicaldesign was frustrated only by the instinctive attachment of the dog to hismaster, which seemed to have been directed on this occasion by theinterference of Providence. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XXXV. Elephant Rope Dancing. The ease with which the elephant is taught to perform the most agile anddifficult feats, forms a remarkable contrast to its huge unwieldiness ofsize. Aristotle tells us that in ancient times elephants were taught bytheir keepers to throw stones at a mark, to cast up arms in the air, andcatch them again on their fall; and to dance not merely on the earth, buton the rope. The first, according to Suetonius, who exhibited elephantrope dancers, was Galba at Rome. The manner of teaching them to dance onthe ground was simple enough (by the association of music and a hotfloor); but we are not informed how they were taught to skip the rope, orwhether it was the tight or the slack rope, or how high the rope might be. The silence of history on these points is fortunate for the figurantes ofthe present day; since, but for this, their fame might have been utterlyeclipsed. Elephants may, in the days of old Rome, have been taught todance on the rope, but when was an elephant ever known to skip on a ropeover the heads of an audience, or to caper amidst a blaze of fire fiftyfeet aloft in the air? What would Aristotle have thought of his dancingelephants if he had seen some of the elephants who perform to-day? [Illustration] ANECDOTE XXXVI. A Providential Safe Conduct. A traveller gives a singular anecdote of a lion, which he says was relatedto him by very credible persons. About the year 1614 or 1615, twoChristian slaves at Morocco made their escape, travelling by night, andhiding themselves in the tops of trees during the day, their Arab pursuersfrequently passing by them. One night, while pursuing their journey, theywere much astonished and alarmed to see a great lion close by them, whowalked when they walked, and stood still when they stood. Thinking this asafe conduct sent to them by Providence, they took courage, and travelledin the daytime in company with the lion. The horsemen who had been sent inpursuit came up, and would have seized upon them, but the lion interposed, and they were suffered to pass on. Every day these poor fugitives met withsome one or other of the human race who wanted to seize them, but the lionwas their protector until they reached the sea coast in safety, when heleft them. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XXXVII. A Generous Revenge. A young man, desirous of getting rid of his dog, took it along with him tothe river. He hired a boat, and rowing into the stream, threw the animalin. The poor creature attempted to climb up the side of the boat, but hismaster, whose intention was to drown him, constantly pushed him back withthe oar. In doing this, he fell himself into the water, and wouldcertainly have been drowned, had not the dog, as soon as he saw his masterstruggling in the stream, suffered the boat to float away, and held himabove water till assistance arrived, and his life was saved. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XXXVIII. Are Beasts mere Machines? A gentleman one day talking with a friend maintained that beasts were meremachines, and had no sort of reason to direct them; and that when theycried or made a noise, it was only one of the wheels of the clock ormachine that made it. The friend, who was of a different opinion, replied, "I have now in my kitchen two turnspits, who take their turns regularlyevery other day to get into the wheel; one of them, not liking hisemployment, hid himself on the day that he should work, so that hiscompanion was forced to mount the wheel in his stead, but crying andwagging his tail, he made a sign for those in attendance to follow him. Heimmediately conducted them to a garret, where he dislodged the idle dog, and killed him immediately. " [Illustration] ANECDOTE XXXIX. Long Lost Found Again. A female elephant belonging to a gentleman at Calcutta broke loose fromher keeper, and was lost in the woods. The excuses which the keeper madewere not admitted. It was supposed that he had sold the elephant; his wifeand family therefore were sold for slaves, and he was himself condemned towork upon the roads. About twelve years after, this man was ordered intothe country to assist in catching wild elephants. The keeper fancied hesaw his long-lost elephant in a group that was before them. He wasdetermined to go up to it; nor could the strongest representations of thedanger dissuade him from his purpose. When he approached the creature, sheknew him, and giving him three salutes, by waving her trunk in the air, knelt down and received him on her back. She afterwards assisted insecuring the other elephants, and likewise brought her three young ones. The keeper recovered his character; and, as a recompense for hissufferings and intrepidity, had an annuity settled on him for life. Thiselephant was afterwards in the possession of Governor Hastings. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XL. Ostrich Riding. A gentleman tells how, during the time of his residence at Podor, a Frenchfactory on the banks of the river Niger, there were two ostriches, thoughyoung, of gigantic size, which afforded him a very remarkable sight. "Theywere, " he says, "so tame, that two little blacks mounted both together onthe back of the largest. No sooner did he feel their weight, than he beganto run as fast as possible, and carried them several times round thevillage, as it was impossible to stop him otherwise than by obstructingthe passage. This sight pleased me so much, that I wished it to berepeated, and to try their strength, directed a full-grown negro to mountthe smallest, and two others the largest. This burthen did not seem at alldisproportionate to their strength. At first they went at a tolerablysharp trot, but when they became heated a little, they expanded theirwings as though to catch the wind, and moved with such fleetness, thatthey scarcely seemed to touch the ground. Most people have, at one time oranother, seen a partridge run; and consequently know that there is no manwhatever able to keep up with it; and it is easy to imagine, that if thisbird had a longer step, its speed would be considerably augmented. Theostrich moves like the partridge, with this advantage; and I am satisfiedthat those I am speaking of would have distanced the fleetest racehorsesthat were ever bred in England. It is true they would not hold out so longas a horse; but they would undoubtedly go over a given space in less time. I have frequently beheld this sight, which is capable of giving one anidea of the prodigious strength of an ostrich, and of showing what use itmight be of, had we but the method of breaking and managing it as we do ahorse. " [Illustration] ANECDOTE XLI. A Choice Retaliation. A tame elephant kept by a merchant was suffered to go at large. The animalused to walk about the streets in as quiet and familiar a manner as any ofthe inhabitants, and delighted much in visiting the shops, particularlythose which sold herbs and fruit, where he was well received, except by acouple of brutal cobblers, who, without any cause, took offence at thegenerous creature, and once or twice attempted to wound his proboscis withtheir awls. The noble animal, who knew it was beneath him to crush them, did not disdain to chastise them by other means. He filled his large trunkwith a considerable quantity of water, not of the cleanest quality, andadvancing to them as usual, covered them at once with a dirty flood. Thefools were laughed at, and the punishment applauded. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XLII. The Horse and Greyhound. Various have been the opinions upon the difference of speed between awell-bred greyhound and a racehorse if opposed to each other. Wishes hadbeen frequently indulged by the sporting world that some criterion couldbe adopted by which the superiority of speed could be fairly ascertained, when the following circumstance accidentally took place, and afforded someinformation upon what had been previously considered a matter of greatuncertainty. In the month of December 1800 a match was to have been runover Doncaster racecourse for one hundred guineas, but one of the horseshaving been withdrawn, a mare started alone, that by running the groundshe might ensure the wager; when having run about one mile in the four, she was accompanied by a greyhound, which joined her from the side of thecourse, and emulatively entering into the competition, continued to racewith the mare for the other three miles, keeping nearly head and head, andaffording an excellent treat to the field by the energetic exertions ofeach. At passing the distance post five to four was betted in favour ofthe greyhound, when parallel with the stand it was even betting, and anyperson might have taken his choice from five to ten; the mare, however, had the advantage by a head at the termination of the course. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XLIII. The Goat. A gentleman who had taken an active share in the rebellion of 1715, afterthe battle of Preston escaped into the West Highlands, where a lady, anear relative, afforded him an asylum. A faithful servant conducted him tothe mouth of a cave, and furnished him with an abundant store ofprovisions. The fugitive crept in at a low aperture, dragging his storesalong. When he reached a wider and loftier expanse he found some obstaclebefore him. He drew his dirk, but unwilling to strike, lest he might takethe life of a companion in seclusion, he stooped down, and discovered agoat with her kid stretched on the ground. He soon perceived that theanimal was in great pain, and feeling her body and limbs, ascertained thather leg was fractured. He bound it up with his garter, and offered her ashare of the bread beside him; but she stretched out her tongue, as if toapprise him that her mouth was parched with thirst. He gave her water, which she took readily, and then ate some bread. After midnight heventured out of the cave: all was still. He plucked an armful of grass andcut tender twigs, which the goat accepted with manifestations of joy andthankfulness. The prisoner derived much comfort in having a livingcreature in this dungeon, and he caressed and fed her tenderly. The manwho was entrusted to bring him supplies fell sick; and when anotherattempted to penetrate into the cavern the goat furiously opposed him, presenting her horns in all directions, till the fugitive, hearing adisturbance, came forward. This new attendant giving the watchword removedevery doubt of his good intentions, and the amazon of the recess obeyedher benefactor in permitting him to advance. The gentleman was convincedthat had a band of military attacked the cavern, his grateful patientwould have died in his defence. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XLIV. A Mother Watching her Young. The following singular instance of the far-sighted watchfulness of theturkey-hen over her young is narrated by a French priest. "I have heard, "he says, "a turkey-hen, when at the head of her brood, send forth the mosthideous scream, without being able to perceive the cause; her young ones, however, immediately when the warning was given skulked under the bushes, the grass, or whatever else seemed to offer shelter or protection. Theyeven stretched themselves at full length on the ground, and continuedmotionless as if dead. In the meantime the mother, with her eyes directedupwards, continued her cries and screaming as before. On looking up in thedirection in which she seemed to gaze I discovered a black spot just underthe clouds, but was unable at first to determine what it was; however, itsoon appeared to be a bird of prey, though at first at too great adistance to be distinguished. I have seen one of those animals continue inthis agitated state, and her whole brood pinned down, as it were, to theground for four hours together, whilst their formidable foe has taken itscircuits, has mounted and hovered directly over their heads; at last uponhis disappearing the parent changed her note and sent forth another cry, which in an instant gave life to the whole trembling tribe, and they allflocked round her with expressions of pleasure, as if conscious of theirhappy escape from danger. " [Illustration] ANECDOTE XLV. Concerts of Animals. An abbot, a man of wit, and skilled in the construction of new musicalinstruments, was ordered by Louis XI. , King of France, more in jest thanin earnest, to procure him a concert of swines' voices. The abbot saidthat the thing could doubtless be done, but that it would take a good dealof money. The king ordered that he should have whatever he required forthe purpose. The abbot then wrought a thing as singular as ever was seen;for out of a great number of hogs of several ages which he got together, and placed under a tent, or pavilion, covered with velvet, before which hehad a table of wood painted, with a certain number of keys, he made anorganical instrument, and as he played upon the said keys with littlespikes, which pricked the hogs, he made them cry in such order andconsonance, he highly delighted the king and all his company. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XLVI. Travellers. An innkeeper once sent, as a present by the carrier, to a friend a dog andcat tied up in a bag, who had been companions more than ten months. Ashort time after the dog and cat took their departure together andreturned to their old habitation, a distance of thirteen miles. Theyjogged along the road side by side, and on one occasion the dog gallantlydefended his fellow-traveller from the attack of another dog they met. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XLVII. The Watch Dog. A thief who had broken into the shop of Cellini, the Florentine artist, and was breaking open the caskets in order to come at some jewels, wasarrested in his progress by a dog, against whom he found it a difficultmatter to defend himself with a sword. The faithful animal ran to the roomwhere the journeymen slept, but as they did not seem to hear him barkinghe drew away the bedclothes, and pulling them alternately by the arms, forcibly awaked them; then barking very loud he showed the way to thethief, and went on before; but the men would not follow him, and at lastlocked their door. The dog having lost all hopes of the assistance ofthese men undertook the task alone, and ran downstairs; he could not findthe villain in the shop, but immediately rushing into the street came upwith him, and tearing off his cloak, would have treated him according tohis deserts if the fellow had not called to some tailors in theneighbourhood, and begged they would assist him against a mad dog; thetailors believing him came to his assistance, and compelled the pooranimal to retire. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XLVIII. A Shrewd Guesser. A French officer, more remarkable for his birth and spirit than hiswealth, had served the Venetian republic for some years with great valourand fidelity, but had not met with that preferment which he merited. Oneday he waited on a nobleman whom he had often solicited in vain, but onwhose friendship he had still some reliance. The reception he met with wascool and mortifying; the nobleman turned his back upon the necessitousveteran, and left him to find his way to the street through a suite ofapartments magnificently furnished. He passed them lost in thought, till, casting his eyes on a sumptuous sideboard, where a valuable collection ofVenetian glass, polished and formed in the highest degree of perfection, stood on a damask cloth as a preparation for a splendid entertainment, hetook hold of a corner of the linen, and turning to a faithful Englishmastiff which always accompanied him, said to the animal, in a kind ofabsence of mind, "Here, my poor old friend; you see how these haughtytyrants indulge themselves, and yet how we are treated!" The poor doglooked his master in the face, and gave tokens that he understood him. Themaster walked on, but the mastiff slackened his pace, and laying hold ofthe damask cloth with his teeth, at one hearty pull brought all the glasson the sideboard in shivers to the ground, thus depriving the insolentnoble of his favourite exhibition of splendour. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XLIX. A Tame Colony. A well-known traveller, in a description of the Island of Tristand'Acunha, states that the animals found on this solitary spot were sotame, that it was necessary to clear a path through the birds which werereposing on the rocks, by kicking them aside. One species of seal did notmove at all when struck or pelted, and at length some of the companyamused themselves by mounting them, and riding them into the sea! [Illustration] ANECDOTE L. An Usurper Punished. Some years ago a sparrow had early in spring taken possession of an oldswallow's nest, and had laid some eggs in it, when the original builderand owner of the castle made her appearance, and claimed possession. Thesparrow, firmly seated, resisted the claim of the swallow; a smart battleensued, in which the swallow was joined by its mate, and during theconflict by several of their comrades. All the efforts of the assembledswallows to dislodge the usurper were, however, unsuccessful. Findingthemselves completely foiled in this object, it would seem that they hadheld a council of war to consult on ulterior measures; and the resolutionthey came to shows that with no ordinary degree of ingenuity some verylofty considerations of right and justice were combined in theirdeliberations. Since the sparrow could not be dispossessed of the nest, the next question with them appears to have been, how he could beotherwise punished for his unlawful occupation of a propertyunquestionably belonging to its original constructor. The council wereunanimous in thinking that nothing short of the death of the intrudercould atone for so heinous an offence; and having so decided, theyproceeded to put their sentence into execution in the following veryextraordinary manner. Quitting the scene of the contest for a time, theyreturned with accumulated numbers, each bearing a beak full of buildingmaterials; and without any further attempt to beat out the sparrow, theyinstantly set to work and built up the entrance into the nest, enclosingthe sparrow within the clay tenement, and leaving her to perish in thestronghold she had so bravely defended. [Illustration] ANECDOTE LI. The Rights of Hospitality. A native Moor who went to hunt the lion, having proceeded far into aforest, happened to meet with two lion's whelps that came to caress him;the hunter stopped with the little animals, and waiting for the coming ofthe sire or the dam, took out his breakfast, and gave them a part. Thelioness arrived unperceived by the huntsman, so that he had not time, orperhaps wanted the courage, to take to his gun. After having for some timelooked at the man that was thus feasting her young, the lioness went away, and soon after returned, bearing with her a sheep, which she came and laidat the huntsman's feet. The Moor, thus become one of the family, took this occasion of making agood meal, skinned the sheep, made a fire, and roasted a part, giving theentrails to the young. The lion in his turn came also; and, as ifrespecting the rights of hospitality, showed no tokens whatever offerocity. Their guest the next day, having finished his provisions, returned, and came to a resolution never more to kill any of thoseanimals, the noble generosity of which he had so fully proved. He strokedand caressed the whelps at taking leave of them, and the dam and sireaccompanied him till he was safely out of the forest. [Illustration] ANECDOTE LII. A Grateful Lioness. A Dreadful famine raged at Buenos Ayres, yet the governor, afraid ofgiving the Indians a habit of spilling Spanish blood, forbade theinhabitants on pain of death to go into the fields in search of relief, placing soldiers at all the outlets to the country, with orders to fireupon those who should attempt to transgress his orders. A woman, however, called Maldonata, was artful enough to elude the vigilance of the guards, and escape. After wandering about the country for a long time, she soughtfor shelter in a cavern, but she had scarcely entered it when she espied alioness, the sight of which terrified her. She was, however, soon quietedby the caresses of the animal, who, in return for a service rendered her, showed every sign of affection and friendliness. She never returned fromsearching after her own daily subsistence without laying a portion of itat the feet of Maldonata, until her whelps being strong enough to walkabroad, she took them out with her and never returned. Some time after Maldonata fell into the hands of the Spaniards, and beingbrought back to Buenos Ayres on the charge of having left the citycontrary to orders, the governor, a man of cruelty, condemned theunfortunate woman to a death which none but the most cruel tyrant couldhave thought of. He ordered some soldiers to take her into the country andleave her tied to a tree, either to perish by hunger, or to be torn topieces by wild beasts, as he expected. Two days after, he sent the samesoldiers to see what was become of her; when, to their great surprise, they found her alive and unhurt, though surrounded by lions and tigers, which a lioness at her feet kept at some distance. As soon as the lionessperceived the soldiers, she retired a little, and enabled them to unbindMaldonata, who related to them the history of this lioness, whom she knewto be the same she had formerly assisted in the cavern. On the soldierstaking Maldonata away, the lioness fawned upon her as unwilling to part. The soldiers reported what they had seen to the commander, who could notbut pardon a woman who had been so singularly protected, without appearingmore inhuman than lions themselves. [Illustration] ANECDOTE LIII. A Good Finder. One day a tradesman, walking with a friend, offered to wager that if hewere to hide a five-shilling piece in the dust, his dog would discover andbring it to him. The wager was accepted, and the piece of money marked andsecreted. When the two had proceeded some distance, the tradesman calledto his dog that he had lost something, and ordered him to seek it. The dogimmediately turned back, and his master and his companion pursued theirwalk. Meanwhile a traveller, driving in a small chaise, perceived thepiece of money which his horse had kicked from its hiding-place, alighted, took it up, and drove to his inn. The dog had just reached the spot insearch of the lost piece, when the stranger picked it up. He followed thechaise, went into the inn. Having scented out the coin in the pocket ofthe traveller, he leaped up at him incessantly. Supposing him to be somedog that had lost his master, the traveller regarded his movements asmarks of fondness; and as the animal was handsome, determined to keep him. He gave him a good supper, and on retiring took him with him to hischamber. No sooner had he pulled off his breeches than they were seized bythe dog; the owner, conceiving that he wanted to play with them, took themaway. The animal began to bark at the door, which the traveller opened, thinking the dog wanted to go out. The dog snatched up the breeches andaway he flew, the traveller posting after him with his nightcap on. Thedog ran full speed to his master's house, followed by the stranger, whoaccused the dog of robbing him. "Sir, " said the master, "my dog is a veryfaithful creature; and if he ran away with your breeches, it is becauseyou have in them money which does not belong to you. " The traveller becamestill more angry. "Compose yourself, sir, " rejoined the other, smiling;"without doubt there is in your purse a five-shilling piece which youpicked up in the road, and which I hid knowing my dog would bring it back. This is the cause of the robbery which he has committed upon you. " Thestranger acknowledged the truth of the tradesman's statement, delivered upthe coin, and departed. [Illustration] ANECDOTE LIV. Musical Seals. Seals have a very delicate sense of hearing, and are much delighted withmusic. A gentleman, in his account of a voyage to Spitzbergen, mentionsthat the captain of the ship's son, who was fond of playing on the violin, never failed to have a numerous auditory when in the seas frequented bythese animals; and he has seen them follow the ship for miles when anyperson was playing on deck. [Illustration] ANECDOTE LV. A Sly Couple. A gentleman in the county of Stirling kept a greyhound and a pointer, andbeing fond of coursing, the pointer was accustomed to find the hares, andthe greyhound to catch them. When the season was over, it was found thatthe dogs were in the habit of going out by themselves, and killing haresfor their own amusement. To prevent this, a large iron ring was fastenedto the pointer's neck by a leather collar, and hung down so as to preventthe dog from running, or jumping over dykes, &c. The animals, however, continued to stroll out to the fields together; and one day the gentleman, suspecting that all was not right, resolved to watch them, and to hissurprise, found that the moment when they thought that they wereunobserved, the greyhound took up the iron ring in his mouth, and carryingit, they set off to the hills, and began to search for hares as usual. They were followed, and it was observed, that whenever the pointer scentedthe hare, the ring was dropped, and the greyhound stood ready to pounceupon poor puss the moment the other drove her from her form, but that heuniformly returned to assist his companion after he had caught his prey. [Illustration] ANECDOTE LVI. A Sense of Ridicule. Persons who have the management of elephants have often observed that theyknow very well when any one is ridiculing them, and that they very oftenrevenge themselves when they have an opportunity. A painter wished to drawan elephant in the menagerie at Paris in an extraordinary attitude, whichwas with his trunk lifted up, and his mouth open. An attendant on thepainter, to make the elephant preserve the position, threw fruits in hismouth, and often pretended to throw them without doing so. The animalbecame irritated, and as if knowing that the painter was to blame ratherthan his servant, turned to him, and dashed a quantity of water from histrunk over the paper on which the painter was sketching his distortedportrait. [Illustration] ANECDOTE LVII. The Tame Sea-gull. Many years ago a gentleman had accidentally caught a sea-gull, whose wingshe cut, and put it into his garden. The bird remained in that situationfor several years, and being kindly treated, became so familiar as to comeat call to be fed at the kitchen door. It was known by the name of Willie. This bird became at last so tame that no pains were taken to preserve it, and its wings having grown to full length it flew away, joined the othergulls on the beach, and came back, from time to time, to pay a visit tothe house. When its companions left the country at the usual season, Willie accompanied them, much to the regret of the family. To their greatjoy, however, it returned next season; and with its usual familiarity cameto its old haunt, where it was welcomed and fed very liberally. In thisway it went and returned for _forty years_, without intermission, and keptup its acquaintance in the most cordial manner; for while in the countryit visited them almost daily, answered to its name like any domesticanimal, and ate almost out of the hand. One year, however, very near theperiod of its final disappearance, Willie did not pay his respects to thefamily for eight or ten days after the general flock of gulls were uponthe coast, and great was the lamentation for his loss, as it was feared hewas dead; but to the surprise and joy of the family, a servant one morningcame running into the breakfast-room in ecstasy, announcing that Williehad returned. The whole company rose from the table to welcome Willie. Food was soon supplied in abundance, and Willie with his usual franknessate of it heartily, and was as tame as any barn-yard fowl about the house. In a year or two afterwards this grateful bird discontinued his visits forever. [Illustration] ANECDOTE LVIII. Maternal Affection. Whilst a ship on a voyage of discovery to the North Pole was locked in theice, one morning the man at the masthead reported that three bears weremaking their way towards the ship. They had, no doubt, been invited by thescent of some blubber of a sea-horse which the crew was burning on the iceat the time of their approach. They proved to be a she bear and her twocubs; but the cubs were nearly as large as the dam. They ran eagerly tothe fire, and drew out part of the flesh that remained unconsumed, and ateit voraciously. The crew threw great lumps of the flesh which they hadstill left upon the ice, which the old bear fetched away singly, layingevery lump before the cubs as she brought it, and dividing it, gave each ashare, reserving but a small portion to herself. As she was fetching awaythe last piece, they shot both the cubs dead, and wounded the dam, but notmortally. It would have drawn tears of pity from any but the mostunfeeling to have marked the affectionate concern of this poor animal inthe dying moments of her expiring young. Though sorely wounded, shecrawled to the place where they lay, carrying a lump of flesh she had justfetched away, tore it in pieces, and laid it down before them; when shesaw that they refused to eat, she laid her paws first upon one, then uponthe other, and endeavoured to raise them up, making at the same time themost pitiable moans. Finding she could not stir them, she went off, andwhen she had got at some distance, looked back and moaned; and that notavailing to entice them away, she returned, and smelling round them, beganto lick their wounds. She went off a second time, and having crawled a fewpaces, looked again behind her, and for some time stood moaning. But hercubs not rising to follow her, she returned, and with signs ofinexpressible fondness went round them, pawing them successively. Findingat last that they were cold and lifeless, she raised her head towards theship, and growled a curse upon the destroyers, which they returned with avolley of musket-balls. She fell between her cubs, and died licking theirwounds. [Illustration] ANECDOTE LIX. The Pig Pointer. A sow, which was a thin, long-legged animal (one of the ugliest of the NewForest breed), when very young conceived so great a partiality to somepointer puppies that a gamekeeper upon a neighbouring estate was breaking, that it played, and often came to feed with them. From this circumstanceit occurred to the gamekeeper that, having broken many a dog as obstinateas a pig, he would try if he could not also succeed in breaking a pig. Thelittle animal would often go out with the puppies to some distance fromhome; and he enticed it farther by a sort of pudding made of barley-meal, which he carried in one of his pockets. The other he filled with stones, which he threw at the pig whenever she misbehaved, as he was not able tocatch and correct her in the same manner he did his dogs. He found theanimal tractable, and soon taught her what he wished by this mode ofreward and punishment. They were frequently seen out together, when thesow quartered her ground as regularly as any pointer, stood when she cameon game (having an excellent nose), and backed other dogs as well as heever saw a pointer. When she came on the cold scent of game, she slackenedher trot, and gradually dropped her ears and tail, till she was certain, and then fell down on her knees. So staunch was she, that she wouldfrequently remain five minutes and upwards on her point. As soon as thegame rose, she always returned to her master, grunting very loudly for herreward of pudding if it was not immediately given to her. [Illustration] ANECDOTE LX. Infant Fascination. A little girl about three years of age was observed for a number of daysto go to a considerable distance from the house with a piece of breadwhich she obtained from her mother. The circumstance attracted theattention of the mother, who desired her husband to follow the child, andobserve what she did with it. On coming to the child, he found her engagedin feeding several snakes, called yellow heads, a species of rattlesnake. He immediately took her away and proceeded to the house for his gun, andreturning, killed two of them at one shot, and another a few days after. The child called these reptiles in the manner of calling chickens; andwhen her father observed, if she continued the practice they would biteher, the child replied, "No, father, they won't bite me; they only eat thebread I give them. " [Illustration] ANECDOTE LXI. A Domesticated Seal. A gentleman once succeeded in taming a seal. It appeared to possess allthe sagacity of the dog, lived in its master's house, and ate from hishand. He usually took it with him in his fishing excursions, upon whichoccasions it afforded no small entertainment. When thrown into the water, it would follow for miles the track of the boat; and although thrust backby the oars, it never relinquished its purpose. Indeed, it struggled sohard to regain its seat, that one would imagine its fondness for itsmaster had entirely overcome the natural predilection for its nativeelement. [Illustration] ANECDOTE LXII. Retribution. In a park a fawn, drinking, was suddenly pounced upon by one of the swans, which pulled the animal into the water, and held it under until quitedrowned. The atrocious action was observed by the other deer in the park, and did not long go unrevenged; for shortly after this very swan, whichhad hitherto never been molested by the deer, was singled out when onland, and furiously attacked by a herd, which surrounded and presentlykilled the offender. [Illustration] ANECDOTE LXIII. Strange Rooks. In a large north of England town a pair of strange rooks, after anunsuccessful attempt to effect a lodgment in a rookery at a littledistance from the Exchange, were compelled to abandon the attempt, and totake refuge on the spire of a building; and although constantly molestedby other rooks, they built their nest on the top of the vane, and therereared a brood of young ones, undisturbed by the noise of the populacebelow them. The nest and its inmates were of course turned about by everychange of the wind. For ten years they continued to build their nest inthe same place, soon after which the spire was taken down. [Illustration] ANECDOTE LXIV. A Singular Foster-Mother. On an estate in Scotland a terrier had a litter of whelps, which wereimmediately taken from her and drowned. The unfortunate mother was quitedisconsolate, until, a few weeks after, she perceived a brood ofducklings, which she immediately seized and carried to her lair, where sheretained them, following them out and in with the greatest care, andnursing them after her own fashion, with the most affectionate anxiety. When the ducklings, following their natural instinct, went into the water, their foster-mother exhibited the utmost alarm; and as soon as theyreturned to land, she snatched them up in her mouth, and ran home withthem. What adds to the singularity of this circumstance is, that the sameanimal, when deprived of a litter of puppies the year preceding, seizedtwo cock-chickens, which she reared with the like care she bestows uponher present family. When the young cocks began to try their voices, theirfoster-mother was as much annoyed as she now seems to be by the swimmingof the ducklings--and never failed to repress their attempts at crowing. [Illustration] ANECDOTE LXV. The Shepherd's Dog. James Hogg, the shepherd poet, had a dog named Sirrah, who was for manyyears his sole companion. He was, the shepherd says, the best dog he eversaw, in spite of his surly manners and unprepossessing appearance. Thefirst time he saw the dog, a drover was leading him by a rope, and, although hungry and lean, "I thought, " Hogg tells us, "I discovered a sortof sullen intelligence in his face, so I gave the drover a guinea for him. I believe there never was a guinea so well laid out. He was scarcely thena year old, and knew nothing of herding; but as soon as he discovered thatit was his duty to do so, I can never forget with what eagerness helearned. He would try every way till he found out what I wanted him to do;and when once I made him to understand a direction, he never forgot ormistook it again. " About seven hundred lambs, which were at once under Mr. Hogg's care, brokeup at midnight, and scampered off in three divisions across the hills, inspite of all that the shepherd and an assistant lad could do to keep themtogether. "Sirrah, " cried the shepherd, in great affliction, "my man, they're a' awa. " The night was so dark that he did not see Sirrah; but thefaithful animal had heard his master's words, and without more ado he setoff in quest of the flock. The shepherd and his companion spent the wholenight in scouring the hills, but of neither the lambs nor Sirrah couldthey obtain the slightest trace. "We had nothing for it, " says theshepherd, "but to return to our master, and inform him that we had losthis whole flock of lambs. On our way home, however, we discovered a bodyof lambs at the bottom of a deep ravine, and Sirrah standing in front ofthem, looking all around for some relief. We concluded that it was one ofthe divisions of the lambs which Sirrah had been unable to manage until hecame to that commanding situation. But what was our astonishment when wediscovered by degrees that not one was wanting! How he had got all thedivisions collected in the dark is beyond my comprehension. I never feltso grateful to any creature below the sun as I did to my honest Sirrahthat morning. " [Illustration] ANECDOTE LXVI. Foraging. A constable once made a complaint before a bench of London magistratesagainst a horse for stealing hay. The complainant stated that the horsecame regularly every night of its own accord, and without any attendant, to the coach-stands in St. George's, fully satisfied his appetite, andthen galloped away. He defied the whole of the parish officers toapprehend him; for if they attempted to go near him while he was eating, he would throw up his heels and kick at them, or run at them, and if theydid not go out of the way, he would bite them. The constable thereforethought it best to represent the case to the magistrates. _One of the Magistrates:_ "Well, Mr. Constable, if you should be annoyedagain by this animal in the execution of your duty, you may apprehend himif you can, and bring him before us to answer your complaints. " [Illustration] ANECDOTE LXVII. Going to Market. A butcher and cattle dealer had a dog which he usually took with him whenhe drove cattle to the market, at a town some nine miles distant from hishome, to be sold, and who displayed uncommon dexterity in managing them. At last, so convinced was the master of the sagacity, as well as thefidelity of his dog, that he made a wager that he would entrust him with afixed number of sheep and oxen to drive alone to market. It was stipulatedthat no person should be within sight or hearing, who had the leastcontrol over the dog; nor was any spectator to interfere, or be within aquarter of a mile. On the day of trial, the dog proceeded with hisbusiness in the most dexterous and steady manner; and although he hadfrequently to drive his charge through the herds who were grazing, yet henever lost one, but conducting them into the very yard to which he wasused to drive them when with his master, he significantly delivered themup to the person appointed to receive them, by barking at the door. Whatmore particularly marked the dog's sagacity was, that when the path theherd travelled lay through a spot where others were grazing, he would runforward, stop his own drove, and then driving the others from each side ofthe path, collect his scattered charge and proceed. He was several timesafterwards thus sent alone for the amusement of the curious or theconvenience of his master, and always acquitted himself in the same adroitand intelligent manner. [Illustration] ANECDOTE LXVIII. The Lion and his Keeper. In a large continental menagerie there was a lion called Danco, whose cagewas in want of some repairs. His keeper desired a carpenter to set aboutit, but when the workman came and saw the lion, he started back withterror. The keeper entered the animal's cage, and led him to the upperpart of it, while the lower was refitting. He there amused himself forsome time playing with the lion, and being wearied, he soon fell asleep. The carpenter, fully relying upon the vigilance of the keeper, pursued hiswork with rapidity, and when he had finished, he called him to see whatwas done. The keeper made no answer. Having repeatedly called in vain, hebegan to feel alarmed at his situation, and he determined to go to theupper part of the cage, where, looking through the railing, he saw thelion and the keeper sleeping side by side. He immediately uttered a loudcry; the lion, awakened by the noise, started up and stared at thecarpenter with an eye of fury, and then, placing his paw on the breast ofhis keeper, lay down to sleep again. At length the keeper was awakened bysome of the attendants, and he did not appear in the least apprehensive onaccount of the situation in which he found himself, but shook the lion bythe paw, and then gently conducted him to his former residence. [Illustration] ANECDOTE LXIX. Immovable Fidelity. A dog, between the breed of a mastiff and a bull-dog, belonging to achimney-sweeper, laid, according to his master's orders, on a soot-bag, which he had placed inadvertently almost in the middle of a narrow backstreet, in a town in the south of England. A loaded cart passing by, thedriver desired the dog to move out of the way. On refusing he was scolded, then beaten, first gently, and afterwards with the smart application ofthe cart-whip; all to no purpose. The fellow, with an oath, threatened todrive over the dog--he did so, and the faithful animal, in endeavouring toarrest the progress of the wheel by biting it, was crushed to pieces. [Illustration] ANECDOTE LXX. Tame Hares. The hare is scarcely a domestic animal; yet we have an account of one whowas so domesticated as to feed from the hand, lay under a chair in acommon sitting-room, and appear in every other respect as easy andcomfortable in its situation as a lapdog. It now and then went out intothe garden, but after regaling itself with the fresh air, always returnedto the house as its proper habitation. Its usual companions were agreyhound and spaniel, with whom it spent its evenings, the whole threesporting and sleeping together on the same hearth. What makes thecircumstance more remarkable is, that the greyhound and spaniel were bothso fond of hare-hunting, that they used often to go out coursing together, without any person accompanying them; they were like the "_sly couple_", of whose devotion to the chase an amusing instance has been alreadyrecorded. A traveller once brought a young hare to such a degree of frolicsomefamiliarity, that it would run and jump about his sofa and bed; leap upon, and pat him with its fore feet; or whilst he was reading, knock the bookout of his hands, as if to claim, like a fondled child, the exclusivepreference of his attention. [Illustration] ANECDOTE LXXI. A Grateful Return. A favourite house-dog, left to the care of its master's servants, while hewas himself away, would have been starved by them if it had not hadrecourse to the kitchen of a friend of its master's, which in better daysit had occasionally visited. On the return of the master it enjoyed plentyat home, and stood in no further need of the liberality it experienced;but still it did not forget that hospitable kitchen where it had found aresource in adversity. A few days after, the dog fell in with a duck, which, as he found in no private pond, he probably concluded to be noprivate property. He snatched up the duck in his teeth, carried it to thekitchen where he had been so hospitably fed, laid it at the cook's feet, with many polite movements of the tail, and then scampered off with muchseeming complacency at having given this testimony of his grateful senseof favours. [Illustration] ANECDOTE LXXII. Assisting the Aged. A captain of cavalry in a French regiment mentions that a horse belongingto his company, being from age unable to eat his hay or grind his oats, was fed for two months by two horses on his right and left, who ate withhim. These two horses, drawing the hay out of the rack, chewed it, andthen put it before the old horse, and did the same with the oats, which hewas then able to eat. [Illustration] ANECDOTE LXXIII. Oyster Opening. A well-known traveller relates a circumstance concerning the orang-otangin its wild state, which is indicative of very considerable powers, bothof reflection and invention. When the fruits on the mountains areexhausted, they will frequently descend to the sea-coast, where they feedon various species of shell-fish, but in particular on a large sort ofoyster, which commonly lies open on the shore. "Fearful, " he says, "ofputting in their paws, lest the oyster should close and crush them, theyinsert a stone as a wedge within the shell; this prevents it from closing, and they then drag out their prey, and devour it at leisure. " [Illustration] ANECDOTE LXXIV. Sonnini and his Cat. M. Sonnini, when in Egypt, had an Angora cat, of which he was extremelyfond. It was entirely covered with long white silken hairs; its tailformed a magnificent plume, which the animal elevated at pleasure over itsbody. Not one spot, nor a single dark shade, tarnished the dazzling whiteof its coat. Its nose and lips were of a delicate rose colour. Two largeeyes sparkled in its round head: one was of a light yellow, and the otherof a fine blue. This beautiful animal had even more loveliness of manners than grace inits attitude and movements. However ill any one used her, she neverattempted to advance her claws from their sheaths. Sensible to kindness, she licked the hand which caressed, and even that which tormented her. InSonnini's solitary moments, she chiefly kept by his side; she interruptedhim often in the midst of his labours or meditations, by little caressesextremely touching, and generally followed him in his walks. During hisabsence she sought and called for him incessantly. She recognised hisvoice at a distance, and seemed on each fresh meeting with him to feelincreased delight. "This animal, " says Sonnini, "was my principal amusement for severalyears. How was the expression of attachment depicted upon her countenance!How many times have her caresses made me forget my troubles, and consoledme in my misfortunes! My beautiful and interesting companion, however, atlength perished. After several days of suffering, during which I neverforsook her, her eyes, constantly fixed on me, were at lengthextinguished; and her loss rent my heart with sorrow. " [Illustration] ANECDOTE LXXV. Division of Labour. The Alpine marmots are said to act in concert in the collection ofmaterials for the construction of their habitations. Some of them, we aretold, cut the herbage, others collect it into heaps; a third set serve aswaggons to carry it to their holes; while others perform all the functionsof draught horses. The manner of the latter part of the curious process isthis. The animal who is to serve as the waggon lies down on his back, andextending his four limbs as wide as he can, allows himself to be loadedwith hay; and those who are to be the draught horses trail him thus loadedby the tail, taking care not to overset him. The task of thus serving asthe vehicle being evidently the least enviable part of the business, istaken by every one of the party in turn. [Illustration] ANECDOTE LXXVI. Crab Fishing. The following is an instance of the extraordinary cunning manifested bythe Racoon. It is fond of crabs, and when in quest of them, will stand bythe side of a swamp, and hang its tail over into the water; the crabs, mistaking it for food, are sure to lay hold of it; and as soon as thebeast feels them pinch, he pulls them out with a sudden jerk. He thentakes them to a little distance from the water's edge; and in devouringthem, is careful to get them crossways in his mouth, lest he should sufferfrom their nippers. [Illustration] ANECDOTE LXXVII. Rare Honesty. A mastiff dog, who owed more to the bounty of a neighbour than to hismaster, was once locked by mistake in the well-stored pantry of hisbenefactor for a whole day, where milk, butter, bread, and meat, withinhis reach, were in abundance. On the return of the servant to the pantry, seeing the dog come out, and knowing the time he had been confined, shetrembled for the devastation which her negligence must have occasioned;but on close examination, it was found that the honest creature had nottasted of anything, although, on coming out, he fell on a bone that wasgiven to him, with all the voraciousness of hunger. [Illustration] ANECDOTE LXXVIII. Of Two Evils Choosing the Least. A French dog was taught by his master to execute various commissions, andamong others, to fetch him victuals from a restaurant in a basket. Oneevening when the dog was returning to his master thus furnished, two otherdogs, attracted by the savoury smell issuing from the basket, determinedto attack him. The dog put his basket on the ground, and set himselfcourageously against the first that advanced against him; but while he wasengaged with the one, the other ran to the basket, and began to helphimself. At length, seeing that there was no chance of beating both dogs, and saving his master's dinner, he threw himself between his twoopponents, and without further ceremony, quickly despatched the remainderof the victuals himself, and then returned to his master with the emptybasket. [Illustration] ANECDOTE LXXIX. Snake Destroyers. The Indian ichneumon, a small creature in appearance between the weaseland the mangoose, is of infinite use to the natives from its inveterateenmity to snakes, which would otherwise render every footstep of thetraveller dangerous. This diminutive creature, on seeing a snake ever solarge, will instantly dart on it, and seize it by the throat, provided hefinds himself in an open place, where he has an opportunity of running toa certain herb, which he knows instinctively to be an antidote against thepoison of the bite, if he should happen to receive one. A gentlemanvisiting the island of Ceylon saw the experiment tried in a closed room, where the ichneumon, instead of attacking his enemy, did all in his powerto avoid him. On being carried out of the house, however, and laid nearhis antagonist in the plantation, he immediately darted at the snake, andsoon destroyed it. It then suddenly disappeared for a few minutes, andagain returned, as soon as it had found the herb and ate it. [Illustration] ANECDOTE LXXX. Monkey versus Snake. The monkeys in India, knowing by instinct the malignity of the snakes, aremost vigilant in their destruction; they seize them when asleep by theneck, and running to the nearest flat stone, grind down the head by astrong friction on the surface, frequently looking at it, and grinning attheir progress. When convinced that the venomous fangs are destroyed, theytoss the reptiles to their young ones to play with, and seem to rejoice inthe destruction of their common enemy. [Illustration] ANECDOTE LXXXI. Musical Mice. "One rainy winter evening, as I was alone in my chamber, " relates anAmerican gentleman, "I took up my flute and commenced playing. In a fewminutes my attention was directed to a mouse that I saw creeping from ahole, and advancing to the chair in which I was sitting. I ceased playing, and it ran precipitately back to its hole; I began again shortlyafterwards, and was much surprised to see it reappear, and take its oldposition. The appearance of the little animal was truly delightful; itcouched itself on the floor, shut its eyes, and appeared in ecstasy; Iceased playing, and it instantly disappeared again. This experiment Irepeated frequently with the same success, observing that it was alwaysdifferently affected, as the music varied from the slow and plaintive, tothe brisk or lively. It finally went off, and all my art could not enticeit to return. " [Illustration] ANECDOTE LXXXII. Soliciting Succour. A party of a ship's crew being sent ashore on a part of the coast ofIndia, for the purpose of cutting wood for the ship, one of the men havingstrayed from the rest was greatly frightened by the appearance of a largelioness, who made towards him; but on her coming up, she lay down at hisfeet, and looked very earnestly first at him, and then at a tree a shortdistance off. After repeating her looks several times, she arose, andproceeded onwards to the tree, looking back several times, as if wishingthe man to follow her. At length he ventured, and coming to the tree, heperceived a huge baboon with two young cubs in her arms, which he supposedwere those of the lioness, as she couched down like a cat, and seemed toeye them very steadfastly. The man being afraid to ascend the tree, decided on cutting it down, and having his axe with him, he set activelyto work, when the lioness seemed most attentive to what he was doing. Whenthe tree fell, she sprung upon the baboon, and after tearing him inpieces, she turned round and licked the cubs for some time. She thenturned to the man and fawned round him, rubbing her head against him ingreat fondness, and in token of her gratitude for the service he had doneher. After this, she took the cubs away one by one, and the man returnedto the ship. [Illustration] ANECDOTE LXXXIII. A Charitable Canary. A pair of goldfinches who had the misfortune to be captured, together withtheir nest and six young ones, were placed in a double cage, with a pairof canaries, which had a brood of young; there was a division of wireworkbetween the cages. At first the goldfinches seemed careless about theiryoung ones; but the cock canary, attracted by their cries, forced itselfthrough a flaw in the wires, and began to feed them; an operation which itcontinued regularly, until the goldfinches undertook the officethemselves, and rendered the humanity of the canary no longer necessary. [Illustration] ANECDOTE LXXXIV. Pugnacity. The town of Bindrabund in India is in high estimation with the piousHindoos, who resort to it from the most remote parts of the empire. Thetown is surrounded by groves of trees, which are the residence ofinnumerable apes, whose propensity to mischief is increased by thereligious respect paid to them in honour of a divinity of the Hindoomythology, who is represented as possessing the body of an ape. Inconsequence of this superstition, such numbers of these animals aresupported by the voluntary contributions of pilgrims, that no one dares toresist 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 issure to be assailed by the whole community, who follow him with all themissile weapons they can collect, as pieces of bamboo, stones, and dirt, making at the same time a most hideous howling. Of the danger attending ameeting with enemies of this description, the following is a melancholyinstance. Two young cavalry officers, belonging to the Bengal army, havingoccasion to pass this way, were attacked by a body of apes, at whom one ofthe gentlemen inadvertently fired. The alarm instantly drew the wholebody, with the fakeers, out of the place, with so much fury, that theofficers, though mounted upon elephants, were compelled to seek theirsafety in flight; and in endeavouring to pass the Jumna, they bothperished. [Illustration] ANECDOTE LXXXV. A Carrier's Dog. A carrier on his way to a market town had occasion to stop at some housesby the road side, in the way of his business, leaving his cart and horseupon the public road, under the protection of a passenger and a trustydog. Upon his return he missed a led horse, belonging to a gentleman inthe neighbourhood, which he had tied to the end of the cart, and likewiseone of the female passengers. On inquiry he was informed that during hisabsence the female, who had been anxious to try the mettle of the pony, had mounted it, and that the animal had set off at full speed. The carrierexpressed much anxiety for the safety of the young woman, casting at thesame time an expressive look at his dog. Oscar observed his master's eye, and aware of its meaning, instantly set off in pursuit of the pony, whichcoming up with soon after, he made a sudden spring, seized the bridle, andheld the animal fast. Several people having observed the circumstance, andthe perilous situation of the girl, came to relieve her. Oscar, however, notwithstanding their repeated endeavours, would not quit his hold, andthe pony was actually led into the stable with the dog, till such time asthe carrier should arrive. Upon the carrier entering the stable, Oscarwagged his tail in token of satisfaction, and immediately relinquished thebridle to his master. [Illustration] ANECDOTE LXXXVI. Humane Society. A large colony of rooks had resided many years in a grove on the banks ofa river. One serene evening the idle members amused themselves withchasing each other through endless mazes, and in their flight they madethe air sound with an infinitude of discordant noises. In the midst ofthese playful exertions it unfortunately happened that one rook, by asudden turn, struck his beak against the wing of another. The suffererinstantly fell into the river. A general cry of distress ensued. The birdshovered with every expression of anxiety over their distressed companion. Animated by their sympathy, and perhaps by the language of counsel knownto themselves, he sprang into the air, and by one strong effort reachedthe point of a rock that projected into the river. The joy became loud anduniversal; but, alas! it was soon changed into notes of lamentation, forthe poor wounded bird, in attempting to fly towards his nest, droppedagain into the river and was drowned, amid the moans of his wholefraternity. [Illustration] ANECDOTE LXXXVII. Fox Chasing. During a fox hunt, Reynard, being hard pressed, was reduced to thenecessity of taking refuge up a chimney of a hothouse. He was followed byone of the hounds, who, passing through a flue upwards of fifty feet inlength, came out at the top of the chimney, but missed Reynard in itsmurky recess. By this time a number of people were collected at the top ofthe chimney, who let down a terrier, who soon made him come in view, holding fast by his brush. [Illustration] ANECDOTE LXXXVIII. Escape of Jengis Khan. The Mogul and Kalmuc Tartars attribute to the white owl the preservationof Jengis Khan, the founder of their empire; and they pay it on thataccount almost divine honours. The prince, with a small army, happened tobe surprised and put to flight by his enemies. Forced to seek concealmentin a coppice, an owl settled on the bush under which he was hid. At thesight of this animal the prince's pursuers never thought of searching thespot, conceiving it impossible that such a bird would perch where anyhuman being was concealed. Jengis escaped, and ever after his countrymenheld the white owl sacred, and every one wore a plume of its feathers onhis head. The Kalmucs continue the custom to this day, at all their greatfestivals; and some tribes have an idol in the form of an owl, to whichthey fasten the real legs of this bird. [Illustration] ANECDOTE LXXXIX. A Refugee Squirrel. A squirrel, whose bad luck it was to be captured, was lodged for safecustody in a trap used for taking rats alive. Here he remained for severalweeks, till at length, panting for liberty, he contrived to make hisescape through a window, and repaired once more to his native fields. Thefamily in which he had been a sportive inmate, were not a little vexed atthe loss of their little favourite, and the servant was ordered in theevening of the same day to remove the trap, that they might no longer bereminded of their loss; but on proceeding to discharge his duty, he foundto his surprise that the squirrel, all wet and ruffled by the storm, hadreassumed his station, and again taken up his lodgings in a corner of thetrap. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XC. Retaliation. A wild stork was brought by a farmer into his poultry yard to be thecompanion of a tame one, which he had long kept there; but the tame stork, disliking a rival, fell upon the poor stranger, and beat him sounmercifully that he was compelled to take wing, and with some difficultyescaped. About four months afterwards, however, he returned to the poultryyard, recovered of his wounds, and attended by three other storks, who nosooner alighted, than they all together fell upon the tame stork, andkilled him. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XCI. A Newsman Extraordinary. One of the carriers of a large newspaper having become indisposed, his sontook his place; but not knowing the subscribers he was to supply, he tookfor his guide a dog which had usually attended his father. The animaltrotted on a-head of the boy, and stopped at every door where the paperwas in use to be left, without making a single omission or mistake. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XCII. The Bear Cubs. A female bear, with two cubs, approached near a whaler, and was shot. Thecubs not attempting to escape, were taken alive. These animals, though atfirst evidently very unhappy, became at length in some measure reconciledto their situation, and being tolerably tame, were allowed occasionally togo at large about the deck. While the ship was moored to a floe, a fewdays after they were taken, one of them having a rope fastened round hisneck, was thrown overboard. It immediately swam to the ice, got upon it, and attempted to escape. Finding itself, however, detained by the rope, itendeavoured to disengage itself in the following ingenious way. Near theedge of the floe was a crack in the ice of considerable length, but onlyeighteen inches or two feet wide, and three or four feet deep. To thisspot the bear turned; and when, on crossing the chasm, the bight of therope fell into it, he placed himself across the opening; then suspendinghimself by his hind feet, with a leg on each side, he dropped his head andmost part of his body into the chasm; and with a foot applied to each sideof the neck, attempted for some minutes to push the rope over his head. Finding this scheme ineffectual, he removed to the main ice, and runningwith great impetuosity from the ship, gave a remarkable pull on the rope;then going backward a few steps, he repeated the jerk. At length, afterrepeated attempts to escape this way, every failure of which he announcedby a significant growl, he yielded himself to his hard necessity, and laydown on the ice in angry and sullen silence. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XCIII. Noble Perseverance. Elephants were, of old, employed in India in the launching of ships. It isrelated of one, that, being directed to force a very large vessel into thewater, the work proved superior to its strength; his master, withsarcastic tone, bid the keeper take away the lazy beast, and bringanother: the poor animal instantly repeated his efforts, fractured hisskull, and died on the spot. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XCIV. The Catcher Caught. During a sudden inundation of the Rhine, a hare, unable to escape throughthe water to an eminence, climbed up a tree. One of the boatmen rowingabout to assist the unfortunate inhabitants, observing puss, rowed up tothe tree, and mounted it, eager for the game, without properly fasteninghis boat. The terrified hare, on the approach of its pursuer, sprang fromthe branch into the boat, which thus set in motion floated away, leavingits owner in the tree in dread of being washed away by the current. Afterseveral hours' anxiety, he was perceived, and taken off by some of hiscompanions. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XCV. Deceiving the Fowler. A young pointer, out with his master hunting, ran on a brood of very smallpartridges. The old bird cried, fluttered, and ran trembling along justbefore 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. On thisthe dog returned nearly to the place where the young ones lay concealed inthe grass; which the old bird no sooner perceived, than she flew backagain, settled first before the dog's nose, and a second time acted thesame part, rolling and tumbling about till she drew off his attention fromthe brood, and thus succeeded in preserving them. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XCVI. Old Habits. An eminent Scotch lawyer, having cause to visit London, decided to performthe journey on horseback in preference to posting, for this was before thedays of railways. He therefore purchased a horse before starting, and onhis arrival at the metropolis, following the usual custom, disposed of hisnag, deciding to purchase another for the return journey. When he hadcompleted his business, and had decided to set out for home, he went toSmithfield to purchase a horse. About dusk, a handsome horse was offeredto him at so cheap a rate, that he was led to suspect the animal to beunsound; but as he could discover no blemish he became the purchaser. Nextmorning he set out on his journey; his horse had excellent paces, and thefirst few miles, while the road was well frequented, our traveller spentin congratulating himself on his good fortune. On Finchley Common thetraveller met a clergyman driving a one-horse chaise. There was nobodywithin sight, and the horse by his manoeuvre plainly intimated what hadbeen the profession of his former master. Instead of passing the chaise, he laid his counter close up to it, and stopped it, having no doubt thathis rider would embrace so fair an opportunity of exercising his vocation. The clergyman, under the same mistake, produced his purse unasked, andassured the inoffensive and surprised horseman that it was unnecessary todraw his pistol. The traveller rallied his horse, with apologies to thegentleman, whom he had unwillingly affrighted, and pursued his journey. The horse next made the same suspicious approach to a coach, from thewindows of which a blunderbuss was levelled, with denunciations of deathand destruction to the rider, who was innocent of all offence in deed orword. In short, after his life had been once or twice endangered by thesuspicions to which his horse's conduct gave rise, and his liberty asoften threatened by peace officers, who were disposed to apprehend him asa notorious highwayman, he found himself obliged to part with the animalfor a mere trifle, and to purchase at a dearer rate a horse of lessexternal figure and action, but of better moral habits. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XCVII. A Philosophic Cat. A young cat, which sometimes was permitted the indulgence of taking herplace in the domestic circle, upon the carpet before the fire in theparlour, one day came in when one of the party was spinning upon a linewheel. Having never seen such a thing before, she became extremely alarmedby its appearance and motion. She couched down in an attitude of fear andof investigation; and yet at such a distance as would admit of a speedyretreat if it should prove to be alive, and an enemy. She crept slowly allalong the wheel, with her eyes steadily fixed on it, and with a verysingular expression of countenance, till at length, not being able tosatisfy herself, she retreated towards the door, impatiently waiting tomake her escape; which she did the moment it was in her power, with greatprecipitation. The next morning, when she came into the room, the wheel then standingstill, she advanced courageously towards it, and after an apparentlycareful examination, walking all round, ventured upon the furtherexperiment of endeavouring to ascertain with her paw whether there wasreally anything to be apprehended from it. Still not finding any motion, our philosopher of the Newtonian school, satisfied that she had nothing tofear, seated herself quietly by the fire; and the next time she saw it inmotion, she sprang gaily forward, and enjoyed her triumph, by playing withthe object of her former terror. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XCVIII. An Ass Cast Away. An ass, belonging to a captain in the Royal Navy, then at Malta, wasshipped on board a frigate, bound from Gibraltar for that island. Thevessel struck on some sands off the Point de Gat, and the ass was thrownoverboard, in the hope that it might possibly be able to swim to the land;of which, however, there seemed but little chance, for the sea was runningso high, that a boat which left the ship was lost. A few days after, whenthe gates of Gibraltar were opened in the morning, the guard weresurprised by Valiant, as the ass was called, presenting himself foradmittance. On entering, he proceeded immediately to the stable of amerchant, which he had formerly occupied. The poor animal had not onlyswam safely to the shore, but without guide, compass, or travelling map, had found his way from Point de Gat to Gibraltar, a distance of more thantwo hundred miles, through a mountainous and intricate country, intersected by streams, which he had never traversed before, and in soshort a period, that he could not have made one false turn. [Illustration] ANECDOTE XCIX. Honours Paid to Living and Departed Worth. The people of Athens, when they had finished the temple called_Hecatompedon_, set at liberty the beasts of burden that had been chieflyemployed in that work, suffering them to pasture at large, free from anyfurther service. It is said that one of these afterwards came of its ownaccord to work, and putting itself at the head of the labouring cattle, marched before them to the citadel. The people were pleased with thisspontaneous action, and made a decree that the animal should be kept atthe public charge as long as it lived. Many have shown particular marks ofregard in burying animals which they had cherished and been fond of. Thegraves of Cimon's mares, with which he thrice conquered at the Olympicgames, are still to be seen near his own tomb. Xanthippus, whose dog swamby the side of his galley to Salamis, when the Athenians were forced toabandon their city, afterwards buried it with great pomp upon apromontory, which to this day is called the _Dog's Grave_. In Pliny, wehave an amusing account of a superb funeral ceremony, which took placeduring the reign of Claudius; in which the illustrious departed was noother than a crow, so celebrated for its talents and address, that it waslooked upon as a sort of public property. Its death was felt as a nationalloss; the man who killed it was condemned to expiate the crime with hisown life; and nothing less than a public funeral could, as it was thought, do justice to its memory. The remains of the bird were laid on a bier, which was borne by two slaves; musicians went before it, playing mournfulairs; and an infinite number of persons, of all ages and conditions, brought up the rear of the melancholy procession. [Illustration] ANECDOTE C. A Child Saved. A shepherd, in one of his excursions to look after his flock, took withhim one of his children, an infant of three years old. After traversinghis pastures for some time, attended by his dog, he found it necessary toascend a summit at some distance, to obtain a more extensive view of hisrange. As the ascent was too fatiguing for the child, he left him on asmall plain at the bottom, with strict injunctions not to stir from ittill his return. Scarcely, however, had he gained the summit, when thehorizon was darkened by an impenetrable mist. The anxious father instantlyhastened back to find his child; but owing to the unusual darkness, hemissed his way. After a fruitless search of many hours, he discovered thathe had reached the bottom of the valley, and was near his own cottage. Torenew the search that night was equally fruitless and dangerous; he wastherefore compelled to go home, although he had lost both his child andhis dog, who had attended him faithfully for many years. Next morning, bybreak of day, the shepherd, accompanied by a band of his neighbours, setout in search of his child; but after a day of fatigue, he was obliged toreturn home disappointed. He found that the dog which he had lost the daybefore had been to the cottage, and on receiving a piece of cake, hadinstantly gone off again. For several successive days the shepherd renewedthe search, and on his return in the evening he found that the dog hadbeen home, and, on receiving his usual allowance of cake, had instantlydisappeared. Struck with this singular circumstance, he remained at homeone day; and when the dog, as usual, departed with his piece of cake, heresolved to follow him, and find out the cause of this strange procedure. The dog led the way to a cataract at some distance from the spot where theshepherd had left his child. Down a rugged and almost perpendiculardescent the dog began, without hesitation, to make his way, and at lastdisappeared by entering into a cave, the mouth of which was almost levelwith the torrent. The shepherd with difficulty followed; but, on enteringthe cave, what were his emotions, when he beheld his infant eating withmuch satisfaction the cake which the dog had just brought him, while thefaithful animal stood by, eyeing his young charge with the utmostcomplacency! The child had apparently wandered to the brink of theprecipice, and then either fallen or scrambled down till he reached thecave. The dog had traced him to the spot; and afterwards prevented himfrom starving, by giving up to him his own daily allowance. He appearsnever to have quitted the child by night or day, except when it wasnecessary to go for food; and then he was always seen running at fullspeed to and from the cottage. [Illustration] * * * * * UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME A Hundred Fables of Ęsop With 101 Full-page Illustrations, Title-page, and Cover by P. J. Billinghurst, and an Introductory Note by Kenneth Grahame Price 6s. Foolscap 4to. Price $1. 50. #Times. #--"Got up with great taste, each fable is illustrated by a drawing by Mr. Percy Billinghurst. Mr. Billinghurst lends most comical expression to the faces of the beasts. The fox with the grapes, the dog with the shadow, the wolf with the lamb, are their own dumb but eloquent interpreters. We even distinguish a gleam of profound disgust in the eye of the snake biting at the file. " #Daily News. #--"The seventeenth-century version of the fables, by Sir Roger l'Estrange, with its pleasant quaintness of language, lends itself, and how delightfully, to its setting of illustration; and it would surely be a child hard to please who would cavil at this book. " #Daily Telegraph. #--"Mr. Percy Billinghurst's illustrations are most happily conceived and executed, and Mr. Kenneth Grahame's preface is amusing. But perhaps the most interesting feature of the edition is the adoption of Sir Roger l'Estrange's seventeenth-century version. Those to whom it is new will be surprised at the charm which his quaint and vigorous diction adds to the fables. " #Scotsman. #--"The 'Fables of Ęsop' have seldom been printed and adorned more handsomely. .. . The illustrations are full of originality and humour. " #Spectator. #--"Mr. Billinghurst's full-page illustrations are well drawn, and full of a quaint humour very appropriate to the subject. His beasts and birds are in truth animals; but he has succeeded in giving them strongly marked characteristic expressions. The picture of the fox and the crocodile discussing their pedigrees is delightful. " JOHN LANE, PUBLISHER, LONDON AND NEW YORK * * * * * UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME A Hundred Fables of La Fontaine With 101 Illustrations, Title-page, and Cover Design by P. J. Billinghurst Price 6s. Foolscap 4to. Price $1. 50. #Truth. #--"Is it not the duty of parents to make their children acquainted with La Fontaine? Well, then, no better opportunity of so doing could possibly be afforded them than is given by the new Bodley Head edition. It is a metrical version of the time-honoured favourites, and every fable has a picture filling the page opposite. The child would be hard to please who did not find hours of amusement in the artist's work alone. " #Times. #--"It is pleasant to turn to a taking edition of La Fontaine's Fables, with Mr. Billinghurst's exceedingly clever drawings; he throws a world of expression into the faces of his beasts. " #Pall Mall. #--"There is some excellent drawing in the handsome volume of One Hundred Fables of La Fontaine, for which Mr. Percy Billinghurst has done the pictures. His bold pencil gives expression to original ideas, some of them wrought with skill, and all with a correct eye to effect. For the drawings alone this handsome book should be prized. " #Daily Chronicle. #--"Turned out in a style which will fascinate the young, the illustrations by Mr. Billinghurst are executed in fine taste. His animals are real animals which will delight all who look upon them. " #British Weekly. #--"A most elegantly-bound collection of well-known fables re-told in rhyme, and illustrated with many fine and masterly drawings. " #Bookman. #--"We have nothing but praise for Mr. Billinghurst's work. .. . We know no pictures of fable-beasts that we like better. The whole arrangement of the book is excellent. " JOHN LANE, PUBLISHER, LONDON AND NEW YORK