[Illustration: Midnight Pool: Animals Drinking]

 HEATH SUPPLEMENTARY READERS

 THE WONDERS OF

 THE JUNGLE

 PRINCE SARATH GHOSH

 BOOK ONE

 D. C. HEATH AND COMPANY

 BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO ATLANTA

 DALLAS SAN FRANCISCO LONDON

 COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY D. C. HEATH & CO. 

 * * * * *

PREFACE

One of the great thinkers of the world has said that all the sciencesare embodied in natural history. Hence natural history should betaught to a child from an early age. 

Perhaps the best method of teaching it is to set forth thecharacteristics of animals in the form of a narrative. Then the childreads the narrative with pleasure and almost as a story, not as atedious "lesson. "

I have followed that method in the Wonders of the Jungle. The presentwork (Book One) is intended to be a supplementary reader for theearlier grades in grammar schools. If it be found useful, I shallwrite one or two more books in progressive order for the use of highergrades. 

In Book One I have depicted only such wild animals as appeal to theinterest of young children, and even to their sympathy and love. Insubsequent books I shall describe the animals that prey upon others. As those animals are not lovable, it would be better for the child toread about them a year or two later. But even to those animals I shallbe just, and shall depict their good qualities as well as theirpreying habits. How many people know that the very worst animal, thetiger, is a better husband and father than many men? Or that theferocity of the tigress is prompted entirely by her maternalinstinct--and that in every case of unusual ferocity yet recorded itwas afterward found that there was a helpless cub somewhere near?Hence in subsequent books I shall enter more fully into the causes ofanimal instincts and characteristics--their loves and their hates andtheir fears. 

Regarding the scheme of Book One, the animals are described in theirdaily life, and the main scientific facts and principles concerningeach animal are woven into the narrative as a part of that daily life. But while teaching science to the child in that pleasant form, a fewother purposes have also been kept in view:--

1. To cultivate the child's imagination. True imagination is theability to visualize mentally the realities of life, not what isunreal--for which it is so often mistaken. Hence in this book thechild is helped to visualize the animals in their actual haunts, andto see each incident as it actually happens. 

2. To cultivate the child's reasoning faculty. The child is encouragedat every step to think and to reason why the animal does certainthings; _e. G. _ why the elephant does not drink directly with itsmouth, but has to squirt the water into it with the trunk. 

3. To teach a moral from the study of animals. The whole of Creationis one immense and beautiful pattern: so the child may well be trainedto see the pattern in this also. And as a practical benefit from thestudy of animals, the child may learn thereby the value of certainqualities, such as obedience, discipline, and good citizenship--_e. G. _as in the remarkable case of the elephant, the buffalo, and theflamingo, as described in the text. In this regard I have kept in mindthe very useful suggestions formulated a few years ago by the MoralEducation League of Great Britain, under the patronage of Queen Mary, five of whose children at that time ranged in age from seven tofifteen. One of the functions of education is to present to the childthe noblest and the most elevated of ideals. I have sought to do thatin almost every chapter. 

I have to acknowledge my obligation to the New York KindergartenAssociation for its valuable cooperation in putting this book througha practical test. The Kindergarten Association on more than oneoccasion provided me with a large audience of children, ranging in agefrom six to nine, ex-pupils of the Association, who are now in thepublic schools. 

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

I. THE MIDNIGHT POOL

Elephants Drink First--But Down StreamHow the Elephant DrinksWhy the Elephant Drinks with his Trunk

II. THE LAW OF THE JUNGLE

How Buffaloes Come to Drink--In RowsBuffalo Knights Guard the Timid DeerWild Pigs--CarelessRed Dogs--Bold, Fearing NobodyOther Animals Come AloneThe Law of the Jungle--Clear Water for All

III. THE ELEPHANTS' BATH

Elephant Child Obeys Mamma--or Gets SpankedHow the Elephant Child is BathedHow the Elephant Child Learns to Swim

IV. ELEPHANTS: THE TRICKS OF THE JUNGLE

Elephant Child Learns to FeedElephant Child "Swats" Tormenting FliesElephant Covers Back from Hot SunHow Elephants Walk under WaterHow Elephants Break Down or Pull Out Trees

V. ELEPHANTS: THE TRICKY TRAP

The Elephant Taps Suspicious Ground with his TrunkElephant Tricks the Tricky Trappers

VI. BUFFALOES: THE KNIGHTS OF THE JUNGLE

Buffaloes Cover Body with Mud against FliesHow Buffaloes Guard against Tiger while FeedingHow Buffaloes Know Danger is Coming--Three waysBuffalo SentinelsBuffaloes Make a Ring when Tiger ComesSmall Animals Find Safety in Buffalo Ring

VII. TAMING THE BUFFALO

Wild Buffaloes Tamed Quickly by KindnessLittle Boys Take Charge of BuffaloesHow the Big Buffaloes Love the Little Boys

VIII. THE BUFFALO AND THE BOY

IX. DEER AND ANTELOPE

Horns and Antlers Different in Three WaysElk and Other American DeerOther Kinds of DeerBarking Deer--One of the Wonders of Nature

X. DEER AND ANTELOPE: THEIR SPECIAL GIFTS

Each Animal has the Gift he Needs Most

XI. THE CAMEL

The Camel's Wonderful Gifts

XII. THE CAMEL AND THE THIEF

XIII. BEARS

The Polar BearAmerican BearsOther Bears

XIV. BEARS: THE TRICKY TRAP

XV. BRIGHT BIRDS

The FlamingoThe ParrotThe CockatooThe PeacockThe Golden PheasantThe Snowy Egret

XVI. THE CAGED PARROT

 * * * * *

ILLUSTRATIONS

MIDNIGHT POOL: ANIMALS DRINKING Frontispiece

THE BUFFALOES AND THE BLUE DEER

AN ELEPHANT GIVING HIMSELF A SHOWER BATH. 

AN ELEPHANT MAMMA CARRYING HER CHILD ACROSS THE RIVER

AN ELEPHANT BREAKING A TREE WITH HIS FOOT

ELEPHANT PULLING BANANAS OUT OF A TRICKY TRAP

THE BUFFALO THAT LIVES IN INDIA

THE TIGER AND THE RING OF BUFFALOES

TAME WATER BUFFALOES PLOWING IN THE RICE FIELDS

ANTELOPE

ELK

ARABIAN CAMEL--WITH ONE HUMP

BACTRIAN CAMEL--WITH TWO HUMPS

SAND STORM IN THE DESERT

CROSSING THE DESERT WITH CAMELS

POLAR BEAR

HIMALAYAN BLACK BEAR

A BEAR FIGHTING A BLOCK OF STONE

A FLAMINGO COLONY

SNOWY EGRETS

 * * * * *

THE WONDERS OF THE JUNGLE

CHAPTER I

The Midnight Pool

My dear, I shall tell you all about the wonders of the jungle. Youhave seen many animals in the zoo or in a circus--elephants, bears, lions, tigers, leopards, and many others. But the jungle is the placewhere these animals live before they are brought to the zoo or thecircus. 

In fact, _jungle_ really means a _wild place_; that is, a place wheretrees and bushes grow quite wild, so that men never cut down the treesor clear away the bushes. That is the natural home for all sorts ofanimals. 

Now I am going to tell you about the wonderful way in which they livethere with their families, as we do in our homes; for the Papas andMammas among the animals are just as fond of their children as oursare. So you must _imagine_ that you are going into the jungle withme, so that I can show you everything. You see, it is just like a gameof _pretending_, that we are going to play. 

There is actually a place in the jungle where you can see all theanimals at once. In fact, that place is so wonderful that King Georgeand Queen Mary of England went to see it; that was a few years ago, when they went to India, which is a far-away country. For in Indiathere is a huge jungle where many thousands of animals live. 

So you must _pretend_ that I am taking you to the Royal party, andthat you are sitting with the King and Queen and all the fine men andlovely ladies; and we are watching the animals, while I tell you allabout them. 

First, I must tell you that it is midnight, and all the animals arecoming to a stream of water to drink. This stream is a river abouttwice as wide as a large street in your home town. We are sitting onthe bank, on one side of the stream; and the animals are coming todrink on the bank on the other side. 

"But, " you may say, "will not the animals see us across the stream, and get frightened and run away?"

That is quite true. But the King and Queen had thought of that. Sothey ordered a lot of men to put a large net on their side of thestream, just in front of them, and then to cover the net with twigsand leaves so cleverly that the animals thought the leaves were a partof the jungle, and did not see the people on the other side of thenet. 

So the King and Queen, and you and I, can peep quietly through theleaves and watch the animals. Almost all wild animals drink atmidnight; so we shall see them now. 

Where will the animals come from? You see the stream before us; well, on the other side of it is the jungle, where the animals live. Rightin front of us we see a gap in the jungle close to the bank. That gapwas made by _elephants_ by beating down the bushes with their feet. They made it long ago to come to the water, and now they use it everynight. In fact, it is known among the jungle folks as the _ElephantPath_; for no other animal would dare to use it before the elephantsdid. 

The elephants, being the biggest of all animals, are the _lords of thejungle_; so they have the right to come first to drink. They are also thewisest of all animals. You have seen many kinds of animals--elephants, horses, dogs, monkeys, and others--do funny tricks in a circus. Now, allthese animals except the elephant have to be _taught_ to do tricks; theelephant is the only animal that can think out a trick for itself. 

Of course in a circus there is always a teacher, or trainer, to showeven the elephant how to do tricks; but in the jungle the elephant canfind out how to do things for itself. 

Very soon I shall tell you about the tricks which the elephantactually does in the jungle; and as you hear about them, you must_think_! Why? Because then you will know _why_ the elephant does thesethings--and that will show you how clever _you_ can be!

_Elephants Drink First--but Down Stream_

First let us watch the elephants as they come to the river through thegap in the jungle. 

See! They come one at a time, _one behind another;_ for the gap is notbig enough for more than one at the same time. The elephant is so bigthat it can get through the jungle only in this way. 

First come a number of _bull elephants_. They are the Papa elephants;you can always tell them by the _huge tusks_ they have. The bullscome first, in case there are any enemies waiting to hurt theirchildren; for then the bulls can drive off the enemies. 

As each bull elephant comes through the gap, you see him turn to ourright, which is _down_ the stream--that is, the way the water flows. You see the first one walk along the bank that way, and the secondcomes after him, then the third, and so on. 

But why do they walk along the bank? To make room, of course, for alltheir friends who are still coming from behind. In this way about adozen bull elephants come ahead of all the others. 

After them you see the _cow elephants_, also in a line, one behindanother. They are the Mamma elephants; and nearly every one of themhas a baby elephant trotting in _front_ of her. You have often seenthe ordinary cow that gives you milk; when she goes to graze in thefield, her baby, or calf, trots by her side. 

But the Mamma elephant is much wiser, and always tells her baby totoddle in _front_ of her, in case any one comes suddenly to hurt orsteal the baby. For a tiger sometimes wants to pounce on the baby fromthe side, grab it quickly, and carry it away. But he cannot do it ifthe baby is right in front of its Mamma; for then she will drive himoff with her tusks, even if they are not quite so big as the tusksthat the Papa elephants have. 

As the Mammas reach the bank, each with her baby, you see them alsowalk along the bank down stream in a long line. 

After all the Mammas and babies have come, you see another set of bullelephants coming out of the jungle. Why? Because some enemy might tryto attack the Mammas and the babies from the _back_; so these bullelephants are there to guard them. You see, the Mammas and the babiesare _always in the middle_, safe from all harm. 

When all the elephants have reached the stream, they stand in line andface the water. All these elephants belong to _one herd_; you cancount about a hundred. A herd of elephants is really a _republic_, like the United States of America, and has a President, who is thewisest bull in the herd. 

In another book I shall tell you how the elephants choose theirPresident, and make laws, and keep order in the herd; how they choosesome strong bulls among them to act as _policemen_ in the herd, andcatch and punish any naughty elephant who becomes a _rogue_; and how, if two elephants start quarrelling and fighting like naughty boys, thepolice elephants have to catch and punish both of them. Also, I shalltell you how the President has to lead the herd every day when they goin search of food, so that they will have plenty to eat. 

And in the jungle, as there are other elephant herds and sometimes twoherds find the same feeding ground, and then start quarrelling andfighting as to who found it first, it is the duty of the President tokeep his own herd away from the two that are fighting, and not mix inthe fight in any way. All these wonderful things and many others youwill read in the other book, when you are a little older. 

But let us see what the President has to do when the whole herd isstanding in line, facing the water. He is at the bottom of the line, far down stream; so he looks up along the line to see that all areready. Then he gives the signal for them to begin drinking; he doesthis by dipping his trunk into the water. Then the second one sees himdo it, and does the same; in that way each elephant higher up the linesees that the next one below him has started drinking, so he too doesthe same. Soon they are all drinking, as you see in the picture at thebeginning of this book. 

But why does the President have to give the signal to begin? Why is itthat any elephant, anywhere along the line, cannot start drinking, just as he or she pleases? Think!

Because if any one along the line started drinking too soon, he mightmuddy the water for those that stood _below_ him along the line, because the water flows down that way. But if the lower ones drank alittle before, it would not matter if they _did_ muddy the water, forthe higher ones would still have clear water to drink. That is why thelowest one drinks first, then the next, and so on up the line. Is notthat very wise, and very fair to all?

_How the Elephant Drinks_

But you must not think that an elephant actually drinks _through_ histrunk! He does not! The elephant's trunk is really his nose, though itis a very long nose. What he does is to dip the trunk into the streamand suck in the water about halfway up the trunk; then he curls up thetip of the trunk and gets it near his mouth; then he _blows_ throughthe nose, and _squirts_ the water into his mouth. Of course he has todo that many times, to get enough to drink. But he tries each time todip only the tip of the trunk into the stream, so as not to muddy thewater willfully!

_Why the Elephant Drinks with His Trunk_

But, you may say, why cannot he drink like other animals, by goingright into the stream till he gets his _mouth_ into the water? Becausehis mouth is so high up, and his neck is so stiff, that he would haveto go quite two or three yards deep into the stream before he couldget his mouth into the water, and then his heavy feet would stir upthe mud in the stream where he was standing, and so dirty the verywater he was drinking. 

Now you see what a wise animal the elephant is! The only way he couldget clear water to drink was by having a long nose! And that isexactly what happened many, many years ago--his nose became longenough to reach the water from the bank. How that happened I shalltell you in another book, as you will not understand it till you are ayear or two older. 

All the grown-up elephants drink in this way, and also some of theelephant children whose trunks have grown long enough to reach thestream. But what about a baby elephant? Why, its Mamma fills her owntrunk with water, puts the tip into the baby's mouth and squirts thewater into it. 

But now after watching the elephants--who are on our right, down thestream--let us turn our eyes to the left, and look _up_ the stream. 

CHAPTER II

The Law of the Jungle

Hush! Here come all the animals! The _buffaloes_, the _blue deer_, the_red deer_, the _wild pigs_, the _hyenas_, the _wolves_, the _reddogs_, and many others. Watch and see how each kind of animal comes;it is not always in the same way. The moon is now shining clear abovethe trees, and we can see a long way up the stream. 

See the _buffaloes!_ They come a little _above the elephants_. Butthey do not come one behind another in a line, like the elephants. They come three or four together. They also have beaten down thebushes there years ago, to make a drinking place; and it is wideenough for three or four of them to drink at the same time, side byside. 

_How Buffaloes Come to Drink--in Rows_

But why must they drink three or four at the same time? Because thebuffaloes are like a body of soldiers, one row behind another. Sometimes twenty or thirty rows make up a herd. We see only the firstrow drinking now, but soon we shall see the others behind. 

And why do the buffaloes come like a body of soldiers? Because theyare afraid of their enemy--the tiger! Once upon a time the buffaloeslived scattered about, and many of them got eaten by the tiger, one ata time. Then those that escaped from the tiger became wise; theyjoined together like a body of soldiers, so that they could beat offthe tiger. How they came to do that, I shall tell you at another time. 

But now let us watch the first row drinking. They are all _bullbuffaloes_, the Papas of the herd; you can tell that by their _hugehorns_, a yard long on each side of the head. You see how thebuffaloes stand side by side, so that their horns almost touch oneanother. That is the way the buffaloes have marched to the stream fromtheir feeding place--horn to horn. Why? Because no prowling tiger canget past those horns. 

Watch the first row as it finishes drinking; the whole row wheelsaround to the side like soldiers. Then the buffaloes that have hadtheir drink march to the back of the herd, and stand there in a rowfacing the jungle. 

Meanwhile the second row in the front has stepped to the water todrink. These also are bull buffaloes. When they finish drinking, theyalso wheel, march to the back of the herd, and there stand behind thefirst row. In this way four or five rows of bulls drink, one after theother, and go to the back of the herd. 

Next come about a dozen rows of _cow buffaloes_ and their calves, orchildren. You see again, like the elephants, the Mammas and childrenamong the buffaloes are also _in the middle_, safe from all harm. 

Then at the end there are four or five rows of bull buffaloes again, to guard the Mammas and the children from enemies in the back. 

_Buffalo Knights Guard the Timid Deer_

But wait a moment! Before the buffaloes go away, a most wonderfulthing happens. You have read stories, how once upon a time there werebrave knights who used to come to the help of ladies who were indanger. Well, you will be glad to know that these bull buffaloes arejust like those brave knights. Do you see that timid little shadowcreeping in by the side of the buffaloes?

She is a _blue deer_, a very timid lady indeed; for she knows that atiger is waiting in the high ground behind, to catch her. It is thelast chance of the tiger to get his supper; so he waits by the highground behind, and watches for some weak animal like the deer to cometo drink. 

But the blue deer knows that; so she hides in the bushes, and waitsfor the buffaloes to come to drink. Then as the buffaloes come to thewater, row after row, horn to horn, she tries to creep in toward them;she even tries to creep in _under_ the horns of the buffaloes, knowingthat there she will be quite safe from the tiger. It takes her a longtime to reach the buffaloes in that way, without being caught by thetiger. 

But do you see the wonderful thing? The buffaloes wait a little forher! They take a little longer to drink, to give her a chance to reachthe water by their side. Like the brave knights, they feel proud ofhelping a lady. 

Now see! The blue deer also has finished drinking. She goes away withthe buffaloes, under their horns. They all reach the jungle again. Shelooks carefully: the tiger is watching her, but he dares not come toonear. She sees where he is--then suddenly she gives a leap--anotherleap--and another--quickly! The tiger leaps after her--but she leapedfirst! She is gone! She is safe!

[Illustration: The Buffaloes and the Blue Deer]

The tiger is furious. He stands a moment before the buffaloes, growling with rage. But the bulls in front of the herd paw the ground, and rattle their horns with one another. They are going to charge!

But that tiger does not wait for the charge of the bull buffaloes. Hedoes not want to be trampled into a mess under their hoofs, or cut upinto pieces with their horns. Instead, he sneaks away, growling. Hesneaks back to the stream, to wait for some other weak animal. 

So, you see, the jungle folks are in many ways just like us; for abrave man always helps a lady or anybody who needs his help. 

But now let us watch the stream higher up. 

_Wild Pigs--Careless_

Here come the _wild pigs_. They are not exactly a herd; but stillthere are many dozens of them, all one large family with all theirrelations--cousins and uncles and aunts. Some of the wild pigs arecalled _boars_; they are the Papas among the wild pigs. You can alwaystell them by the two _sharp tusks_, or teeth, one on each side, whichgrow _upward_ from their under jaw. Each tusk is as long as a knife, and so sharp that a tiger does not always care to fight with a boar. 

The wild pigs drink in any fashion, and go off in any fashion--just asthey like. They trust to luck or to the sharp tusks of some of theboars to guard them from danger. But they have not learned enough yetto do things in proper order. 

_Red Dogs--Bold, Fearing Nobody_

Meanwhile other animals have also come. The moon is now quite high inthe sky. A band of shadows in the moonlight seems to fall upon thewater. It is a pack of _red dogs_; they have come boldly, as they areafraid of nothing. For if a hungry tiger attacks them, the whole packwill jump on the tiger and tear him down--that is, the tiger couldkill dozens of the dogs in a few minutes, but then the rest of thewild red dogs would tear the tiger to pieces. 

So the red dogs are not afraid as they come flocking to the stream. They lap up the water with their lolling tongues. Then they look up atthe moon. Do you see what they are doing? Can you _hear_ them? Theyare _howling at the moon in a chorus_. Dogs always howl at the moon. Men do not quite know just why dogs do that. But perhaps they do itbecause they are glad and satisfied, and are trying to _sing!_ When_you_ sing, and there is a dog near by, you may hear him starthowling. He does that, I suppose, because he likes your singing, andwants to join in the chorus!

So the wild dogs of the jungle also howl when they are glad. Then, after the red dogs have howled as long as a song, they scamper offinto the jungle again. That shows, I suppose, that their howling wasreally a song!

_Other Animals Come Alone_

The red dogs are the last of the animals that come in a bunch. Now yousee other animals coming one by one. A sneaking shadow there! It mustbe a _hyena_. That is an animal that eats what remains from some otheranimal's supper; so the hyena waits to see if a tiger or a leopard hascaught any supper, or else it will have to go hungry. 

But hush! Here is a _red deer_ coming carefully to the water. Thisanimal is much bigger than the blue deer, and more able to take careof herself. But, still, she comes very quietly, looking to right andleft to make sure that the tiger is not just in that place. Shereaches the water and starts drinking. But do you see how her ear isbent to the side? The red deer is listening most carefully, even whileshe is drinking!

But look, look! The bush behind the deer parts very slowly, and a hugeyellow form crouches there! It is the tiger!

He is not near enough to jump on the deer; so he takes one stepforward--as softly as a cat!

But the deer has heard the footfall! For she can hear even a leaf whenit falls to the ground. And in that one second, even while she wasdrinking, the red deer has turned and leaped to the side. The tigerhas also leaped at the same time, and he aimed at the place where thedeer _was_. But the deer has just left that place, and the next secondshe gives another leap, like a flash, and gets out of the tiger'sreach. 

The tiger stands where he leaped, and growls with rage. He knows itwould be no use chasing the deer, as _the deer can run much faster_. So he stands there, and growls for quite a while. Then, as he did notget any supper that night, he can at least have a drink. So he drinksand goes away, still growling. 

Now all is quiet at last at the midnight pool, as all the animals havegone away. 

_The Law of the Jungle--Clear Water for All_

But before _we_ leave the place, I want you to remember something. Ishowed you first the elephants; they were on our right--that is, _down_ the stream, the way the water flows. And the elephants drankfirst among all the animals. 

Then all the other animals came to the stream, but more to ourleft--that is, _up_ the stream. Why was that? Think!

I shall tell you. By the time the elephants finish drinking by dippingtheir trunks into the stream many times, the water begins to getmuddy. In fact, after drinking, the elephants jump into the water tohave a bath and a swim, as I shall tell you in the next chapter. 

So the water gets muddy near the elephants and all the way down streamfrom that place, as the water flows that way. And as the other animalsdo not want muddy water to drink, they always go _up_ the stream, where the water is still clear. 

That is _The Law of the Jungle_, though it is not written down in abook, like the laws among men. The Law of the Jungle says that as theelephants are the lords of the jungle, they shall drink _first_: butthey must be careful to drink _down the stream_, so that all the otheranimals may have a place higher up, where they can get _clear water todrink_. 

And that law has never been broken, for many thousands of years, amongall the different sorts of animals. 

But with men the laws among the different sorts of people, callednations, are often broken, because some of them want all the bestthings and the best places, and do not care if they muddy the waterthat their neighbors have to drink. 

So, my dear children, we can learn many things from the animals, evenhow to be better men and women when we grow up. 

CHAPTER III

The Elephants' Bath

I have just told you that, after drinking, the elephants jump into thewater and have a bath and a swim. That is, all the grown-up elephantsdo that, while the little ones stay on the bank and play about. 

But, you may ask, why does not the tiger try to grab one of the littleones then? Because even when the Mammas go into the water they keeptheir eyes on the babies, who play quite near by, so that the Mammascan come to them any minute. 

And the Mammas can _smell_ a tiger a little before he gets there, sothat they have enough time to climb out of the water. Besides, thebabies themselves can smell the tiger when he is coming; then theycall out to their Mammas by making a queer rumbling sound in theirthroats, and the Mammas come to them at once, before the tiger can getthere. 

So all the grown-up elephants can go into the water, without anyworry. And at first they have a regular shower bath. 

How do they do that? Why, each elephant fills his trunk with water;then he curls up the trunk in the air over his head and squirts thewater out, and it falls in a shower all over his body. You can see howhe does it in the picture. All the grown-up elephants do that, andeven those that are half grown. 

After the shower bath, they swim about; but the Mamma elephants do notdo that. Why? Because they have to get busy and bathe their littlechildren. They call to the children to stop playing, and come and havea bath--just as our Mammas do. 

How do they call? Why, I must tell you at once that all kinds ofanimals have _a language of their own_. They do not speak exactly aswe do, but make different sounds through their mouth or nose, and eachsound _means_ something. 

If the Mamma elephant wants to say "Come here, " she makes one kind ofsound, and the baby elephant has learned to know exactly what thatmeans. And if the Mamma elephant wants to say "Keep still, " she makesanother kind of sound, and the baby knows also what that means. 

[Illustration: An Elephant Giving himself a Shower Bath]

In this way all animals can talk among themselves. Of course theycannot say many things, as we do, but quite enough to tell what theywant. 

So each Mamma elephant calls to her child to come and stand on thebank. Now, many of our children often hate to be bathed; and theelephant children are just the same! In fact, the very small onesactually cry and shriek, just like our babies!

_Elephant Child Obeys Mamma--or Gets Spanked_

But when the Mamma elephant calls to the baby to stop playing and comeand stand by the bank, the baby comes at once, even though it hates tobe bathed. The baby elephant obeys its Mamma almost the first time, whatever she tells it to do. 

But if the baby does not obey, does its Mamma spank it? Of course shedoes--like all Mammas! The elephant Mamma does the spanking with hertrunk. 

But I must tell you at once that an elephant child never gets spankedmore than once in its life--and that is enough! And some are so goodthat they _never_ get spanked!

The elephant child learns very quickly to obey its Mamma and Papa, andafterwards its trainer or teacher. The elephant child even obeys thevery minute it is told to do anything; in fact, sometimes in thejungle there is a sudden danger, even if the elephant child does notsee the danger. But its Mamma or Papa sees it. 

Then the Mamma or Papa calls out to the child to stop, or come away, or do something, _at once_; and if the child does not do it at once, it may get killed. Among men folks, if a child runs out into thestreet, and an auto or a street car comes suddenly, then if the childwill not obey its Mamma at once and do exactly as she says, the childmay be run over and killed. In the jungle the elephant child also hassudden dangers like that, though in a different way. 

In the next chapter I shall tell you a wonderful story about a boyelephant who escaped a great danger because he obeyed his Papa atonce. 

But sometimes it happens that a boy elephant is really naughty--justlike a bad boy among men. As you know, a bad boy among men usuallygrows up to be a bad man, and then he gets into a lot of trouble. Inthe elephant herd it is just the same; a bad little elephant grows upto be a bad big elephant; it is then called a _rogue_. In another bookI shall tell you how the President of the herd orders all the policeelephants to stand in a ring around the rogue and give him a mostawful spanking. And they do that, not with their trunks this time, butwith their _tusks_--which hurt most dreadfully. 

_How the Elephant Child is Bathed_

But now I shall tell you about the baby elephant when its Mamma callsit to come and be bathed. It comes to the edge of the bank, and standsfacing its Mamma. Then the Mamma fills her trunk with water, bringsthe trunk quite near the baby, and squirts the water all over it. 

The baby may howl and jump about and make faces, but it _never runsaway_! Again and again the Mamma squirts the water, till all the mudand dust of the jungle is washed away from the baby's body. Then shetells the baby to play about on the bank again, while she attends tothe bigger children. 

What has she got to do to them? She must teach them to swim!

Of course _all animals with four legs know how to swim naturally_;their bodies float in the water quite easily, and they have only towork their legs to move along in the water. But with elephants it is alittle different. Why? Just think!

I shall tell you. Although they can float quite naturally, their nosespoint downward right into the water. As I said before, the elephant'strunk is its nose--that is, the elephant has to _breathe through thetrunk_. So of course, if in trying to swim a little elephant kept itstrunk down in the water, it would not be able to breathe at all, andwould die. 

That is why the Mamma elephant has to teach her child how to swimproperly. And the way she does it is quite wonderful. 

I must first tell you that the trunk is not only like a nose to theelephant, but also is useful as a _hand_; the elephant can hold a lotof things with it, and can even pick up with its tip a tiny thing assmall as a pin. 

_How the Elephant Child Learns to Swim_

So the Mamma elephant stretches out her trunk before her, just like anarm, and tells her child to lie across it. In that way she holds upthe child in the water, so that the little elephant has only to thinkof curling up the tip of its own little trunk out of the water tobreathe. Then she tells her child to kick out with its legs, so as tomove forward through the water. 

But sometimes, in kicking out, the little elephant forgets to hold upthe tip of its trunk out of the water at the same time; then down goesits trunk into the water, and it cannot breathe!

Then what happens? The Mamma elephant can do nothing, as she isalready using her own trunk to hold up her child. So, what is to bedone?

Really, the elephants are so wise that they take no chances of thathappening. The Papa elephant takes care of that. When he sees that theMamma is teaching the little elephant how to swim, he always comesnear them. He may be swimming about, as if he were enjoying himself;but he is really watching them all the time. 

And if the little elephant forgets to hold up its trunk out of thewater, the Papa comes quickly, and with one upward stroke of his owntrunk he lifts up the little elephant's trunk clear out of the water. Is not that very wise and thoughtful of the Papa elephant?

In that way the little elephant soon learns to do _both_ things--thatis, to kick out with its legs so as to move along, and also to hold upits trunk to breathe. And then, of course, it can swim properly. 

And yet the elephants are so very wise that they never take the riskof tiring out a little elephant, if they have to swim a very long way. Sometimes a whole herd of elephants has to swim across a very wideriver. Then the Mamma elephant tells her child to swim in front ofher, while she encourages the child from behind with many fond words. 

But sometimes after swimming halfway across the river--

"Mamma, I am getting tired!" cries the little one. 

"Then come on my back, darling!" says the Mamma. 

She dives, and comes up right under the little elephant; so now herchild sits on her back. In that way she swims along, and carries herchild across the wide river, as you see in the picture. 

[Illustration: An Elephant Mamma Carrying her Child across the River]

CHAPTER IV. 

Elephants: The Tricks of the Jungle

Now I shall tell you how a little elephant learns all the tricks ofthe jungle from its Mamma and Papa. By the tricks of the jungle I meanall the things that an animal has to learn in order to get enough toeat every day, what to do when food is scarce, how to be comfortableand happy, and also how to escape from every danger; in fact, thesethings are very much like what men have to learn, only in a differentway. 

But the animal folks are better off in one way: what they have tolearn is not like a lesson in school, but just play. In fact theylearn everything by just playing it as a game! I shall tell you how. 

When a baby elephant is quite small, its Mamma has to feed it withmilk. Afterwards, when it has teeth, she teaches it to feed from thejungle. All elephants eat tender shoots, herbs, and fresh youngleaves; they seize a bough with the trunk, and pull it down in such away that the end of the bough reaches right into the mouth. 

_Elephant Child Learns to Feed_

First, the Mamma elephant eats like that from several boughs, whilethe little elephant watches her do it. Then she looks at a low boughwithin easy reach, and says in the elephant language, "Eat that!"

The little one looks at the bough, grabs it anyhow with its trunk, andpulls it down. But it cannot get the end of the bough _into itsmouth_! Instead, the bough pokes it on the forehead, or eyes, orcheeks. 

"Hold it straight!" says Mamma, laughing. 

The little one tries several times, but still it cannot get the boughto come right. Then its Mamma puts her own trunk over that of herchild, and turns it to right or left, till the bough comes exactlyinto the little elephant's mouth. 

"You must learn to use your trunk just like a _hand_, " she says. "Soyou must bend your trunk, or turn it, or twist it, to get the thingyou are holding exactly where you want it. "

And that is the first great thing the little elephant has tolearn--_how to use its trunk as we use our hands_. After thateverything else comes easy. 

Now I am going to tell you about the childhood of the most wonderfulelephant in the world, who actually lives to-day in the courtyard of apalace in India. He is the biggest elephant that ever was; that is whyhe lives in a grand palace, and does nothing except carry a King, orsome other great man, on his back on days of festival. 

In fact he was the leader among all the elephants in a long processionat a grand festival called the Durbar, held in honor of the King ofEngland. On that day a lovely cloth of silk woven with gold was put onthe elephant's back, and around his tusks were placed rings of solidgold studded with real diamonds, rubies, and pearls. 

At another time he carried on his back the Crown Prince of Germany, when he visited India a few years ago; and at other times he hascarried Grand Dukes of Russia and Arch Dukes of Austria when _they_visited India. 

So you see, he is quite the grandest elephant in the world. He has areal name, just like a man, and it is written down in books with thenames of all the grand officers of the palace. His name is SalarJung; so we shall call him Salar for short. 

He was born in the jungle, and his Papa and Mamma were quite wildthen. It was only after he grew up that Salar came to live in apalace. 

_Elephant Child "Swats" Tormenting Flies_

But now about Salar's early boyhood. After his Mamma had taught him toswim, to eat from the boughs of trees, and to drink for himself bydipping his trunk into the water, she had another useful thing toteach him. In the jungle there are swarms of tormenting flies; theycome buzzing around the elephants, and bother them, just as theybother us. Now, _we_ can whisk off the flies with our hands, but howabout an elephant?

Of course, you will say, his trunk is his hand; and so he can use thetrunk to slap the flies or whisk them off. True, but the trunk willnot reach more than halfway down the side of the body; and theelephant is too stiff to bend his body as we do; and his tail is tooshort to reach even a yard each way. Then how can he get rid of theflies where he cannot reach them? Just think!

If he only could make his trunk _longer_! But how could he do that?Very simply! Of course he cannot actually make the trunk longer, buthe breaks off a small bough of a tree and holds it at the end of histrunk; then he uses the bough like a fan, and whisks off, or brushesoff, the flies with it. 

And that is what Salar's Mamma taught him to do. After that he wasvery comfortable. 

Not quite; he had just one more thing to learn from his Mamma, to makehim quite comfortable. The sun gets very hot, and when the elephantsare feeding from tree to tree, or marching through the jungle, theyfeel the hot sun on their backs dreadfully--although they have a thickskin. 

Now, how could they guard themselves from the hot sun? Just think!

Why, just as _we_ do, you will say, by using a kind of umbrella! Ofcourse you mean that an elephant could break off a large bough, andhold it over his head and over his back! But his trunk would soon gettired of holding anything as big as that! Besides, he has to use histrunk all the time to feed! If _you_ had only one hand, you could noteat with it and at the same time hold an umbrella over your head withit! Then how _does_ the elephant manage it?

_Elephant Covers his Back from Hot Sun_

I shall tell you. He breaks off many small boughs, one at a time, andlays them on his back with his trunk; he is careful to lay them inproper order, and to criss-cross them, so that the boughs will notfall off. In fact, he tries to arrange them very much like thethatched roof of a cottage. That is very clever of him, is it not?

But then he does something else, still more clever! When a cottagerbuilds his thatched roof, he has to plaster the ceiling to prevent anyrain or sunshine from creeping in through the little spaces betweenthe thatches. So also the thatch on the elephant's back has many gaps, through which the hot sun can still beat down on his skin. So whatdoes he do to fill up the gaps?

He cannot do anything to _plaster_ his back; but I shall tell you whathe does do. He just draws into his trunk a lot of dust from theground; then he curls up the trunk over his back, and blows the dustover the gaps in the thatch on his back. Of course he has to do thatmany times to fill up all the gaps; but at last, when he does not_feel_ the sun any more, he knows that his back is quite covered. 

Is not that a very wonderful thing for the elephants to think out, allby themselves? And that is what Salar's Mamma taught him to do. 

But, a few years later, he came to the age when boys among men usuallyhave to go to school. Then Salar passed to the care of his Papa. Infeeding through the jungle, when all the elephants march and eat fromtree to tree, Salar walked with his Papa, and began to learn lessonsfrom him. And his Papa's way of teaching him was quite different fromthat of his Mamma, and often very funny!

_How Elephants Walk under Water_

The first thing he taught was at the stream at midnight. By this timeSalar could swim quite well; so he was enjoying himself with thegrown-ups. But his Papa kept watching him with the corner of his eye. Little by little he drew nearer and nearer to Salar, and waited tillthe youngster came to a part where the water was not at all deep. Thensuddenly his Papa gave Salar a butt with his head. Down went Salarunder the water, snorting and spluttering and hollering. 

"Hold up your trunk, you simp!" cried his Papa. 

But Salar was too frightened to remember to hold up his trunk; so hisPapa caught Salar's trunk in his own and hoisted it clear out of thewater. Then what was Salar's joy and surprise to find that he couldbreathe quite well, though his feet were actually touching the bottomof the stream. Of course he kicked out, and tried to get up to the topof the water again. But--

"Stay there!" cried his Papa, giving him another butt, though stillholding the youngster's trunk carefully out of the water. 

Then Salar lost all fear of the water; he was not a bit afraid ofbeing ducked, so long as the tip of his trunk was out of the water. Sohe learned to do a wonderful thing--he learned to remain completelyunder the water, so that his feet were actually resting on the bottomof the stream, with only the tip of his trunk out of the water. Noother animal can do that. 

And the most astonishing thing about it is that the elephants havetaught themselves to do that trick; so that _a whole herd ofelephants can walk into a stream in time of danger, and disappearfrom sight_, the smaller ones standing in the shallow parts, and thefull-grown ones standing in the deeper parts. 

I have known of lots of hunters, who were chasing a herd of elephantsand who saw the elephants run ahead toward a river, to find to theirsurprise, on reaching the river, that the whole herd had disappearedas if by magic. They saw nothing, and did not dream that the littlethings floating here and there, no bigger than your fist, could meananything. But of course they were the tips of the trunks of theelephants hidden under the water. 

To have thought out even that one trick for themselves proves that theelephants are the wisest of all animals, next after men folks. Andthey have thought out many more tricks, as I shall tell you very soon. 

But now I shall tell you the next trick that Salar's father taughthim. An elephant often has to break down trees in the jungle to cleara way for himself; or sometimes he has to do that to make an openspace where he can lie down comfortably. So this is the way Salar'sfather taught him to break down trees. 

_How Elephants Break Down or Pull Out Trees_

First he chose a small tree, not much thicker than your wrist; this hepulled out easily with his trunk, just as you might use your hand topull out a small shrub. Then he chose a tree about six inches thick. He tried it first carefully with his trunk; but the tree was toostrong to pull out in that way. 

So the old elephant put his foot on the side of the tree, and pressedwith all his weight--as you see in the picture. The tree bent more andmore, and then suddenly broke off near the ground with a loud crack. 

"I can do that!" cried Salar, frisking around his father, impatient toshow what _he_ could do. 

Salar looked around and saw a tree of about the same size. He made adash at the tree, put his right foot on it, and--

His father winked, but said nothing. For all elephants love a joke. 

Now the wily old elephant knew that this tree was a banana tree, although the fruit had not yet started growing on it. The tree lookedquite hard and strong, but it was really very soft and easy to break, like all banana trees. But Salar did not know that yet!

[Illustration: An Elephant Breaking a Tree with his Foot]

Instead, when he pressed on it with his foot and put his whole weighton it, just as he had seen his father do to the other tree, --snap wentthe tree like a twig, and Salar tumbled head over heels and wentrolling over the ground. 

"Haw! Haw! Haw!" laughed the merry old elephant. "Did I not show you, silly, how to try it first carefully, with your trunk, before puttingyour foot on it?"

"Of course you did!" Salar said, remembering. 

"That is what men folks mean when they say, 'You have put your footinto it. ' You must remember _never to put your foot into anythingbefore trying it first with your trunk_, " the old elephant went on tosay. "Now watch me knock down a still bigger tree. "

This tree was as thick as a man's body. After trying it first with histrunk and then with his foot, the wise old elephant put his back on itand _heaved_. Little by little the tree bent on that side, but notvery much. The elephant stopped heaving, came around and looked at thetree. Then he began to heave from the _other_ side of the tree. 

You have seen a man trying to loosen a nail from a board? He firsthits the nail on one side, and then on the other side; and he goes onhitting the nail from side to side, till it is quite loose. 

Well, that cunning old elephant did just the same thing to that tree;he first heaved the tree from one side, and then he heaved from theother side; and he went on heaving from side to side, till he loosenedthe tree from the ground. Then he pushed the tree with his foot, andit came out of the ground and fell with a loud thud. 

And that is how Salar learned to heave with his body, though of coursehe could not loosen so big a tree just yet. 

There were many other tricks that Salar learned from his father, and Ishall tell you one of the best of them in the next chapter. 

CHAPTER V

Elephants: The Tricky Trap

Salar and his father were going through the jungle, feeding from treeto tree, and from bush to bush. One day they saw a little clear spaceand in the middle of it a banana tree--just one tree. But beautifulbunches of ripe bananas were growing on it from a large stalk. 

Salar just loved bananas. In fact, all elephants do, as they cannotget them in the jungle more than once in many months; for bananas growmostly in plantations kept by men. So Salar ran toward the treejoyously. 

But the wise old elephant had seen at once that the space all aroundthe tree was rather level and clear of bushes. That was strange in thejungle, he thought!

Now, why did it look strange? Can _you_ tell? Why was it strange thatthe space should be all flat and level, and clear of bushes? Justthink!

Because in the jungle that was not natural! In the jungle the spaceshould be all covered with grass and bushes, or at least with smallshrubs of different sizes, just as you have seen in fields which areallowed to grow wild. So somebody must have _made_ the place level andflat, and cleared away the bushes! That is what the wise old elephantthought!

Then, also, he had seen that there was just _one_ banana tree, with noother anywhere near it. That also seemed strange! Why? Because bananatrees always grow in groups of many dozens, whether they are in thejungle or in a plantation. 

"Halt!" the old elephant cried, just in time. Salar was not more thanfive or six yards from the tree when he heard his father's voice. Ihave told you before that, when an elephant child is told to doanything by his Mamma or Papa, he obeys _at once_, or else he mightfall into some awful danger--just as a child in a town might get runover by an auto or a street car. 

So as soon as Salar heard his father's voice, he halted just where hewas. And that saved him, as you will see. 

_The Elephant Taps Suspicious Ground with his Trunk_

His father came up to him, and looked around carefully. Then he_tapped on the ground with the end of his trunk_. 

"An elephant must always tap with his trunk when he is coming tosuspicious ground, before he puts his foot on it, " he said to Salar. 

"What does suspicious ground mean?" Salar asked. 

"Ground where there might be danger, though you do not _see_ thedanger, " his father answered. 

He went on a couple of yards, tapping the ground before him all thetime. Then he suddenly stopped. 

"Gr-r-r-rump!" he cried, "it sounds strange and hollow!"

Most carefully he put his foot forward and _felt_ the ground with it, as an elephant always does when he thinks there is danger. Now theground _bent down_ a little just where he pressed it with his foot!

"I thought so!" he muttered. 

Then he felt most carefully all along the _front_ edge of the openspace, first tapping it with his trunk, then pressing on it with hisfoot--of course with the toe end of the foot. And all along that frontedge of the open space the ground bent down a little wherever hepressed it with his foot. 

Then he came to the _right side_ of the open space where the bananatree grew, and tried the ground there also along the edge. And thisground too bent down a little wherever he pressed it with his foot. 

He came to the _back_ of the open space, and tried it in the same way. And there also the ground bent down a little along the edge, whereverhe pressed it with his foot. 

He came around at last to the _left side_, and tried that also. Andthere again the ground bent down in the same way. 

"All four sides are suspicious!" he cried. "My son, this is _a mosttricky trap_!"

And though he did not see them, a dozen men were hiding in the tops oftrees all around. They were the hunters kept by a great Prince, whohad ordered them to catch the big elephant and also the young one. 

The hunters had first dug a huge pit. It was ten feet deep andtwenty-five feet wide on each side; so it was as big as a large room. Then they had covered the top of the pit by laying many long bamboosright across from side to side and very close to each other; so it wasjust like the roof of a large room. And on the top of the bamboos theyhad spread a layer of earth--just like what you have seen in flowerbeds in a garden; and on that they had planted grass, to make it lookquite natural--only, they forgot that it might look natural for agarden, but not for a wild jungle. Or perhaps they thought that anelephant would not know any better!

And then they had gone to a plantation and fetched from there a bananatree, with a huge bunch of ripe bananas on it. They had set up thetree in the middle of that space; and as it would not keep straight, they had first driven a long bamboo rod right through into the ground, and then tied the banana tree to the top of the rod. 

After doing all that, the hunters were hiding in the trees around. They were watching to see the big elephant and the little elephantcome right up to the banana tree to eat the bananas, and get caught!For if any elephant stepped upon that place, the top would give wayunder his full weight, and he would fall right through into the pit. 

But Salar's father grabbed him with his trunk, and pulled him away. 

"Come away!" he said. "This is a most hideous trap!"

But Salar, who loved bananas quite as much as you love ice cream, began to cry. 

"I want the bananas; I want them; I do, I do!" he kept saying over andover again. 

Now his Papa was very fond of Salar, but he did not know how to reachthe bananas and not fall into the pit. He and Salar walked homeslowly. 

"I must think it over a bit, " he said, scratching his head with abough. 

He came there the next day with Salar, and looked all around theplace; but he could think of no safe way to get the bananas. Thehunters also came there the next day, for by this time they were quiteexcited to see what the wily old elephant would do. In fact, it wasfrom the chief hunter of that Prince that I heard afterwards what theelephant did do. 

I must tell you here that these hunters had been watching the bigelephant for many years, and trying to catch him by different kinds oftraps; and that is how we know all about him and Salar. For when anelephant is very big and has fine tusks, people sometimes try for tenyears to catch him, so that he may be used as the leading elephant ofa grand palace. 

_Almost all the elephants you see in the zoo or in a circus were oncequite wild in the jungle_, and have been caught by some kind of trap. They are then tamed, and finally trained to do tricks that men wantthem to do. I shall tell you all about that in another book, when youare a little older. 

But now about Salar and his father. On the third day the big elephantcame there again, with Salar; and again the hunters came and hid inthe trees around. This time the big elephant looked farther into thejungle. Then he saw the long bamboos growing in a clump--the veryclump from which the hunters had got the bamboos to make the trap. Asthe elephant looked at the clump of bamboos, a thought came slowlyinto his head. 

He pulled out a long bamboo, and returned to the place where the trapwas. He stood just outside the trap, and thought again for some time. Then he held one end of the bamboo in his trunk, pointed the other endto the banana tree just where the stalk of the bunch began, and gave ajab. 

But he did not aim right, and the bamboo slipped off from the stalk. So he tried again, and gave another jab at the stalk. In this way, after trying many times, he managed at last to hit the stalk and breakit. Down fell the bunch of bananas to the ground. 

Meanwhile Salar was jumping around his father for joy. But his fathertold him to keep still. He had not succeeded in getting those bananasyet! How could he get them out of the place of danger?

It puzzled him a long time. He poked at the bunch with the bamboo, butthat only broke off one or two of the bananas. Then he poked at thestalk of the bunch, but the end of the bamboo slipped off it, as therewas nothing on the bamboo to grip the stalk with. 

So he drew back the bamboo and looked at that end of it, to see why itdid not grip the stalk. Of course the end of the bamboo was allsmooth, and could not grip anything at all. 

_Elephant Tricks the Tricky Trappers_

Then at last another thought seemed to come into the wise oldelephant's head. He put that end of the bamboo into his mouth andbegan to _chew_ it; for an elephant has very strong teeth at the backof his mouth. As his mouth was very big, that clever elephant chewedas much of the end of the bamboo as his mouth would hold--and that wasas long as your arm. So the end of the bamboo became like fibers, thatis, like a bunch of hair, only very thick and rough. 

[Illustration: Elephant Pulling Bananas out of a Tricky Trap]

Then that cunning elephant sat down on the ground and pushed thebamboo along the ground straight before him toward the bananas. Whenthe hairy end of the bamboo reached the stalk of the bananas, he beganto _twist_ the other end of the bamboo with the tips of his trunk; for_an elephant can use the tips of his trunk in the same way that youuse your fingers_. 

He twisted and twisted many times, taking care to keep the hairy endof the bamboo pressed against the stalk of the bananas. 

In this way the hairy end of the bamboo got knotted around the stalk. That was just what the wise old elephant wanted. 

Then he pulled the bamboo slowly along the ground, as you see in thepicture, taking care to give one or two more twists in case the knotscame undone. He pulled the bamboo lap by lap; that is, he pulled thebamboo for about a yard, then he let go and took hold of the bamboofarther up; he pulled again for another yard, and so on. In this wayhe at last pulled the bunch of bananas quite out of the trap. 

I need not tell you how he and Salar enjoyed that feast!

And the hunters, who were hiding in the trees around, laughed andlaughed at the trick the wily old elephant had played on them! For, asyou see, he got the bananas and yet escaped from that trap! He beatthe men at their own game!

But now I must tell you about other animals, --first about buffaloes. They are the brave knights who helped that timid little lady, the bluedeer. They are just as wonderful as the elephants, in their own way. 

CHAPTER VI

Buffaloes: The Knights of the Jungle

There are three or four kinds of buffaloes that live in differentcountries. The kind that lives in America you may have already heardabout. I am sorry to say that hunters have killed so many of them, that there are very few buffaloes left in the United States now; andthese few are kept in parks. 

So in this book I shall tell you about another kind of buffalo, thatlives in the jungles of India. These are the buffaloes that have tolive in herds just because they have to guard themselves from thetiger. Yet they are much bigger than all other kinds of buffaloes inthe world. Many of them are more than ten feet long, and a span tallerthan a tall man. 

They have two huge horns which stand outward, one from each side ofthe head. Each horn is at least a yard long; and there are somebuffaloes that have horns two yards long! (See the picture facing thenext page. )

So you can understand that this kind of buffalo is a strong and mightyanimal. But still, if just one buffalo tried to fight a tiger, thetiger could kill him every time. Why?

Because the tiger is much _quicker_ than the buffalo. The tiger couldjump to the side to escape the buffalo's horns. Then the tiger couldturn quickly, and strike the buffalo on the neck from behind. Andthough the buffalo's neck is very thick, the tiger himself is sostrong that he could break the buffalo's neck at one blow. 

So, to guard against the tiger, the buffaloes have to live togetherlike a band of soldiers, so that the tiger never gets the chance ofcatching just one buffalo alone. 

Now I shall tell you how these buffaloes live. They live in a part ofthe country where there is plenty of water, and lots of trees andgrass. There is sure to be a stream or two in the jungles there, likethe one where we saw the buffaloes drinking at midnight. 

When the buffaloes are feeding in the jungle, and wandering here andthere to find good grass to eat, they always try to remain somewherenear one of these streams. 

Why do they do that? To drink, of course. 

[Illustration: The Buffalo that lives in India]

And as the country is hot, they may want to drink more than once inthe day. 

Still, there is another reason why they like to be near water. Can youtell what it is?

"To bathe in the water, when it is hot, " you may say. 

That is quite true; the buffaloes do enjoy a good bath. In fact, theylike to remain in the water for a long time, when the sun is very hot. Then they lie down in the shallow part, and remain neck deep in thewater. And every now and again they dip their heads in the water tokeep them cool. 

But even when the sun is not at all hot, when the sky is cloudy, thebuffaloes like to go into a stream or a pond. Why?

"Of course to wash themselves, and make themselves clean, " you maysay. 

_Buffaloes Cover Body with Mud against Flies_

No, my dear, you are wrong this time! Like some little boys, buffaloesdo not _want_ to make themselves clean! In fact, the buffaloes go intothe stream or the pond to _cover themselves with mud_! To _wallow_, asit is called. They do that by rolling in the mud where the water isshallow. 

And why do they want to cover themselves with mud? Because of thetormenting flies! Buffaloes of this kind do not have long hair ontheir necks, like the American buffaloes. In fact, they do not havemuch hair anywhere on their bodies--just like the ordinary cows whichyou have seen near your home. So they are very much tormented by theflies. 

I have told you that an elephant can "swat" the flies with a boughwhich he holds in his trunk. But the buffalo has no trunk, and histail can whisk off the flies for only a yard around. So, what can thebuffalo do to guard other parts of his body from the flies?

The only thing he can do is to go down into the mud, roll about, andcover himself with the mud. Then he does not feel the flies at all, even if they swarm all over him. And he need not trouble to work histail at all, as he is protected all over by the mud. 

And when he comes out to feed again, if the sun happens to be very hotat that time, he does not mind it. Why? Because the mud on his bodykeeps off the sun. So, you see, the mud is useful to the buffalo intwo ways. 

But now come with me into the jungle while I show you all that thebuffaloes do. 

You must _imagine_ that I am taking you quietly through the jungle, where the buffalo herd is grazing right ahead of us. We are followingthem from behind. You must be careful not to make a sound. If youshould tread on a rotten twig, the buffaloes would hear the sound asfar away as a quarter of a mile. 

In another book I shall tell you why all animals that keep their _earsclose to the ground_ while they are feeding can _hear a sound a longway off_. 

But now let us hide behind this bush for a minute, and watch the herd. They are eating the grass as they walk along. But do you see thewonderful way in which they are arranged? It is just like the shape ofthe moon when it is new, that is, something like the letter C, andwhich we call a crescent. 

You saw at the midnight pool that, when the buffaloes drink or march, they are in rows close together, like soldiers. But when they areeating grass, they could not be in rows; because then they would betoo close together to pick out the best bits of grass. So, how couldthey have enough to eat, and yet guard themselves from danger? To dothis they thought of arranging themselves in the form of a crescent. 

_How Buffaloes Guard against Tiger while Feeding_

It is a big crescent, as there are so many buffaloes that make it up. The ends of the crescent bend in toward each other, just as if the twotips of the letter C were to close up a little, leaving only a smallopening between the tips. 

The buffaloes have their faces toward the _outside_ of the crescent. So, as we are following the buffaloes from behind, we are looking atthem through the gap between the tips. 

There are only bulls in the line making up the crescent; the cows andthe calves come behind them, so that they are _inside_ the crescent. So you see, while the buffaloes are grazing and moving along, if theymeet any danger, the Papa buffaloes will face the danger. And as theMammas and the children are inside the crescent, they are quite safe. 

This is the way the buffaloes feed and move along:

The Papas on the outside of the crescent tear off a mouthful of grass, with one or two bites, and walk on a step or two while they aremunching the mouthful. Then, with another bite or two, they take afresh mouthful and walk on a step or two while they are munching that. In this way they leave enough grass for the Mammas and the youngbuffaloes that are following them. 

But now let us come out of this thicket, and go after the herd veryquietly from behind. We shall see some wonderful things. 

You notice at once that the Mammas and the children do not show anyfear at all, as they graze along; they are quite sure that the Papasare taking good care of them all the time. The little ones even playabout here and there. 

See that very young calf! He is playing about near the middle of thespace. He is only a few weeks old, and not much bigger than the calfof the ordinary cow. Watch and see how playful he is! He is just likeany other calf. His Mamma is grazing along quietly, and he is nowstanding still for a minute, looking at nothing. A calf and a baby cando that quite well--just stare, and yet look at nothing. 

But now this buffalo calf rushes to his Mamma very suddenly, and hasa mouthful of milk. He does not seem to want more than a mouthful at atime. So he looks up suddenly, and stares. Then just as suddenly heplunges into a frantic race over the ground, all by himself. 

The race also ends suddenly--after going only ten yards. Then he stopsthere for a minute, stares, and trots back to his Mamma for anothermouthful of milk. After that he looks up again for a minute, stares atnothing, and plunges into another mad gallop all by himself. 

So you see that he spends his time doing two things--having a mouthfulof milk, and then a mad gallop. And he does both very suddenly. Helikes to have his joys suddenly. 

A kitten or a puppy dog is different, and is nearly always doingsomething. It tumbles head over heels, or chases its own tail, orkeeps frisking about in some way or other most of the time. But thebuffalo calf is not like this; and when you see him standing quitestill, staring at nothing, you can never tell whether he is going tobe hungry for a mouthful of milk the next minute, or whether he isgoing to break into a frantic race. 

But, you may ask, while he and all the other calves are playing aboutlike that, is there no danger?

No, there is no danger, for the Papas are taking good care of theMammas and the children, as I have told you before. 

But, you may say, the Papas do not seem to be doing anything; they arejust feeding and moving along. Then how are they taking care of theMammas and the children?

Yes, but look carefully! See how close the horn of one Papa is to thehorn of the next one! Why, there is not more than a couple of yardsbetween the two! If there were any sudden danger, it would not takemore than two or three steps for them to close up, and stand horn tohorn. 

_How Buffaloes Know Danger is Coming--Three Ways_

"But how could they _know_ if any danger were coming?" you may stillask. 

They could know it in three ways: they could _smell_ the danger, or_hear_ it, or _see_ it. I shall tell you how they do all that. 

First, if the danger came from the direction in which the wind wasblowing, they would sniff the air, and so _smell_ the danger. If thedanger were a tiger, the buffaloes could smell him half a mile off;that is about as far as ten blocks in a city. And if the wind were notblowing that way, the buffaloes could still smell the tiger fiveblocks away. They could smell the tiger, or any other danger, even ifit came from behind. 

The second way of finding out the danger is to _hear_ it. As I said alittle while ago, if you should put your foot on a rotten twig, thebuffaloes could hear the sound of it as far off as five blocks. Andeven if the danger came from behind, or from the side, or fromanywhere, they could still hear it coming, if it made the least bit ofsound that you and I could not hear. 

The third way of finding out the danger is to _see_ it. The buffaloesdo that by keeping a lookout nearly all the time. I shall show youhow. 

Just watch for a minute the buffalo in the middle of the crescent; heis the leader of the herd. We can see him only from the back; but ashe is the biggest and tallest buffalo there, we can make him out quiteeasily. He is grazing quietly, and then moving along. 

But see, what is he doing now? Why, he is looking up, straight aheadof him! No, he sees no danger there. So he gives a glance to hisright, and then to his left. No, there is no danger there either. Sohe puts down his head, and starts feeding again. 

Thus, you see, every now and again he looks to see that no danger iscoming from anywhere in _front_ of the herd. 

But what if any danger came from the _side_ of the herd, --right nearthe end of the crescent, --or even from the _back_ of the herd?

_Buffalo Sentinels_

Let us see what the two buffaloes at the two ends of the crescent aredoing. They are the watchers, or _sentinels_, as they are sometimescalled. They keep a lookout nearly all the time. 

Do you see the one on our left? After every two or three mouthfuls hestops, and takes a look around; he even looks right to the back. Thenhe takes four or five strides to catch up with the herd, and startsgrazing again. Then in a minute or two he takes another look around inthe same way. 

And the sentinel on our right is doing just the same. Yes, the herd isquite safe; the two sentinels are sure to see if any danger comesfrom their side or from the back. 

"But will not the sentinels have less to eat, if they are watchinghalf the time?" you may ask. 

Yes, that is quite true. So all the Papa buffaloes take turns beingsentinels. After a while the two sentinels from the ends move uptoward the middle, and the next ones then begin to keep watch. Andthey keep changing places like that from day to day. That makes itquite fair for everybody. 

When they go to sleep also they are arranged in the form of acrescent; but the two ends are closed up, so that the Papas make aring, while the Mammas and the children sleep inside the ring. 

When the Papas lie down, they are closer together than when they arefeeding; and they still keep their heads pointed to the outside of thering, so that they can get up in a minute, and be quite ready to driveoff any tiger. Of course they have sentinels keeping watch all thetime. 

But now let us see other wonderful things that the buffaloes do, whilethey are feeding. 

We must be very careful how we follow the herd. The ground is nowchanging, and getting quite rough; so the grass is getting scarce hereand there. The buffaloes have not enough grass all the way; so theyhave to walk on a few yards without eating, till they come to the nextpatch. 

Some of the buffaloes are even having a bite at fresh young shrubs inpassing, as they will eat anything green, when they have not enoughgrass. 

But see! The buffaloes are spreading out, as there are not even enoughshrubs in one place. You can see gaps in the line of buffaloes now. And the gaps are getting bigger and bigger! Let us watch a fewminutes. 

Now the gaps are very wide, as some of the buffaloes are laggingbehind; and some are turning too much to the side in trying to reach amouthful from a shrub or a bush here and there. 

Why, what is happening now? Some of the buffaloes cannot even see oneanother now, because of the bushes between them! What are thesentinels doing? And what is the leader doing? Suppose a tigersuddenly comes--

But do you _hear_ that?

"Moo! Moo!"

That is the leader. He has just found out that the herd is spread outtoo far; so he is calling. He is saying, "Where are you?"

"Moo! Moo!" Do you hear that answer? It comes from the sentinel on theright, who is very far away now; but still he has heard the call. Hisanswer means, "Here I am!"

And "Here I am!" comes the answer also from the sentinel on the left. 

"Then close up!" cries the leader. 

Each sentinel moves up toward the place from which he heard theleader's voice come. And on his way there he tells all the buffaloeshe meets to move up also. Besides, all the buffaloes hear the leader'svoice too; so they begin to close up at once. 

Is not that a wonderful way of bringing up all those that are laggingbehind?

But let us watch the herd again. They have closed up now, and there isno big gap in their line. The ground is level again. 

Let us move on from thicket to thicket, and come as near the buffaloesas we can. 

What is that? See! The sentinel on the right is looking hard at thatjungle grass far away to the side. This kind of jungle grass growsvery tall, taller than a man. But why is the sentinel staring at thetall grass? What does he see there?

Yes, there, far away, something is happening! The jungle grass iswaving gently, but just in one place! What is making the tall grasswave like that? Is it the wind? No, it cannot be the wind! Why not?Because if it were the wind, _all_ the grass there would wave. Thenwhat is making the tall grass wave in just one place?

It can be only one thing! Some _animal_ is hiding there in the tallgrass! And as the animal is coming nearer and nearer to the buffaloes, he is making the grass wave!

See, the sentinel has guessed that also! What is he doing now? Can you_hear_ him? He gives a bellow, deep and long. 

"Danger! Look out!" That is what he means. 

The whole herd hears him. They all close up as near together as theycan!

Quick! Let us get up on that tree near by! _We_ are in danger as wellas the buffaloes!

One branch higher--and another! Now we are quite safe! But see whatthe buffaloes are doing!

_Buffaloes Make a Ring when Tiger Comes_

The two ends of the crescent have come close together, and all thePapa buffaloes have made a perfect ring around the Mammas and thechildren. The Papas are facing the outside of the ring; so they canmeet the danger from whatever side it comes. 

Why do they do that? Look again at the grass! The tall grass is wavingnearer and nearer. So, the animal that is in the grass is comingnearer and nearer. 

He comes right to the end of the tall grass. There he makes a gap inthe grass, and walks out into the open. It is a tiger!

He was trying to sneak up to the buffaloes; but the sentinel foundthat out. And now the bull buffaloes are ready for him. The tigergrowls in rage. He prowls round and round the ring of bull buffaloes, as you see in the picture. But he dare not try to break through thosehorns. 

He roars with fury, shaking the ground; it is just like thunder. Thejungle around is taking fright at the roar. See! All the small animalsrush out in fright--wild pigs, wild goats, and all sorts of smalldeer. 

[Illustration: The Tiger and the Ring of Buffaloes]

In their fright they run hither and thither very stupidly. That isexactly why the tiger roars--he wants to make the small animals behaveso stupidly, in their fright, that some of them may make a mistake andrun straight into his jaws. 

See! The small animals scatter to right and left, trying to reach abush or thicket. But some are cut off from safety, as the tiger standsin their way. What can they do?

_Small Animals Find Safety in Buffalo Ring_

Yes, there is the ring of buffaloes! So those small animals rushstraight toward the ring and creep inside--and the buffaloes raisetheir heads to make a way for them under the horns. Some of them, likethe wild goats, jump _over_ the buffaloes' horns to get inside thering. Anyway, the small animals reach safety inside with the Mammasand the children of the buffaloes. 

The tiger stands outside the ring, and still roars in fury. But nownobody is afraid. The bull buffaloes paw the ground impatiently withtheir hoofs, and rattle their horns. They are going to charge!

But that tiger does not wait for the charge. He does not want to betrampled into a mess. So he slouches away, growling and snarling. 

So, as you see, the bull buffaloes guard the Mammas and the childrenfrom danger, and they also guard all small and weak animals that cometo them for safety. 

Did I not tell you that the buffaloes are the Knights of the Jungle?

[Illustration: Tame Water Buffaloes Plowing in the Rice Fields]

CHAPTER VII

Taming the Buffalo

Buffaloes do not always remain wild and wander about in the jungle. Men need buffaloes. Farmers want to use them for plowing the ground, in the same way that farmers in America use horses for plowing. 

This kind of buffalo also lives in Italy, and because they are so fondof water they are called _water buffaloes_ there. But in Italy theyare not wild any more, as they have been tamed and used by men for along time. 

I shall tell you how the men catch the buffaloes from the jungle inIndia, where they are still wild. 

They catch the buffaloes in many ways. The easiest way is to find somestream or pond where the buffaloes are fond of going. Then the mentake strong nets made of ropes, and spread the nets under the water. So when the buffaloes come to bathe or roll in the mud, some of themare caught in the nets. 

Then the men rush in from their hiding place and drag out the nets. Ofcourse, those buffaloes which are not caught run away. But those thatare caught struggle fiercely. After a time they get tired ofstruggling, as the nets are too strong for them to break. 

When the buffaloes have become very weak from struggling, a lot of menrush up and tie a stout rope around the neck of each buffalo. The ropehas two ends, one on each side of the buffalo, and each end is quitelong. 

A dozen men haul at the rope, and the buffalo has to get up and marchwith them. In this way the men bring the buffaloes one by one to thevillage. 

How do the men tame the buffaloes? That is quite easy, if they alreadyhave a few tame buffaloes which they may have caught and tamed sometime before. And as the people have been doing this for many, manyyears, they always have some tame buffaloes. So this is the way themen treat the wild buffaloes:

_Wild Buffaloes Tamed Quickly by Kindness_

They put the wild buffaloes and the tame ones together in a pen, orcorral. Inside the corral there is a pond. In the deep part of thepond there is plenty of good water to drink; and in the shallow partof the pond there is plenty of mud in which the buffaloes may rollabout and wallow. 

The men keep the buffaloes there together for many days, the wild onesand the tame ones. Every day the men throw into the corral plenty offresh grass, which the buffaloes can eat all day. 

Now, what more could the wild buffaloes want? They could not betreated any better! They have plenty to eat, plenty to drink, andplenty of mud in which to wallow. The tame buffaloes soon make friendswith them, and talk to them in their own language. 

"You will not be any better off in the jungle, " the tame ones say tothe wild ones. "Here you do not have to walk about all day to getenough to eat, and then walk a good way to find water to drink, or aplace in which to wallow. And, also, we have no fear of tigers here. What more do you want?"

So in a few weeks the wild ones become quite tame. Still, even afterthat, the old and the new ones are always kept together, and soon theybecome like one herd. 

Afterwards, when the farmers use them for plowing, they always hitchto the plow one buffalo that has been tame for a long time, and onethat is newly-tamed. Then it becomes easy for the new one to learn thework by just doing as his friend does. 

The farmer uses the buffaloes for plowing for only a few hours, and hegives them plenty of time for wallowing and enjoying themselves. So, even if they have to do a little work, the new buffaloes soon see thatthey are really much better off living in the village than runningwild in the jungle. 

After the plowing season is over, the buffaloes have no work at all. They can wallow all day, if they want to. 

When all the new buffaloes are quite tame, they are not kept in thecorral any more, as they would never think of running away now. Theyare allowed to lie about and sleep in a little plot of groundsomewhere in the village. By daytime they are taken out into thefields outside the village, and allowed to graze as they please; andas there is always a stream or a pond near, the buffaloes can go intothe water or the mud whenever they like. 

So, as you understand, the buffaloes very soon become quite tame. Why?Because they are treated kindly. Please remember that. _Most wildanimals can be tamed if treated kindly. _

Now I am coming to the nicest part about the buffaloes. It is thenicest part because it shows how the buffaloes can even be made tolove us. 

I have just told you that the buffaloes are taken out into the fieldsto graze. Well, then, somebody has to do that in the morning, andsomebody has to bring them home in the evening. 

Can you tell who does that? Why, there is a herdsman to do it, you maysay. Quite true. But the herdsman does not bother to do a simple thinglike that every day. 

_Little Boys Take Charge of Buffaloes_

Then who does it? I shall tell you. The little boys of the village!They are about five or six years of age. They are not old enough to goto school, and not old enough to do any work; so they can play allday. 

The most useful thing they can do is to take charge of the buffaloes. The boys soon learn all the buffalo calls--"Come out to graze, " "Cometo wallow, " or "Come home now. " And the wonderful thing is that thesehuge animals soon learn to obey these calls. When the boys call tothem, the buffaloes do just as they are ordered. 

The buffaloes soon learn to love the little boys. You know how fond ofus an animal can become--especially a dog or a horse. Still, I do notthink that any animal can show such love for us as the huge buffaloesdo for the little boys who act as their herdsmen. 

Why? Because the little boys _share the same mud_ with the buffaloes!Boys and buffaloes mix very well with mud! The little boys tumbleabout in the mud on the side of the bank where the buffaloes may bewallowing. Or the boys will splash about in the water where thebuffaloes are lying neck deep to keep cool. Or they will climb up onthe buffaloes' backs for a while, then tumble off and play again. 

Even when the buffaloes are grazing in the field, the boys may be nearthem, playing hide and seek, and running in and out between thebuffaloes' legs, or under their horns. So the boys are with thebuffaloes all day long. 

_How the Big Buffaloes Love the Little Boys_

It is quite wonderful to see a little boy actually twisting a hugebuffalo's tail. As I have told you, a buffalo is often more than tenfeet long, and taller than a tall man; and it has horns that reachout more than a yard from each side of the head. This huge animalcould charge and smash up a big wagon as easily as if it were a matchbox; and yet he will stand still and let his tail be twisted by anylittle tot in the village. 

Sometimes you may see a sight like this: A huge buffalo is grazinghungrily, and a little boy comes up and stands right in front of him. 

"Put up your head!" says the boy. But the buffalo goes on feedinghungrily. 

"Put up your head, or I will spank you!" says the boy. But the buffalostill goes on feeding hungrily. 

Then that tot raises his small hand and spanks the huge buffalo on thejaw. The buffalo puts up his head, and rubs his nose lovingly againstthe boy. 

Well, why not? You have seen a baby pulling his Papa's hair. The Papajust loves the baby all the more for it. So it is with the buffalo andthe little tot. And it would not matter a bit whether the tot were alittle boy or a little girl. The big buffalo is fond of both. 

And now I shall tell you a wonderful true story about a buffalo and aboy. 

CHAPTER VIII

The Buffalo and the Boy

In a village there were many tame buffaloes, and among them thirtybull buffaloes. The little boys of the village took charge of themevery day. The smartest boy among them was called Gulab. He was sixyears of age. 

Gulab knew quite well each of the thirty bull buffaloes, and was afriend of each. Sometimes he alone had charge of them, and took themout to graze and to wallow. That was because his father was theherdsman. 

The buffaloes loved Gulab, and they did exactly as he told them to do. When he was going to take them to the fields, he would just stamp hislittle bare foot and call out to them "Stand in rows!" And the hugeanimals would stand in rows, one line behind another. 

Then Gulab would come around to the side, and see if each line wasstraight. If the line was not quite straight, and a buffalo happenedto be standing too much this way or that, Gulab would walk up to thebuffalo and spank him on the jaw. Then the buffalo would move intoline, exactly as Gulab wanted him to do. Or, if a buffalo happened tobe standing too far behind, Gulab would come around to the back andtwist the buffalo's tail, and the buffalo would move up into line. 

Then, when the whole herd was in the right order, Gulab would come tothe front of the herd, and walk up to the biggest bull. 

"Bend down your head, Baldo!" he would order. 

And Baldo, the biggest bull, in the middle of the front line, wouldbend down his head, and Gulab would climb up by one of the horns, scramble up Baldo's neck, and sit down on his back. 

"March!" Gulab would order--and the whole herd would march. 

Now, a few miles away there was a grand palace. In the palace was alittle Prince, whose father was a Rajah--that is, a kind of king. Thelittle Prince's birthday was coming, and his father ordered grandfeasts for many days. 

The Rajah had six English friends, who were quite big men. TheEnglishmen were very fond of tiger hunting, so the Rajah wanted toorder a tiger hunt for them. But it is not easy to have a tiger huntjust when you want to have it. Why not? Because the tiger will _not_come out and be hunted just when you want him to. He would rather stayin his den. 

So for a few days no one heard of a tiger prowling about. Thensuddenly a strange piece of news came from that village where Gulablived. It happened in this way:

One day Gulab took out the buffaloes to graze and to wallow. Thebuffaloes lay down in the shallow water for a while, and Gulabsplashed about or tumbled in the mud near them. Then he got tired ofdoing that, and came out on the bank and played about there for awhile. 

Suddenly he heard a strange sound. It was one of the buffaloes, whohad stood up in the water and was giving a low, deep bellow. Two orthree other buffaloes stood up also, and gave a low, deep bellow. Thenall at once the whole lot of them began to come out of the water. 

Gulab stopped in his play to see what was wrong. But he could seenothing. 

"What's the matter, Baldo?" he asked. "What's wrong, Chando?"

But the two biggest bulls scrambled up the bank, and came rushingtoward the boy. All the other bulls came also, and some went past himon the right side, and some went past him on the left side. Thensuddenly Gulab knew what it all meant!

A snarl--a growl--a roar, he heard. A flash of yellow leaped out ofthe jungle, and came toward him with a huge jump. It was a tiger!

But already the buffaloes were making a ring around Gulab. Then heknew what had happened. The tiger had seen him from the jungle beyond, and had been trying to creep up to him quietly from thicket tothicket. But the buffaloes had _smelled_ the tiger in time, and hadrun out of the pond to save Gulab. And now they had made a ring aroundhim. 

Gulab stood in the ring and looked with large round eyes, for he wasmore frightened than he had ever been in his life. He was only alittle boy, and had never seen a tiger face to face. 

The tiger growled and snarled and roared. Then it came round and roundthe ring, trying to find a gap between the horns to get at the boy. But there was no gap between the horns. 

Then little by little the fear left Gulab's heart. Something insidehim told him to be brave. He walked up to Baldo. 

"Baldo, let me up!" Gulab said to him, standing behind the buffalo. And Baldo lowered his body behind, and bent his hind legs at theknees. 

Gulab took hold of Baldo's tail in both hands, and put his foot onBaldo's hind knee, which was now bent quite low. In that way Gulabclimbed up to the buffalo's back, and sat on it, holding on to Baldo'sshoulders. 

Then, being quite safe on the buffalo's back, Gulab glanced around andcalled to the buffaloes at the back of the ring, "Open out!" And thebuffaloes opened out at the back of the ring, and made a crescent. Then they moved still farther around, and the crescent became one longline, facing the tiger. 

Gulab gave one glance to right and left, to see that all were ready. Then--

"Charge, brothers, charge!" he cried to the buffaloes. 

Then his big brothers, the buffaloes, charged with thundering hoofsand fiery nostrils. The tiger gave a huge leap to the side to getaway; but the buffaloes on that side opened out and headed off thetiger. On to the front again the tiger was forced to turn--and run forhis life before the furious herd. 

The buffaloes chased and chased that tiger, across field and jungle, over hedges and ditches, through brambles and bushes and thickets, till at last the tiger jumped across a ravine and ran away growlingand howling and snarling, like a low thief who is chased out of avillage at night. 

The ravine was a deep hollow in the ground, like a huge ditch; and itran all the way across the ground; so the buffaloes could not get overit, as they cannot jump as far as a tiger. Then the buffaloes returnedto the village, and Gulab gave the news about the tiger. 

Some of the village people ran to the palace, and said that the tigermight be still hiding somewhere on the other side of the ravine. Sothe six Englishmen went around to that side to hunt the tiger. Theyfound him and wounded him four or five times. But it takes a lot morethan that to kill a tiger. The tiger ran out, got past the hunters, and came back again across the ravine. Here he hid in a dense thicket, and would not come out and be hunted to please anybody. 

Now, when a tiger is hiding in a thicket and will not come out and behunted, there is only one way to _make_ him come out. 

What is that way? Can you tell?

Why, of course, the bull buffaloes!

So the herdsman brought up the thirty bull buffaloes, and drew them upin a long line in front of the thicket. And on the other side of thethicket the six Englishmen got up into trees, and pointed their gunsat the thicket. 

Then the herdsman ordered the buffaloes to charge, and they chargedright through the thicket, trampling it down and cutting it up intolanes; so the tiger _had_ to run out on the other side. But on thatside the six Englishmen were waiting for him; and they all fired atthe tiger at once, and all hit him. They used a kind of bullet thatbroke up into a hundred pieces right inside the tiger. 

But the tiger still kicked and kicked, and would not agree to be deadat once, as any other animal would. People say that a cat has ninelives; then a tiger must have ninety-nine lives. So this tiger jumpedabout, torn up as he was, and glared at the Englishmen in the trees, trying to get at them, while they were loading their guns for anothershot. 

But the buffaloes went on charging, and caught up with the tiger. Theyrushed upon him, and now the torn-up tiger could not get away. So thebuffaloes trampled upon him, and then the tiger agreed to lie stilland be dead, really and truly. 

The six Englishmen began to climb down from the trees, as they thoughtthe excitement was all over. But the herdsman called out to them atonce:

"Please go up again--quick! Don't let my buffaloes see you!"

For I must tell you now that buffaloes do not like strangers. They maybe very fond of their own friends in the village; but if they shouldsee a stranger, they would charge him just as quickly as they wouldcharge a tiger. And the Englishmen would look quite strange to thebuffaloes. 

So the Englishmen remembered that, and stayed up in the trees till thebuffaloes were taken away. 

The buffaloes were taken to the pond; and as the herdsman would notbother to stay with them there, he left the buffaloes in the pond todo as they pleased till evening. 

The six Englishmen had their lunch there, when they got down from thetrees. They gave their guns to their servants, to carry away to thepalace. Afterwards the Englishmen walked about, smoking their cigars, as they did not want to return to the palace so soon. 

But four or five hours passed, and still they had not come back to thepalace. It was nearly evening, and still they had not come. 

And in the village Gulab said to his Papa, who was the herdsman, "Papa, I shall bring the buffaloes home now. "

He went to the pond. But the buffaloes were not there! He shouted, whistled, and gave all the buffalo calls he knew. But no answer!

He looked about, and searched everywhere, but he could not see thebuffaloes. What had become of them?

Then he happened to look far to the side, toward a lot of tall trees. Something was happening under the trees! He could see a lot of thingsmoving there, but he was too far away to see what they were. 

He ran toward the trees. Yes, they were the buffaloes! But why werethey there? And why were they behaving like that?

For he saw that they were pawing the ground angrily, and tossing theirheads and rattling their horns. And what was very strange, thebuffaloes were not looking at anything on the ground in front ofthem. They were looking _up_, at the trees!

Then Gulab glanced up into the trees, and saw at once why thebuffaloes were behaving like that. But he did not waste a minute. Heran to the buffaloes, shouting:

"Down, Baldo! Down, Chando!"

But the two biggest bulls and all the others glared at the trees andsnorted in fury. 

"Down!" Gulab shrieked. "Down, or I shall spank you!"

He rushed to Baldo, and spanked him on the jaw. He rushed to Chando, and spanked him on the jaw. He rushed from buffalo to buffalo, andspanked each one on the jaw. 

Then the huge animals that had charged the raging tiger, and that werenow fierce themselves, obeyed the little boy. They blinked, then oneby one lowered their heads. Gulab climbed up by Baldo's horns, andseated himself on his back. 

"Now turn around, all!" he ordered. And the buffaloes slowly turnedaway from the trees. 

Gulab looked back over his shoulder, and said to the six Englishmenwho were up in the trees: "You may come down now. My buffaloes won'thurt you a bit, because if they try to I will spank them!"

Then the little boy took away the buffaloes, and the six bigEnglishmen came down from the trees quite safely. 

And now, do you understand what had happened? I shall tell you. TheEnglishmen had forgotten what the herdsman had told them--aboutkeeping away from the buffaloes. The Englishmen had walked about, andhad finally come near the pond where the buffaloes were. 

Then the buffaloes had come out and charged them. The Englishmen hadrun and run, and had just managed to reach the trees. But thebuffaloes had come there after them! So the big Englishmen had to stayup in the trees, and wait for some little village boy to come and takeaway the furious buffaloes. 

I have told you this story, my dear (and it is a true story) just toshow you what kind of an animal the buffalo is--at least, this sort ofbuffalo. Even when he is furious, he will do anything for the littleboy whom he loves. 

But as it is a true story, I must tell you one more thing thathappened--and I am sure you will be delighted to hear about it. Thesix Englishmen went to the palace, and laughed and laughed, and toldall about it to the little Prince whose birthday it was. 

Then the Rajah, who was the little Prince's father, said that Baldoand Chando should not be made to plow any more, or do another bit ofwork in their lives. Why? Because Baldo and Chando had first helped tosave Gulab from the tiger at the pond, and then afterwards they hadhelped to hunt the tiger. 

So after that, Baldo and Chando were allowed to walk about the villageas they pleased, and nibble at anybody's hay or grass, and splash inanybody's pond, and wallow in anybody's ditch, rut, or mire. 

And what was little Gulab's reward for saving the six Englishmen?Well, the little Prince, whose birthday it was, came and took Gulab bythe hand, and brought him to the grand palace, and gave him lots andlots to eat--cakes and ice cream and candy--so that Gulab went homethat night very full and very happy. 

CHAPTER IX

Deer and Antelope

The buffalo has many relatives among other animals which also have_horns_. In fact, all animals that have horns are some relation toeach other--first cousin, second cousin, third cousin, and so on. 

The buffalo's nearest relatives are the ordinary cows and bulls thatyou see in the fields. 

"But the sheep and the goat also have horns, " you may say. "Are theyalso cousins?"

Yes, they are. In the same way the _deer_ and the _antelope_ are alsocousins to each other. I am now going to tell you about them. 

The deer and the antelope are not exactly the same kind of animal, asyou might perhaps think. As I said, they are only cousins. If you lookat them carefully in the pictures on pages 103 and 109 you will seewhich is the antelope and which is the deer--just as you can tell asheep from a goat. 

[Illustration: AntelopePhotograph of a group in the American Museum of Natural History, New York]

First see the picture on page 103. These are _antelope_. Look at thehorns carefully. They are something like a cow's horns; only, acow's horns are sometimes bent and twisted in different ways. But theantelope's horns point upward, and are much longer than a cow's horns. They sometimes look almost like a pair of long and thick spikes, pointed at the top. 

Now look at the picture on page 109. These are _deer_. Look at thehorns carefully--only, they are not called horns when the animal is adeer, but _antlers_, which is a special name. So take a good look atthe deer's antlers. There are two of them, and they grow from the topof his head, like the antelope's horns. 

But look again. The antlers _start_ from the head as _two_ spikes, buthigher up each antler branches out into _many_ parts. In fact, nearthe top each antler looks something like the branches of a small treewithout leaves. 

So now you can always tell which is an antelope and which is a deer:the antelope's horns have no branches, but the deer's antlers havemany branches. 

_Horns and Antlers Different in Three Ways_

The antelope's horns and the deer's antlers are also different inother ways, which you cannot see in the pictures. So I shall tell youabout them:

1. The antelope's horns are _hollow_ inside, and made of the same kindof thing as the _hoofs_ or _nails_ of an animal, only they are thickerand harder. But a deer's antlers are _solid_, and made of _bone_. 

2. Both the Papas and the Mammas among antelopes have horns. But amongmost kinds of deer, only the Papas have the antlers; the Mammas havenone. 

3. Among antelopes, when once the Papas and the Mammas have growntheir horns, they keep them always. But among deer, the Papas throwaway their antlers every year, and grow _new ones_. That seems verywonderful! I shall tell you more about it soon. 

But now I shall tell you, little by little, all the wonderful thingsthe deer and the antelope can do. I shall begin with the deer, asthere are many kinds of deer in America. 

Of course, in America there are not such wild jungles as in countrieswhich are hot all the year round. Still, there are many places in theWest and a few other parts of America where there is some kind ofjungle and plenty of forest. A forest is a kind of jungle, only it hasmore trees, and fewer thickets; but wild animals can live there justthe same. 

_Elk and Other American Deer_

The biggest kind of deer in America is the _moose_; in fact, it is thebiggest kind of deer in the world. The second biggest is the _elk_; heis nearly as big as the moose. Some people think that the moose andthe elk are exactly the same kind of deer, but that is not quitecorrect. In this book I must not make it too hard for you tounderstand, by telling you how they are different. So I shall tell youall about the elk, as his picture is on page 109. 

Once upon a time elks lived in all parts of America, but now they havebeen killed off by hunters in most parts, and are found wild only inthe Far West. 

The elk is a fine fellow. At the shoulder he is as tall as a man, andis as heavy as six men. He lives in places where there is plenty offorest--that is, plenty of trees. Why trees? Because he needs them inwinter--for then the bark is his food!

In summer he has plenty to eat--leaves, twigs, and grass. But when thewinter comes, and the leaves fall, and the ground is covered withsnow, the poor elk would starve and die, if he did not have at leastthe bark of trees to eat. And very little bark he gets for many daysat a time. 

Here I must tell you that some kinds of deer are among the most _hardyanimals_; that means that at times they can live on very little. Thereis a kind of deer, called the _reindeer_, that lives in the frozenNorth, where there is snow and ice almost all the year round; and thereindeer has nothing more to eat for many days than a little bit ofmoss or seaweed. 

But there is another animal, not a deer, that is still more hardy: hecan go a whole week without eating or drinking--and do work all thetime! That seems very wonderful. But I shall tell you about thatanimal in another chapter. 

Now about the elk. His antlers are fine! You can see in the picturehow huge they are. And yet, would you believe it, he grew them in onlyfive months! I told you a little while ago that a deer throws off hisantlers every year, and grows new ones. I shall now tell you how theelk does that. 

[Illustration: ElkPhotograph of a group in the American Museum of Natural History, New York]

In the middle of the winter, the elk's antlers break off bit by bit. In a few weeks they have all fallen off, leaving the elk's headbare, with just a ridge or rough stump on it. Then, early in thespring the new antlers start growing from the top of the stump. Theygrow very fast, and in five months are as huge as ever. 

But while the new antlers are growing, they are not hard. As yet theyare soft and tender, and all that time they have an outside coveringlike hairy leather, to guard them from harm. But as soon as the elkfeels that his antlers are quite grown, and are strong and hard, hestrips off the outside covering by rubbing the antlers against trees. 

Of course, while his antlers are still growing, and are soft andtender, the elk cannot use them to fight another animal; so duringthat time he hides in the bushes. But as soon as his new antlers havebecome hard and strong, he is very brave again, and is ready to fight!

Does the elk fight much? He does! He fights most awfully when he hashis new antlers. What he fights about, and with whom he fights, Ishall tell you in another book. 

There are a few other kinds of deer in America, but the funniest ofthem is called the _mule deer_, which lives along the Rocky Mountains. He is called the mule deer because he has very long ears, like amule's ears. And perhaps you have seen a mule bucking--that is, jumping about while holding his legs quite stiff. Well, the mule deercan buck just like that. 

And while he is running at a gallop, he will often jump off the groundwith stiff legs, and then hop on and on many times like that, withstiff legs, finishing up with another gallop. 

That makes him look very funny, and because he jumps like that peoplein Canada sometimes call him the _jumping deer_. 

_Other Kinds of Deer_

I must now tell you about some other kinds of deer that live injungles and forests in other countries. 

The _fallow deer_ lives in Europe. When he is wild, he lives in aforest; but when he is tame, he lives in a park. He is a small deer, about the size of a donkey. His coat is very soft and glossy andbeautiful. In winter his coat looks dark brown, and his legs and theunder part of his body are light brown. But in summer his coat becomesa lovely light red in color, with white spots jotted all over it. Thenhe is very handsome. 

In India also there is a handsome deer, which the people call the_lion deer_. He looks quite gentle and mild. Then why do the peoplecall him the lion deer? Because he has a lovely coat, golden yellow incolor. You could see him far across the open field, if he only stoodthere. But he is so timid that he does not often come out in the open. 

And why has he a yellow coat? Because he lives in a place where thereis plenty of yellow grass; and if he stood right in the middle of thegrass, and did not move, nobody could see him. Even if a tiger werelooking for him, and the deer stood quite still in the grass, thetiger could not find him. 

In another chapter I shall tell you how other animals have on theirbodies the _color of the place where they live, or where they want tohide_. 

_Barking Deer--One of the Wonders of Nature_

Now I am coming to one of the nicest kinds of deer in the world, and Iam sure you will just love him! He lives in India, and is called the_barking deer_; only, he is not exactly a deer, but an antelope. Youremember what I have told you before, about an antelope having adifferent kind of horns? Still we must call him the barking deer, aspeople have already given him that name. 

He is very small, about the size of a goat. If there is any dangerfrom an enemy, the barking deer is small enough to hide in any littlebush or behind a fallen tree or log; or else he can run away veryquietly through the under bushes. And he runs so quickly that hisenemy soon loses sight of him. 

He is called the barking deer, because he can bark or yap almost likea dog. But, you may ask, why does he want to bark at all, if he isafraid of some enemy? Will not the enemy hear him, and then catch him?

Yes, that is quite true. And yet the fact that he does bark is one ofthe most wonderful things in the jungle. It is so wonderful that inanother book I shall tell you more about it. But now I shall tell youjust this:

There are some animals which are so deadly that they could kill offmany, many other animals. So, as the only way to save the otheranimals from being all killed, _God has made some special animals tofight those deadly animals_. 

There is the _cobra_, which is a snake, and which has such a deadlypoison that it could kill almost all other animals in the jungle byjust biting them. So, to save the other animals from being killed bythe cobra, God made the _mongoose_. He is a plucky little creature, about the size of a cat. And he will fight and kill every cobra hesees! But really he is such a wonderful animal that I must keep himfor another book, when you are old enough to know him better and tolove him. 

But sometimes the deadly animal is too strong to be killed himself. There is the tiger. He can kill and eat many kinds of animals. But whocan kill _him_? No animal! At least, the elephant and the buffalocould kill the tiger if the tiger should let them _catch_ him andtrample on him. But the tiger does not let any animal catch him. Thenhow can the other animals be saved from the tiger?

God made two special animals to save the others from the tiger. Thefirst is the buffalo, of which I have already told you, and which isthe Knight of the Jungle. The second animal is the barking deer. Howthe barking deer saves the other animals from the tiger, I shall nowtell you:

When the tiger is prowling about, all other kinds of deer and antelopejust run away, and are glad enough if they escape being eaten. Butnot the plucky little barking deer! He too runs away, but as soon ashe gets a little ahead of the tiger, he stops under a bush and letsout that bark or yap--then runs on at once to another bush. 

The tiger is furious, and jumps on the bush where he heard thebark--but the deer is not there now! The deer barks from that secondbush--and runs to another one. In this way the barking deer leads thetiger on and on through the jungle from bush to bush. 

And why does he bark like that? To tell the other animals in good timethat the tiger is coming, and then to tell them exactly _where_ thetiger is. 

"Look out, here's a tiger!" That is the meaning of his first bark. 

"Here he is! He is coming after me--this way!" That is what he meansby the next bark. 

"He is chasing me this way! You run the other way!" And that is whatthe barking deer keeps on saying, as he runs from bush to bush, sothat all the other animals know exactly where the tiger is at eachminute. 

In this way the barking deer runs through the jungle, _warning all theother animals_, and so spoiling the tiger's dinner all the way. 

CHAPTER X

Deer and Antelope: Their Special Gifts

You have learned by this time that _every animal has some specialgift_, that is, he can do one thing better than most other animals. The deer and the antelope have their special gifts. 

First, there is their gift of _hearing_. I have already told you thatthe wild buffaloes can hear a long way; but the deer and the antelopecan hear still farther. 

Let us suppose that a tiger is trying to creep up to a deer throughthe jungle, as quietly as he can. The tiger is still a long way off, and quite hidden by the bushes, so the deer cannot _see_ him at all. But the deer can _hear_ him coming, even if the tiger takes each stepvery lightly. Why? Because the deer's ears are so sharp that he canhear even a leaf rustling under the tiger's foot, a long way off. Sothe deer can run away in good time. 

To make him hear still better, the deer can turn or bend his ears tothe side from which the sound is coming. You have seen an ordinarycow prick up her ears when she heard somebody coming; and many otheranimals--even a dog--can do the same. 

But the deer can do that best. The shape of his ear is like that of afunnel, so as to _pour_ the sound into his ear, as it were. Then evenif there is only a single drop of sound, it gets right into his ear. 

And by turning or bending his ear, the deer knows which way the soundis coming. You also can tell which way a sound is coming, if it isloud enough; but the deer can do that even when the sound is veryfaint. That is very useful to him, as he then knows exactly _whichway_ a sneaking tiger is coming, and can run the _other way_. 

I must now tell you that the tiger himself, tries to come so quietlythat the deer may not hear him at all; and to help him to do so, hisfeet are padded with muscles, just like cushions. So it is a kind oftrial between the tiger and the deer as to which is the more clever. If the tiger can come so quietly that the deer cannot hear him, thenthe tiger is more clever than the deer. But if the deer can hear thetiger, even if the tiger comes most quietly, then the deer is moreclever than the tiger. 

That kind of trial between two different animals as to which is themore clever, goes on in the jungle all the time: and _the more cleverone wins every time_. If the tiger is more clever than the deer, thetiger eats the deer; but if the deer is more clever than the tiger, the deer escapes being eaten. And that is true of all other animals. In fact, one of the great wonders of the jungle is that the animalwhich is _the fittest wins the oftenest_; and so he goes on living, whatever may happen to the others. [1]

[Footnote 1: _To the Teacher. _--Please give the class other examplesof the "Survival of the Fittest" among other creatures--birds, insects, fish, etc. ]

Now I come to the second special gift of the deer and the antelope. Ifby any chance a deer cannot hear a sneaking tiger, he can still_smell_ the tiger. 

Most animals can smell their enemy a long way off, even if they do nothear him or see him; but _the deer and the antelope can smell thefarthest_. Even if a sneaking tiger is so cunning that he stops in athicket and stands quite still for a minute, so that he does not makeany sound at all, --and so the deer cannot hear him, --even then thedeer can smell him when he is still a long way off. 

I must tell you now that the tiger himself can smell the deer. But hecannot do that very far off, --so the deer always smells him _first_!

Also, the tiger can hear the deer, if the deer happens to be moving. But the tiger cannot hear quite so far as the deer can. So the deeralways hears him _first_!

But in one thing the tiger is better off than the deer: _the tiger cansee farther than the deer_. In the night most animals can see alittle, but the tiger can see a little better and farther than theothers. And in the daytime, if a deer were feeding in a very big levelfield, and a tiger came to the field from the other side, the tigerwould see the deer before the deer could see him. Then the tiger wouldcome round to the nearest thicket, and try to creep up to the deerfrom thicket to thicket. 

_Each Animal has the Gift he Needs Most_

So, you understand, the deer can _hear_ farther and _smell_ farther;but the tiger can _see_ farther. 

And that is so because it is a wonderful rule in the jungle that _eachanimal has the gift that he needs most_. 

But can you think why the tiger _needs_ to see farther, and why thedeer _needs_ to hear farther and smell farther? I shall tell you. 

The tiger is the catcher, and the deer is the one that is caught. Sothe tiger tries to get to the deer, and the deer tries to run _from_the tiger. 

But to get to the deer, it would be no use to the tiger if he couldonly smell or hear the deer, for then he would only know that the deerwas _somewhere_ near, but could not find the exact spot; and to catchthe deer the tiger must know exactly where the deer is. So the bestway for him to know that is to _see_ the deer. 

But for the deer himself, all that he needs to know is that a tiger issomewhere near. So it is quite enough for him to know from which sidethe tiger is coming, by just smelling him or hearing him. Then thedeer can run the other way at once. He does not want to see the tigerat all!

So, you understand, the tiger's best gift is to be able to see thedeer; and the deer's best gift is to be able to smell and hear thetiger. 

But then, you may ask, if the deer can always run away long before thetiger can get at him, does a tiger never catch a deer?

Yes, a tiger does catch a deer once in a while, if the deer happensto make a mistake! And the deer can make only one mistake like that inhis life, because after the first he gets eaten!

So, you may be sure, the deer tries very hard never to make even thatone mistake. 

And what is that one mistake? It is to run straight into the jaws ofthe tiger! It may just happen that when the deer hears the tigercoming, he does not listen quite carefully, and so he does not knowwhich way the sound is coming. Then, in running away, the deer mayhappen to go just the wrong way--and fall into the tiger's jaws. 

Or else it may happen that the deer is so frightened that he loses hishead, as it were, and goes just any way--and by bad luck chooses thewrong way, and falls into the tiger's jaws. 

But I must tell you that, although the tiger tries very hard to eatthe deer, _the deer tries still harder not to be eaten!_ Why? Becauseif the tiger does not catch the deer for to-day's dinner, he can stillcatch some other animal for tomorrow's breakfast, even if he goeshungry to-night. But if the deer once gets eaten, there is noto-morrow for, him at all! The tiger is only trying _to get a meal_, but the deer is trying _to save his life_. That is why the deernearly always gets away from the tiger--because he is trying harderthan the tiger. 

So the tiger does not get deer to eat much oftener than most childrenget roast turkey. The tiger lives mostly on pork, for the wild pigs ofthe jungle are such careless animals, as I have told you before. Nowand again the tiger gets mutton also, for the wild sheep are sillycreatures, like other kinds of sheep. In the same way the tigersometimes catches a wild goat. 

The tiger would really get deer to eat a little oftener than heactually does if it were not that the deer has two other gifts bywhich he can escape from the tiger at the last minute. Those two giftsare his _quickness in getting started_, and his _speed in running_. So, even if the deer makes a mistake and runs toward the tiger, he canstill escape from the tiger if he finds out his mistake in time. 

For, as you saw at the midnight pool, the deer may be drinkingquietly, when he hears or smells a tiger. Then the deer can leap atonce and get away, before the tiger can leap. Or it may happen thatthe deer is trying to escape from a tiger and has run to withintwenty yards of the tiger, when he finds out his mistake. Then thedeer can turn _at once_ and leap sideways to get out of the tiger'sreach. The deer is so quick that he can turn aside without stopping, and keep on running. 

Then after that, once he has turned away from the tiger, the tiger cannever catch him. For the deer can run ever so much faster than thetiger. 

In fact, the deer or the antelope is the fastest animal in the world, except one other. About that other animal I shall tell you somewonderful things in the next book. But among all animals I have toldyou about in this book the deer is the fastest. 

"But how do people know that the deer can run faster than otheranimals?" you may ask. "Has anyone had a race between differentanimals?"

Yes, some people did that in England a few years ago. They took thefastest racehorse in the country, and ran a race between him and thefastest greyhound; and the greyhound beat the horse in the race. Thenthey took that greyhound, and ran a race between him and an Englishdeer; and the deer beat the greyhound in the race. So, you see, thedeer was faster than the greyhound, and the greyhound was faster thanthe horse! So the deer was the fastest of the three. 

And the deer that lives in the jungle is even faster than the Englishdeer. Why? Because the English deer lives in peaceful glades andforests, and has no other animal trying to catch and eat him; so hedoes not try to be as fast as he could be. But the deer that lives inthe jungle has to try very hard all the time to be as fast as he canbe, or else he would be eaten by the tiger! And, as you must know, _wecan do the best in anything when we try the hardest_. 

So, all kinds of wild deer in the jungle have been trying theirhardest to run as fast as they can. And as their fathers andgrandfathers have been trying to do that, the wild deer to-day havebecome the fastest runners among all the animals I have told youabout. 

CHAPTER XI

The Camel

The _camel_ has very little to do with the kind of jungle I have beentelling you about; but he has much to do with the _desert_. A desertis another kind of wild place. As I told you before, jungle means anywild place; but usually, of course, there are lots of trees and bushesand thickets in it. But we call the wild place a desert when trees andbushes and thickets will not grow there, because the ground is allcovered with _sand_. In the desert there is nothing but sand all overthe ground, and not a single tree or a tiny blade of grass anywhere, as far as you can see. 

And that is the place where camels can do some very wonderful things, as I shall now tell you. The camels do not actually live in the desertall the time, but in countries quite near there. 

First I must tell you that there is only one country to-day, calledCentral Asia, where camels are still found wild. In all other placesthey are not wild any more, for in those countries people have livedfor many thousand years; so the people caught all the camels once upona time, and tamed them. 

Since that time the camels have been used by people in those countriesfor their work, just as we use horses here; and rich people in thosecountries count their wealth by the number of camels they have. Justas we say here that a rich man has a million dollars, or two millions, or three millions, so in those countries a man is thought to be richwho has one thousand camels, or two thousand, or three thousand. 

It was just the same in those countries in olden times. You have readin your Bible history that Job was once a rich man, as he ownedthousands of camels. 

You will see from the pictures facing page 128 that there are twokinds of camels; one kind has a huge hump on the middle of his back;and the other kind has two humps, with a gap between. The _One-Humpcamel_ is called an _Arabian camel_, or a _dromedary_. Once upon atime he lived in the country called Arabia; that is the country fromwhere you get your lovely old stories of Ali Baba and Aladdin. But nowthe One-Hump camel also lives in other countries near there. Theseare all very hot countries, with many miles of desert here and there. 

The _Two-Humps camel_ is called a _Bactrian camel_, as he lives in acountry which was once called Bactria. That country also has manydeserts, like Arabia; but as it is far to the north of Arabia, it isvery cold in winter, and the snow then lies very thick on the ground. So try and remember this:

The One-Hump camel lives in a country where there are many miles ofdesert, and where it is very hot almost the whole year. So theOne-Hump camel has to guard himself only from the _hot burning sand_. 

The Two-Humps camel lives in a country where there are also many milesof desert, but where it is very hot in the summer and very cold in thewinter. So the Two-Humps camel has to guard himself from the _hotburning sand in the summer_, and from the _cold and snow in thewinter_. 

The Two-Humps camel has in winter a coat of long, shaggy hair on hisback to guard him from the cold; and in summer the shaggy hair comesoff his back, just as if he were to cast off his thick coat. But theOne-Hump camel has only short hair, as the country is too hot all thetime to need a thick coat. 

[Illustration: Bactrian Camel--with Two Humps]

[Illustration: Arabian Camel--with One Hump]

Now I must tell you how camels are used. First, they carry goods fortrade. In those countries there are hardly any railroads, so themerchants carry their packages on camels. Of course they could not puta package right on a camel's hump, as it would fall off; so theyalways join two packages together with a band or belt, and sling theband across the camel's back, so that there is a package on each sideof the camel. 

When a One-Hump camel is used, the band or belt has two parts, like aloop; and the loop rests over the hump, so that the band cannot slipbackward or forward. When a Two-Humps camel is used, the band ofcourse rests in the gap between the two humps, so that it cannot slipat all; and then the two packages can be made very big. That is whypeople like the Two-Humps camel better for carrying goods, and likethe One-Hump camel better for riding. But in some places the One-Humpcamel is used both for riding and for carrying goods. 

In this way merchants carry their goods for many hundred miles acrossdesert and country. Then sometimes they come to the sea and send thegoods in ships to different countries. That is how you get many of thefigs, dates, and grapes you eat; so the next time you eat them, thinkof the patient camel that brought them for you across the desert. Thatis why the camel is called the _Ship of the Desert_. 

The beautiful carpets and rugs and shawls which you see in rich homeshave also been brought by the patient camels; and some of the lovelyvases and ornaments that rich people have were also carried by camels. And not only across the desert, but even over ordinary land camelscarry these goods. The camel is such a large animal that he can carrypackages as heavy as four men. 

Of course when he carries such a heavy load, he cannot go any fasterthan a man's walk; but the camel can keep on walking all day, withjust a short rest once in a while. Those used for riding cannot run asfast as a horse, but they can keep on running at a steady trot muchlonger than a horse, and then after a short rest can start runningagain. So by the end of the day a camel can run twice as far as ahorse, and sometimes still farther. 

_The Camel's Wonderful Gifts_

Now I am going to tell you of the most wonderful things a camel cando. 

First, I must tell you that no other animal could cross a desert atall. To begin with, if such an animal as a horse tried to walk on thesand, his hoofs would sink into the sand up to the ankles, and itwould be hard work for him to go even a mile. But a camel's foot isdifferent. It has a _soft pad of muscles_ under it, just like acushion; and when the camel walks or runs on the sand, the pad spreadsout under his foot, and that gives him a firm hold on the sand inwalking or running. So remember that the camel has padded feet. 

I must tell you here that the feet of all animals are formed in theway they can best use, in the country in which they live. Thoseanimals that have to walk on _hard ground_ have _hoofs_, and thosethat have to walk on _soft ground_ have _padded feet_. The elephant isthe only animal that has to walk on hard ground, at least very often, and yet has padded feet. Can you tell why? Because of his huge weight!He is so heavy that if the bones under his feet were not covered witha thick pad, he would jar the bones every time he put his foot down, even if the ground were not very hard. 

In the same way the camel's padded foot is very useful to him evenwhen he is not in the desert, but on hard ground; for he too israther heavy, though of course not so heavy as an elephant. 

[Illustration: Sand Storm in the Desert]

There are other reasons why no other animal could cross a desert aseasily as a camel. In the desert there are sometimes fierce storms;and as it is all sand there, the strong wind blows the sand about inevery direction. As there is no place there where one could get awayfrom the sand, any other animal would soon have a lot of sand blowninto his nostrils; then he would be choked. But a camel's nostrils aremade differently, so that whenever he likes he can _close hisnostrils_, as easily as you can close your mouths, and that keeps awaythe sand. The camel is clever enough to lie down on the ground when astorm is blowing, and to lay his neck and chin along the ground; thenhis nose is quite close to the ground, where the storm is not quite sofierce as in the air. 

Of course, when he wants to breathe, he opens his nostrils a tiny bitto take in a little air; then he closes the nostrils again, and holdshis breath for a little while. He has to keep on doing that as long asthe storm lasts. 

But what does his master do, who has been riding on his back? Hecannot close his nostrils; so the only thing he can do is to get offthe camel and huddle against the camel's body on the side far from thewind; then he brings his face quite close to the ground and holds hisnose with his hand. When he wants to breathe, he opens his fingersjust enough to make a slit and let the _air_ in, but not enough to letthe _sand_ in. 

There is another reason why no other animal could cross a desert: hiseyes would be blinded by the fierce glare of the sun. But a camel hasvery _thick hair on his eyebrows_, which hang over the eyes, and keepoff the fierce rays of the sun. His eyelashes also are very thick, andhelp to keep off the sun in the same way. 

But there is a still more wonderful reason why no other animal, excepta camel, could cross a desert. In a desert water is very scarce, and atraveler crossing a desert on a camel may not find any water for awhole week. Of course, he carries on his saddle half a dozen bottlesof water to drink; but after drinking some of the water each day, hehas not much to spare for the poor camel. Then what is the poor camelto do?

Of course, you may say that his master should carry more water for thecamel to drink. But the load of goods which the camel has to carry isalready so heavy that there is not much room for any more water. Thenwhat _can_ the poor camel do?

Why, he _carries his own drinking water_, not in the load on his back, but _inside his stomach_! Is not that a wonderful thing? His stomachis made differently from that of any other animal. The stomach of anyother animal, Or even a man's stomach, is so made that the water drunkat any time is all used up in the next few hours; that is why anyother animal, or even a man, has to have another drink after those fewhours. 

But a camel's stomach is so made that it has one big place for foodand drink like the stomach of any other animal, but it also has manysmaller places arranged all around the stomach; these smaller placesare just like bottles, and are called _cells_. 

So when a camel takes a good long drink, the big place in the middleof the stomach takes in the water first; then as he drinks more andmore, the bottles or cells all around begin to get filled also. Andthe wonderful thing is that as soon as each cell is full, its mouthcloses up by itself! In that way, if the camel drinks long enough, allthe cells get full, one by one, and then have their mouths closed up. 

When a camel is about to start on a long journey through the desert, he takes a very long drink, till he _feels_ that he cannot drink anymore; then he _knows_ that all the bottles or cells inside are quitefull, as well as the big place in the middle of his stomach. Now he isready to cross the desert. 

After many hours all the water in the big place in the middle of thestomach gets used up. Then what happens? Why, one of the bottlesinside opens its mouth by itself, and pours the water into thestomach! And after many hours more, when _that_ water has also beenused up, the _second_ bottle opens its mouth and pours the water intothe stomach. In this way all the bottles or cells inside the camel oneby one pour their water into the stomach from day to day, whenever thecamel feels thirsty. Is not that most wonderful?

And there is yet another very wonderful thing about the camel. Hishump! It is just as wonderful whether it is one hump or two humps. Ishall tell you. 

The camel's hump is his _store of food_! Yes, just as he carries hisown drinking water inside his stomach, so he also carries his ownstore of food in his hump. 

This is how he does it:

When the camel is quite well and strong, if he eats any food which isa little more than he actually needs for his hunger, that food after awhile goes to his hump and helps to make it bigger. In this way thehump becomes a store of all the extra food that he has eaten. Then, ongoing on a long journey through the desert, if the camel has nothingto eat and begins to feel hungry and weak, a little of the hump isused up to give him strength, just as if he were to eat a meal. Inthis way he can go for many days without food, but of course his humpwill get smaller and smaller. 

[Illustration: Crossing the Desert with Camels]

But his master does not actually take him through the desert withoutgiving him _any_ food or drink; in fact he always gives the camel someof the figs and dates which he takes with him for his own meals, andalso some of the drinking water which he carries on his saddle. But ifit did happen that his master had no food or drink to spare, the camelcould still live for several days, using his hump for food, and thewater in the cells of his stomach for drink. 

The camel can do yet another wonderful thing. He can tell a long wayoff when he is coming to a place where there is water. In the desert, after going over sand and sand for many days, a traveler sometimesfinds a beautiful place called an _oasis_. It is just like a lovelylittle garden right in the middle of the desert, with a spring ofwater, and several fig trees, date trees, and other palm trees growingall around the pool. 

When a traveler is crossing the desert and sees nothing but sand forseveral days, it sometimes happens that his camel suddenly stops, stands quite still for a minute, raises his head, and sniffs the air. Then he turns a little to the right or to the left, and begins to runstraight that way. His master may look ahead very hard, but he willsee nothing but sand and sand, as before. 

But the camel, by just sniffing the air, has found out that there isan oasis within reach, though it is still too far away for him to seeit. Then he runs on most gladly, and comes to the oasis in an hour, sothat he and his master can rest there for some time, and drink fromthe pool, and eat the figs and dates growing on the trees. 

Of course, the camel can also eat the leaves of the trees; in fact, when he is not in the desert, but just in the ordinary country, heusually eats from the shrubs and bushes, and gets figs and dates onlyas a dainty, just as you sometimes have ice cream. The camel with twohumps will gladly eat many more things than the camel with one hump. In fact, when he is hungry, he will eat not only any kind ofvegetable, but also meat. He has even been known to chew up and eatbones, blankets, and leather! And he is perhaps the _only animal thatwill drink salt water_; for the country in which the Two-Humps camellives has several lakes, the water of which is bitter and salty. 

So you see how useful an animal the camel is, whether he has one humpor two humps. He is so useful that people have been saying for a longtime that camels should be brought into America, where there areseveral deserts in the western states. In fact, a strange thing hasalready happened. The United States Government did bring a lot ofcamels for use in the western states several years ago, about the timewhen your grandfather was a boy. 

But the people who can best manage such large animals as elephants andcamels are the people who are born in the same countries as thoseanimals and who understand their habits. And unluckily, when thecamels were brought into America, nobody thought of bringing men alsofrom those countries to manage the camels. So nobody seemed to knowhow to use these animals, and after a time they were turned loose inArizona. The camels went into the deserts and forests there, andbecame quite wild, and to-day there are some of them in Arizona. 

Now, do you not think it would be a good idea to get a few men fromthose countries and learn from them how to manage camels? Then thecamels of Arizona also could be used in crossing the deserts there, where there are no railroads. 

Besides being the only animal that can cross the desert, the camel isdifferent from any other four-legged animal even in the way he walks. 

You have seen how a horse walks? When his left foreleg is lifted offthe ground, his right hind leg is also lifted off the ground; then inthe next step, when his right foreleg is lifted off the ground, hisleft hind leg is also lifted off the ground. That means that the twolegs which move at the same time are those placed at the _oppositecorners_ of his body. But when a camel walks, he lifts the two legson the _same side_ of his body at the same time. And when he takes thenext step, he lifts the two legs on the other side of his body. 

Now, my dear, I have told you many things about the camel which aredifferent from anything in any other animal. So, before I close thischapter, I want you to remember these things about the camel:

1. His _foot_ is _padded_ in such a way that he can walk or run onsand. 

2. He can _close_ his _nostrils_ to keep out the sand in a storm. 

3. His _thick_ and bushy _eyebrows_ and _thick eyelashes_ keep theglare of the sun from his eyes. 

4. His stomach has many _cells_ like bottles, in which he can _storeup water_. 

5. He can _store up food_ in his _hump_. 

6. He walks by moving both legs on the _same side_ of his body at thesame time. 

In another chapter I shall tell you about an animal that can also doone of these things: he can _store up food_ in his body, though in adifferent way. That animal is the _bear_. He sleeps through the wholewinter, and has to have a store of food somewhere in his body to lastall that time. 

CHAPTER XII

The Camel and the Thief

Now I shall tell you a story about a camel and a thief. It is a truestory, and happened many, many years ago. The story shows what we canlearn by watching the animals. 

Once upon a time, a traveler was going on foot across the country. Inhis belt he had a purse full of money. One day, as the sun began toget hot, he lay down on the grass under a tree near the roadway, andfell asleep. 

After a few hours he woke up, and what was his surprise to find thatthe purse was gone! While he was asleep, somebody had quietly stolenhis purse and gone away. 

The traveler ran to the nearest village, and there told the policeabout it. Now, among the police there was a very clever man, and thepolice brought him with them to the place where the money had beenstolen. The clever man looked all around the place very carefully tosee if he could find any marks on the ground. On the grass near thetree he found no marks; in fact, if a person walks on the grass justonce or twice it does not leave any mark. But on the roadway near byhe found footprints. 

"They are a camel's footprints, " he said, looking at the markscarefully. "And the marks of all the four feet are not quite the same. Three of them are quite deep and clear; but the fourth one is veryfaint. "

He followed the camel's footprints along the road for a long time. Butnow and again he stopped and looked at the shrubs and bushes whichgrew here and there, on both sides of the road. 

"Hello, that is strange!" he suddenly said. "The camel has eaten fromthe bushes and shrubs here and there on the left side of the road, buthe hasn't eaten at all from those on the right side of the road. "

He went on for some time longer, then suddenly stopped to look at theroad where the camel had walked. 

"Hello, this is also strange!" he said. "Here are a lot of _bees_buzzing near the ground on the _right_ side of the road. And here area lot of _ants_ scrambling over the ground on the _left_ side of theroad. "

"Never mind about the camel, and the bees and the ants, " thepolicemen said impatiently. "We want to know about the thief who stolethe money. You have not found any other footprints except thecamel's?"

"That is quite true, " the clever man said. "But as the _camel_ couldnot steal the money, there must be a _man_ riding on the camel. Hemust be the thief. "

"But why didn't the thief leave any footprints?" the policemen asked. 

"Because he must have ridden his camel from the roadway right to theedge of the grass, " the clever man answered. "Then he must have jumpeddown upon the grass, where he knew he would not leave any footprint. He must have walked very quietly on the grass up to the tree where thetraveler was sleeping, and stolen the money. Then he must have walkedback quietly to the camel and ridden off. "

"But what sort of a man is the thief?" the police asked. "How can wefind him, if you do not tell us what he is like?"

"I cannot tell you a thing about the thief, or what he looks like, ashe hasn't even left a footprint, " the clever man answered. "But I cantell you _all about the camel_. The camel is _blind_ in his _righteye_, and _lame_ in his _left hind foot_. And on his back he iscarrying two packages, one on each side; the package on the _right_side has _honey_ in it, and the package on the _left_ side has _corn_in it. So you must search for a man who is riding a camel loaded likethat. He is the thief. "

So the police searched for a man who was riding a camel which wasblind in his right eye, lame in his left hind foot, and carrying honeyin a package on his right side, and corn in a package on his leftside. After following the camel's footprints on the ground for a longtime, the police at last came to a village. 

They searched through the village, and found many men riding camels. But there was only one man riding a camel blind in his right eye, lamein left hind foot, and carrying honey on the right side, and corn onthe left side. So the police knew that he was the thief, and took himbefore the judge. Then the thief said that it was quite true that hestole the money. 

Afterwards the judge turned to the clever man and asked him how heknew all that about the camel. 

"You didn't _see_ the camel at all, but only his footprints, " thejudge said. "Then how did you know that the camel was blind in hisright eye, lame in his left hind foot, and carrying honey on the rightside, and corn on the left side?"

"It was quite simple, " the clever man answered very modestly. "First, about the camel being blind in his right eye. He had nibbled at theshrubs and bushes growing on the left side of the road, for at eachbite I found the leaves cut off clean by his teeth. On the right sideof the road there were also plenty of good shrubs and bushes, but thecamel had not taken a single bite at any of them. That showed that hedid not even _see_ those shrubs and bushes on his right side. And thatof course meant that his right eye was blind. "

"That is very clever of you, " the judge said. "But how did you knowthat the camel was lame in his left hind foot?"

"That was just as simple, " the clever man again answered verymodestly. "As the camel walked along, the marks of his two front feetand right hind foot were quite deep and clear on the ground. But themark of his left hind foot was very faint. That showed that the camelwas limping, and the left hind foot only just touched the ground. So Iknew that he was lame in that foot. "

"That is also very clever of you, " the judge said. "But how did youknow that the camel was carrying honey on his right side, and corn onhis left?"

"That was the simplest of all, " the clever man answered most modestly. "As the camel was limping, nearly every step he took jerked the loadon his back. So a few drops of the honey fell to the ground from thepackage on his right side, and a few grains of the corn fell to theground from the package on his left side. "

"But you could not see very well here and there on the ground just afew drops of honey or just a few grains of corn?" the judge said. 

"_I_ could not, " the clever man answered, "but the _bees_ and the_ants_ could! On the right side of the road I found a swarm of beeshere and there; so I knew that they were trying to pick up the honey. And on the left side of the road I saw a whole lot of ants here andthere; so I knew that they were trying to pick up and carry away thegrains of corn. "

Now was it not really clever of that man to find all that out aboutthe camel, without ever seeing the camel before? But, as youunderstand, he knew all about the _habits_ of different animals; andso he knew what camels and bees and ants always do. 

CHAPTER XIII

Bears

_Bears_ are such funny animals, at least some kinds of bears, that youmay like to know all about them. 

Bears are found in many countries, and in some countries there areseveral kinds of bears. 

But you must remember this: _hardly any bear lives in the tropics_;that means countries where the sun is almost overhead all the monthsof the year, so that it is very hot all the time. 

But why does not the bear usually live there? Can you guess?

Because the bear is a very _hairy_ animal; and his hair is just like athick coat, so that he cannot live where it is very hot all the time. 

Of course, once upon a time the bear lived only in places where it wasvery cold, and so he grew thick hair to keep out the cold; but nowthat he _has_ a thick coat of hair, he cannot go down to hot countriesto live. He does not mind living in a cold country; and the colder thecountry is, the thicker is his coat of hair. 

What does the bear eat? Most kinds of bears eat berries, fruits, softroots of trees, and fish when they can catch it. One or two kinds ofbears eat other things also, which I shall tell you about very soon. 

The bears that live in cold countries, where there is heavy snow inwinter, cannot get anything at all to eat in winter. Why? Becausethere are no fruits and berries in winter, and the roots of trees arefrozen hard and covered up by the snow. 

Then if those bears cannot get anything to eat in winter, what do theydo? They _sleep_!

You know that when you are asleep you do not feel hungry; but as soonas you wake up you feel hungry again. It is just the same with thebear; he does not feel very hungry while he sleeps. And he _sleepsright through the winter months_!

Still, while he is asleep all that time, does he not feel a little bithungry? He does. So he uses up the store of food inside his body! Ihave told you that the camel carries a store of food in his hump. Thebear has no hump, of course, but he has a _thick chunk of fat allaround his body_ just under his skin; and that chunk of fat is his_store of food_. 

So, when the bear sleeps snugly in his den in the winter months, thechunk of fat is slowly used up inside his body, and keeps him frombeing very hungry. 

Of course, he eats such a lot just before the winter, that the chunkof fat is very thick when he goes to bed. But the chunk is all used upwhen he wakes up at the end of the winter, and then he is very hungryagain!

But there is a kind of bear that lives in a place where there is snowand ice almost all the time. What can _he_ do?

He cannot sleep always! So he has to get something to eat now andthen, and I shall tell you how he does that. 

_The Polar Bear_

This kind of bear is called the _polar bear_. (See the picture on page155. ) He lives in a place far up North, where it is always very cold. The land is nearly covered with snow, and the water at the top of thesea is frozen. There are no berries or fruits there for the polar bearto eat; so he has to live on fish, and seal, which is a water animal. The way the bear catches the fish or the seal is this:

He makes a hole in the ice with his paws, so that he can reach thewater below. Then he sits down very quietly by the edge of the hole, and waits for a fish or a seal to swim past the hole. Then the bearpounces on it very quickly with his paw or his jaws, and catches it. 

If the ice is too thick for the bear to make a hole through it, he hasto try another way. He comes right down to the part of the sea wheresome of the ice has broken off. There he chooses a place at the edgeof the ice, close to the water; and he waits there for a fish or aseal to swim past. Then he pounces on it and catches it. 

Now I shall tell you a few special things that the polar bear has. 

His coat of hair is much _thicker_ than the coat of any other bear. Why? Because he lives in a colder place than any other bear; so he_needs_ a thicker coat. Also, he sometimes has to swim through the icywater to get to some floating field of ice, so that he can catch fishfrom it. Then, although his hair gets wet, he has a thick lining offat inside his coat to keep him warm. 

The next special thing about the polar bear is that his hair is _allwhite_--like the color of everything around him, which, as I havetold you, is just snow and ice. So when the polar bear sits down veryquietly on the snow and ice, nobody can see him even from a shortdistance, because he is the same color as the snow and ice. And thatis why the fish or the seal does not see him, and so gets caught. 

[Illustration: Polar Bear]

That is one of the wonderful things about many wild animals--they areof the _same color as the place where they live_. You know that thecolor of a lion is yellow, like the color of sand; and the lion livesin countries where there are lots of sandy places. You know, too, thatthe color of a tiger is yellow, but with black stripes upon theyellow, so that if you looked at him from a distance, you might thinkhe was made up of yellow and black stripes. And the tiger lives in thetall grass, which also looks like yellow and black stripes. 

But now I shall tell you more about the polar bear. He has three otherspecial things: the _soles_ of his feet are _hairy_; he has a _smallhead_; and he has a _long neck_. 

First, about the soles of his feet. The soles of the feet of otherbears are smooth, just like the feet of all other animals that have towalk on ordinary ground. But the soles of the polar bear are coveredwith long hair, just as is his body. Why? Because he has to walk onice, which is very slippery, and he needs to have the soles of hisfeet covered with hair, or else he would slip on the ice, just as youmust wear rubbers over your shoes when you have to walk on icy ground. 

Now, my dear, just stop for a minute, and think. Among all thewonderful things that I have told you so far, you have always noticedthat an animal always has _just the very thing he needs! We_ have to_make_ rubbers, and warm coats, and gloves, and socks, and a dozenthings that we need. But to every animal God has given everythingthat he needs, right on his body. 

But now let us go on with the polar bear. He has a smaller head thanany other kind of bear. Why? To make it easier for him to put his headthrough the hole in the ice, when he is catching fish. Other kinds ofbears do not have to put their heads into a hole to get anything toeat; so they do not need to have a small head. 

The polar bear has also a longer neck than any other kind of bear. Why? To give him a longer reach in catching the fish with hisjaws--without tumbling into the water himself. Other bears, who liveon dry land, do not need to reach out like that, and so they haveshorter necks. 

I shall now tell you about these other kinds of bears. 

_American Bears_

First you shall hear about the bears that live in America. The biggestkind is called the _grizzly bear_. In fact, he is the largest bear inthe world. Some grizzly bears are ten feet tall when they stand up ontheir hind legs!

The color of a grizzly bear is yellow, but with many shades;sometimes between brown and yellow, and sometimes between red andyellow. Teddy bears, with which you have played, are sometimes made ofthat color. Teddy bears of course are very nice, as they are toys; butI am sorry to say that the real grizzly bear is not nice; he is veryfierce. In fact, he is the only kind of bear that is so fierce. Evengrown-up men do not want to go near him. 

The grizzly is found in many parts of North America, near the RockyMountains, from the United States right up to Alaska. He lives onberries and all kinds of fruits, and also on the soft roots of trees. But the grizzly bear eats meat also, if he can manage to catch deer orcattle. That is why cowboys in Colorado and Wyoming do not like thegrizzly bear--he tries to kill and eat their cows. 

Besides, he kills a lot of fish. In the Columbia River in Oregon thereare lots of trout and shad, which people like to have for theirdinner. But the grizzly bear gets to the river first, and eats a greatmany of the trout and the shad. How does he catch the fish? Why, hejust lies down along the bank, and waits for the fish to rise to thetop of the water. The trout and the shad like to rise to the top ofthe water now and again, and swim there. So the grizzly just waitsfor a fish to rise--and then he pounces on it and catches it with hispaw. He is so very quick that he hardly ever misses. All kinds ofbears are very clever in catching fish. 

_Other Bears_

Another kind of bear is called the _brown bear_. He lives in Europe, Asia, and also in some parts of America, especially in Alaska. Therehe is rather big, though not quite so big as the grizzly bear. He toolives on berries, fruits, and roots, and he also catches fish. For inthe rivers of Alaska there are lots of salmon. 

But the brown bear is not at all fierce, like the grizzly bear. He ispeace-loving, and sometimes quite friendly. 

The nicest kind of bear is called the _black bear_. He is found in allparts of the United States, and in many other countries. He issometimes rather small, and is quite full of fun. Almost all the goodstories you may hear about bears are about the black bear. 

Many people mistake the black bear for the brown bear; so when yousometimes hear people talking about a "brown" bear, you may know thatthey really mean a "black" bear. 

Like other bears, the black bear lives on berries, fruits, and roots, and also on nuts, if he can find any. But what he likes best is honey!It is quite amusing to see the bear hold a honeycomb in one paw, scoopout the honey with the other, and put it into his mouth. It looks justlike a boy holding a pot of jam in one hand, and sticking his fingersinto the jam and putting it on his tongue!

"But do not the bees get angry, and try to sting him?" you may ask. 

Of course they do. The bees swarm around the bear and try to sting himall over. But they cannot! He is _too hairy_! They cannot get throughthe hair to sting him on the skin. So he goes on licking the honey andsmacking his lips!

The black bear is always a funny animal. Perhaps you have seen him inthe zoo. He will squat on the ground like a man, and if he sees acrowd of people before him, he will swing his arms just as a man doeswhen he talks to a friend. Perhaps the bear has seen some men do that, and has learned to do the same!

And sometimes he will sit on the ground, hold his tail in his mouth, and fumble head over heels, or roll over and over, or spin round andround--just for fun! In fact, the black bear is among the _fewgrown-up animals that love to play_. Many _young_ animals of course, such as kittens, puppy dogs, calves, and many others, love to play. But most grown-up animals do not seem to care for play, except theblack bear. 

When he is caught and tamed, he is still very playful at times. Hewill do all sorts of funny tricks, all by himself; and if he seesanyone watching him, he will try to show how clever he is--just like achild playing "smarty!"

Once in a lumber camp in the West the men caught and tamed a blackbear. After a time the bear was allowed to walk about the camp, quitefree, as he did not think of running away. One day the men had stoppedwork to have their dinner. The bear walked by, and the men petted himand said nice things to him. Then what do you think happened! The bearfelt so proud of being praised that he went to a sloping log, andwalked along it right to the top. You must know that in a lumber campthere are lots and lots of huge logs, or trees which the men have cutdown. And one of these logs happened to rest on a slope, that is, withone end higher than the other. 

When the bear reached the top of the log, he sat across it. Then heheld on to the log with his front paws, bent his body, and slid downthe log--just as a boy slides down the banister! Of course the menlaughed, and cheered him. Then just guess what that bear did!

He walked up to the top of the log again, and sat across it, asbefore. But now he held on to the log with his knees, not his paws, and sat straight up without bending, and slid down the log in thatway--just as a boy might hold on to the banister with his knees, notusing his hands at all, and slide down the banister in that way, justto show how smart he could be!

You may be sure those men cheered the bear, and gave him lots to eat. 

There is another kind of black bear that is also funny, though inanother way. He is called the _Himalayan black bear_, because he livesin India near some huge mountains called the Himalayas. In many wayshe is very much like the black bear of America, but he has a _whitechin_ and _long side-whiskers on his jaws_. Some people think that ofall kinds of bears he is the most handsome. 

Although he often goes up very high on the side of the mountains, hesometimes comes down to the country below, where there are manyvillages. But the bear is quite friendly, and never hurts the peoplein the villages, although he is strong enough to kill a man. So thepeople are also very kind and friendly to him, and never try to hurthim. When you grow up you may read that there are some people in Indiawho are always kind to _all_ animals, tame or wild. [2]

[Footnote 2: _To the Teacher. _--Please explain to the class that thesect called Jains do not hurt the smallest creature, and will sufferthe sting of a wasp rather than kill it. ]

[Illustration: Himalayan Black Bear]

I am telling you this because you will see very soon what we gain bybeing friendly even to a wild animal. The Himalayan black bear, likethe other black bear, is also very fond of honey, and of everythingsweet. In the country where he lives there grows a berry called mawa, which is very sweet--even sweeter than the strawberry; and the peopleof the villages make jam from it. 

These berries grow quite wild, on bushes here and there in the fields, and even in the jungles near by. When the berries are ripe, the peoplesend out their children to gather them from the bushes in the fields;and the children carry baskets so as to bring back as many berries asthey can. 

But when the berries are ripe, the bears also want to eat them! So itsometimes happens that half a dozen children are picking the berriesfrom a thick bush, when suddenly a bear comes round the bush andstarts gobbling up the berries as fast as he can!

Do the children get frightened and run away? Not a bit! They want_their_ share of the berries, too!

By this time the bush may be getting empty, and the children have notquite filled their baskets. The bear keeps on gobbling up the berries, and even pushing past the children to get at a bunch. What then? Why, the children raise their hands, and _just spank the wild bear_!

"Go away, you have had enough!" they say. "Can't you go to anotherbush? There must be others right in the jungle, where _we_ can't go!"

And, can you imagine it, a wild bear there has never hurt a child!When the children spank him and push him away, telling him that he hashad enough from that bush, he _does_ go away to some other bush. Ofcourse, the spanking does not really hurt him. 

I have told this to you, my dear, just to show you that there is neverany real reason for quarreling and fighting, among children, or evenamong men. _If children and wild bears can get along together_, whycannot children and children, or men and men, or nations and nations?Surely there are enough berries and other good things for all, if weonly look around!

Remember this always, even when you grow up, if you want to be goodmen and women, and good citizens of your country. 

CHAPTER XIV

Bears: The Tricky Trap

Now I am going to tell you something funny about the bear. You haveseen lots of wild animals in the zoo, and you may sometimes havewondered how these animals were caught. In another book I shall tellyou all about the different ways of catching different kinds of wildanimals; but now I shall only tell you how a wild bear is caught. Ofcourse, there are two or three ways of catching him alive, but I shalldescribe to you now just one way. 

You must know by this time that everybody in the world--whether man, woman, or child--has _some fault_. Some have a bad temper, others arerude, and still others are obstinate; and many, especially children, are too greedy! And so it is among animals: they all have one fault oranother. 

So the people who want to catch a wild animal find out first whatfault that kind of animal has--whether he is greedy, or obstinate, orbad tempered. And they _catch the animal because of that very fault_!

A bear is very obstinate; in fact the bear, the pig, the donkey, andthe mule are among the most obstinate of animals. So, because the bearis very obstinate, he will never give up when he meets anything thatblocks his way; and if he has made up his mind to do anything, he willnever give up, even if he finds he _cannot_ do it and that it is veryfoolish to try to do it. 

So the people remember the bear's obstinacy, and catch him in thisway:

They find a large tree which has a bough fifteen or twenty feet fromthe ground; then they tie a pot of honey on the bough, quite two orthree yards away from the fork where the bough joins the trunk. So, ifa bear wants to get at the honey, he will have to climb up the trunk, and then walk along the bough to the place where the pot is tied. 

But the people also take a heavy stone, tie a stout rope around it, and hang up the stone by the rope from another bough higher up. Theyplace the stone in such a way that it swings right in front of thehoney and a little above it. Then the people hide in thickets near by. 

Presently a bear smells the honey from a distance, and comes to findit. On reaching the place he sees the pot of honey on the tree. Asthe bear is a good climber, he soon scrambles up the trunk of the treeand walks along the bough toward the honey. 

But just as he is coming to it, he sees something right before hispath. It is the block of stone! And he cannot get at the honey withoutpushing the stone aside. So, what does he do? Why, quite naturally hepushes the stone aside with his paw. But, as I have told you, thestone is hung up by a rope; and so it _swings_ any way you may pushit. 

Then what happens? Why, as soon as the bear pushes the stone asidewith his paw, the stone _swings back_ and hits him on the paw. Thebear gives a growl, and again pushes the stone aside, and this timeharder than before. 

Then what happens? The stone swings back and hits the bear harder thanbefore! In fact, the stone will always swing back just as hard as itis pushed. 

But the bear does not know that! So with another growl he pushes thestone again--and now much harder than before. Then of course the stonecomes back much harder, and whacks him again. 

[Illustration: A Bear Fighting a Block of Stone]

This makes the bear really angry. He hits at the stone, and sends itflying through the air in a big curve. But when the stone has goneup and up in that curve, it begins to come down, down, the sameway--and gives the bear a thumping whack on the jaw. 

Now, if the bear were not such an obstinate animal, he would go awayafter that third blow, and try to forget the honey. But the bear willnever, never, give in! Instead, he gets quite mad with rage. He thinkssome enemy is hiding behind the stone!

"Who is hitting me?" he growls. "Come out of that, and fight fair!"

With that he hits a frantic blow at the stone; for the bear is a goodboxer. He sends the stone swinging through the air again, and fartherthan before. Again the stone swings back and gives the bear a hardwhack. 

In this way the fight goes on. Of course the stone cannot get hurt; soit is the bear that gets hurt, every time. And as he will never givein, he goes on fighting with the stone, and gets hurt more and more, till at last he is knocked right off the tree, and falls stunned tothe ground. 

Then the clever people rush in from their hiding place, throw a netover the bear, and carry him away. And that is how the zoo gets someof its bears. 

CHAPTER XV

Bright Birds

Now I shall tell you something about birds; not ordinary birds, but aspecial sort. 

Of course, birds are not exactly animals of the kind that I have beentelling you about, as they have only two legs, instead of four. Butthey have two wings, which are more useful to them than two more legs. 

If they had four legs they could run fast; but with the two wings theycan fly, which is ever so much faster and better than running. Andthey still have two legs with which to stand on the ground, when theyhave to come down to rest or to feed. 

The birds that I am going to tell you about live wild in the jungle, and are free to build their nests where they like. 

Among the birds we like best, some can _sing_, and some have _brightfeathers_. Those that sing may live near your own homes in thecountry--the lark, the thrush, the nightingale, and some others. Butthe birds that have bright feathers live generally in other countries. 

_Most birds that have lovely voices do not have bright feathers_; and_most birds that have lovely feathers cannot sing_. 

So among animals everything is very fair and just. With us itsometimes _seems_ different. Some children appear to have all the goodluck, and others all the bad luck. Some children can sing well, andare also very pretty; others cannot sing at all, and are also plain tolook at. But really things are not quite so unfair; for a child who isplain, and cannot sing, may still have _some other gift_. 

Among birds, those that can sing you may have seen often enough nearyour own homes in the country; so I shall now tell you about the birdsthat have bright feathers. 

Most birds with bright feathers live in hot countries, where it is_sunny_ almost the whole year. In fact, it is the bright light of thesun in those countries that gives the colors to the feathers of thebirds, which are as lovely as the colors of the rainbow. 

Among the bright birds that live quite wild in the jungles of hotcountries, the most beautiful are the _flamingo_, the _parrot_, the_cockatoo_, the _peacock_, the _golden pheasant_, the _egret_, and afew others. 

_The Flamingo_

I shall tell you first about the flamingos, as they _live together inflocks_. They were once found in America, and only a few years agothere were many flocks of them in Florida, but now there are very fewleft in this country. They are now found in Africa and in thecountries of southern Asia; a few are found also in Europe. 

This is the way the flamingos live. They choose a place in the junglewhere there is a lake or a river, and build their nests all around thelake, or by the bank of the river. The nest is just a heap of mudraised up from the ground, with a hollow at the top where the motherbird lays her eggs. Sometimes many thousands of flamingos are foundtogether around one place, which is then called a _flamingo colony_. 

[Illustration: A Flamingo ColonyPhotograph of a group in the American Museum of Natural History, New York]

The flamingo is a very tall bird, taller than a man when standing up. The flamingo's legs are long and thin, and the neck is also long. Thelong neck and the long legs are very useful to him. He stands in thewater on his legs, which look almost like a pair of stilts; then hebends down his long neck, dips his beak into the water, and catches afish or any other small creature that he can find there. And althoughthe fish or the small creature sees the flamingo's legs in the water, it does not run away. Why? Because it mistakes the legs for reedsgrowing in the water!

When thousands of flamingos in a colony are standing around the lakeor by the river, where they live, it is a very grand sight from adistance. The flamingo's feathers are a bright red in color, withwhite or pink at the edges; so the thousands of flamingos look like anarmy of soldiers with red coats. 

In former years, when soldiers sometimes wore red coats, travelers whohappened to come toward a lake in Africa would suddenly see at adistance an army of soldiers, as they thought, standing by the lake. What they really saw were the flamingos fishing!

But no traveler could get very near the flamingos, for they have_sentinels_! I have told you that the wild buffaloes have sentinels towarn them when an enemy is coming. The flamingos have the same. Theirsentinels stand here and there just outside the place where the othersare fishing; and they keep a lookout all the time. If any enemycomes, they cry out, "Honk! Honk! Honk!" That means, "Enemy coming! Fly away!"

And of course all the flamingos rise up in the air and fly away to asafe place, till the enemy goes away. 

To see a whole flock of flamingos flying in the sky far above one'shead is a most wonderful sight. You have seen a cloud at sunsetshining with lovely tints of red and pink and orange: well, the flockof flamingos flying in the sky looks something like that. And they all_keep level_ at the same great height, in _rows and ranks_, just likean army, as there are thousands and thousands of flamingos in theflock. 

Sometimes the rows and ranks widen out for a few minutes, and fill alarge portion of the sky; then they close up again, and look like onelong banner of red floating in the sky. 

And all the time they have sentinels that fly outside the rows andranks. They make the pattern in the sky still more beautiful. 

My dear children, the more you think of these wonders of the jungleand of the world, the more you will understand how great and wise isGod, Who made all these things. 

_The Parrot_

Another bright bird that lives in the jungle in a flock is the_parrot_. You know all about him, as you must have often seen himcaged, or chained by the leg to a stand. But he is different in hishappy home in the jungle. He lives in almost every sunny country, andflies about in flocks. 

Wild parrots also make their nests in flocks. In India there is adeserted city called Amber. Once upon a time a great King lived therein a lovely marble palace; and the nobles and courtiers also hadlovely marble palaces and mansions. 

But one day the King said that they must all leave that city, and goand build another city. So everybody left the city of Amber, andto-day it still stands perfect--lovely marble palaces and mansions, with hundreds of bushes of wild roses growing all around them. 

Nobody lives there, except thousands and thousands of wild parrots, that have made their nests upon the roofs of the palaces, in theporticoes and balconies, and upon the tops of the marble pillars andcolumns. 

Just think of that lovely sight! The blue sky above, the red roses onthe ground below, and the white marble palaces between the blue skyand the red roses; and many thousands of green parrots flitting acrossthe sky, and from palace to rose bush. Broad bands of red, white, andblue, with bright flashes of green between them!

Another lovely sight is a flock of wild parrots in the jungle, goinghome to roost at sunset. I once saw that sight. Their beautiful greenwings and the patches of yellow on their heads shone amidst thegorgeous colors of the sunset. And as the parrots flew on and on, manythousands of them, their own colors mingled with the colors of thesunset in ever-changing bands. They flew toward the setting sun, andpassed out of sight right into the sun, as it were. 

After seeing a sight like that--seeing God's lovely creatures flyingabout like happy children at play--who wants to see a bird boxed up ina cage?

_The Cockatoo_

Another bright bird which you may have seen in a cage, or chained to astand, is the _cockatoo_. He is a cousin of the parrot, but muchlarger, and far more gorgeous. He has a beautiful _crest_ of red andorange feathers on his head. His wings are a rosy pink in color; andhe has a long pink and white tail. 

In other ways he is very much like the parrot. He lives chiefly in thecountries of southern Asia, and in the islands between Asia andAustralia. 

_The Peacock_

And now I come to the most beautiful bird of all, the _peacock_. Whenhe spreads out his long tail, it looks just like a lady's fan, onlyfar lovelier than any fan made by men. In color the tail is a kind ofblue and green, with touches of gold and violet, and with "eyes"dotted all over it in shades of many other colors. 

The peacock can also close up his tail like a fan. Then the longfeathers of the tail all come together in many folds, and stand out ayard long behind him. 

The peacock is found wild in India and in countries near there, buthas now been brought into America and Europe. You may even have seenthe peacock in the parks and gardens of some cities, where he livesquite peacefully, at least in the summer months. In the winter, ofcourse, he must have a warm place indoors. 

The peacock is really the Papa bird, and the Mamma bird is called the_peahen_. She has not the gorgeous tail and the lovely feathers thathe has; so she looks quite plain. You will find that _among animalsthe Papas are often much prettier than the Mammas_. 

That seems very strange, does it not? Among us, of course, the Mammasare always prettier than the Papas!

But in another book I shall explain _why_ the Papas among animals areoften prettier than the Mammas. 

_The Golden Pheasant_

There is another beautiful bird which has been brought to America, andnow lives here; it is the _golden pheasant_. Once upon a time he livedonly in China; but a few years ago people brought a number of goldenpheasants to America, and put them in the forests of Oregon andWashington. So now there are many thousands of golden pheasants flyingabout and making their nests there. 

There are other kinds of pheasants in England and in some parts ofEurope, and these the people shoot and eat. But the golden pheasant ismuch too beautiful to eat. His feathers are as lovely as thesunset--gold and yellow and orange, with blue and deep crimson; andall these colors are laid out on his feathers in such a beautifulpattern that to look at him you would think you were dreaming, and notlooking at a real bird. 

Man, who toils with his hands, cannot make such lovely colors as thoseof the birds of the air, and of the flowers in the fields, which donot toil. 

_The Snowy Egret_

And now, my dear children, I shall finish this chapter by telling youabout a beautiful bird that once lived quite wild in great numbers inthe United States. This bird has lovely soft feathers, which are purewhite; so it is called the _snowy egret_. The feathers are as soft assilk. They are also long, with a gentle droop at the end. 

Because these feathers are so lovely, rich women want to wear them intheir hats; and these rich women are willing to pay a great deal ofmoney for the egret feathers. So, for the sake of the money, huntersgo wherever these lovely birds are to be found, and catch and killthem, and get the feathers. In fact, they have killed off so many ofthese lovely birds, to get feathers for rich women's hats, that to-daythere are hardly any snowy egrets left in the United States. 

Worse than that, the hunters killed the Papa and Mamma egrets justwhen their babies were born, because at that time the feathers of thesnowy egrets were the softest and loveliest. And so, for each Papa andMamma egret which the cruel hunters killed, they left a dozen _babybirds in their nests to starve and die_. Think of that!

Now, my dear children, I want the little girls among you to rememberthis, especially the little girls who are lucky enough to have richPapas and Mammas. You can grow up to be beautiful, and look beautiful, without wearing these egret feathers. There are women who try to lookbeautiful, but who do not think of the pain they give to God'sinnocent creatures. 

So, if ever you want to wear egret feathers, think of the dozen babyegrets who must starve and die if you are to have them. 

[Illustration: Snowy EgretsPhotograph of a group in the American Museum of Natural History, New York]

CHAPTER XVI

The Caged Parrot

I shall finish this book by telling you a story--a true story, which, I hope, will make you think. 

Many years ago a sea captain returned to his home in the north ofScotland, after sailing the sea for a long time. He brought with him aparrot. The parrot had lived in South America, where the people speakthe Spanish language. So all the words the parrot knew were inSpanish. 

The captain knew Spanish quite well, and often talked to the parrot inthat language. But after a time the captain died, and there was nobodyin that part of Scotland who could talk to the parrot. 

The parrot grew silent, and never opened his mouth to say a word. Buthe was thinking of his friend who was dead, and whose words in Spanishhad reminded him of his sunny home. The people around him did not knowthat, and thought nothing of his silence. So the parrot in his coldand bleak cage pined and pined for his sunny home land, but never aword did he say. 

Forty years passed, and a new set of people came to live there. Theytook no notice of the silent old parrot. They put food and drink inthe cage, but knew nothing about him except that he had been in thecage for many years. For a parrot lives much longer than aman--sometimes one hundred years. 

One day a sailor came to the house. He had lived in South America, andknew Spanish. He saw the parrot sitting in his cage, all alone andsilent, with his head bent down, and his beak on his breast. Then thesailor spoke to the parrot in Spanish. 

The parrot looked up, as if he had awakened from a long, long dream. Something reminded him of the days of his youth, when he was a happybird flying about over the sunny fields of South America. Then heremembered the language of his youth, which he had not spoken forforty years. 

Suddenly he flapped his wings in joy, and spoke again. He spoke allthe Spanish words he knew, one after another. He spoke to that sailoras to a friend come to him from his own home land. He flapped hiswings against the bars, and finally dropped to the floor of the cage, dead. He had died in the thought of his bygone happy days. 

My dear children, I am closing this book with this story, because Iwant you to learn a great lesson from it: _be kind to all animals_. 

I know that you would never willfully hurt any animal. But that is notenough. You may think that you are very kind to some creature, becauseyou feed it and pet it; but all the same you may be very cruel, thoughyou do not mean to be so. 

You may think it is great fun to have a pretty bird in a cage. But isit any fun _for the bird_? How would _you_ like to be shut up in acage all your life, instead of playing about in God's free air andliving in your own home? The bird wants to fly about and live in hisnest in his own home land. Think of that when you wish to put a birdin a cage. 

Children who are kind to all animals grow up to be men and women whoare kind to other people. And it is only by being kind to others thatwe ourselves _deserve_ to be happy and _are_ happy. 

Remember all that I have said, till I come back and talk to you againin the next book. Then I shall tell you many more Wonders of theJungle. 

Till then, as they say in the Orient, God and His peace be with you!

 * * * * *