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GAMANKENADO NA SKA
SCIENTIA
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VU SJ
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UNIKA

SF
71
N23
Robert Ranghan
from his &incenc friend
M. Walker
Edinburgh
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​of Jules




1832
From Robert Mang
Mady
Front 2nd April.


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Brother Orha




have to his
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184253
to his affectionate


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Renz. th..
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THE ARAB AND HORSE.

THE
NATURAL HISTORY
OF
DOMESTIC ANIMALS;
CONTAINING AN
ACCOUNT OF THEIR HABITS AND INSTINCTS,
AND OF
THE SERVICES THEY RENDER TO MAN.
LONDON:
WETTON, No. 21, FLEET STREET.
And Sold by all Booksellers.
W Sears, Printer, 11, Budge Row, Queen Street, Cheapside.
PREFACE.
THE object of the following pages, is to
give an account of some of those animals
which human perseverance has reclaimed
from wildness, and made subservient to the
most useful purposes.
In a description of domestic animals
perhaps the young reader will suppose, that
little can be related of which he is not
already informed by daily observation; let
him recollect, however, that an acquaint-
ance with the outward figure of the horse
and dog, does not constitute a knowledge
of their history; and that there are several
animals domesticated in other countries,
which have never been introduced into this.
To render the volume more interesting,
we have added a number of true anecdotes,
to the history of each animal, to exemplify
its different qualities; thus combining, as
far as possible, entertainment with in-
struction.
B 2
vi
PREFACE.
To behold God in his works, is the true
end of all our knowledge, and of natural
history in particular: whilst we observe,
therefore, so many instances of the Al-
mighty's wisdom and goodness, in these
which are his creatures, let us humbly and
gratefully acknowledge him as the source.
of all our happiness. "The merciful and
gracious God," saith Holy Scripture,
"hath so done his marvellous works, that
they ought to be had in remembrance."

m
The Dog
Gab
J
S
ME
K
Horse
Cat
Hog
Sheep
Goat
Cow
Ass
· 1
$
CONTENTS.
Mouse
Rabbit
Ferret
Hare...
Cock
Peacock
Turkey....
Raven
Pigeon
Rook....
S
Page.
40
64
75
84
92
104
119
126
129
1-32
135
144
152
156
163
168
174
THE DOG.
OF all animals, the dog has every reason to
claim the preference, being the most intelligent
of all known quadrupeds, and the acknow-
ledged friend and companion of mankind. The
dog, independently of the beauty of his form, his
vivacity, strength, and swiftness, is possessed of
all those internal qualifications that can concili-
ate the affections of man, and make him his pro-
tector.
A natural share of courage, an angry
and ferocious disposition, renders the dog, in
its savage state, a formidable enemy to all other
animals: but these readily give way to very dif-
ferent qualities in the domestic dog, whose only
ambition seems the desire to please; he is seen
to come crouching along, to lay his strength,
his courage, and all his useful talents, at the feet
of his master; he waits his orders, to which he
pays implicit obedience; he consults his looks,
and a single glance is sufficient to put him in
motion; he is one of the most faithful domes-
tics, constant in his affections, and much more
mindful of benefits than of injuries; he is not
driven off by unkindness; he still continues hum-
ble,submissive,and imploring; he licks the hand
that has been just lifted to strike him, and at
10
last disarms resentment by persevering submis-
sion.
The dog is highly susceptible of the im-
pressions of education; this is evident by the
wonderful sagacity of those used by shepherds
and drovers, which need but a single look from
their master to comprehend fully his will, which
they instantly execute with a degree of cheerful-
ness and accuracy, which we earnestly recom-
mend every little boy and girl to imitate; and
some dogs have even been taught to compose
words, with letters placed before them, to per-
form calculations with numbers, and in many
other instances, they discover proofs of a highly
imitative, if not intelligent faculty; not to men-
tion those taught to dance, whose drolleries are
so well known every where.
The services we receive from dogs are as
various as their species. The mastiff and the
bull-dog guard our houses in the night, and
reserve all their malignity for the season wherein
people may form bad designs against us. When,
at night, the guard of the house is committed to
his care, he seems proud of the charge; he
continues a watchful sentinel, he goes his
rounds, scents strangers at a distance, and gives
them warning of his being upon duty. If they
attempt to break in upon his territories, he
becomes more fierce, flies at them, threatens,
fights, and either conquers alone, or alarms
those who have most interest in coming to his
11
assistance; however, when he has conquered,
he quietly reposes upon the spoil, and abstains
from what he has deterred others from abusing;
giving thus at once a lesson of courage, tempe-
rance, and fidelity.
The shepherds' dogs are equally qualified to
defend their master's property and discipline the
flock. In the north of England, numerous flocks
of sheep are fed upon the mountains, and a
single dog is found more useful in keeping them
together than the shepherd could receive from
half a dozen boys. It is most surprising to
observe the expedition with which he obeys his
master's orders; he watches his eye and flies
to execute his bidding at a word, whether it is
to prevent the flock from straying to a distance,
to drive them with regularity to their pasture,
or to conduct them home at night; and though
others are browsing on the same pastures, he
prevents any stranger from mixing with those
under his care. A shepherd will sometimes point
out to his dog, a sheep straggling at a mile's
distance, and he never fails to return with the
runaway. These animals acquire this command
over the sheep merely by their voice, for they
are too well trained to injure their fleecy charge
with their teeth.
Among the class of sporting dogs, the terrier
has very short legs, to enable him to creep
under the grass, and dart through brakes and
bushes. The grey-hound, to facilitate his speed
12
through the air, has received a sharp head and a
slender body; his legs that are so long and spare,
stretch over a large space of ground, and in
swiftness he even exceeds the hare, whose
whole safety consists in the promptitude and
stratagems of her flight. The grey-hound is the
contrast to the terrier, as well in the structure
of his body as in his particular functions; the
latter has a weak sight and a fine nose, because
he is in greater need of a surer scent than a
piercing eye, when he buries himself under
ground, or forces his way through a thick under-
wood. On the other hand, the grey-hound, who is
only useful in the plain, has but an indifferent
nose; but then he never fails to see and distinguish
his
prey at a distance through all her doublings.
The setting-dog stops and crouches down when
he sees the game, to give his master notice of
the discovery. There are several sorts of these
dogs, whose names vary according to their qua-
lifications; but they are all equally zealous and
faithful in accomplishing the service prescribed
them.
In a word, among all these various domestics
who are so submissive and devoted to our inte-
rest, there are none, even down to the spaniel
and the Danish breed, who do not render them-
selves agreeable by their sprightliness, valuable
by their assiduity, and sometimes beneficial by
a seasonable intimation given to their master in
his slumbers. An instance which occurred near
13
Hammersmith, in the year 1760, will place
their use in this respect in a very strong light.
While a man of the name of Richardson, a
waterman of that place, was sleeping in his
boat, the vessel broke from her mooring, and
was carried by the tide under a west-country
barge. Fortunately for the man, his dog hap-
pened to be with him; and the sagacious animal
awakened him by pawing his face, and pulling
the collar of his coat, at the instant the boat was
filling with water; he siezed the opportunity,
and thus saved himself from otherwise inevitable
death.
When the dog is first whelped, it is not com-
pletely formed; his eyes are not opened till he is
ten or twelve days old, during which period,
the bones of the skull are incomplete, the body
is puffed up, the nose is short, and the whole
form but indifferently sketched out. In less
than a month the puppy begins to exercise all
his senses, and from that period, makes rapid
advances to its perfection, which it attains at
the age of twelve months: it goes w young
nine weeks, and lives about twelve of
teen
years.
Water appears to be more necessary for the
dog than food; he drinks frequently, though not
abundantly; and, it is imagined, he runs mad
when abridged of water. This dreadful malady
is the greatest inconvenience that results from
keeping this faithful domestic; it is a disorder,
C
14
however, not so frequent as the terrors of the
timorous lead them to suppose; and the dog has
been often accused of madness without a fair
trial. Happy would it be, if a certain and in-
fallible remedy were known for this most horrid
disease, but it is feared, none yet discovered
can be absolutely depended on. Perhaps the
most probable preventive is, instantly to wash
the wound with water as hot as it can be borne,
and to repeat the washings incessantly for three
hours.
It would also be desirable,that, during the
hot months of summer, when canine madness is
most common, dogs were not allowed to go at
large, without being muzzled.--In several parts
of the continent this regulation is enforced by
law, and the person offending is punished by a
fine.
The Kamschatkans, Esquimaux, and Green-
landers, treat these poor animals with great neg-
lect. The former, in the summer season, when
the dogs are no longer of service, turn them
loose to seek a living for themselves, and care
no me about them till the approach of winter :
when they are recalled to their usual confine-
ment and labour. Mr. Pennant observes, that
from October till the spring they are fed with
nothing but fish bones and opana; that is, putrid
fish preserved in pits, and served up to them
mixed with hot water. The Greenlanders are
not better masters: they leave their dogs to feed

15
on muscles or berries, unless they happen to be
particularly fortunate in catching seals, when,
by way of an extraordinary luxury, they treat
the poor creatures with the blood and garbage.
The natives are highly indebted to their dogs,
which serve them in place of horses. They are
fastened by the Greenlanders to their sledges,
who thus pay their visits in state, and bring
home the animals they have killed; sometimes
loading their carriage with five or six large
seals; and even with this weight, in addition
to their master, will the indefatigable creatures
travel over the ice sixty miles in a day. The
sledges are usually drawn by five dogs, four of
them yoked two and two abreast; the foremost
acts as a leader to the rest. The reins being
fastened to a collar round the leading dog's neck,
are of little use in directing the pack; the dri-
ver depending chiefly upon their obedience to his
voice, with which he animates them to proceed.
Great care and attention are consequently used
in training up those for leaders, which are valued
according to their steadiness and docility; the
sum of forty rubles or ten pounds ing no
unusual price for one of them. The rider has
a crooked stick, answering the purpose both of
whip and reins; with which, by striking on the
snow, he regulates the speed of the dogs, or
stops them at his pleasure. When they are in-
attentive to their duty, the charioteer often
chastises them, by throwing his stick at them.
0
喜
​
by ma
Uni
LARK SOULSD-VET
GREENLAND SLEDGE DRAWN BY DOGS.
17
H
In picking it up again, the Greenlander shows
a great deal of dexterity: and, in truth, it is
highly necessary that he should be expert in this
most difficult part of his exercise; for the mo-
ment the dogs find that the driver has lost his
stick, unless the leader is both steady and reso-
lute, they immediately set off at full speed, and
continue to run till their strength is exhausted,
or till the carriage is overturned and dashed to
pieces, or hurried down a precipice and buried
in the snow.
The Greenland dogs live a very hardy life,
sleeping constantly abroad, where they make a
lodge in the snow in which they lie completely
covered except their noses.
The Mastiff is a variety of the dog kind,
to which the people of Great Britain are much
indebted, for his singular fidelity and care in
guarding whatever property is placed under his
protection; and this office he is particularly well
enabled to perform, by his extraordinary size,
strength, and courage. His head is large, his
under lip hangs down on each side, and his
countenance is majestic and noble: he appears
to treat all other dogs with a contempt which
clearly indicates a consciousness of his superio-
rity over them.
His disposition is generous, and he will not
abuse the power with which he is intrusted, nor
call it forth into action unless provoked by inju-
ries; and even then he will not resent trifling
N
18
insults, farther than by shewing his power to do
it: of this, an anecdote mentioned by Mr. Bew-
ick is a striking instance. "A large dog of
this kind, belonging to the late M. Ridley, Esq.
of Heaton, near Newcastle, being frequently
molested by a mongrel, and teased by its conti-
nual barking, at last took it up in his mouth by
the back, and with great composure dropped it
over the quay, into the river, without doing
any further injury to an enemy so much his infe-
rior." The mastiff is generally kept confined
by a chain during the day time, and when night
approaches, he is turned loose to guard and de-
fend the premises committed to his care; these
he examines all over with great attention and
accuracy, to see that all is safe, and then by his
loud barkings, announces his presence and rea-
diness to acquit himself faithfully of the trust
reposed in him. As an instance of the fidelity
and courage
with which he guards his master's
property, it is related that a labourer in one of
the English counties having been for a long time
employed by a farmer, at last acquired so much
of his confidence that he was entrusted with the
key of the barn, and frequently engaged in bring-
ing sacks of corn from thence to the house, for
family use. One night, this man went after the
farmer's mastiff had been unchained, and took a
sack of corn. The dog attended him very qui-
etly as long as he pursued the path that led to his
master's house, but when he turned into the road
G

E
· SUPELLAS
An
3
Mitton Me
ño
COUNTING
६
изму
Kehon
A THIEF DETECTED BY A DOG.
Talk falls
20
that led to the village, he caught hold of his leg
and would not let him stir, as much as to
say, where are you going with my master's
property? The man tried then to go back
again with the sack to the barn, but neither
would the dog let him do that. In this
situation, the theif was obliged to remain all
night, standing with the sack of corn, and the
dog who held him fast, though without biting
him, until he was discovered in the morning.
It appears from Stowe's Annals, that the mas-
tiff will attack even a lion, and an account is
there given of an engagement between a lion
and three mastiffs, in the presence of King
James 1. One of the dogs being put into the
lion's den was soon disabled-another was then
set at the lion, and presently met with the same
fate-but the third instantly seized the lion by
the lip, and held him fast for some time, till at
length, being terribly wounded by the lion's
claws, he was forced to quit his hold; when the
lion, who was no doubt much fatigued by the
combat, declined renewing the engagement, and
leaping over the dogs, fled away into the interior
part of his den. The first two dogs did not long
survive, but the third recovered and became a
great favourite of the king's son.
In the time of the Roman Emperors, the
English mastiffs were held in high estimation at
Rome, for their strength and courage, and an
officer was appointed in Britain, on purpose to
breed and transport such as he thought would
21
prove equal to the combats of the amphitheatre.
M. D'Obsonville relates a singular instance
of the memory of a mastiff he had brought up in
India, and which accompanied him from Pondi-
cherry to Benglour, a strong place of High
Maissour, where he lost him "M. Maison
pre and myself," says he, "were nearly three
weeks on our journey thither, the distance being
more than an hundred leagues by the road we
took, during which we traversed plains and
mountains, forded rivers, and followed bye-
paths; besides that, we twice made a stay.
A
mastiff dog, however, which had lived with me
ever since he was two months old, and which
most assuredly had never been in that country
before, lost us at Benglour, and immediately
returned to Pondicherry. He went directly to
the house of M. Belier, then commandant of ar-
tillery, my friend, and with whom I had gene-
rally lived, where I afterwards found him on
my return.
Now the difficulty is, not to know
how the dog subsisted upon the road, for he
was very strong and able to procure himself
food; but by what means he could find his way,
after an interval of more than a month? This
then is one of the instinctive faculties of many
kinds of animals, which have the power to direct
their steps and retrace their route by efforts of
memory that are to us scarcely conceivable.'
""
The Newfoundland Dog is one of the largest
kind of dogs, measuring frequently upwards of
22
six feet in length, from the nose to the extremity
of the tail, which it usually carries in a curl over
his rump. It is proportionably large in all its
members, and possesses an uncommon degree of
strength and courage,, united with the greatest
sagacity and fidelity to its master; these quali-
ties, added to the faculty of swimming in a very
superior style, and diving to any depth, render
this a most useful animal. When young, it is
gentle and engaging in its manners; but as it
advances in years its ferocity gradually increases,
especially under confinement, and at length,
when arrived at maturity, it becomes a most
formidable, and sometimes dangerous animal.
The body is covered with long, thick hair, well
calculated to resist the rigour of the climate of
which it is a native. The toes are connected by
a membrane, like that which is seen on the feet
of water-fowl; the conformation of which, is
such as to enable it to swim very rapidly, and to
dive with the greatest ease; and its eager ap-
petite for raw fish seems to bear some analogy
with its attachment to the water.
This beautiful animal has been only known of
late years in England; but as it breeds very
freely, and the climate seems well adapted to its
constitution, it is now become pretty common,
and has hitherto shewn no signs of degeneracy,
nor lost any of its good qualities. It was origi-
nally brought from Newfoundland, where the in-
habitants find it of essential service. Its great
S
23
strength enables it to draw considerable weights,
and four of them yoked to a sledge, will trail
three hundred weight of wood, with apparent
ease, for the space of several miles. Their
docility is no less conspicuous, in the manner
of performing this service, which they execute
without a driver, and having delivered their
load at the destined place, return in the same
order to the woods whence they were dispatched,
and where their labours are commonly rewarded
with a meal of dried fish.
The Newfoundland dog is of infinite service
to seafaring persons, particularly in coasting
vessels, and those which navigate rivers; as, in
case of any one accidentally falling overboard,
the dog will instantly jump after the person,
and either bring him safe to land, or keep him
from sinking, till proper assistance can be pro-
cured. Of this, numberless instances have oc-
curred, sufficient to establish the fact beyond a
possibility of doubt. They also make excellent
house or yard dogs, and guard the premises
committed to their care with the strictest fidelity.
They have often been known to seize, and kill,
housebreakers, which have intruded on the
houses consigned to their protection; and at a
royal hunt, in Windsor Forest, the deer in
chase, which was of the large red kind, in
attempting to leap over the palings of a park
at Warfield, was instantly seized by the throat,
by a large Newfoundland dog, which happened
24
to be loose in the park, and severely punished
its intrusion.
The Bull-Dog. is not so common, or held in
such high esteem now, as it used to be, when
the savage diversion of bull-baiting attracted
the notice of the public, which, to the honour
of humanity, is now almost entirely abolished.
The striking features of the bull-dog, are the
following the under jaw is longer than the
upper, and the tail curls upwards; the predo-
minant colour is tawny, but it is sometimes
brindled, and marked with white; and some-
times, though rarely, entirely black or white.
Savage and malignant in his nature, the bull-dog
often bites in sullen silence, without giving any
warning of his approach. Inured to battle and
cruelty, he is insensible of the caresses of any
one, except his master; and even these he seems
eager to relinquish, for his more favourite en-
tertainment. He is remarkably strong in pro-
portion to his size, and is equally fierce and
cruel. Such is the strength and savage ferocity
of this animal, that four of them have been
found to be an over-match for a lion; and when
they have once properly seized a bull, nothing
can make them quit their hold, but the giving
way of the part, or the loss of their life. So
great is their ardour for the combat, that it is
impossible to restrain them from it. This is
fully confirmed by a cruel experiment, which
was tried some time since, at a bull-baiting,
25
where a bull-dog suffered his feet to be cut off
in succession; notwithstanding which, he con-
tinued to seize the bull after each amputation;
and when all were cut off, he again attacked
him with as much eagerness as if nothing had
been done to him.
When the barbarous amusement of bull-
baiting was in fashion, many other instances of
savage fortitude were recorded of this animal,
which would now scarcely be credited.
With our ancestors, the Blood-hound was an
animal in great request; and as he was remark-
able for the fineness of his scent, he was fre-
quently employed in recovering game that had
escaped wounded from the hunter. He would
follow, with great certainty, the footsteps of a
man to a considerable distance: and in barba-
rous and uncivilized times, when a thief or mur-
derer had fled, this useful creature would trace
him through the thickest and most secret co-
verts-nor would he cease his pursuit till he
had taken the felon. For this reason there
was a law in Scotland, that whoever denied
entrance to one of these dogs in pursuit of
stolen goods, should be deemed an accessary,
that is, one concerned in the crime.
Blood-hounds were formerly used in certain
districts lying between England and Scotland,
that were much infested by robbers and murder-
ers; and a tax was laid on the inhabitants, for
keeping and maintaining a certain number of
D
26
these animals. But as the arm of justice is now
extended over every part of the country, and
there are no secret recesses where villainy can lie
concealed, their services are become no longer
necessary.
Some few of these dogs are still kept in the
northern parts of England, and in the royal fo-
rests. They are used in pursuit of deer that have
been previously wounded; and are also some-
times employed in discovering deer-stealers,
whom they infallibly trace by the blood that is-
sues from the wounds of the animals they have
stolen.
A very extraordinary instance of this, occurred
in the New Forest, in the year 1810.-A per-
son, in getting over a stile into a field near the
forest, remarked that there was blood upon it.
It almost immediately occurred to his recollec-
tion that some deer had been killed, and several
sheep stolen in the neighbourhood; and that
this might possibly be the blood of one that had
been killed in the preceding night. The man
went to the nearest lodge to give information;
but the keeper being from home, he was under
the necessity of going to Rhinefield lodge, which
was at a considerable distance. Toomer, `the
under-keeper, went with him from thence, ac-
companied by a blood-hound. The dog, beiug
brought to the spot, was laid on the scent; and
after following for about a mile the track which
the depredator had taken, came at last to a heap
of fuize fagots belonging to the family of a
27
cottager. The woman of the house attempted
to drive the dog away, but was prevented; and,
on the fagots being removed, a hole was dis-
covered in the ground, which contained the body
of a sheep that had been recently killed, and also
a considerable quantity of salted meat. The
circumstance which renders this account the
more remarkable is, that the dog was not
brought to the scent until more than sixteen
hours after the man had carried away the sheep.
It will be interesting to the young reader to
have the following account of the celebrated
Irish wolf-dog, a race which was remarkable
in former times, for its extraordinary size and
fierceness; and for the service it rendered in
ridding the country of wolves. At the time it
was written by Dr. Goldsmith, the breed was
declining, and it may be added, that it is now
entirely extinct.
"The great Irish wolf-dog, is very rare even in
the only country in the world where it is to be
found, and is rather kept for show than use, there
being neither wolves nor any other formidable
beasts of prey in Ireland, that seem to require
so powerful an antagonist. The wolf-dog is there-
fore bred up in the houses of the great, or such
gentlemen as choose to keep him as a curiosity,
being neither good for hunting the hare, the
fox, or the stag, and equally unserviceable as
a house-dog. Nevertheless, he is extremely beau-
tiful and majestic in his appearance, being the
28
greatest of the dog kind to be seen in the world.
The largest of those I have seen, and I have
seen above a dozen, was about four feet high,
or as tall as a calf of a year old. He was made
extremely like a grey-hound, but rather more
robust, and inclining to the figure of the French
matin, or the great Dane. His eye was mild,
his colour white, and his look seemed heavy
and phlegmatic. This I ascribed to his having
been bred up to a size beyond his nature; for
we see in man and all other animals, that such
as are overgrown are neither so vigorous nor
alert as those of more moderate stature. The
greatest pains had been taken with these to
enlarge the breed, both by food and matching.
This end was effectually obtained, indeed; for
the size was enormous; but, as it seemed to me,
at the expense of the animal's fierceness, vigi-
lance, and sagacity. However, I was informed
otherwise; the gentleman who bred them assu-
ring me that a mastiff would be nothing when
opposed to one of them, who generally seized
their antagonist by the back: he added, that
they would worry the strongest bull dogs, in a
few minutes, to death. They are now almost
quite worn away, and are very rarely to be met
with even in Ireland. If carried to other coun-
tries, they soon degenerate; and even at home,
unless great care be taken, they quickly alter.
They were once employed in clearing the island
of wolves, which infested it in great number; but
29
these being destroyed, the dogs also are wearing
away, as if nature meant to annihilate the
species when they had no longer any service to
perform.
The wild animals that most approach the dog,
are the wolf and the fox; these in their internal
conformation, greatly resemble each other, and
yet in their natures are very distinct. Indeed,
all the endeavours of M. Buffon to make them
live together, as he assures us, were ineffectual.
For this purpose, he bred up a young wolf,
taken in the woods at two months old, with a
matin dog of the same age. They were shut up
together, without any other, in a large yard,
were they had a shelter for retiring. They
neither of them knew any other man but he
who had the charge of feeding them. In this man-
ner they were kept for three years; still with
the same attention, and without constraining or
tying them. During the first year, the young
animals played with each other continually,
and seemed to love each other very much. In
the second year, they began to dispute about
their victuals, although they were given more
than they could use. The quarrel always be-
gan on the wolf's side. They were brought
their food, which consisted of flesh and bones,
upon a large wooden platter, which was laid on
the ground. Just as it was put down, the
wolf, instead of falling to the meat, began by
driving off the dog; and took the platter in his
纂
​D 2
30
teeth so expertly, that he let nothing of what
it contained fall upon the ground; and in this
manner carried it off; but as he could not en-
tirely escape, he was frequently seen to run
with it round the yard five or six times, still
carrying it in a position that none of its con-
tents could fall. In this manner it would con-
tinue running, only now and then stopping to
take breath, until the dog coming up, the wolf
would leave the victuals, to attack him. The
dog, however, was the stronger of the two; but
as it was more gentle, in order to secure him
from the wolf's attack, he had a collar put round
his neck. In the third year, the quarrels of
these ill-paired associates were more vehement,
and their combats more frequent; the wolf,
therefore, had a collar put about its neck as well
as the dog, who began to be more fierce and un-
merciful. At length their quarrels became so
desperate, that the dog killed the wolf, who was
become more weak and feeble; and he was soon
after himself obliged to be ked, for, upon
being set at liberty, heinstantly fiew upon every
animal he met, fowls, dogs, and even men.
We shall conclude the account of these ani-
mals, with a few interesting anecdotes respecting
their sagacity; extracted from different authors.
In December, 1784, a dog was left by a
smuggling vessel near Boomer, on the coast of
Northumberland. Finding himself deserted, he
began to worry sheep, and did so much damage

31
that he became the terror of the country within a
circuit of about twenty miles. When he caught
a sheep, be bit a hole in its right side, and, after
eating the tallow about the kidneys, left it. Se
veral of them, thus lacerated, were found alive
by the shepherds; and being taken proper care
of, some of them recovered, and afterwards had
lambs. From his delicacy in this respect, the
destruction he made, may in some measure be
conceived: as it may be supposed that the fat
of one sheep. in a day would hardly satisfy his
hunger. The farmers were so much alarmed by
his depredations, that various means were used
for his destruction. They frequently pursued
him with hounds, greyhounds, &c.; but when
the dogs came up with him, he lay down on his
back as if supplicating for mercy; and in that
position they never hurt him; he therefore lay
quietly, taking his rest till the hunters approach
ed, when he made off without being followed by
the hounds, till they were again excited to the
pursuit which always terminated unsuccessfully.
And it is worthy of notice that he was one day
pursued from Howick to upwards of thirty miles
distance; but returned thither and killed sheep
the same evening. His constant residence du
ring the day, was upon a rock,on the Heugh-hill,
near Howick, where he had a view of four
roads that approached it, and in March, 1785,
after many fruitless attempts, he was at last shot
there.
32
Old Daniel, gamekeeper to the Rev. Mr.
Corsellis, had reared a spaniel, which became
so fond of him as to be his constant attendant
both by night and day. Wherever the game-
keeper appeared, Dash was never far distant;
and in his nocturnal excursions to detect poach-
ers, this dog was of infinite use to him. At
these times, the dog altogether neglected the
game; but if a strange foot had entered any of
the coverts, Dash, by a different whine, inform-
ed his master that the enemy were abroad. Many
poachers were caught, from this singular in-
telligence.
During the last stage of a consumption, which
carried his master to the grave, Dash unwearily
attended the foot of his bed; and when he died,
the dog would not quit the body, but lay upon
the bed by its side. It was with difficulty he
was tempted to eat any food; and although,
after the funeral, he was taken to the house of
Mr. Corsellis, and caressed with all the tender-
ness which so fond an attachment naturally ex-
cited, he took every opportunity to steal back to
the room in the cottage where the gamekeeper
breathed his last, and where he would remain f
hours. From thence, for fourteen days, he co-
ntly visited the grave; at the end of which
time, he died, notwithstanding all the kindness
and attention that were shown him.


Mr. Hope relates an anecdote of a terrier,
which shews that this animal is not only capable
33
H
of resentiment, and great contrivance to accom-
plish it, but that it is even possessed of a certain
power, however limited, of combining ideas and
communicating them to one of its own species,
so as to produce a certain preconcerted conse-
quence. The narrative is thus related :- .“Mr.
M., of Whitmore, in Staffordshire, used to go
twice a year to London, on some family business
-and being a gentleman fond of exercise, he
commonly made the journey on horseback, ac-
companied most part of the way by a faithful
little terrier dog, which, for fear of losing in
town, he always left to the care of my kind,
good-natured landlady, Mrs. Langford, at St.
Alban's; and, on his return into the country,
he was sure to find his little companion well
taken care of, and perfectly recovered from the
fatigues of his journey. But Mr. M. calling for
the dog one time, as usual, good Mrs. Langford
appeared with a woeful countenance before him :
Alas! Sir, your little terrier is lost! and I
have been fretting my heart out about him. Our
great house-dog and he had a quarrel together,
and the poor terrier was so worried and bit, bes
fore we could part them, that I verily believed
he would never have got the better of it. He
made a shift, however, to crawl out of the yard,
and no mortal here set eyes upon him for almost
a week after. He then returned; (and will you
believe it, Sir?) he brought along with him an
other dog, bigger by far than our's, and they
34
both fell upon our great house-dog, and bit him
so unmercifully, that he has scarcely since been
able to go about the yard, or eat his meat.
After that, your little dog and his companion
disappeared, and they have never since been
seen at St. Albans. Mr. M. heard the old lady's
story with no small astonishment, but he bore
his loss with perfect resignation, and soon re-
ceived a reward for his philosophy. On his re-
turn to Whitmore, he found his little terrier
was got safe home before him; and on enquiring
into circumstances, he also found, that the ter-
rier had been down at Whitmore, and coaxed
his great dog to follow him back to St. Alban's,
where he was sure of being revenged on his
enemy. These facts have been well authenti-
cated to me, and one of the parties concerned I
have often seen. I mean the little, sagacious,
revengeful animal."
In the year 1791, a person went to a house in
Deptford, to take lodgings, under pretence that
he had just arrived from the West Indies; and
after having agreed on the terms, said he should
send his trunk that night, and come himself the
next day. About nine o'clock in the evening,
the trunk was brought by two porters, and was
carried into his bed-room. Just as the family
were going to bed, their house-dog, deserting
his usual station in the shop, placed himself
close to the chamber-door where the chest was
deposited, and kept up an incessant barking. The
35
moment the door was opened, the dog flew to
the chest, against which it scratched and barked
with redoubled fury. They attempted to get
the dog out of the room, but in vain. Calling.
in some neighbours, and making them eye-wit-
nesses of the circumstance, they began to move
the trunk about; when they quickly discovered
that it contained something that was alive. Sus-
picion becoming very strong, they were induced
to force it open; when to their utter astonish-
ment, they found in it their new lodger, who
had been thus conveyed into the house with the
intention of robbing it.
During a severe storm, in the winter of 1789,
a ship belonging to Newcastle, was lost near
Yarmouth; and a Newfoundland dog alone es-
caped to shore, bringing in his mouth the cap-
tain's pocket-book. He landed amidst a number
of people, several of whom in vain attempted
to take from him his prize. The sagacious ani-
mal, as if sensible of the importance of the
charge, which, in all probability, was delivered
to him by his perishing master, at length leapt
fawningly against the breast of a man who
attracted his notice among the crowd, and deli-
vered the book to him. The dog immediately
returned to the place where he had landed, and
watched with great attention for all the things
that came from the wrecked vessel, seizing them
and endeavouring to bring themt o land.
The care of the dog in directing the steps of
36
the blind, affords an instance of his obedience
and fidelity, which is peculiarly deserving of
notice. There are few persons who have not
seen some of these unfortunate objects, thus
guided along through the winding streets of a
town or city, to the spot where they are to sup-
plicate the charity of passengers. In the evening,
the dog safely conducts his master back and re-
ceives as the reward of his services that scanty
pittance which wretchedness can bestow. Mr.
Ray, in his history.of quadrupeds, informs us
of a blind beggar who was thus led through the
streets of Rome by a middle-sized dog. This
dog, besides leading his master in such a manner
as to protect him from all danger, had learned
to distinguish both the streets and houses where
he was accustomed to receive alms twice or
thrice a week. Whenever the animal came to
any one of these streets, he would not leave it
till a call had been made at every house where
his master was successful in his petitions.-
When the beggar began to ask alms, the dog
lay down to rest; but the man was no sooner
served or refused, than the dog rose of his own
accord, and without either order or sign, pro-
ceeded to the other houses where the beggar
generally received some gratuity. "I observed,
(says Mr. Ray,) not without pleasure and sur-
prise, that when a half-penny was thrown from
a window, such were the sagacity and attention
of this dog, that he went about in quest of it,

37
took it from the ground with his mouth, and put
it into the blindman's hat. Even when bread
was thrown down, the animal would not taste
it, unless he received it from the hand of his
master.'
It is possible to train these animals in such a
manner, that they may be entrusted to go to
market with money, on which occasions they
will repair to a known shop, and carry home
provisions in safety. Some years since, a per-
son who lived at the turnpike house about a
mile from Stratford-on-Avon, had trained a
dog to go to the town for small articles of
grocery that he wanted. A note mentioning the
things, was tied round the dog's neck, and in
the same manner, the articles were fastened; and
the commodities were always brought safe to his
master.
It is recorded of a dog belonging to a noble-
man of the Medici family,that it always attended
its master's table; changed the plates for him ;
and carried him his wine in a glass placed on a
salver, without spilling the smallest drop. It
would also hold the stirrup in its teeth while its
master was mounting his horse.
The sagacity and attention of the dog are,
indeed, so great, that it is not difficult, as has
been already mentioned, to teach him to dance,
hunt, leap, and exhibit a thousand pleasing dex-
terities. The dancing dogs which were lately
exhibited in London were curiously instructed.
E
38
After storming a fort, and performing various
other feats, one of them was brought in as a
deserter, was shot, and carried off as dead by his
companions. The mode in which a dog is taught
to point out different cards that are placed near
him (a common trick) is this.-He is first taught,
by repeated trials, to know something by a
certain mark; and then to distinguish one face
from another. Food is frequently offered to
him on à card he is unacquainted with, after
which he is sent to search it out from the pack;
and after a little experience he never mistakes.
Profiting by the discovery of receiving food and
caresses as a reward for his care, he soon becomes
able to know each particular card, which, when
it is called for, he brings with an air of gaiety,
and without any confusion: and in reality, it is
no more surprising to see a dog distinguish one
card from thirty others, than it is to see him
distinguish in the street his master's door from
those of his neighbours.
The following story, the last we shall give
for the entertainment of our young readers, is
taken from Dibdin's observations in a tour
through England:-
At a convent in France, twenty paupers were
served with a dinner at a certain hour every
day. A dog belonging to the convent did not fail
to be present at this regale, to receive the odds
and ends which were now and then thrown down
to him. The guests, however, were poor, and
39
hungry, and of course not very wasteful; so
that their pensioner did little more than scent the
feast of which he would fain have partaken. The
portions were served by a person at the ringing
of a bell, and delivered out by means of what in
religious houses is called a tour; which is a
machine like the section of a cask, that, by
turning round upon a pivot, exhibits whatever
is placed on the concave side without discover-
ing the person who moves it. One day, this
dog, who had only received a few scraps, wait-
ed till the paupers were all gone, took the rope
in his mouth and rang the bell. His stratagem
succeeded. He repeated it the next day with the
same good fortune. At length, the cook finding
that twenty-one portions were given out instead
of twenty, was determined to discover the trick;
in doing which, he had no great difficulty; for,
placing himself where he could notice the pau-
pers as they came in great regularity for
their different portions, and finding that there
was no intruder except the dog, he began to
suspect the real truth; which he was confirmed
in when he saw him wait with great delibera-
tion, till the visitors were all gone, and then pull
the bell. The matter was related to the com-
munity; and to reward him for his ingenuity,
he was permitted to ring every day for his din-
ner; when a mess of broken victuals was pur-
posely served out to him.
THE HORSE.
OF all the quadruped animals, the horse
seems the most beautiful; the largeness of his
form, the glossy smoothness of his skin, the ease
of his motions, and the exact symmetry of his
shape, have taught us to regard him as the first
and as the most perfectly formed, whilst from
the advantage we derive from his activity and
strength, he is undoubtedly the most useful.
To have an accurate idea of this noble animal,
we are not to look for him in the pastures, or
the stables, to which he has been consigned by
man; but in those uncultivated and remote
plains where he has been originally produced.
In those extensive tracts, whether of Africa or
New Spain, where he runs at liberty, he seems
no way
incommoded with the inconveniencies to
which he is subject in Europe. The continual
verdure of the fields supplies his wants; and
the warmth of the climate suits his constitution,
which naturally seems adapted to heat. His
enemies of the forest are but few, for none but
the greater kinds will venture to attack him;
any one of these he is able singly to overcome;
while at the same time he is content to find
safety in society; for wild horses always herd
together.
41
In these countries, therefore, the horses are
often seen feeding in droves of five or six hun-
dred. As they do not carry on war against any
other race of animals, they are satisfied to re-
main entirely upon the defensive. The pastures
on which they live, satisfy all their appetites,
and all other precautions are purely for their
security, in case of a surprize. As they are
never attacked but at a disadvantage, whenever.
they sleep in the forests, they have always one
among their number that stands as sentinel, to
give notice of any approaching danger; and
this office they take by turns.
If a man ap-
proaches them while they are feeding by day,
their sentinel walks up boldly near him as if to
examine his strength, or to intimidate him from
proceeding; but as the man approaches with-
in pistol shot, the animal then thinks it high
time to alarm his fellows; this he does by a
loud kind of snorting, upon which they all take
the signal, and fly off with the speed of the
wind; their faithful sentinel bringing up the
rear.
These wild horses are caught by a kind of
noose, which the natives are extremely expert
in throwing; and then held fast by the legs,
and tied to a tree, where they are left for two
days, without food or drink. By that time, they
begin to grow manageable; and in some weeks
they become as tame if they had never been
in a state of wildness. If by any accident they
E 2
42
are once more set at liberty, they never become
wild again, but know their masters, and come
to their call. Some of the early traders to the
Spanish settlements have often been agreeably
surprised, after a long absence, to see their
faithful horses once more present themselves,
with their usual assiduity; and come up, with
fond submission, to receieve the rein.
But of all countries in the world, where the
horse runs wild, Arabia produces the most.
beautiful breed, the most generous, swift, and
persevering. They are found, though not in great
numbers, in the deserts of that country; and the
natives use every stratagem to take then. Al-
though they are active and beauitful, yet they
are not so large as those that are bred up tame;
they are of a brown colour;their mane and
tail very short, and the hair black and tufted.
Their swiftness is so great, that the attempt to
pursue them in the usual manner of the chase
with dogs, would be entirely fruitless. Such is
the rapidity of their flight, that they are in-
stantly out of view, and the dogs themselves
give up the vain pursuit. The only method,
therefore, of taking them is by traps, hidden
in the sand, which entangling their feet the
nunter at length comes up, and either kills them
or carries them home alive. If the horse be your
he is considered among the Arabians as a very
great delicacy; and they feast upon him while any
part is found remaining; but if, from his shape or

43
vigour, he promises to be serviceable in his
more noble capacity,they take the usual methods
of taming him, by fatigue and hunger, and he
soon becomes a useful domestic animal.
The usual manner of trying their swiftness is
by hunting the ostrich: the horse is the only
animal whose speed is comparable to that of this
creature, which is found in the sandy plains,
with which those countries abound. The instant
the ostrich perceives itself aimed at, it makes
to the mountains, while the horseman pursues
with all the swiftness possible, and endeavours
to cut off its retreat. The chase then continues
along the plain, while the ostrich makes use of
both legs and wings to assist its motion. How-
ever, a horse of the first speed is able to outrun
it; so that the poor animal is then obliged to
have recourse to art to elude the hunter, by fre-
quently turning: at length, finding all escape
hopeless, it hides its head wherever it can, and
suffers itself tamely to be taken. If the horse,
in a trial of this kind, shews great speed, and is
not readily tired, his price becomes proportion-
ably great; and there are some horses valued
at two hundred and fifty pounds.
The description of the Eastern horses in the
Book of Job, is exceedingly poetical and ex-
pressive:"Hast thou given the horse strength?
Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder? Canst
thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? The
dory of his nostrils is terrible. He paweth in
44
the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength: he
goeth on to meet the armed men: he mocketh
at fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth
he back from the sword. The quiver rattleth
against him, the glittering spear, and the shield.
He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and
rage: neither believeth he that it is the sound
of the trumpet. He saith among the trum-
pets, ha, ha; and he smelleth the battle afar
off, the thunder of the captains and the shout-
ing."
*
There is scarcely an Arabian, how poor so-
ever, but is provided with his horse. They in gene-
ral make use of mares in their ordinary excur-
sions; experience having taught them that they
support fatigue, thirst, and hunger, better than
the horses are found to do. They are also less
vicious, of a gentler nature, and are not so apt
to neigh. They are more harmless also among
themselves, not so apt to kick or hurt each other,
but remain whole days together, without the
least mischief. They preserve the pedigree of
their horses with great care, and for several
ages back; they distinguish the races by diffe-
rent names, and divide them into three classes.
-The first is that of the nobles, the ancient
breed, and unadulterated on either side: the
second is that of the horses of the ancient race,
but adulterated: and the third is that of the
common and inferior kind: the last they sell at
a low price but those of the first class, and
45
KON
even of the second, amongst which are found
horses of equal value to the former, are sold ex-
tremely dear. They know, by long experience,
the race of a horse by his appearance; they
can tell the name, the surname, the colour, and
the marks properly belonging to each. When
a mare has produced her foal, witnesses are
called, and an attestation signed, in which are
described the marks of the foal, and the day
noted when it was brought forth. This attest-
ation increases the value of the horse, and is
always given to the person who buys him. The
most ordinary mare of this race sells for five
hundred crowns; there are many that sell for a
thousand; and some of the very finest kinds for
fourteen or fifteen hundred pounds. As the
Arabians have no other house but a tent to live
in, this also serves them for a stable; so that
the mare, the foal, the husband, the wife, and
the children, lie altogether indiscriminately ;-
the little children are often seen upon the body
or neck of the mare, while these continue inof-
fensive and harmless, permitting them thus to
play with, and caress them without any injury.
The Arabians never beat their horses: they treat
them gently; they speak to them, and seem to
hold a discourse; they use them as friends, they
never attempt to encrease their speed by the
whip, nor spur them but in cases of necessity.
However, when this happens, they set off with
amazing swiftness; they leap over obstacles
46
with as much agility as a buck; and, if the rider
happens to fall, they are so manageable, that
they stand stock still in the midst of their most
rapid career. The Arabian horses are of a mid-
dle size, easy in their motions, and rather inclined
to leanness than fat. They are regularly
dressed every morning and evening, and with
such care, that the smallest roughness is not
left upon their skins. They wash the legs, the
mane, and the tail, which they never cut; and
which they seldom comb; lest they should thin
the hair. They give them nothing to eat during
the day; and at sun-set, they hang a bag to their
heads, in which there is about half a bushel of
clean barley. This they continue eating the
whole night, and the bag is again taken away
the next morning. They are turned out to pas-
ture in the beginning of March, when the grass
is pretty high, but when the spring is past, they
take them again from pasture,giving them neither
grass nor hay during the rest of the year ; barley
is their only food, except now and then a little
straw. The mane of the foal is always clipped
off when about a year or eighteen months old, in
order to make it stronger and thicker. They
begin to break them at two years old, or two
years and a half at farthest; they never saddle or
bridle them till at that age; and then they are
always kept ready saddled at the door of the tent,
from morning to sun-set, in order to be prepared
against any surprize. As an instance of the
QUES
47
great attachment which the Arab feels to his
horse, the following story is told, as having
come within the narrator's knowledge:-The
whole stock of a poor Arabian of the desert,
consisted of a most beautiful mare; the French
consul at Said, offered to purchase her, with an
intention of sending her to his master, the king of
France; the Arab, pressed by want, hesitated
a long time, but at length consented, on condition
of receiving a considerable sum, which he named.
The consul not chusing, without instructions, to
give so high a price, wrote to France for per-
mission to close the bargain upon the terms men-
tioned; Louis XIV. gave orders to pay the
money. The consul immediately sent notice to
the Arab, who soon after made his appearance,
mounted on his magnificent courser, and the gold
he had demanded, was paid down to him. The
Arab covered with a miserable rag, dismounts,
and looks at the money; then turning his eyes to
his mare, he sighed, and thus addressed her: “to
whom am I going to yield thee up? to Europeans,
who will tie thee close, who will beat thee, who
will render thee miserable; remain with me, my
beauty, my darling, my jewel, and rejoice
the hearts of my children." As he pronounced
these words, he sprung on her back, and scam-
pered off towards the desert.
The race of Arabian horses has spread itself
into Barbary, among the Moors, and has even
48
extended across that extensive continent to the
western shores of Africa. Among the Negroes
of Gambia and Senegal, the chiefs of the country
are possessed of horses; which, though little, are
very beautiful, and extremely manageable. In-
stead of barley, they are fed, in those countries,
with maize, bruised and reduced into meal, and
mixed up with milk when they design to fatten
them. These are considered as next to the
Arabian horses, both for swiftness and beauty;
but they are rather smaller than the former.
The Italians have a peculiar sport, in which
horses of this breed, which from the country from
whence they come, are called Barbs, run against
each other. They have no riders, but saddles so
formed as to flap against the horses' sides as they
move, and thus to spur them forward. They are
set to run in a kind of railed walk, about a mile
long, out of which they never attempt to escape :
but, when they once set forward they never stop,
although the walk from one end to the other is
covered with a crowd of spectators. Our horses
would scarcely, in this manner, face a crowd,
and continue their speed, without a rider, through
the midst of a multitude; and, indeed, it is a
little surprising how in such a place the horses
find their own way. However, what our English
horses may want in sagacity, they make up by
their swiftness; and it has been found upon
computation that their speed is nearly one
fourth greater, even carrying a rider, than that
of the swiftest Barb without one.
49
We have already mentioned the wild horses of
America. Such as are tame, if we may credit
the reports of travellers, are admirably adapted
to the chase, for which they are bred up. The
hunters, as Ulloa informs us, are divided into two
classes; one part on foot, the other on horseback:
the business of the footmen is to rouse the deer;
and that of the horsemen, to hunt it down. They
all, at break of day, repair to the place appointed,
which is generally on the summit of a hill, with
every man his greyhound. The horsemen place
themselves on the highest peak; whilst those on
foot range the precipices, making a hideous
noise, in order to start the deer. Thus the com-
pany extend themselves three or four leagues,
or more, according to their numbers. On start-
ing any game, the horse which first perceives it,
sets off, and the rider being unable to guide or
stop him, pursues the chace, sometimes down
such a steep slope, that a man on foot, with the
greatest care, could hardly keep his legs; from
thence he flies up a dangerous ascent, or along
the side of a mountain, so that a person, not
used to this exercise, would think it much safer
to throw himself out of the saddle, than commit
his life to the precipitate ardour of his horse.
The other horses, which join in the chace, do
not wait for the riders to animate them; they
set forward immediately upon seeing another at
full speed; and it becomes prudence in the
rider to give them their way, and, at the same
F
50
time, to let them feel the spur, to carry him
over the precipices. These horses are backed
and exercised to this method of hunting; and
their usual pace is trotting.
We have omitted the mention ofone particular
breed, more excellent than any hitherto descri-
bed; and that is our own. It is not without
great assiduity, and unceasing application, that
the English horses are now become superior to
those of any other part of the world, both for
size, strength, swiftness, and beauty. An ordi-
nary racer is known to go at the rate of a mile in
two minutes: and we had one instance, in the ad-
mirable Childers, of till greater rapidity. He has
been frequently known to move above eighty-two
feet and a half in a second, or almost a mile in a
minute: he has run also round the course of
Newmarket, which is very little less than four
miles, in six minutes and forty seconds. But
what is surprising, no other horse has been since
found, that ever could equal him: and those of
his breed have been remarkably deficient.
However this be, no horses can any way equal
our own, either in point of swiftness or strength;
and these are the qualifications our horsemen
seem chiefly to value. For this reason, when
foreigners describe our breed, they all mention,
as a fault, the awkward and ungainly motion of
our horses; they allow them to be very good in-
deed, but they will not grant them an easy or an
gant carriage. But these writers do not
51
consider that this seeming want of grace is en-
tirely the result of our manner of breaking them.
We consult only speed and dispatch in this ani-
mal's motions; whilst other nations are more
anxious for parade and spirit. For this reason,
we always throw our horses forward, while they
put them upon their haunches; we give them a
swift gait of going, that covers a great deal of
ground; they on the contrary, throw them back,
giving them a more shewy appearance indeed,
but one infinitely less useful. The fault of our
manner of breaking is, that the horse is some-
times apt to fall forward; the French managed
horse never falls before, but more usually on one
side; and for this reason, the rider wears stiff
boots, to guard his legs against such accidents.
However, it would be a very easy matter to give
our horses all that grace which foreigners are
so fond of; but it would certainly take from
their swiftness.
But in what degree of contempt soever fo-
reigners might formerly have held our horses,
they have for sometime perceived their error,
and our English hunters are considered as the
noblest and the most useful horses in the world.
Instead, therefore, of farther expatiating on this
well known animal's qualifications, upon which
so many volumes might easily be written, we
shall mention the description of an old Author,
in which he professes to unite all the perfec-
tions which a horse ought to be, possessed of.
52
"It must," says he, "have three parts, like
those of a woman; the breast must be broad, the
hips round, and the mane long: it must in three
things resemble a lion; its countenance must be
fierce, its courage must be great, and its fury
irresistible: it must have three things belong-
ing to the sheep; the nose, gentleness, and pa-
tience: it must have three of a deer; head, leg,
and skin: it must have three of a wolf; throat,
neck, and hearing: it must have three of a fox;
ear, tail, and trot: three of a serpent; memory,
sight, and flexibility: and, lastly, three of an
hare; running, walking, and perseverance.
We shall now add a few more anecdotes of
he horse, to prove the many useful qualities
and extraordinary instincts with which he is
gifted.
In the month of Jan. 1798, a farmer in the
West of England, who was in the habit of taking
his cattle to market once a week, having stopped
to refresh himself, as usual, at an inn on the road
after market hours, happened to be so much
taken up with the hilarity of his companions,that,
notwithstanding his friends reminded him of the
lateness of the evening, his distance from home,
and the badness of the weather (for it was then
dark, and a heavy fall of snow on the ground at
the time), he still continued his stay at the inn,
with this exclamation, "Let me alone; I know
what I am about; were it an hundred miles in-
stead of ten, my horse would carry me home in

53
safety. Let it freeze or snow, I will stay as long
as I like." He prolonged his stay till nine
o'clock in the evening, and then mounted his
horse; and though the snow had fallen to a
depth nearly reaching the belly of the animal,
yet this faithful and sagacious creature convey-
ed his master in safety to the door of his stable.
The servants, who were alarmed at the farmer's
staying beyond his usual time of returning, had
been for some hours in great anxiety, and waited
for his arrival; but what was their surprise on
beholding their master completely frozen on
the back of the horse! He was in an erect
position and lifeless.
Till of late years, pack-horses were employed
in the northern counties of England, to carry
the different manufactures and articles of traffic
from one part of the kingdom to another; but the
improved state of our roads has caused that mode*
of conveyance to be almost entirely laid aside. In
their journeys over trackless moors, they strictly
adhere to the line of order and regularity which
custom has taught them to observe. The leading
horse, which is always chosen for his sagacity and
steadiness,being furnished with bells,gives notice
to the rest, who follow the sound, and generally
without much deviation, though sometimes at a
considerable distance. The following anecdote
will show with what obstinate perseverance they
have been known to observe the line of their
order. Some years ago, one of these horses,
F 2
54
which had been long accustomed to follow his
leader, by accident or fatigue, was thrown into
an inferior rank; the poor animal, as if sensible
of his disgrace, by the most strenuous exertions,
at length recovered his usual station, which he
maintained during the remainder of the journey;
but, on his arrival at the inn yard, he dropped
down dead upon the spot, his life falling a sa-
crifice to his ambition-a species of heroism we
must admire, even in the brute creation.
My
The tricks also which the horse can be taught
to perform are surprising, and shew extraordi-
nary intelligence. There was lately to be seen,
at the fair of St. Germain in Paris, a little
bay horse, very well made, about six years old,
who, on coming into the assembly, paid his re-
spects by an air, and some motions expressive
of his satisfaction. He answered very exactly
by signs of the head to all the questions hist
master put to him. He drank to the health of
the king, by taking a cup into his mouth; and
also fired off a pistol with his mouth. He could
feign himself lame or dead, that he should not be
obliged to go to the war. If any person of the
assembly drew a card, and held it before the
horse's eyes, he would beat on the ground with
his foot as many strokes as there were spots on
the card. He could likewise tell what o'clock
it was by a watch, by beating with his hoof, ex-
pressing the quarter, as a repeating watch, by
small redoubled strokes. Being asked if he had
any knowledge of arithmetic, he made a sign that
55
he had; and then, whoever chose to question
him, as, for instance, how many eight and six
made, he gave fourteen strokes with his foot.
His master took several pieces of money from
different persons of the assembly, and having
jumbled them together, he threw them one
after another in a handkerchief to the horse,
who, taking them out one by one in his mouth,
brought to each person their piece. There is
no exaggeration in all this; and all these feats
of ingenuity have been seen by a great con-
course of spectators. It cannot be doubted
but that this horse was guided by the signs or
voice of his master; but it is astonishing how,
he could so well obey signs that were imper-
ceptible to the spectators.
Mr. Astley, jun. of the Royal Amphitheatre,
Westminster Bridge, has, at this time, in his
possession, a remarkably fine Barbary horse,
forty-three years old, presented to him by the
late Duke of Leeds. This noble and surprising
creature was, at one time, deemed so ungovern-
able, as to render it unsafe for any but an ex-
pert horseman to ride him. A short time, how-
ever, under proper management, effected a per-
fect chage in his nature. Being naturally
good-natured, and uncommonly tractable, he
soon became an adept in the art of fetching and
carrying, and will now do so at the word of
command, which will readily be believed, when
the reader is informed, that this is the celebra-
ted animal that has, for a number of years, been
56
seen officiating in the character of a waiter, in
the course of the performances at the amphi-
theatre, and at various other theatres in the
United Kingdom.
A
At the request of his master, he has been seen
to bring into the Riding School a tea table and
its appendages, which has been followed up by
fetching a chair or stool, or what else might be
wanted. His achievements generally terminated.
by taking a kettle of boiling water from off a
considerable blaze of fire, to the wonder and
admiration of every beholder.
He has also surprising dexterity in taking an
apple, pear, handkerchief, snuff-box, and, in
short, any thing of a similar nature, out of the
pocket, by the teeth. Apples he is particularly
fond of, and should his master forget to give
him one or two in the course of the day, he is
certain to put his mouth into his pocket, and
on not finding one there, will lay his head on
his shoulder, and by an occasional lick on the
face with his tongue, make known his wishes,
aud the debt he considers due to him.
This sagacious and gentle creature, although,
as already observed, in the forty-third year of
his age, still preserves all that fine symmetry of
form and limb, which may be said to under the
horse, more than any other animal, beautiful.
And what is a little extraordinary, he is still
as lively and playful as a young colt, and is now
rode by Mr. Astley, Jun. in minuet dances at the
Olympic Pavilion. Nature, however, in some
5%
instances, prevails; his teeth are nearly, if not
entirely gone, which renders it necessary that
his food should be of a soft and tender quality.
The following singular circumstance is related
in the Universal Theological Magazine for
April, 1820.
About twenty years ago, I was well acquainted
(says the writer) with a team of horses belonging
to the Earl of Macclesfield, in Oxfordshire; one
of them was naturally vicious and ill-tempered,
and one quite the reverse. Next to the latter
was placed, in the stable, another, which had the
misfortune to be blind. In the summer season
they used to be turned out to grass with some
other horses, and this very good-tempered crea-
ture constantly took his blind friend under his
protection. If at a turning loose, the blind
horse happened to take a wrong direction, and
get at a distance from his companion, he would
discover the greatest distress by neighing and
running about the field, where his friendly guide
used to place himself in such a position that he
might run against him, when, after smelling to
him, he would begin to feed with the greatest
confidence and composure.
But what appears still more extraordinary,
this horse was naturally of so peaceable a dispo-
sition, that he incurred the character of being
a coward when only himself was concerned; but
if any of them made an attack upon his blind
friend, he would fly with such fury, that not a
·
58
horse in the field could stand against him.
Whenever it happened that the horses broke the
fence, and went astray, this faithful creature
never once left his unfortunate companion,
though he has sometimes conducted him through
the gap into the adjoining field; nor did he ever
sustain any injury from several deep pits to which
he was exposed. This singular instance of saga-
city, I had almost said humanity, in a horse, has
often struck me with astonishment; and, might
put many to the blush, to whom the Almighty
has given more knowledge than to the beasts that
perish!
The subjoined verses were occasioned by
the following circumstance. A few years ago,
a rich farmer in the neighbourhood of Bath, was
the unworthy possessor of a most valuable horse.
The farmer made a considerable wager, that the
noble animal would go from Temple-gate at
Bristol, to Hyde Park Corner, a distance of
115 miles, in the course of a few hours; and
he performed the task as far as Reading, with
high promise of his winning; but shortly
after, the poor creature began to fail in strength
and motion, whip and spur were cruelly applied,
and the poor animal may be said to have died
under their goading and lashing!
Cease, master, cease, a little mercy lend,
Nor thus my reeking sides incessant flay!
Let thy sharp scourge my lab'ring boues befriend,
Nor thus my efforts cruelly repay.
1
59
Since morning's dawn near fourscore miles I've sped,
And day's meridian scarcely now is o'er,
Oh! let me seek near yonder ale-house shed,
That lowly stable's hospitable door!
And must I pass it? Oh! my trembling limbs!
Ye soon beneath your cruel load must sink;
My brain e'en now in faint delirium swims,
For life fast verges to destruction's brink,
Bred in thy fields, I knew thy presence well,
And ever ran thy smoothing hand to greet;
Then frisk'd along the daisy-sprinkled dell,
To show thee early that my pow'rs were fleet.
Fed in thy pasture, I with grateful speed
Have been the foremost with the tuneful pack,
Nor hill, nor hedge, nor wall could e'er impede,
But safe I bore thee on my faithful back.
When late at marts and taverns thou hast staid,
Thy sense unequal to direct the road,
O'er the dark heath-through rutted lanes I've neighed,
And brought in safety home my drowsy load.
Oft my dear mistress have I drawn with care,
With her sweet brood, to join the village school,
And thought myself full proud when she would spare
One look, one pat, and call me her—“ poor fool!”
60
Oh! if intemperance in her wildest hours,
Has urg'd thee to propose the cruel bet,
My once kind master! strain no more my pow'rs,
They fall beneath the arduous task that's set.
Ah! dost thou pause-thy heel forget its stroke—
Too late thou must confess the deed accurst;
Too late has mercy in thy heart awoke,
My eyes grow dim, my mighty heart will burst!
Farewell!--affected by my mournful tale,
Some breasts may feel the keenness of remorse;
And should my fate but turn compassion's scale,
A future race may bless the Dying Horse.
A young Norwegian had frequently hired a
horse of a peasant in his neighbourhood, which
he liked much to ride on account of the goodness
of his paces. Having subsequently settled in a
foreign country, he, after some time, returned to
visit his family: by this opportunity he also
called upon the peasant and enquired after his
horse. The man told him with tears in his eyes,
that the horse was dead. Being asked what was
the cause of the emotion he displayed, he re-
lated the following anecdote: Having one day
taken a ride upon that horse to a neighbouring
town, he was so well entertained by some friends
there, that in returning home he found his head
too heavy for him to keep a firm seat on his
saddle; the horse regulated his pace as well as
61
he could, according to the circumstances of his
rider; but coming to a clayey ascent, where
the road was slippery, on account of some rain
that had fallen, he could not take such sure
steps as before, and the man was thrown to the
ground with one of his feet hanging in the
stirrup. The horse immediately stopped, and
twisted his body in various directions, in order
to extricate his master, but in vain. At length,
after having surveyed him for some time, as
he lay on the ground unable to help himself,
he stooped, and laying hold of the brim of his
hat, raised his head a little by it, but the hat
slipping off, the man remained lying on the
ground as before. The horse then laid hold
of the collar of his coat, and raised him by it
so far from the ground, that he could draw his
foot out of the stirrup, and stand again upon
his legs. Out of gratitude for this service, the
peasant had kept the horse, and taken good
care of him till he died of old age.
G
62
THE POST HORSE.
COULD the poor Post-Horse tell thee all his woes,
Shew thee his bleeding shoulders, and unfold
The dreadful anguish he endures for gold!
Hir'd at each call of business, sport, or rage,
That prompts the traveller from stage to stage.
Still on his strength depends their boasted speed;
For them his limbs grow weak, his bare ribs bleed;
And though he, groaning, quickens at command,
Their extra shilling in the rider's hand
Becomes his bitter scourge-'tis he must feel
The double efforts of the lash and steel,
'Till when, up hill, the destin'd inn he gains,
And trembling under complicated pains,
Prone from his nostrils, darting on the ground,
His breath emitted floats in clouds around;
Drops chase each other down his chest and sides,
And spattered mud his native colour hides:
Thro' his swoln veins the boiling torrent flows,
And every nerve a separate torture knows.
His harness loos'd, he welcomes, eager ey'd,
The pail's full draught, that quivers by his side;
And joys to see the well-known stable door,
As the starv'd mariner the friendly shore.
Ah! well for him, if here his suff'rings ceased,
And ample hours of rest his pains appeased!
But rous'd again, and sternly bade to rise,
And shake refreshing slumber from his eyes,
63
Ere his exhausted spirits can return,
Or through his frame reviving ardour burn,
Come forth he must, tho' limping, maimed, and sore:
He hears the whip-the chaise is at the door.
The collar tightens, and again he feels
His half-heal'd wounds inflamed; again the wheels
With tiresome sameness in his ears resound,
O'er blinding dust, or miles of flinty ground!
THE CAT.
IN the gentle habits of our common domestic
cat, we have a striking exhibition of the con-
ciliatory effects of kind usage, even on disposi-
tions the most ferocious.
This demure looking creature, sitting so
placidly by the fireside, is no other than a
descendant of the wild cat, the most fierce and
destructive animal which yet continues to range
the woods and wilds of these islands, destroy-
ing poultry, lambs, and kids, as well as vermin
and different kinds of game.
The wild cat, which has been called the British
tiger, though found in every quarter of the globe,
is three or four times as large as the house cat,
and very strongly made, with tremendous claws
and teeth. It lives mostly in trees, chiefly by
night; for prowling at which season, it seems
peculiarly adapted. Not having the delicate
scent of the dog, it depends only upon its sight,
lying closely in ambush, and attacking animals.
by surprise. The pupil of its eye is capable of
great contraction and dilatation: it is narrow
like a line, during the glare of day; but round
and wide in the dark, which gives it great ad-
vantage in discovering and seizing its prey. Its
long soft hair is of a yellowish white colour, and
65
of a deepish grey; really, though rather indis-
tinctly, disposed like the streaks of the tiger's
skin.
How changed from the wild animal is that
which we rear in our houses, but which retains
enough of its sanguinary disposition, to effec-
tually rid us from those destructive and trou-
blesome little creatures, by which we should
otherwise be overrun.
-
In the destruction of these vermin, it gives a
disgusting proof of its native cruelty; for,
when it has got them within its clutches,it affects
to let them escape, and seems to sport with the
feelings of the little victims, till, by a sudden
and violent blow from its jaws, it at last puts an
end to their sufferings and life.
Although the cat is an inhabitant of our
houses, yet it cannot properly be called a de-
pendant; although perfectly tame, yet it ac-
knowledges no obedience; on the contrary, it
does only just what it thinks fit. In general it
is but half tamed; and has its attachments rather
to the place in which it resides, than to the in-
habitant. If the inhabitant quits the house, the
cat still remains; and if carried elsewhere, seems
for a while bewildered with its new situation. It
must take time to become acquainted with the
holes and retreats in which its prey resides, and
with all the little labyrinths through which
they often make good an escape.
This animal eats slowly, and with difficulty,

G2
66
as its teeth are rather made for tearing, than
chewing its aliments. For this reason, it loves
the most tender food, particularly fish, which it
eats as well boiled as raw. Its sleeping is very
light; and it often seems to sleep, the better
to deceive its prey.
When the cat walks, it
treads very softly, and without the least noise';
and as to the necessities of nature, it is cleanly
to the last degree. Its fur also is usually sleek
and glossy; and, for this reason, the hair is
easily electrified, sending forth shining sparks,
if rubbed in the dark.
No experiment can be more amusing than
that of setting a kitten, for the first time, before
a looking-glass. The animal appears surprised
and pleased with the resemblance, and makes
several attempts at touching its new acquaint-
ance; and, at length, finding its efforts fruitless,
it looks behind the glass, and appears highly
astonished at the absence of the figure. It again
views itself, and tries to touch the image with
its foot, suddenly looking at intervals behind
the glass. It then becomes more accurate in its
observations; and begins, as it were, to make
experiments, by stretching out its paw in dif-
ferent directions; and when it finds that these
motions are answered in every respect by
the figure in the glass, it seems, at length, to be
convinced of the real nature of the image.
Though the kitten however is so sportive
when young, it soon shews a disposition to cru-
67
elty; it often looks wistfully towards the cage,
sits sentinel at the mouth of a mouse hole, and,
in a short time, becomes a more expert hunter,
than if it had received the instructions of art.
Indeed its disposition is so incapable of con-
straint, that all instruction would but be thrown
away. It is true, that we are told of the Greek
monks of the isle of Cyprus, teaching cats to
hunt the serpent with which the island is infest-
ed; but this may be natural to the animal itself,
and they might have fallen upon such a pur-
suit without any instruction. Whatever animal
is much weaker than themselves, is to them an
indiscriminate object of destruction. Birds,
young rabbits, hares, rats and mice, bats, moles,
toads and frogs, are all equally pursued;
though not, perhaps, equally acceptable,-the
mouse seems to be their favourite game; and,
although the cat has the sense of smelling in but
a mean degree, it nevertheless knows those
holes in which its prey resides. They have been
often seen patiently watching a whole day un-
til the mouse appeared, and continued quite
motionless until it came within reach, when
they have siezed it with a jump.
When pleased the cat purrs, moves its tail,
and rubs itself against the person who takes
notice of it. It is also fond of rubbing itself
against those who carry any kind of perfume,
and loves the smell of valerian, marum, cat-
mint, and certain aromatics; whilst it shews the
68
greatest dislike to bad smells. When irritated
it sets up its back, lashes with its tail, spits,
hisses, and strikes with its foot.
It would seem that cats are not original na-
tives of our woods, but were introduced first in
a domestic state, and afterwards became wild
in the woods, by ill usage or neglect. By the
laws of Howel, a Prince of South Wales, who
died in the year of our Lord 948, the price of
a kitten, before it could see, was to be a penny:
till it caught a mouse, two-pence; and when it
commenced mouser, four-pence; it was requir-
ed besides, that it should be perfect in its
senses of hearing and seeing, be a good mouser,
have the claws whole, and be a good nurse. If
it failed in any of these qualities, the seller
was to forfeit to the buyer the third part of its
value. If any one stole or killed the cat that
guarded the prince's granary, he was to forfeit
a milch ewe, its fleece and lamb, or as much
wheat as, when poured on the cat suspended by
the tail (the head touching the floor) would form
a heap high enough to cover the tip of the
former. From hence we discover besides a pic-
ture of the simplicity of the times, a strong ar-
gument that cats were not naturally bred in the
forests. An animal that could be so easily taken,
could never have been rated so highly; and the
precautions laid down to improve the breed,
would have been superfluous, in a creature that
multiplies to such an amazing degree.
69
This animal is one of those few which are
common to the new continent, as well as the old.
When Christopher Columbus first discovered
that country, a hunter brought him one, which
he had discovered in the woods, which was of
the ordinary size, the tail very long and thick.
They are well known also in several parts of
Africa, and many parts of Asia. In Persia,
a traveller informs us, that there is a kind of
cat, particularly in the province of Chorazan,
of the figure and form of the ordinary one,
but infinitely more beautiful in the lustre and
colour of its skin. It is of a grey blue,
without mixture, and as soft and shining as silk.
The tail is very long, and covered with hair six
inches long, which the animal throws upon its
back, like the squirrel. These cats are well
known in France; and have been brought over
into England, under the name of the blue cat,
which, however, is not their colour.
Another variety of this animal is called by us
the lion cat; or, as others more properly term it,
the cat of Angora. These are larger than the
common cat, and even than the wild one. Their
hair is much longer, and hangs about their head
and neck, giving this creature the appearance of
a lion. Some of these are white, and others of a
dun colour. These come from Syria and Persia,
two countries which are noted for giving a long
soft hair to the animals which are bred in them.
71
Mr. White, in his Natural History of Selborne,
has related the following instance :-
My friend had a little helpless leveret brought
to him, which the servant had fed with milk from
a spoon; and about the same time, the cat
kittened, and the young were dispatched and
buried,
The hare was soon lost, and was supposed to
have been killed by some dog or cat. However,
in about a fortnight, as the master was sitting in
his garden, in the dusk of the evening, he observ-
ed his cat, with tail erect, trotting towards him,
and calling with little short inward notes of com-
placency, such as these animals use towards their
kittens, and something gambolling after her,
which proved to be the leveret, that the cat had
nourished with her milk, and continued to sup-
port with great affection. Thus was an animal
whose natural food is vegetables, nurtured by
one that subsists chiefly upon flesh! This
strange affection was probably occasioned by
those tender maternal feelings which the loss of
her kittens had awakened, and by the pleasant
sensation she experienced in having the milk
taken from her, which nature had provided for
her own young. From habit she became as
much delighted with this foundling, as if it
had been her real offspring.
Another example of a similar nature is re-
corded by the same gentleman, in his Natu-
ralist's Calendar.
A boy had taken three young squirrels in their

72
nest. These small creatures he put under a cat
who had lately lost her kittens; and found that
she nursed and suckled them with the same as-
siduity and affection, as if they had been her
own progeny. So many persons went to see
the little squirrels suckled by a cat, that the
foster-mother became jealous of her charge, and
in pain for their safety; and therefore hid them
over the ceiling, where one died. This circum-
stance showed her affection for these foundlings,
and that she supposed the squirrels to be her
own young.
To these we shall add one still more surpris-
ing, because it appears to be contrary to the
animal's instincts.-A cat belonging to Mr.
James Greenfield of Maryland, had kittens to
which she frequently carried mice, and other
small animals for food, and among the rest she
is supposed to have carried them a young rat.
-The kittens, probably not being hungry,
played with it, and which the cat gave suck to
them, the rat likewise sucked her.-This hav-
ing been observed by some of the servants,
Mr. Greenfield was informed of it. He had
the kittens and rat brought down stairs, and
put on the floor; and in carrying them off, the
cat was remarked to convey away the young rat
as tenderly as she did any of the kittens.
Every one knows how dangerous it is to leave
birds, though in their cage, in any situation.
where a cat can reach them; its animosity
against these little favourites, being as great as
73
that against rats and mice. Education, how-
ever, can conquer all its natural propensities,
as exemplified in Mr. Polito's show of
beasts and birds. In a large cage, there are
living together in the most amicable manner, a
full-grown cat, 2 guinea pigs, several birds of
the linnet and canary species; and what is still
more extraordinary, two white mice. The
keeper says, the cat was first put amongst this
collection when a very young kitten-so that it
most probably became familiarised to its com-
panions before it had the power of showing its
malignity. The conquest over its natural dis-
position, however, appears to be complete, since
it refuses to injure brown mice, which are fre-
quently presented to it by way of experiment.
The following account of a cat which was the
means of detecting a murder, is taken from a
very authentic source. A physician at Lyons,
in July 1800, was requested to inquire into a
murder that had been committed on the body of
a woman of that city. In consequence of this
solicitation, he went to the residence of the de-
ceased, where he found her extended lifeless on
the floor, and weltering in her blood. A large
white cat was mounted on the cornice of a cup-
board, at the further end of the apartment, where
he seemed to have taken refuge. He sat motion-
less, with his eyes fixed on the corpse, and his
attitude and looks expressing horror and affright.
H
74
The following morning he was found in the
same station and attitude; and when the room
was filled with officers of justice, neither the
clattering of the soldiers' arms, nor the loud
conversation of the company, could in the least
divert his attention. As soon, however, as the
suspected persons were brought in, his eyes
glared with increased fury, his hair bristled, he
darted into the middle of the apartment, where
he stopped for a moment to gaze at them; and
then precipitately retreated under the bed,
The countenances of the assassins were discon-
certed; and they now, for the first time during
the whole course of the horrid business, felt
their atrocious audacity forsake them.
THE HOG.
THE hog seems to unite in itself all those
distinctions by which other animals are separa-
ted. It resembles those of the horse kind in
the number of teeth, which in all amount to
forty-four, in the length of the head and in hav-
ing but a single stomach. It resembles the
cow kind in the cloven hoofs, and the position
of the intestines; and lastly, it resembles those
of the claw-footed kind in its appetite for flesh,
in not chewing the cud, and in having a nume-
rous progeny. Thus this species serves to fill
up
that chasm which is found between the car-
nivorous kinds and those that live upon grass:
being possessed of the ravening appetite of the
one, and the inoffensive nature of the other.
Having to obtain a subsistence principally by
turning up the earth with its nose, we find that
the neck is strong and brawny, the eyes are
small and placed high in the head, the snout
long, and the nose callous and tough. Its
external form is indeed very unwieldy, but by
the strength of its sinews, it is able to fly from
the hunters with great agility. The back toe
on the feet of this animal, prevents its slipping
while it descends steep declivities.
76
The Wild Boar, which is the original of all
the varieties we find in this creature, is by no
means so stupid nor so filthy an animal as that
we have reduced to tameness; he is much small-
er than the tame hog, and does not vary in his
colour as those of the domestic kind do, but is
always found of an iron grey, inclining to black ;
his snout is much longer than that of the tame
hog, and the ears are shorter, rounder, and
black; of which colour are also the feet and
tail. He roots the ground in a different manner
from the common hog; for as this turns up the
earth in little spots here and there, so the wild
boar ploughs it up like a furrow, and does
irreparable damage in the cultivated lands of
the farmer. The tusks also of this animal are
larger than in the tame breed, some of them
being seen almost a foot long. These, as is
well known, grow from both the under and
upper jaw, bend upwards circularly, and are
exceedingly sharp at the points. They differ
from the tusks of the elephant in this, that they
never fall; and it is remarkable of all the hog
kind, that they never shed their teeth as other
animals are seen to do. The tusks of the
lower jaw are always the most to be dreaded,
and are found to give very terrible wounds.
The wild boar can properly be called neither
a solitary nor a gregarious animal. The first
three years the whole litter follows the sow, and
the family lives in a herd together. They are
27
then called beasts of company, and unite their
common forces against the invasions of the
wolf, or the more formidable beasts of prey.
Upon this their principal safety while young
depends, for when attacked they give each other
mutual assistance, calling to each other with a
very loud and fierce note: the strongest face
the danger; they form a ring, and the weakest
fall into the centre. In this position few rave-
nous beasts dare venture to attack them, but
pursue the chace where there is less resistance
and danger. However, when the wild boar is
come to a state of maturity, and when conscious
of his own superior strength, he then walks the
forest alone, and fearless. At that time he dreads
no single creature, nor does he turn out of his
way, even for man himself. He does not seek
danger, and he does not much seem to avoid it.
This animal is therefore seldom attacked but at
a disadvantage, either by numbers, or when
found sleeping by moonlight. The dogs pro-
vided for hunting it, are of the slow heavy kind.
Those used for hunting the stag, or the roe-
buck, would be very improper, as they would
too soon come up with their prey; and instead
of a chase, would only furnish out an engage-
ment. A small mastiff is therefore chosen; nor
are the hunters much mindful of the goodness
of their nose, as the wild boar leaves so strong
a scent, that it is impossible for them to mistake
its course. They never hunt any but the largest
H 2
78
and the oldest, which are known by their tracks.
When the boar is rear'd, as is the expression
for driving him from his covert, he goes slowly
and uniformly forward, not much afraid, nor
very
far before his pursuers. At the end of every
half mile, or thereabouts, he turns round, stops
till the hounds come up, and offers to attack
them. These, on the other hand, knowing their
danger, keep off, and bay him at a distance.
After they have for a while gazed upon each
other, with mutual animosity, the boar again
slowly goes on his course, and the dogs renew
their pursuit. In this manner the charge is
sustained, and the chase continues till the boar
is quite tired, and refuses to go any farther. The
dogs then attempt to close in upon him from be-
hind; those which are young, fierce, and un-
accustomed to the chase, are generally the fore-
most, and often lose their lives by their ardour.
Those which are older and better trained, are
content to wait until the hunters come up, who
strike at him with their spears, and after several
blows, dispatch, or disable him.
If we consider the hog in its domestic
state, it is hardly possible to imagine an animal
of a more sordid and brutal nature. Insatiable
in its appetite, it seems to delight in what is
most offensive to other animals. Justice, how-
ever, obliges us to confess, that this is not the
character of the hog in a wild state: it is then
more delicate in the choice of its food, than any
*
79
other quadruped; for Linnæus asserts, that the
cow eats two hundred and seventy-six plants,
the horse two hundred and sixty-two, the goat
four hundred and forty-nine, and the sheep
three hundred and eighty-seven; but the hog,
more delicate in its appetite, eats but seventy-
two. It should seem, therefore, that this valu-
able creature was given to man, by the all-wise
Creator, to consume and turn to the best account,
what would otherwise be wasted and lost. Upon
the whole, then, it appears that, although the
appetite of the hog is so general, it is certainly
not indifferent in the choice of its food; and,
when it has variety, will distinguish that which
is most agreeable to its palate with as much
accuracy as any other quadruped.
The hog is the most indolent of all domestic
animals, and seems to possess the guidance of
instinct in a very inferior degree. It is indeed,
in some measure, capable of instruction, as the
tricks performed by the learned pig, lately
exhibited in London and elsewhere, clearly
demonstrate. It is, however, a stranger to at-
tachment, except from selfish motives, or to its
own species, and continues through life a use-
less dependant on man. The thickness of its
hide and fat renders it almost insensible to blows
and ill-treatment, and mice have even beeu
known to eat their way into the fat on its back,
without incommoding the creature. Smelling
and tasting are the senses it appears to enjoy in
the highest perfection.
80
Stupid, inactive, and drowsy, the hog would,
if permitted, sleep away half its time; nor can
any thing but the calls of appetite interrupt its
repose, to which it never fails to return, as soon
as that appetite is satisfied.
In Minorca, however, it is not so useless an
animal during life, as with us. It is there some-
times converted into a beast of draught, a cow,
a sow, and two young horses, having been seen
yoked together, and of the four the sow drew
the best. The ass and the sow are also common
helpmates in that island, and are frequently
yoked together to plough the land. In Italy,
swine are employed in hunting for truffles-a
kind of fungus which grows some inches beneath
the surface of the soil--a cord being tied round
the hind leg of one of the animals, the beast is
driven into the pastures, and we are told that
whenever he stops and begins to root with his
pose, truffles are always to be found.

The wind appears to have a great influence
this creature; when it blows violently, the
tinmal is so much agitated, that it will run to-
wards the sty, screaming in the most violent
manner. From hence the country-people
have a singular adage, that pigs can see wind.
Naturalists have also remarked, that on the ap-
proach of bad weather, it will bring straw to
the sty, as if to guard against its effects. The
hog is much disturbed by the distressful cries of
its own species, nor does any animal appear to

!!!!!
SOW AND PIGS.
mr
82
have greater sympathy for those of its own kind.
The moment one of them gives the signal of
distress, all within hearing rush to its assis-
tance. They have been known to gather round
a dog that teased them, and kill him on the
spot. And if a male and female be enclosed in
a sty, when young, the female will decline, from
the instant her companion is removed, and will
probably die of a broken heart.
Intemperance is the cause of many diseases
to which this animal is subject, as measles, im-
posthumes, scrofulous swellings, &c. Happy
would it be for man, if he would take warning
from this example, and avoid the bad effects of
every kind of excess.
The hog delights to wallow in the mire, either
to cool himself, or to destroy a sort of insect
with which he is infested. Notwithstanding his
sensuality, he will live to the age of eighteen or
twenty years, if permitted. The female goes
with young between four and five months, and
produces from ten to twenty at a litter, twice
every year, till she is fifteen years old.
Although the hog passes a life of inactivity,
totally useless to man, he makes him ample re-
compence at his death, for the care and expence
bestowed on him. His flesh is nourishing and
wholesome food for persons who take much ex-
ercise; but those of delicate constitutions, and
such as lead a sedentary life, should eat but
sparingly of it. It furnishes our tables with
83
various delicacies, as ham, brawn, pork, bacon,
sausages, &c. As it takes salt much better,
and is capable of being preserved longer, than
any other animal substance, it is an article of
the highest importance to a commercial
country.
THE SHEEP.
THE ram is the male of that well-known
and useful animal, the sheep, of which the fe-
male is called ewe; the young one, whether
male or female, lamb; and the male when in-
tended only for the table, and treated accord-
inly, wether the ram is also called tup in
some parts of England. This animal is so well
known, that a particular description of its figure
seems unnecessary: it is, however, subject to
numberless varieties, arising from cross-breed-
ing, food, and climate, the effect of which is
more remarkable in this than in any other
animal.
The sheep is certainly the most useful of the
smaller quadrupeds; and the bounty of the
Creator has so tempered its constitution, as to
enable it to exist, and even thrive, in almost
every variety of climate, rendering most essential
services to mankind wherever it goes. Mild,
innocent, and gentle in its nature, even to a
proverb; it seems conscious of its defenceless
state, and looks to man for that protection,
which it seeks in vain from its own species; yet,
however timid it may be, the female follows the
impulse of nature, so evident in all its sex, in
85
the care and protection of its young, which it
attempts to defend in time of danger, by stamp-
ing with its feet in a menacing manner, and
pushing with its head. It must, however, be
allowed, that, notwithstanding the apparent
timidity of this animal, when under the imme-
diate protection of man, it assumes a very dif-
ferent conduct on the extensive wild mountains,
where numerons flocks range uncontrouled and
unprotected by the shepherd, except at morning
and evening. In such situations, a ram will
boldly attack a single dog, and frequently proves
victorious. But when the attack is more formi-
dable, they unite in the common cause, and draw
themselves up in a body, the females and young,
as being perfectly defenceless, occupying the
centre, while the rams, placing themselves close
to each other, form a circle round them, and
present a formidable battery of horns on all
parts, which cannot be attacked without imini-
nent danger to the assailant. Thus they wait
with firmness the approach of the enemy, on
whom the rams dart with such impetuosity and
force, as to lay him dead at their feet, unless
he has the address to save himself by flight. A
ram will sometimes engage a bull, and from the
superior hardness of his skull, often comes off
conqueror. The sheep delights in the society
of its own species, and seems fond of a tinkling
noise, which induces the shepherds to hang a
bell round the neck of the leader of the flock,
I
86
thence it is called bell-wether or weder, the
sound of which the others never fail to follow.
The sheep in the mountainous parts of
Wales, where the liberty they enjoy is so great as
to render them very wild, do not always collect
into large flocks, but sometimes graze in parties
of about a dozen, of which one is always sta-
tioned at a distance from the rest to give notice
of the approach of danger. When the sentinel
observes any one advancing, he turns his face to
the enemy, allowing him to approach as near as
eighty or one hundred yards, but when the sus-
pected foe manifests a design of coming nearer,
the watchful guard alarms his comrades by a
loud hiss or whistle, when the whole party in-
stantly scour away with great agility, always
seeking the steepest and most inaccessible parts
of the mountains.
It is mentioned in Bingley's Animal Biography,
that in the Holms, round Kirkinald, in the
Island of Mainland, one of the Orkneys, if a per-
son, about the lambing time, enters with a dog,
the ewes suddenly take fright, and through fear,
it is supposed, instantly drop down dead, as if
the brain had been pierced with a musket ball.
Those that die in this manner are commonly said
to have two or sometimes three lambs within
them.
This animal is subject to many diseases, the
most dangerous of which, namely the rot, is
chiefly occasioned by its being kept in wet pas-
tures, and too commonly proves fatal. It is
87
likewise subject to the dropsy, vertigo, jaundice,
and worms in the liver; it is also tormented by
several kinds of insects, but chiefly by a species
of oestrus, or gad-fly, which lays its eggs so high
in the nostrils, that the maggots, when hatched,
make their way into a hollow bone in the lower
part of the forehead, and give the poor animal
exquisite torture. The French shepherds have.
a method of relieving this complaint, by trepan-
ning the part, and taking out the maggots. This
operation is likewise performed in some parts of
England, though not with equal success. The
skin is much infested with a large acarus, or tick,
which is eagerly sought after by magpies and
starlings.
It has already been remarked, that the sheep
is the most valuable of the smaller quadrupeds, of
which the immense profits arising to these coun-
tries, from the different branches of the woollen
manufacture, afford sufficient proof. How it
came to be so long neglected in England, is a
matter of just astonishment, as it does not appear
to have been much encouraged till the reign of
queen Elizabeth, since which period it has thriven
so much, that it is now generally allowed to be
the staple commodity of British commerce.
But, besides the wool, there is hardly any part
of this creature that is not applied to the various
necessities of man: the flesh is a nutritious and
wholesome food, and never clogs the appetite;
the milk produces butter and cheese in great
88
abundance; the skin is used for making gloves,
parchment, and the covers of books; and of the
entrails, strings are manufactured for musical in-
struments, and to cover the handles of whips; the
bones calcined, are used by the refiners, the
dung is a rich article of manure in husbandry.”
The disposition and actions of these useful
creatures, while washing and shearing, Thomson
has beautifully described.
"Urg'd to the giddy brink, much is the toil,
The clamour much, of men, and boys, and dogs,
Ere the soft, fearful people, to the flood
Commit their woolly sides-
Then, as they spread
Their swelling treasures to the sunny ray,
Inly disturb'd, and wond'ring what this wild
Outrageous tumult means, their loud complaints
The country fill; and toss'd from rock to rock,
Incessant bleatings run around the hills.
At last, of snowy white, the gather'd flocks
Are in the wattled pen innumerous press'd,
Head above head; and rang'd in lusty rows
The Shepherds sit, and whet the sounding shears.
Behold, where bound, and of its robe bereft,
By needy man, that all-depending lord,
How meek, how patient, the mild creature lies!
What softness in his melancholy face,
What dumb complaining innocence appears!"
89
There are in the voices of all animals innume-
rable tones, perfectly understood by each other,
and entirely beyond our powers of discrimination.
It should seem somewhat remarkable, that the
ewe can always distinguish her own lamb, and
the lamb its mother, even in the largest flocks.
And at the time of shearing, when the ewes are
shut up in a pen from the lambs, and turned
loose one by one as they are shorn, it is pleasing
to see the meeting between each mother and her
young one. The ewe immediately bleats to call
her lamb, which instantly obeys the well-known
voice, and, returning the bleat, comes skipping
to its dam. At first it is startled by her new
appearance, and approaches her with some
degree of fear, till it has corrected the sense of
sight by those of smelling and hearing.
The sheep without horns are counted the best
sort, because a great part of the animal's nou-
rishment is supposed to go up into the horns.
Sheep, like other ruminant animals, want the
upper fore teeth; but have eight in the lower
jaw two of these drop, and are replaced at
two years old; four of them are replaced at
three years old; and all at four. The new
teeth are easily known from the rest by their
freshness and whiteness. There are some
breeds, however, in England, that never change
their teeth at all; these the shepherds call
the leather mouthed cattle; and, as their
teeth are thus longer wearing, they are gene-
I 2
89
There are in the voices of all animals innume-
rable tones, perfectly understood by each other,
and entirely beyond our powers of discrimination.
It should seem somewhat remarkable, that the
ewe can always distinguish her own lamb, and
the lamb its mother, even in the largest flocks.
And at the time of shearing, when the ewes are
shut up in a pen from the lambs, and turned
loose one by one as they are shorn, it is pleasing
to see the meeting between each mother and her
young one. The ewe immediately bleats to call
her lamb, which instantly obeys the well-known
voice, and, returning the bleat, comes skipping
to its dam. At first it is startled by her new
appearance, and approaches her with some
degree of fear, till it has corrected the sense of
sight by those of smelling and hearing.
The sheep without horns are counted the best
sort, because a great part of the animal's nou-
rishment is supposed to go up into the horus.
Sheep, like other ruminant animals, want the
upper fore teeth; but have eight in the lower
jaw two of these drop, and are replaced at
two years old; four of them are replaced at
three years old; and all at four. The new
teeth are easily known from the rest by their
freshness and whiteness. There are some
breeds, however, in England, that never change
their teeth at all; these the shepherds call
the leather mouthed cattle; and, as their
teeth are thus longer wearing, they are gene-
I 2
90
rally supposed to grow old a year or two before
the rest. The sheep bring forth one or two at
a time; and sometimes three or four. The first
lamb of an ewe is generally pot-bellied, short,
and thick, and of less value than those of a se-
cond or third production; the third being sup-
posed the best of all. They bear their young
five months; and, by being housed, they bring
forth at any time of the year.
Of the domestic kinds to be found in the dif-
ferent parts of the world, besides our own,
which is common in Europe, the first variety is
to be seen in Iceland, Muscovy, and the coldest
climates of the north. This, which may be
called the Iceland sheep, resembles our breed,
in the form of the body and the tail; but differs
in a very extraordinary manner in the number of
the horns; being generally found to have four,
and sometimes even eight, growing from differ-
ent parts of the forehead. These are large and
formidable; and the animal seems thus fitted by
Nature for a state of war: however, it is of the
nature of the rest of its kind, being mild,gentle,
and timid. Its wool is very different also from
that of the common sheep, being long, smooth,
and hairy. Its colour is of a dark brown; and
under its outward coat of hair, it has an internal
covering, that rather resembles fur than wool,
being fine, short, and soft.
The second variety to be found in this animal,
is that of the broad tail'd sheep, so common in
91
Tartary, Arabia, Persia, Barbary, Syria, and
Egypt. This sheep is only remarkable for its
large and heavy tail, which is often found to
weigh from twenty to thirty pounds. It some-
times grows a foot broad, and is obliged to be
supported by a small kind of board, that goes
upon wheels. This tail is not covered under-
neath with wool, like the upper part, but is bare;
and the natives, who consider it as a very great
delicacy, are very careful in attending and pre-
serving it from injury. Mr. Buffon supposes
that the fat which falls into the caul in our
sheep, goes in these to furnish the tail; and that
the rest of the body is from thence deprived of
fat in proportion. With regard to their fleeces,
in the temperate climates, they are, as in our
own breed, soft and woolly; but in the warmer
latitudes, they assume a covering suited to the
climate, and therefore as they do not require
to be defended against cold, the wool passes
into hair: in both however they preserve the
enormous size of their tails.
THE GOAT.
THE goat may be considered as a kind of
auxiliary species, well adapted by the beneficent
Creator, to supply the absence or imperfections
of the sheep, in such climates and situations as
are not congenial to the constitution and habits
of that useful animal. In like manner, the ass
is a substitute for the horse, and the lama of
the Peruvian mountains for the camel. All
these auxiliary species are, however, completely
distinct, and separated by a boundary which
Nature cannot exeeed; they are all wilder and
more hardy than their principals; they require
less care, and are less subject to disease or
accidents.
:
The goat seems, in every respect, more fitted
for a life of liberty than the sheep. It is also
stronger and swifter, more courageous, more
playful, and more lively it is not easily con-
fined to its flock, but chooses its own pastures,
and loves to stray remote from the rest. It
chiefly delights in climbing precipices; and is
often seen suspended upon an eminence hanging
over the sea, upon a very little base, and even
sleeps there in security. Nature has, indeed,
93
wonderfully fitted it for traversing these decli-
vities with ease; the hoof is hollow underneath,
with sharp edges, like the inside of a spoon, so
that it walks as securely on the ridge of a
house, as on the level ground.
Although the goat is so well adapted for a
savage life, it nevertheless attaches itself readily
to man, appears sensible of his caresses, and offers
him, as it were, voluntarily, those services which
it is capable of rendering him, and which are
by no means inconsiderable, in the mountainous
countries it inhabits. Its skin, which is soft,
clean, and wholesome, furnishes a comfortable
bed for the hardy inhabitants of those solitudes;
its milk not only serves them as a wholesome
and nourishing drink, but likewise yields them
cheese and butter, to eat with their oat-cakes.
Its flesh, too, is excellent food; but this is a
luxury in which they seldom indulge, as being
too expensive. The flesh of the kid is esteemed
a dainty even by epicures, and, when properly
prepared, is little inferior to venison.
1
The Count de Buffon relates an anecdote,
which proves, that this animal is naturally fond
of the society of man, even in uncultivated
countries. "In 1698," says he, "an English
vessel having put into harbour at the island of
Bonavista, two negroes went on board, and of-
fered the captain as many goats as he chose to
carry away; he expressed his surprise at this
offer, when the negroes informed him there
94
were only twelve persons in the island, and that
the goats multiplied so fast, as to become ex-
ceedingly troublesome; for, instead of being
hard to be caught, they followed them about
with a degree of obstinacy, like other domestic
animals.”
The goat will leap from one precipice to an-
other, with the greatest ease, and most perfect
security; and when two of them are yoked
together, that they may not stray too far from
home, they will, as it were by mutual consent,
take the most dangerous leaps together, and
exert their efforts with such perfect unison, that
they generally accomplish their purpose unhurt.
This useful animal requires little or no care,
and is easily sustained; it is therefore generally
the property of the poor; it prefers browsing
on heathy mountains and commons, or shrubby
rocks and neglected wilds, to grazing in the
most luxuriant pastures; it is particularly fond of
the tender bark of young trees, to which it often
does great damage. It is not the least affected
by wind or rain, nor does it endeavour to avoid
either; it prefers heat to cold, which, when
immoderate, often produces a fatal vertigo; it
delights to bask in the sun, and will sleep in the
hottest situations: it is also with difficulty fed
in flocks, as sheep are, but prefers straying from
its companions, and selecting its own pastures.
The irregularity of its motions strongly mark
the inconstancy of its disposition; it advances,
95
retires, jumps, runs, and stops, merely from
caprice and natural vivacity.
The milk of the goat is much recommended
in consumptive cases, and is often found to be
highly beneficial. The mountainous parts of
the British islands are much resorted to for the
purpose of drinking it in perfection, and great
advantage is frequently derived from the use of
it. The taste of goat's milk is sweet and plea-
sant, and it acquires a peculiar flavour from the
shrubs it feeds on, which to some is highly
grateful; it is easier digested than cow's milk,
and is therefore well adapted to those who have
weak stomachs. The goat is likewise service-
able to man in many more instances; its skin is
used for several purposes; with it the knapsacks
of soldiers are frequently made, and in the
country, the peasants make waistcoats and caps
of it: wigs, and even cloth, are made of its hair;
its horns are used as handles for knives and
other instruments; and, its suet is highly es-
teemed for making candles, which are superior,
for durability and whiteness, to those made
from any other tallow.
Both male and female have horns, except a
very few individuals, and it is said that those
which are white, and have no horns, always
give the most milk, but that the black ones are
the strongest.
The goat is fattened in the same manner as
the sheep; but, in our climate, notwithstanding
96
every possible precaution, the flesh is never so
good or so sweet as mutton. Between the
tropics the case is different; there the mutton
becomes lean and flabby, whereas the flesh of
the goat rather improves, and is by some pre-
ferred to the mutton. Thus it appears that this
animal seems well adapted to supply the neces-
sities of man in both extremes, in almost every
part of the world. In northern countries,
where the pasture is barren and coarse, the goat
finds a subsistence among the shrubs well suited
to his nature; between the tropics, where the
excessive heat causes other cattle to degenerate,
the goat is on the contrary nourished by the
warmth, and his flesh improves accordingly.
THE CHAMOIS. There are some animals
which do not belong to any particular country,
but are found in almost all parts of the earth,
whilst others seem to have particular situations
allotted to them by Providence, and are furnished
accordingly with that nature and those instincts
which fit them for the life they are to lead, and
are best calculated for the residence and climate
assigned to them. The wild and rugged Alps,
whose tops are for ever hid in snow, and whose
sides afford but a scanty herbage, seem badly
calculated for the support of animal life; yet
as the Almighty always adapts the nature of
his creatures to their means of support, the wild
goat, which is destined to live in the moun-
tains, finds them clothed with a sufficiency to
satisfy his wants.

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THE CHAMOIS.
98
The chamois is supposed to be the parent
stock from which the domestic goat has proceed-
ed, and therefore we shall add a short account
of it. It is most agreeably lively, and active
beyond expression. The chamois's hair is short,
like that of the doe; in spring it is of an ash
colour, and in autumn a dun colour, inclining
to black, and in winter of a blackish brown.
This animal is found in great plenty in the moun-
tains of Dauphiny, of Piedmont, Savoy, Swit-
zerland, and Germany. They are peaceful,
gentle creatures, and live in society with each
other. They are found in flocks of from four
to fourscore, upon the crags of the mountains,
with one posted as a sentinel upon an adjoining
height, to spread the alarm in case of any ap-
proaching danger. The chamois has scarcely
any cry, as most animals are known to have;
if it has any, it is a kind of feeble bleat, by
which the parent cails its young.
But in cases
of danger, and when it is to warn the rest of the
flock, it uses a hissing noise, which is heard
at a great distance. For it is to be observed,
that this creature is extremely vigilant, and has
an eye the quickest and most piercing in na-
ture. Its smell is not less distinguishing.-
When it sees its enemy distinctly, it stops for
a moment; and then, if the person be near, in an
instant after, it flies off. In the same manner,
by its smell, it can discover a man at half a
league distance, and gives the earliest notice.-
Upon any alarm, therefore, or any apprehen-
*..*
C
99
sions of danger, the chamois begins his hissing
note with such force, that the rocks and the
forest re-echo to the sound. The first hiss con-
tinues as long as the time of one expiration. In
the beginning it is very sharp, and deeper to-
wards the close. The animal after this first
alarm, again looks round, aud perceiving the
reality of its fears, continues to hiss by in-
tervals, until it has spread the alarm to a very
great distance. During this time, it seems in
the most violent agitation; it strikes the ground
with its fore-foot, and sometimes with both : it
bounds from rock to rock; it turns and looks
round; it runs to the edge of the precipice; and,
still perceiving the enemy, flies with all its
speed. The hissing of the male is much louder
and sharper than that of the female: it is
performed through the nose, and is properly
more than a very strong breath, driven
violently through a small aperture. The cha-
mois feeds upon the best herbage, and chuses
the most delicate part of the plants, the flower
and the tender buds. It is no less delicate with
regard to several aromatic herbs, which grow
upon the side of the niountains. It drinks but
very little while it feeds upon the succulent herb-
age, and chews the cud in the intervals of feed-
ing. This animal is greatly admired for the
beauty of its eyes, which are round and spark-
ling, and which mark the warmth of its consti-
tution. Its head is furnished with two short
no

100
horns, of about half a foot long, of a beautiful
black, and rising from the forehead, almost be-
twixt the eyes.
These, contrary to what they
are found in other animals, instead of going
backwards or sideways, jet out forward, and bend
a little, at their extremities, backward, in a small
circle, and end in a very sharp point. The
ears are placed in a very elegant manner, near
the horns; and there are two stripes of black
on each side of the face, the rest being of a
whitish yellow, which never changes. The
horn of this animal is often used as the head of
a cane. Those of the female are less, and not
so much bent; and some farriers are seen to
bleed cattle with them. These animals are
so muchincommoded by heat, that they are never
found in summer except in the caverns of rocks,
amidst fragments of unmelted ice, under the
shade of high and spreading trees, or of rough
and hanging precipices, that face the north, and
which keep off entirely the rays of the sun.-
They go to pasture both morning and evening,
and seldom during the heat of the day. They
run along the rocks with great ease and seeming
indifference, and leap from one to another, so
that no dogs are able to pursue them. There
is nothing more extraordinary than to see them
climbing and descending precipices, that to all
other quadrupeds are inaccessible. They always
mount or descend in an oblique direction; and
throw themselves down a rock thirty feet high,
101
and light with great security upon some excres-
cence, or fragment, on the side of the precipice,
which is just large enough to place their feet
upon; they strike the rock, however, in their de-
scent, with their feet, three or four times, to
stop the velocity of their motion; and when they
have got upon the base below, they at once
seem fixed and secure. In fact, to see them
jump in this manner, they seem rather to have
wings than legs; some, indeed, pretend to say
that they use their horns for climbing, but this
wants confirmation. Certain it is, that their legs
alone are formed for this arduous employment,
the hinder being rather longer than the former,
and bending in such a manner that, when they
descend upon them, they break the force of the
fall. During the rigours of winter, the cha-
mois sleeps in the thickest forests,and feeds upon
the shrubs and buds of the pine-tree. It some-
times turns up the snow with its foot to look
for herbage; and, where it is green, makes a
delicious repast. The more craggy and uneven
the forest, the more this animal is pleased with
the abode, which thus adds to its security. The
hunting the chamois is very laborious and ex-
tremely difficult. The most usual way is to
hide behind the clefts of the rocks and shoot
them. This, however, must be done with great
precaution; the sportsman must creep for a vast
way upon his belly, in silence, and take also the
advantage of the wind, for if it should blow
K 2
102
from him, they would instantly scent him.
When arrived at a proper distance, he then ad-
vances his piece,which is to be rifle barrelled,and
carry one ball, and tries his fortune among
them. Some also pursue this animal as they do
the stag, by placing proper persons at all the
passages of a glade, and then sending in others
to rouse the game. Dogs are quite useless in
this chace, as they rather alarm than overtake.
Nor is it without danger even to the men; for
it often happens that when the animal finds itself
over pressed, it drives at the hunter with its head,
and often tumbles him down the neighbouring
precipice. This animal cannot go upon ice
when smooth; but if there be the least inequali-
ties on its surface, it then bounds along in
security and quickly evades all pursuit.
In the mountainous district of the Alps a
hunter will kill from six to fifteen chamois in
a year; with the flesh, which is very delicate,
he helps to support his family, and disposes of
each skin for a guinea. In this manner, even
in the wildest solitudes, the poor have their
comforts; and even in a country, where the
landscape presents only a scene of rocks, heaths,
and shrubs, that speak the wretchedness of the
soil, these hardy people are contented to pass
their days; nor do they willingly quit their na-
tive hills even to reside in the mildest climates.
They are furnished with all the necessaries of
life, and never repine at the want of luxuries,
103
which their remote situation and the poverty of
their soil deny them. Let it also be added that
this attachment to home, and this virtue of con-
tentment, is not peculiar to the Swiss moun-
taineer. They seem implanted in our nature
by the kindness of Providence, in order that
happiness may be within the reach of all the
inhabitants of the earth:
But, where to find the happiest spot below,
Who shall direct, when all pretend to know?
The shudd'ring tenant of the frozen zone,
Boldly proclaims that happiest spot his own :
The naked negro, panting at the line,
Boasts of his golden sands and palmy wine,
Basks in the glare, or stems the tepid wave,
And thanks his God for all the good he gave.
Such is the patriot's boast; where'er we roam,
Our first, best country, ever is at home.
THE COW.
THE climate and pasture of Great Britain
and Ireland, are excellently adapted to this
animal's moderate nature. It seems but little
regardful of the quality of its food, provided it
be supplied in sufficient abundance. For this
reason, in our pastures, where the grass is rather
high than juicy, more flourishing than nutriti-
ous, the cow thrives admirably; and there is no
part of Europe where the tame animal grows so
large, yields more milk, or more readily fattens,
than with us.
In return, however, for the abundance with
which our fields supply them, they enrich the soil
on which they feed. The horse and the sheep are
known, in a course of years, to impoverish the
ground. The land where they have fed becomes
weedy, and the vegetables coarse and unpalata-
ble on the contrary, the pasture where the cow
has been bred,acquires a finer,softer surface, and
becomes every year more beautiful and even.
The reason is, that the horse being furnished
with fore-teeth in the upper jaw, nips the grass
closely, and, therefore, only chuses that which
is the most delicate and tender; the sheep also,
though like the cow, it has no fore-teeth in the
upper jaw, only bites the most juicy parts of the
105
herbage these animals therefore, while they cut
the finer grass too closely, suffer the ranker her-
bage to vegetate and over-run the pasture. But
it is otherwise with the cow; as its teeth cannot
come so close to the ground as those of the
horse, nor so readily as those of the sheep, which
are less, it is obliged to feed upon the tallest
vegetables that offer; thus it eats them all down,
and, in time, levels the surface of the pasture.
The age of the cow is known by the teeth and
horns. This animal is furnished with eight cut-
ting teeth in the lower jaw; at the age of ten
months the two middlemost of these fall out, and
are replaced by others, that are not so white but
broader: at the age of sixteen months, the two
next milk-white teeth fall out likewise, and
others come up in their room : thus, at the end
of every six months, the creature loses and gains,
till, at the age of three years, all the cutting teeth
are renewed, and then they are long, pretty
white and equal; but in proportion as the animal
advances in years, they become irregular and
black, their inequalities become smoother, and
the animal less capable of chewing its food. Thus
the cow often declines from this single cause;
for as it is obliged to eat a great deal to support
life, and as the smoothness of the teeth makes
the difficulty of chewing great, a sufficient
quantity of food cannot be supplied to the sto-
mach, the poor animal therefore often sinks in
the midst of plenty, and every year grows
leaner and leaner, till it dies.
106
The horns afford another, and a surer method
of determining this animal's age. At three years
old, it sheds its horns, and new ones arise in
their place, which continue as long as it lives;
at four years of age, the cow has small neat
smooth horus, thickest near the head; at five,
the horns become larger, and are marked
round with the former year's growth. Thus,
while the animal continues to live, the horns
continue to lengthen; and every year a new
ring is added at the root; so that allowing three
years before their
appearance, and then reckon-
ing the number of rings, we have in both toge-
ther the animal's age exactly. We are beyond
measure indebted to our oxen for the many
bene-
fits we receive from them. Indeed their services
to mankind are greater than those of the sheep,
for in addition to the qualifications of those
animals, they are employed on the Continent
and in England as beasts of draught and bur-
then, being found extremely well adapted for
farm work, and much more cheaply maintained
than horses. The flesh of these animals, and of
the male particularly, is so nourishing, that we
leave the most exquisite delicacies to return to
it, and are never satiated with the repasts it, as
well as the sheep, affords us. We feed the cow
with a few herbs, or allow her the, liberty to
range in the fields, and supply herself with
those productions that are least beneficial to
us; and she returns every evening to repay this
obligation with a liberal supply of milk. The
107
night is no sooner passed, but she earns by a
second payment the sustenance of the succeed-
ing day. In fact, there is scarcely any part of
their bodies without its use; the hide of the
full grown animal, when properly prepared,
serves for boots, soles for shoes, and numberless
other purposes, while the calf's skin when tan-
ned is used for the outer covering of books, &c.
Vellum is made of calves' skin. Of their horns
we make combs, boxes, handles for knives, and
drinking-vessels; and when softened in water,
they serve the purpose of glass for the sides of
our lanterns. Even medicine was formerly in-
debted to them for a supposed antidote against
poison, under the title of the English bezoar.
The large bones are used by mechanics in the
place of ivory; and from the smaller ones an
oil is produced, much used by many in clean-
ing harness, and all the trappings belonging to
a coach. The blood is an excellent manure for
fruit-trees, and is the basis of that fine colour
the Prussian blue; and glue is made of the
gristles and finer pieces of cuttings and parings
of the hides boiled in water till they are reduced
to a jelly and then dried. In short, the blood,
fat, marrow, hide, hair, horns, hoof, milk,
cream, butter, cheese, whey, liver, gall, spleen,
and bones, have each their particular use in
manufactures, commerce, and medicine.
Those gifts of Providence, however, which
we are in the habit of receiving daily, are bug
seldom viewed in the light they deserve; they
108
are depreciated by the easiness of obtaining
them: though, in reality, this is a circunstance
which enhances their merit. A liberality which
knows no interruption, and is daily repeated, is
ever worthy of new returns of gratitude; and
the least we can do when we receive a benefit is
to vouchsafe an acknowledgment to the Al-
mighty who bestows it.
Though the common ox has been for many
ages domesticated in these countries, it formerly
ran wild in our forests, and like other savage
animals was an object of pursuit to the hunter.
As civilization however advanced, and land was
brought into cultivation, its haunts were gra-
dually broken up, till at last, finding no re-
treats in which it could live in safety from the
attacks of man, it resigned its liberty and was
taken under his protection. For some time
after this took place, however, numerous herds
were kept up in their wild state by our noble-
men for the purpose of hunting, but they have
been destroyed by degrees; and the only breed
now remaining is that in the North of England,
in the park of Lord Tankerville, at Chilling-
ham, Northumberland. It is the parent stock
from which the common stock have proceeded,
and we shall therefore subjoin a short account of
them.
At the first appearance of any person, they
set off in full gallop; and at the distance of two
or three hundred yards make a wheel round, and
come boldly up again, tossing their heads in a
109
menacing manner: on a sudden they make a
full stop, at the distance of forty or fifty yards,
looking wildly at the object of their surprise ;-
but upon the least motion being made, they all
again turn round, and fly off with equal speed,
but not to the same distance, forming a shorter
circle; and again returning with a bolder and
more threatening aspect than before, they ap-
proach much nearer, probably within thirty
yards; when they make another stand, and
again fly off. This they do several times, short-
ening their distance, and advancing nearer till
they come within ten yards; whe most people
think it expedient to leave them, not judging it
prudent to provoke them further; for there is
little doubt but in two or three turns, they
would make an attack.
x=
The mode of killing these wild animals in
former times, deserves to be related. On no-
tice being given that a wild bull would be killed
on a certain day, the inhabitants of the neigh-
bourhood came mounted, and armed with guns,
&c. sometimes to the number of a hundred horse,
and four or five hundred foot, who stood upon
the walls or climbed into trees, while the horse-
inen drove off the bull from the rest of the herd,
until he stood at bay; when a marksman dis-
mounted and fired. At some of these huntings,
twenty or thirty shots have been fired before he
was subdued. On such occasions, the bleeding
victim grew desperately furious, from the smart-
L
110
ing of his wounds, and the shouts of savage
joy that were echoing from every side: but from
the number of accidents that happened, this
dangerous mode has been little practised of late
years; the park-keeper alone generally shoot-
ing them with a rifle gun at one shot.

When any one of this wild breed happens to
be wounded, and is grown weak and feeble
through age or sickness, the rest of the herd set
upon it and gore it to death. Mr. Tunstall,
from when this account is taken, concludes
his remark by adding, that the weight of the
oxen is generally from five to six hundred
weight; that of the cows about four hundred
weight. The beef is finely marbled, and of ex-
cellent flavour.

-
The cow kind is to be found in almost every
part of the world, large in proportion to the
richness of the pasture; and small, as the ani-
mal is stinted in its food. Thus, Africa is re-
markable for the largest and the smallest cattle
of this kind; as are also India, Poland, Switzer-
land, and several other parts of Europe. Among
the Eluth Tartars, where the pastures are re-
markably rich and nourishing, the cow becomes
so large, that he must be a tall man who can
reach the tip of its shoulder. On the contrary,
in France, where the animal is stinted in its
food, and driven from the most flourishing pas-
tures, it greatly degenerates.
But the difference in the size of these animals

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THE WILD BULL.
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112
is not so remarkable as that which is found
in their form, hair, and horns. The difference
is so very extraordinary in many of them, that
they have even been considered as a different
kind of creature, and names have been given
them as distinct species, being supposed, from
the variety in their make, to be distinct in their
production; but they are all in fact the descend-
ants of one common stock, as they have that
certain mark of unity, they breed and propa-
gate among each other.
Before we proceed farther, therefore, it may
be proper to describe these varieties, which have
been thus taken for distinct kinds. It is true
that they do not come under the denomination
of domestic animals, although highly calculated
to be useful to mankind, and likely at no dis-
tant period to be taken into their service. It
will enable the young reader however to compare
them with the variety he knows so familiarly,
and be interesting to trace how great a difference
climate, education, and food, may produce in
animals.
THE URUS, is chiefly to be met with in the
province of Lithuania, and grows to a size, that
scarcely any other animal, except the elephant,
is found to equal: it is quite black, except a
stripe mixed with white, that runs from the
neck to the tail, along the top of the back; the
horns are short, thick, and strong; the eyes are
fierce and fiery; the forehead is adorned with
a kind of garland of black curled hair, and
113
some of them are found to have beards of the
same; the neck is short and strong, and the
skin has an odour of musk. The female, though
not so big as the male, exceeds the largest of
our bulls in size; nevertheless, her udder and
teats are so small, that they can scarcely be per-
ceived. Upon the whole, however, this animal
resembles the tame one very exactly, except in
some trifling varieties, which its state of wild-
ness, or the richness of the pastures where it is
found, may easily have produced.
THE BISON, which is another variety of the
cow kind, differs from the rest in having a hump
between its shoulders. These animals are of
various kinds; some very large and others
small: in general, to regard this animal's före
parts, he has somewhat the look of a lion, with
a long shaggy mane, and a beard under his chin;
his head is little, his eyes red and fiery, with a fu-
rious look; the forehead is large, and the horns so
big, and so far asunder, that three men might
often sit between them. On the middle of the
back there grows a bunch almost as high as that
of a camel, covered with hair, and which is con-
sidered as a great delicacy by those that hunt him.
In the interior regions of North America, im-
mense herds of bisons are frequently seen. They
feed in the open savannahs morning and evening;
and retire during the sultry parts of the day, to
rest near shady rivulets and streams of water,
frequently leaving so deep an impression of their
L 2
114
feet in the moist land, (from the great weight of
their bodies,) as to be thus traced and shot by the
Indians. In this undertaking, however, it is
necessary that the men should be particularly
careful, since, when only wounded, the animals
become excessively furious. The hunters go
against the wind, as the faculty of smell in the
bison is so exquisite, that the moment they get
scent of their enemy, they retire with the utmost
precipitation. With a favourable wind the men
approach very near, since the animals are fre-
quently almost blinded by the hair that covers
their eyes.
In taking aim they direct their
piece to the hollow of the shoulder, by which
means they generally bring them down at one
shot. If they do not fall, they immediately run
upon their enemy, and with their horns and
hoofs, as offensive weapons, tear him in pieces,
and trainple bim into the earth.
They are so amazingly strong, that when they
fly through the woods from a pursuer, they fre-
quently brush down trees as thick as a man's
arm; and be the snow ever so deep, such is
their strength and agility, that they are able to
plunge through it much faster than the swiftest.
Indiad can run in snow-shoes. "To this, (says
Mr. Hearne), I have been an eye witness many
times, and once had the vanity to think that I
could have kept pace with them; but though I
was at that time celebrated for being particularly
fleet in snow-shoes, I soon found that I was no
115
match for the bisons, notwithstanding they were
then plunging through such deep snow, that
their bellies made a trench as large as if many
heavy sacks had been hauled through it."
In Canada, the hunting of the bison is a com-
mon employment of the natives. They draw up
in a large square, and commence their operations
by setting fire to the grass, which, at certain sea-
sons, is very long and dry. As the fire goes on,
they advance, closing their ranks as they pro-
ceed. The animals, alarmed at the light, gallop
confusedly about till they are hemmed in so close,
that frequently not a single beast is able to escape.
In Louisiana the men mount on horseback,
each with a sharp crescent pointed spear in his
hand. They approach with the wind, and, as
soon as the animals smell them, they instantly
seek to escape; but the sight of the horses
moderates their fear, and the majority of them
are, at certain times of the year, so fat and un-
wieldy, as easily to be enticed to slacken their
pace. As soon as the men overtake them, they
endeavour to strike the crescent just above the
ham, in such manner as to cut through the ten-
dons, and render them afterwards an easy prey.
The hunting of these animals is also common
in several parts of South America. It commen-
ces with a sort of festivity, and ends in an enter-
tainment, in which one of their carcases supplies
the only provision. As soon as a herd of cattle
is seen on the plain, the most fleet and active of
116
the horsemen prepare to attack them, and de-
scending in the form of a widely extended cre-
scent, hunt them in all directions. After awhile
they become so jaded and weary, that they seem
ready to sink under their fatigue, but the hun-
ters, still urging them to flight by their loud
cries, drive them at last from the field. Such as
are unable to exert their necessary speed for
escape are slaughtered.
The sagacity which these animals exhibit in
defending themselves against the attacks of
wolves is admirable. When they scent the ap-
proach of a drove of those ravenous creatures,
the herd throws itself into the form of a circle,
having the weakest in the middle, and the
strongest ranged on the outside, thus presenting
an impenetrable front of horns.-When, how-
ever, they are taken by surprise, and have
recourse to flight, numbers of those that are
fattest and most weak infallibly perish.
"There is (says Mr. Turner, who resided long
in America), a singular and affecting trait in the
character of this animal when a calf. When-
ever a cow bison falls by the hand of the
hunters, and happens to have a calf, the help-
less young one, far from attempting to escape,
stays by its fallen dam, with signs expressive of
strong natural affection. The dam thus secured,
the hunters make no attempt on the calf, (know-
ing that to be unnecessary), but proceed to cut
up the carcase: then, laying it on his horse, he
117
returns home, followed by the poor calf, which
thus instinctively attends the remains of its
dam. I have seen a single hunter ride into the
town of Cincinnati, between the Miames, fol-
lowed in this manner by three calves, all of
which had just lost their dams.”
(
کس سهم الله والله
THE ASS.
M
نشست و هم بر
بازار
ریری
Futakmic
We
To

THE ASS.
THE form of this patient humble dorestic is
so well known, that any description of its digure
would be superfluous; we shall therefore pro-
ceed at once to mention the use it is of to the se
who travel over the steep and almost inaccessi-
ble sides of the Andes in South America; as it
there appears to have obtained that rank, to
which, if its services were duly appreciated, it is
entitled every where. The account is given by a
traveller of veracity, and however extraordinary
it appears, it may be relied on as authentic.
Those stupendous mountains, running almost
the whole length of South America, may literally
be said to hide their heads in the clouds: the
storm often rolls, and the thunder bursts, beneath
their summits; which, though exposed to the
rays of the sun, in the very centre of the torrid
zone, are covered with everlasting snows. The
manner in which the asses descend the precipices
of these Alps is truly astonishing: in the passes
of the mountains there are often on one side steep
eminences, and on the other, frightful abysses;
and as these generally follow the direction of the
mountain, the road, instead of lying on a level,
forms at every little distance, steep declivities of
several hundred yards. These can be descended
120
only by asses or mules; and the animals them-
selves seem sensible of the danger, by the cau-
tion they use. When they come to the edge of
one of the descents, they stop of themselves,
without being checked by the rider; and if he
inadvertently attempts to spur them on, they
continue unmoveable. They seem all this time
ruminating on the danger which lies before them,
and preparing themselves for the encounter.
They not only attentively view the road, but
tremble and snort at the danger. Having pre-
pared for the descent, they place their fore-feet
in a posture as if they were stopping themselves;
they then put their hinder feet together, but a
little forward, as if they were about to lie down :
in this attitude, having taken a survey of the
road, they slide down with the swiftness of a me-
teor. In the mean time, all the rider has to do is
to keep himself fast on the saddle, without
checking the rein; for the least motion is suffi-
cient to disturb the balance of the ass: in which
;
case both must unavoidably perish. But their
address in this rapid descent is truly wonderful;
for, in their swiftest motion, when they seem to
have lost all government of themselves, they fol-
low exactly the different windings of the road, as
if they had previously settled in their own minds,
the route they were to follow, and taken every
precaution for their safety. In this journey, the
natives, who are placed along the sides of the
mountains, and secure themselves by the roots of
-
121
the trees, animate the beasts with shouts, and
encourage them to perseverance. Some asses,
after being long used to these journeys, acquire
a kind of reputation for their safety and skill;
and their value rises in proportion to their fame.
The ass was originally imported into America
by the Spaniards, and that country seems to have
been so favourable to this race of animals, that
where they have run wild, they have multiplied in
amazing numbers, and become quite a nuisance.
In the kingdom of Quito, says Ulloa, the owners
of the grounds, where they are bred, suffer all per-
sons to take away as many as they can, on paying
a small acknowledgment, in proportion to the
number of days their hunt lasts. They catch them
in the following manner: a number of persons go
on horseback, and are attended by Indians on
foot: when arrived at the proper places, they
form a circle in order to drive them into some
valley; where, at full speed, they throw the
noose, and endeavour to halter them. Those
creatures, finding themselves inclosed, make
very furious efforts to escape; and if only one
forces his way through, they all follow with an
irresistible impetuosity. However, when noosed,
the hunters throw them down, and secure them
with fetters; and thus leave them till the chase
is over. Then, in order to bring them away
with greater facility, they pair them with tame
beasts of the same kind: but this is not easily
performed; for they are so remarkably fierce
M
122
that they often hurt the persons who undertake
to manage them. It is this superior breed that
the inhabitants of Quito use in their passage
across the mountains. They have all the swift-
ness of horses, and neither acclivities nor pre-
cipices retard them in their career; they are
very spirited, and when attacked defend them-
selves with their mouth, with such activity that,
without slackening their pace, they often maim
their pursuers: but the most remarkable pro-
perty in these creatures is, that after carrying
the first load, their celerity leaves them; their
dangerous ferocity is lost, and they soon contract
the stupid look and dulness peculiar to the asi-
nine species. It is also observable that these
creatures will not permit a horse to live among
them; they always graze together; and if a
horse happens to stray into the places where
they feed, they all fall upon him, and bite and
kick him till they leave him dead on the spot.
They are very troublesome neighbours, making
a most horrid noise: for, whenever one or two
of them begins to bray, they are answered in the
same vociferous manner by all within the reach
of the sound, which is greatly increased and
prolonged by the echoes of the valleys and of the
mountains.
The asses in the principal streets of Cairo
stand ready to be hired; they are properly
bridled and saddled, and attended by the person
who lends them. This man runs behind, to goad
123
on his ass and cry out to those on foot to make
way. They are regularly fed, rubbed down,
and washed; which so greatly improves them
that they grow to a large size, and are occasion-
ally sold at a very high price. In this country,
on the contrary, this useful animal is much neg-
lected and abused. We educate the horse
with the greatest care; nothing is spared to
render him beautiful; he is dressed, attended,
instructed, and exercised; while the poor ass
is abandoned to the brutality of the meanest ser-
vants, or to the malicious abuse of naughty chil-
dren. If he had not a great many good quali-
ties, he would never be able to bear the hard
usage he daily meets with, and which certainly
makes him more stupid and indocile than he
otherwise would be. He is in the power of
every person, and is frequently beaten without
a cause, and loaded without mercy. Those
who treat him so inhumanly should remember,
that tenderness to animals is a duty taught in
holy scripture, and that the want of it shews a
cruel and vicious disposition. If the horse had
no existence, the ass both in himself, and with
regard to us, would be the first and most dis-
tinguished animal in the creation: it is compa-
rison alone that degrades him.
Being more hardy than the horse, these ani-
mals are preferred to them by some of the inha-
bitants of Asia, for journies across the deserts.
Most of the Mahometan pilgrims use them in their
124
long and laborious journies to Mecca; and the
chiefs of the Nubian caravans, which are sixty
days in passing immense solitudes, ride upon
asses which, on their arrival in Egypt, do not
appear fatigued. When the rider alights, he
has no occasion to fasten his ass; he merely pulls
the rein of the bridle tight, and passes it over a
ring on the fore part of the saddle; this confines
the animal's head, and is sufficient to make him
remain patiently in his place.
This animal, so much abused and neglected
in our own country, is nevertheless without ex-
ample for gentleness, patience, and perseverance.
He is subjected to excessive labour, and con-
tented with the coarsest herbage. The common
lanes and high roads are his nightly residence,
and his food the thistle or plantain, which he
sometimes prefers to grass. In his drinking he
is, however, singularly nice, refusing all but the
water of the clearest brooks.-He is much
afraid of wetting his feet, and will, even when
loaded, turn aside to avoid the dirty parts of the
road. His countenance is mild and simple. He
is more healthy than the horse, and, though ge-
nerally degraded into the most useless and neg-
lected of domestic quadrupeds, he might, by
care and discipline, be rendered useful for a
variety of domestic purposes in which the horse
is now employed. Were we but to pay a little
attention to him, we could not fail to be gainers
by it. We ought also to cross our breed with
125
the Arabian, Egyptian, or even the Spanish
males; which would produce us an offspring
improved both in strength and appearance.
The fame of asses being stubborn animals is, in
a great measure, unfounded; as it arises solely
from ill usage, and not from any natural
defect in their constitution or temper.
An old man who a few years ago sold vege-
tables in London used in his employment an
ass, which conveyed his baskets from door to
door. Frequently he gave the poor industrious
creature a handful of hay, or some pieces of
bread, or greens, by way of refreshment and
reward. The old man had no need of any goad
for the animal, and seldom indeed had he occa-
sion to lift up his hand to drive it on. His kind
treatment was one day remarked to him, and he
was asked whether his beast was apt to be stub-
born.—“ Ah ! master, (he replied) it is of no use
to be cruel; and as for stubbornness, I cannot
complain, for he is ready to do any thing, or to
go any where. I bred him myself. He is
sometimes skittish and playful, and once ran
away from me; you will hardly believe it, but
there were more than fifty people after him,
attempting in vain to stop him; yet he turned
back of himself, and never stopped till he ran
his head kindly into my bosom.
د.
M 2
THE COMMON MOUSE.
THIS little domestic animal is so well
known, that a particular description of it is
wholy unnecessary. It is naturally the most
timid of quadrupeds; yet necessity teaches it an
appearance of boldness and familiarity; and,
being unable to provide for its own wants, it fol-
lows man wherever he fixes his abode,and is his
constant, though unwelcome attendant; and, so
great is its apparent attachment, that, when it
has once fixed its residence, it is impossible to
dislodge it but by actual destruction. Notwith-
standing its predilection for the habitations of
man, it cautiously shuns his presence, and as if
conscious of the mischief it does him, seems
anxious to shun the punishment due to its petty
offences. All its motions seem to be prompted
either by fear or necessity: it never quits its
retreat, but in search of food, and for this pur-
pose, it generally prefers the night, and seldom
ventures far from home, and, on the least appear-
ance of danger instantly flies to its retreat.
Few animals are so incapable of self-defence
as the mouse, whilst at the same time it has many
enemies; besides the great destruction occasion-
ed by the contrivances of man, it is in constant
danger from the attacks of the cat, the owl, the
127
hawk, the weasel, the snake, and the rat, with
many others which destroy the species by mil-
lions; in short, it would be soon extinct were it
not for its natural fears and astonishing increase.
The mouse brings forth its young many times
in the year, and at all seasons, and produces
from six to ten at a litter, the young ones are
produced without hair, but are able to shift for
themselves in about a fortnight after their birth.
Aristotle gives us an idea of their amazing
increase, by assuring us that, having put a
female mouse, with young, into a vessel of corn,
in some time after he found one hundred and
twenty mice all sprung from one dam.
The mouse is not only an inhabitant of man's
dwellings, but is also frequently found, in great
abundance, in farmers' yards, among the ricks
of corn; but it shuns those ricks which are
infested with rats. It is generally found
most numerous on the south-west side of the
rick, which is most exposed to the rain, and
may often be seen in the evening, venturing
forth to drink the little drops of rain or dew,
which hang at the ends of the straw. As the
mouse quickly arrives at a state of maturity, the
duration of its life is but short, seldom exceed-
ing the term of two or three years. The mouse
inhabits all parts of the world, except the arctic
regions: it has always been found in almost all
parts of the old continent, and has been exported
to the new.
128
:
A beautiful and elegant white variety of the
mouse is sometimes met with, the eyes of which
are bright scarlet, like the eyes of the white
rabbit, and, from their prominence and bril-
liancy, make a very splendid appearance among
the snowy fur of the animal.
Though prejudice and apprehension have at-
tached a kind of disgust to the sight of this
little animal, it is nevertheless, when viewed
dispassionately, a most elegant creature: its
colour is pleasing; its hair soft and sleek;
its eyes bright and lively; its limbs are most
delicately formed, and its motions full of lively
action: to which we may add, that it is cleanly
in the extreme.
THE RABBIT.
THE rabbit, though not originally a native of
Britain, is become so completely naturalized,
and so well and universally known, that a par-
ticular description of it seems unnecessary. In
its external appearance it much resembles the
hare; but it differs materially from that animal
in its habits, and notwithstanding their simili-
tude they cannot be brought to associate, and
sometimes will fight till one of them is disabled
or killed.
The great naturalist, Pliny, has judiciously
remarked, that those animals which are the most
innocent, and of the greatest service to man,
particularly in the article of food, are generally
very prolific: a beautiful indication of the Crea-
tor's bounty and beneficence towards man. This
observation is in no instance more clearly veri-
fied than in the rabbit; it produces seven times
in the year, and often brings forth eight young
ones at a birth; on a supposition, therefore, that
this happens constantly and regularly during the
period of four years, a single pair will, in that
time, produce one million two hundred and
seventy-four thousand eight hundred and forty:
no wonder then, that Spain, a country so con-
genial to their constitution, should have been
130
once so overrun by them, as to reduce the inha-
bitants to the necessity of sending to Africa for
ferrets to destroy them, as we shall shortly have
to observe in the description of the ferret. From
this amazing disposition to increase, we should
certainly be overstocked by them, were they not
surrounded by a host of enemies, consisting of
almost every beast and bird of prey, to whose
attacks they are unable to make the smallest
resistance; and, indeed, were it not for the
security they find in their burrows, the race would
soon be extirpated. But their greatest enemy
is man, who takes them under his protection,
that he may have it in his power to kill them
when he pleases, for the sake of their flesh
and skin; the former of which every one knows
is good food, and the hair of the latter is much
used in the manufacture of hats; the skin with
the hair on, is also used as a substitute for fur
to trim garments; and such parts of the hair as
are too coarse for these purposes, are often
made use of as stuffing for beds, to save the
expense of feathers.
To protect them from their numerous foes,
the Creator, ever watchful over the safety of his
creatures, has endued them with the instinctive
faculty, of forming subterraneous retreats,
which are so constructed, as to be inaccessible
to any but the smaller puadrupeds, and secure
them entirely from the attacks of birds of prey,
which are well known to avoid places impervi-
131
ous to light. They dig these burrows with their
feet, and often extend them to a considerable
length, contriving that each burrow is furnished
with two apertures, which, although at a con-
siderable distance from each other, always com-
municate, so that, in case of an attack, the
poor animal has always a door to escape at. In
these burrows it spends the day in safety, and
only comes out morning and evening, to feed.
The best food for tame rabbits is the shortest
and sweetest hay that can be procured; one load
of which will maintain 200 couple for a year: of
this stock, and its progeny, 400 couple may be
consumed or yearly sold, and a sufficient number
will remain to keep up the stock, and guard
against accidents: so that, reckoning the price
of each rabbit at the very moderate rate of
six-pence, which is considerably below the
usual value, the amount of the profits on one
year's produce will be twenty pounds, which is
considerably more than three hundred per cent.
exclusive of the skins.
THE FERRET.
THE ferret, though so frequently seen, and
apparently common in this country, is by no
means indigenous here, being originally a na-
tive of Africa, whence it was first introduced
into Spain, to counteract the great increase of
the rabbits, with which that kingdom was over-
run. For the same purpose, it afterwards found
its way into England, where it lives and breeds,
provided it be kept warm. It has been, however,
discovered, that the offspring of this animal very
soon degenerates, unless measures be adopted
by the warreners, and gradually loses its ferocity.
The original colour of the ferret is a very
pale yellow; the eyes are red and fiery, the ears
round, and the nose very sharp. The length of
this animal is about fourteen inches; it is lively
and active, and, being the natural enemy of the
rabbit, is not only useful, but even necessary in
warrens, to force them out of their burrows, in
order that they may be taken; for which purpose
the shape and size of the body are admirably
well adapted, being slender and very flexible.
It seldom tears its prey,but is content with suck-
ing its blood; it is therefore necessary, when
the ferret is turned into the hole, in pursuit of
the rabbit, that it should have a muzzle on its
133
head, otherwise it would satiate itself with the
blood of its prey, at the bottom of the hole, and,
instead of returning to its master, would go to
sleep there, and only wake to renew its depre-
dations, till the cold of a northern winter put an
end to the carnage and its existence together. It
often happens, that the ferret gets the muzzle
off his head, in which case he is generally lost,
unless he is immediately dug out. Attempts are
sometimes made to bring him from the hole, by
burning straw and other substances at the
mouth of it; but this method seldom succeeds.
The female is considerably less than the
male; she produces from five or six, to nine at
a litter, twice a year.
Being a native of the torrid zone, the ferret
cannot bear the rigour of our northern climate;
it is, therefore, found necessary to keep it in
boxes, in a bed of wool; where it spends an idle
life, between eating and sleeping, except when
called upon to exercise the talents for which it
is kept. It is usually fed on bread and milk.
The scent of this animal is offensive, and its
habits disgusting; for, although it appears to be
tame and familiar, it is so without attachment;
and so great is its thirst after blood, that it has
been known to attack, and even kill children in
the cradle. It is very irascible, and its bite is
not to be cured without great difficulty.
N

ن کی پر کی گئی ہے اور رہے
لله
THE HARE.
۔
THE HARE.
NO animal in the creation furnishes more
striking proofs of the providential care of the
great Creator, in the preservation of his crea-
tures, than this little helpless animal. Its pro-
pensities and habits, as well as the peculiar con-
formation of its parts, are so admirably well
adapted for this grand purpose, that, without
them, the species must soon become extinct.
Eagerly sought after by man, as well as by beasts
and birds of prey, and totally incapable of self-
defence, the race would soon be destroyed by its
numerous enemies, were it not for the means of
preservation and escape with which it is so
amply furnished.
The hare owes its chief safety to its prevail-
ing passion, fear: conscious of its weak and
defenceless state, it lives in constant alarm and
apprehension, which, by keeping it lean, fits it
the better for escaping the impending danger,
by flight. The shape of the ears is admirably
well contrived, to collect and convey the most
distant and minute impressions of sound; they
are very long, and formed like the tubes, or
trumpets, made use of by deaf persons; and be-
ing flexible in every direction, cannot fail to catch
and convey the smallest vibration of the air.
136
The eyes are remarkably large and prominent
and placed far back in its head, well adapted to
receive the rays of light in all directions, so
that the creature has no occasion to turn its head
to either side, to gain information of the situation
of its pursuers. Like many other animals which
feed by night,the eyes are furnished with a mem-
brane which can be drawn over them at plea-
sure; and thus the creature is enabled to bear
the light of the day, which it could not other-
wise endure. The inequality in length between
its hind and fore legs is, likewise, of singular
service to it in peculiar situations, particularly
in ascending steep and hilly places; and so
sensible is the hare of this advantage, that when
closely pursued, it always shapes its course to-
wards rising ground. The hare is also furnished
with remarkably strong muscles, whereby it is
enabled to support more fatigue than it other-
wise could. Its general colour is a tawny, red-
dish brown, which frequently so nearly resembles
the colour of the land on which it lies, that it
is easily overlooked: this is another great source
of its safety, and so conscious is the animal of
it, that, when closely pressed by the hounds, it
will frequently squat behind a clod, and suffer
the dogs to run over it, which is no sooner per-
ceived, than it instantly takes a contrary direc-
tion, and by this artifice often effects its escape.
In northern countries, where the severity of
the winter covers the ground with perpetu il snow,
137
the colour of the hare is always changed, during
that season, from brown to white, which renders
it less visible to its numerous enemies, by which
it would soon be destroyed, were it not for this
providential circumstance: we say providential,
because the hares which inhabit warmer climates
are not subject to this change of colour during
the winter season, which surely is not the effect
of mere chance.
The hair of this animal is much used in the
hat manufacture; and as the produce of this
country is insufficient for that purpose, great
quantities of hare skins are annually imported
from Russia and Siberia, and form a very con-
siderable article of commerce.
The filesh of the hare is accounted a favourite
article of food, and it is therefore sought after
both by the fowler and the huntsman ; the
prac-
tice of hunting this timid and defenceless ani-
mal, is thus beautifully and feelingly described
by Thomson:
Vain is her best precaution, tho' she sits
Conceal'd with folded ears, unsleeping eyes,
By nature raised to take th' horizon in,
And head couch'd close betwixt her hairy feet,
In act to spring away. The scented dew
Betrays her early labyrinth; and deep,
In scatter'd sullen op'nings, far behind,
With every breeze she hears the coming storm:
But nearer, and more frequent, as it loads
The sighing gale, she springs amaz’d, and all
The savage soul of Game is up at once.
138
The pack full op'ning various; the shrill born
Resounding from the hills; the neighing steed,
Wild for the chace; and the loud hunter's shout
O'er a weak, harmless flying creature, all
Mix'd in mad tumult and discordant joy!
To this account of the hare; and its instincts,
which are so calculated to excite the reader's
wonder, as well as his reverence for that Al-
mighty Being who implanted them for the ani-
inal's security, we shall subjoin an interesting
description of three hares, belonging to the ce-
lebrated poet Cowper, which he succeeded in
rendering completely familiar.
In the year 1774 he took a leveret under his
protection, which some of his neighbours' chil-
dren had at first carefully cherished, but after-
wards neglected. As it was soon known in the
parish that Mr. Cowper was pleased with his
charge, his neighbours were not backward in
bringing others; so that in a short time, he had
as many leverets offered him as would have
stocked a paddock. He undertook the care of
three, which he distinguished by different names,
and immediately set about building them huts
for their accommodation. They soon became
perfectly tame: in the day-time, they had the
range of a hall, and at night retired each to his
own bed, never intruding into that of another.
Mr. Cowper speaks of the engaging manner
of one of his harmless companions in the follow-
ing words: "Puss grew presently familiar,
139
would leap into my lap, raise himself upon his
hinder feet, and bite the hair from my temples.
He would suffer me to take him up and to carry
him about in my arms, and has more than once
fallen fast asleep upon my knee. He was ill for
three days, during which time I nursed him,
kept him apart from his fellows that they might.
not molest him, (for, like many other wild ani-
mals, they persecute one of their own species
that is sick,) and by constant care, and trying
him with a variety of herbs, restored him to
perfect health. No creature could be more
grateful than my patient for his recovery; a sen-
timent which he most significantly expressed by
licking my hand, first the back of it, then the
palm, then every finger separately, then between
all the fingers, as if anxious to leave no part of
it unsaluted; a ceremony which he never per-
formed but once again upon a similar occasion.
Finding him extremely tractable, I made it my
custom to carry him always after breakfast into
the garden, where he hid himself generally under
the leaves of a cucumber vine, sleeping or
chewing the cud till evening; in the leaves
also of that vine he found a favourite repast. I
had not long habituated him to this taste of li-
berty, before he began to be impatient for the
return of the time when he might enjoy it. He
would invite me to the garden by drumming
upon my knee, and by a look of such expres-
sion as it was not possible to misinterpret. If
140
this rhetoric did not immediately succeed, he
would take the skirt of my coat between his
teeth, and pull at it with all his force. Thus
puss might be said to be perfectly tamed; the
shyness of his nature was done away; and on
the whole it was visible by many symptoms,
which I have not room to enumerate, that he was
happier in human society than when shut up
with his natural companions.
The other hares were less gentle, and upon one
of them, the kindest treatment had not the least
effect. Mr. C. describes these animals as having
each a character of his own: "Such they were in
fact; and their countenances were so expressive
of that character, that when I looked only on
the face of either, I immediately knew which it
was. It is said that a shepherd, however nume-
rous his flock, soon becomes so familiar with
their features, that he can, by that indication
only distinguish each from all the rest; and yet,
to a common observer, the difference is hardly
perceptible. I doubt not that the same discrimi-
nation in the cast of countenance would be dis-
coverable in hares, and am persuaded that among
a thousand of them,no two could be found exactly
similar; a circumstance little suspected by those
who have not had opportunity to observe it.
These creatures have a singular sagacity in dis-
covering the minutest alteration that is made in
the place to which they are accustomed, and in-
stantly apply their nose to the examination of a
141
new object. A small hole being burnt in the car-
pet, it was mended with a patch, and that patch
in a moment underwent the strictest scrutiny.
They seem, too, to be very much directed by the
smell in the choice of their favourites: to some
persons, though they saw them daily, they could
never be reconciled, and would even scream
when they attempted to touch them: but a miller
coming in, engaged their affections at once; his
powdered coat had charms that were irresistible.
It is no wonder that
my intimate acquaintance
with these specimens of the kind has taught me
to hold the sportsman's amusement in abhor-
rence; he little knows what amiable creatures he
persecutes; of what gratitude they are capable;
how cheerful they are in their spirits; what en-
joyment they have of life; and that, impressed
as they seem with a peculiar dread of man, it is
only because man gives them peculiar cause for
it." One of Mr.Cowper's hares died young, ano-
ther lived to be nine years old, and the last, which
was living in May, 1784, had just completed
his tenth year 66
:- I cannot conclude," conti-
nues our Author," without observing, that I
have lately introduced a dog to his acquaintance,
a spaniel who had never seen a hare, to a hare
who had never seen a spaniel. I did it with great
caution, but there was no real need of it. Puss
discovered no token of fear, nor Marquis the
least symptom of hostility. There is, therefore,
142
it should seem, no natural antipathy between
dog and hare, but the pursuit of the one occa-
sions the flight of the other, and the dog pursues
because he is trained to it: they eat bread at the
same time out of the same hand, and are in all
respects sociable and friendly."
It appears, from this gentleman's account,
that they have no ill scent belonging to them;
that they are indefatigably nice in keeping them-
selves clean; and that for this purpose nature
has furnished them with a brush under each
foot. Mr. Cowper has the following remarks re-
specting their food, with which we shall conclude
this account." I take it to be a general opinion
that they graze, but it is an erroneous one, at
least grass is not their staple, they rather seem
to use it medicinally, soon quitting it for leaves
ofalmost every kind. Sow-thistle, dandelion, and
lettuce, are their favourite vegetables, especially
the last. I discovered, by accident, that fine
white sand is in great estimation with them; I
suppose, as a digestive. It happened that I was
cleaning a bird-cage while the hares were with
me; I placed a pot filled with such sand upon
the floor, which, being at once directed by a
strong instinct, they devoured voraciously since
that time I have generally taken care to see them
well supplied with it. They account green corn
a delicacy, both blade and stalk, but the ear
they seldom eat: straw of any kind, especially
wheat straw, is another of their dainties; they
143
will feed greedily upon oats, but if furnished
with clean straw, never want them: it serves
them also for a bed, and, if shaken up daily,
will be kept sweet and dry for a considerable
time. They do not, indeed, require aromatic
herbs, but will eat a small quantity of them with
great relish, and are particularly fond of the
plant called musk; they seem to resemble sheep
in this, that if their pasture be too succulent,they
are subject to the rot; to prevent which, I al-
ways made bread their principal nourishment,
and, filling a pan with it cut into small squares,
placed it every evening in their chambers, for
they feed only at evening and in the night.
During the winter, when vegetables were not to
be got, I mingled this mess of bread with shreds
of carrot, adding to it the rind of apples cut
extremely thin; for though they are fond of the
paring, the apple itself disgusts them. These,
however, not being a sufficient substitute for
the juice of summer herbs, they must at this
time be supplied with water; but so placed
that they cannot overset it into their beds. I
must not omit that occasionally they are much
pleased with twigs of hawthorn, and of the
common briar, eating even the very wood when
it is of considerable thickness."
It appears from a memorandum found among
Mr. Cowper's papers, that his last hare died in
March 1786, aged eleven years eleven months.
She died of mere old age, and apparently with-
ut pain.
THE COCK.
OF all birds, the cock seems to be the oldest
companion of mankind, and to have been first
reclaimed from the forest. As he is thus longest
under our care, so of all others he exhibits the
greatest number of varieties, there scarcely being
two birds of this species that exactly resemble
each other in plumage and form. The tail, which
makes such a beautiful figure in the generality of
these birds, is yet found entirely wanting in
others. The toes, which are usually four in all
animals of the poultry kind, yet in a species of
the cock are found to amount to five. The
feathers, which lie so sleek and in such beautiful
order in most of those we are acquainted with,
are in a peculiar breed all inverted, and there is
a species that comes from Japan, which instead
of feathers seems to be covered with hair.
It is not well ascertained when the cock was
made domestic in Europe; but it is generally
agreed that it came first from the kingdom of
Persia. This country, however, which first in-
troduced it to our acquaintance, seems no longer
to know it in its natural form; and if we did not
find it wild in some of the woods of India, as
well as those of the islands in the Indian Ocean,
we might begin to doubt, as we do with regard
145
to the sheep, in what form it first existed in a
state of nature.
But those doubts no longer exist: the cock is
found in the islands of Tinian, and in many
others of the Indian Ocean, in his ancient state
of independence. In his wild condition, his plu-
mage is black and yellow, and his comb and wat-
tles yellow and purple. There is another pecu-
liarity also in those of the Indian woods;-their
bones, which when boiled with us are white, as
every body knows, in those are as black as ebony.
Most probably, however, this colour proceeds
from their food, as the bones of animals amongst
us are tinctured red by feeding upon madder.
No animal in the world has greater courage
than the cock; it is scarcely to be overcome by
the most powerful assailants, and though he
should die in the effort, he will defend his hens
against enemies that are infinitely stronger than
himself.
"I have just witnessed (says the Count de
Buffon,) a curious scene. A sparrow-hawk
alighted in a populous court-yard: a young
cock of this year's hatching instantly darted
at him, and threw him on his back. In this
situation, the hawk defended himself with
his talons and his bill, intimidating the hens
and turkey, which screamed tumultuously
around him. When he had a little recovered
himself, he rose and was taking wing; when
the cock rushed upon him a second time,
0
146
overturned him, and held him down so long,
that he was caught."
The cock is very attentive to his females,
hardly ever losing sight of them. He leads, de-
fends, and cherishes them; collects them toge-
ther when they straggle; and seems to eat un-
willingly till he sees them feeding around him.
Whenever any strange cock appears within his
domain, he immediately attacks the intruder,
and if possible drives him away.
Sometimes also his resentment falls upon the
hens; and he has been observed on these occa-
sions to beat them with great cruelty.-Doctor
Percival relates an incident which happened at
the seat of a gentleman near Berwick, which
shews how violent his anger is. "My mowers,
(says this gentleman,) cut a partridge on her
nest; and immediately brought the eggs (four-
teen) to the house. I ordered them to be put
under a very large beautiful hen, and her own
to be taken away. They were hatched in two
days, and the hen brought them up perfectly
well till they were five or six weeks old. During
that time, they were constantly kept confined
in an out-house, without being seen by any of
the other poultry.. The door happening to be left
open, the cock got in. My housekeeper, hearing
the hen in distress, ran to her assistance; but
did not arrive in time to save her life. The
cock finding her with the brood of partridges,
had fallen upon her with the utmost fury, and
147
killed her.
The housekeeper found him tear-
ing her with both his beak and spurs; although
she was then flutterring in the last agony, and
incapable of any resistance. This hen had for-
merly been the cock's greatest favourite."
The hen seldom hatches a brood of chickens
above once in a season, though instances have
been known in which they produced two. The
number of eggs a domestic hen will lay in the
year are above two hundred, provided she be
well fed and supplied with water and liberty.
Her nest is made without any care, if left to
herself; a hole scratched into the ground, among
a few bushes, is the only preparation she makes
for this season of patient expectation. When
the time for hatching has arrived, she herself
testifies it by a clucking note, and by discon-
tinuing to lay. The good housewives, who often
get more by their hens laying than by their
chickens, often artificially protract this clucking
season, and sometimes entirely remove it. As
soon as the hen begins to cluck, they stint her
in her provisions; and if that fails, they plunge
her into cold water; this, for the time, effectually
puts back her hatching; but then it often kills
the poor bird, who takes cold and dies under
the operation.
If left entirely to herself, the hen would sel-
dom lay above twenty eggs in the same nest,
without attempting to hatch them: but in pro-
portion as she lays, her eggs are removed; and
148
she continues to lay, vainly hoping to increase the
number. In the wild state, the hen seldom lays
above fifteen eggs; but then her provision is not
so easily obtained, and she is perhaps sensible.
of the difficulty of maintaining too numerous a
family.
When the hen begins to sit, nothing can
exceed her perseverance and patience; she con-
tinues for some days immoveable; and when
forced away by the importunities of hunger, she
quickly returns. Sometimes also her eggs becomie
too hot for her to bear, especially if she be fur-
nished with too warm a nest within doors, for
then she is obliged to leave them to cool a little :
thus the warmth of the nest only retards incuba-
tion, and often puts the brood a day or two back
in the shell. While the hen sits, she carefully
turns her eggs, and even removes them to dif-
ferent situations; till at length, in about three
weeks, the young brood begin to give signs of a
desire to burst their confinement. When by the
repeated efforts of their bill, which serves like a
pioneer on this occasion, they have broke them-
selves a passage through the shell, the hen still
continues to sit till they all are excluded. The
strongest and best chickens generally are the
first candidates for liberty; the weakest come
behind, and some even die in the shell. When all
are produced, she then leads them forth to pro-
vide for themselves. Her affection and her pride
seem then to alter her very nature, and correct
149
her imperfections. No longer voracious or cow-
ardly, she abstains from all food that her young
can swallow, and flies boldly at every creature that
she thinks is likely to do them mischief. What-
ever the invading animal be, she boldly attacks
him; the horse, the hog, or the mastiff. When
marching at the head of her little troop, she acts
the commander, and has a variety of notes to
call her numerous train to their food, or to warn
them of approaching danger. Upon one of
these occasions, the whole brood was seen to
run for security into the thickest part of a
hedge, while the hen herself ventured boldly
forth, and faced a fox that came for plun-
der. With a good mastiff, however, the in-
vader was soon sent back to his retreat; but
not before he had wounded the hen in several
places.
As the chickens reared by the hen bear no pro-
portion to the number of eggs she produces,
many artificial schemes of rearing them have been
attempted; the most successful, though by far
the most inhuman, is said to be where a capon is
made to supply the place of a hen. He is ren-
dered very tame: the feathers are plucked from
his breast, and the bare parts are rubbed with
nettles. The chickens are then put to him; and,
by their running under his breast with their soft
and downy bodies, his pain is so much allayed,
and he feels so much comfort to his featherless
body, that he soon adopts them, feeding them
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150
like a hen, and assiduously performing all the
functions of the tenderest parent.
Chickens have long been hatched in Egypt by
means of artificial heat. This is now chiefly
practised by the inhabitants of a village called
Berme, and by those who live at a little distance
from it. Towards the beginning of autumn, these
persons spread themselves all over the country;
and each of them is ready to undertake the ma-
nagement of an oven. These ovens are of dif-
ferent sizes, each capable of containing from
forty to eighty thousand eggs; and the number
of ovens in the different parts is about three
hundred and eighty-six; they are usually kept
in use for about six months; and, as each brood
takes up twenty-one days in hatching, it is easy,
in every one of them, to produce eight different
broods in the year.
The ovens, where these eggs are placed, are of
the most simple construction; consisting only
of a low arched apartment of clay. Two rows
of shelves are formed, and the eggs are placed
on these in such a manner as not to touch each
other. They are slightly moved five or six times
in every twenty-four hours. All possible care
is taken to diffuse the heat equally throughout;
and there is but one aperture, just large enough
to admit a man stooping. During the first eight
days the heat is rendered great; but during the
last eight it is gradually diminished, till at
length, when the young brood are ready to come.
151
forth, it is reduced almost to the state of the
natural atmosphere. By the end of the first
eight days it is known which of the eggs will be
productive.
Every person who undertakes the care of an
oven, is under the obligation only of delivering
to his employer two-thirds of as many chickens
as there have been eggs given to him; and he is
a gainer by this bargain, as it always happens,
except from some unlucky accident, that many
more than that proportion of the eggs produce
chickens.
A calculation has been made of the number
of chickens thus hatched every year in Egypt,
on the supposition that upon an average only
two-thirds of the eggs are productive, and that
each brood consists of at least 30,000 chickens ;
and from this it appears that the ovens in that
country give life annually to almost a hundred
millions of these animals,
THE PEACOCK.
WHEN this animal appears with its tail ex-
panded, there is none of the feathered creation
can vie with it for beauty; yet the horrid scream
of its voice serves to abate the pleasure we find
from viewing it; and still more, its insatiable
gluttony and spirit of depredation make it one
of the most noxious domestics that man has
taken under his protection.
Our first peacocks were brought from the
East Indies; and we are assured, that they are still
found in vast flocks, in a wild state, in the islands
of Java and Ceylon. So beautiful a bird, and
one esteemed such a delicacy at the tables of the
luxurious, could not be permitted to continue
long at liberty in its distant retreats. So early
as the days of Solomon, we find apes and pea-
cocks to have been among the articles imported
from the East. Elian relates, that they were
brought into Greece from some barbarous coun-
try, and were held in such high esteem among
them, that a male and female were valued at
above thirty pounds of our money. We are told
also, that when Alexander was in India, he found
them flying wild, in vast numbers, on the banks
of the river Hyarotis, and was so struck with
their beauty, that he laid a severe fine and
153
punishment on all who should kill or disturb
them. Nor are we to be surprized at this, as
the Greeks were so much struck with the beauty
of this bird, when first brought among them,
that every person paid a fixed price for seeing
it; and several people came to Athens, from
Lacedemon and Thessaly, purely to satisfy their
curiosity.
seen.
It was probably first introduced into the
West, merely on account of its beauty; but
mankind, from contemplating its figure, soon
came to think of serving it up for a different
entertainment. Its fame for delicacy, however,
did not continue very long; for we find, in the
times of Francis the First, that it was a custom
to serve up peacocks at the tables of the great,
with an intention not be eaten, but only to be
Their manner was to strip off the skin
and then preparing the body with the warmest
spices, they covered it up again in its former
skin, with all its plumage in full display, and
no way injured by the preparation. The bird
thus prepared, was often preserved for many
years without corrupting; and it is asserted of
the peacock's flesh, that it keeps longer unpu-
trified than that of any other animal. To give
a higher zest to these entertainments, on wed-
dings particularly, they filled the bird's beak
and throat with cotton and camphor, which
they set on fire, to amuse and delight the com¬
pany.
154
Like other birds of the poultry kind, the
peacock feeds upon corn; but its chief predi-
lection is for barley. But as it is a very proud
and fickle bird, there is scarcely any food that it
will not at times pursue. Insects and tender
plants are often eagerly sought at a time that it
has a sufficiency of its natural food provided
more nearly. In the indulgence of these capri-
cious pursuits, walls cannot easily confine it; it
strips the tops of houses of their tiles or thatch, it
lays waste the labours of the gardener, roots up
his choicest seeds and nips his favourite flowers in
the bud. Thus its beauty but ill recompenses for
the michief it occasions; and many of the more
homely looking fowls are very deservedly pre-
ferred before it.
The pea-hen seldom lays above five or six
eggs in this climate before she sits. Aristotle
describes her as laying twelve; and it is proba-
ble, in her native climate, she may be thus pro-
lific; for it is certain, that in the forests where
they breed naturally, they are numerous beyond
expression. This bird lives about twenty years,
and not till its third year has it that beautiful va-
riegated plumage that adorns its tail.
66
"In the kingdom of Cambaya," says Ta-
verner, near the city of Baroach, whole
flocks of them are seen in the fields. They are
very shy, however, and it is impossible to come
near them. They run off swifter than the par-
tridge; and hide themselves in thickets, where
155
it is impossible to find them. They perch by
night upon trees; and the fowler often ap-
proaches them at that season with a kind of
banner, on which a peacock is painted to the
life, on either side. A lighted torch is fixed on
the top of this decoy; and the peacock, when
disturbed, flies to what it takes for another,
and is thus caught in a noose prepared for that
purpose."
There are varieties of this bird, some of which
are white, others crested: that which is called
the peacock of Thibet, is the most beautiful of
the feathered creation, containing in its plumage
all the most vivid colours, red, blue, yellow,
and green, disposed in an almost artificial order,
as if merely to please the eye of the beholder.
THE TURKEY.
THE natal place of the cock and the peacock
is pretty well ascertained, but there are stronger
doubts concerning the turkey; some contending
that it was brought into Europe from the East
Indies many centuries ago; while others as-
sert, that it is wholly unknown in that part of
the world, that it is a native of the New Con-
tinent, and that it was not brought into Europe
till the discovery of that part of the world.
With us, when young, it is one of the ten-
derest of all birds, yet, in its wild state, it is
found in great plenty in the forests of Canada,
that are covered with snow above three parts of
the year. In their natural woods, they are found
much larger than in their state of domestic cap-
tivity. They are much more beautiful also,
their feathers being of dark grey, bordered at
the edges with a bright gold colour. These the
uncivilized people of the country weave into
cloaks to adorn their persons, and fashion into
fans and umbrellas, but never once think of
taking into keeping animals that the woods fur-
nish them with, in sufficient abundance.
The hunting of these birds forms one of their
principal diversions: when they have discovered
the retreat of the turkeys, which in general is
157
near fields of nettles, or where there is plenty
of any kind of grain, they send a well-trained
dog into the midst of the flock. The birds no
sooner perceive their enemy, than they run off
at full speed, and with such swiftness, that they
leave the dog far behind. He, however, fol-
lows; and, as they cannot go at this rate for
any length of time, at last forces them to take
shelter in a tree: where they sit, perfectly spent
and fatigued, till the hunters come up, and with
long poles knock them down one after another.
These birds, among themselves, are extremely
furious; and yet against other animals they are
generally weak and cowardly. The domestic
cock often makes them keep at a distance; and
the latter seldom venture to attack him but with
united force, when the cock is rather oppressed
by their weight, than annoyed by their weapons.
There have, however, occurred instances in
which the turkey-cock has not been found want-
ing in prowess:-A gentleman of New-York
received from a distance a turkey-cock and hen,
and a pair of bantams, which he put into his
yard with other poultry. Some time afterwards,
as he was feeding them from the barn-door, a
large hawk suddenly turned the corner of the
barn, and made a pitch at the bantam hen, she
immediately gave the alarm, by a noise which
is natural to her on such occasions: when the
turkey-cock, who was at a distance of about
two yards, and no doubt understood the hawk's
P
158
intentions and the imminent danger of his old
acquaintance, flew at the tyrant with such vic-
lence, and gave him so severe a stroke with his
spurs when about to seize his prey, as to knock
him from the hen to a considerable distance; and
the timely aid of this faithful auxiliary completely
saved the bantam from being devoured.
To this another instance may be added
(though very different in its nature) of the gal-
lantry of the turkey-cock: which also affords a
singular example of deviation from instinct. In
the month of May, 1798, a female turkey be-
longing to a gentleman in Sweden was sitting
upon eggs; and as the cock in her absence began
to appear uneasy and dejected, he was put into
the place with her. He immediately sat down
by her side; and it was soon found that he had
taken some eggs from under her, which he
covered very carefully. The eggs' were put
back, but he soon afterwards took them again.
This induced the owner, by way of experiment,
to have a nest made, and as many eggs put into
it as it was thought the cock could conveniently
cover. The bird seemed highly pleased with
this mark of confidence; he sat with great pa-
tience on the eggs, and was so attentive to the
care of hatching them, as scarcely to afford him-
self time to take the food necessary for his sup-
port. At the usual period, twenty-eight young
ones were produced; and the cock, who was in
some measure the parent of this numerous off-
159
spring, appeared perplexed on seeing so many
little creatures picking around him, and re-
quiring his care. It was, however, thought
proper not to intrust him with the rearing of the
brood, lest he should neglect them; they were
therefore taken away and reared by other means.
The disposition of the female is in general
much more mild and gentle than that of the
male. When leading out her young family to
collect their food, though so large and appa-
rently so powerful a bird, she gives them very
little protection against the attacks of any ra-
pacious animal that comes in her way. She ra-
ther warns them to provide for themselves, than
prepares to defend them. I have heard a turkey-
hen, when at the head of her brood, (says the
Abbè de la Pluche,) send forth the most hi-
deous scream, without my being able to perceive
the cause her young ones, however, immedi-
ately when the warning was given, skulked
under the bushes, the grass, or whatever else
seemed to offer shelter or protection. They
even stretched themselves at full length on the
ground, and continued lying motionless as if
dead. In the mean time the mother, with her
eyes directed upwards, continued her cries and
screaming as before On looking up, in the
direction in which she seemed to gaze, I dis-
covered a black spot just under the clouds, but
was unable at first to determine what it was ;
however, it soon appeared to be a bird of prey,
:
160
though at first at too great a distance to be dis-
tinguished. I have seen one of these animals
continue in this agitated state, and her whole
brood pinned down as it were to the ground,
for four hours together; whilst their formidable
foe has taken its circuits, has mounted, and
hovered directly over their heads; at last, upon
his disappearing, the parent changed her note,
and sent forth another cry, which in an instant
gave life to the whole trembling tribe, and they
all flocked round her with expressions of plea-
sure, as if conscious of their happy escape from
danger.
It appears that in the wilds of America the
turkey grows to a much larger size than with us.
Josselyn says, that he has eaten part of a turkey-
cock which, after it was plucked and the en-
trails were taken out, weighed thirty pounds.-
Some writers assert that instances have occurred
of turkies weighing no less than sixty pounds.
The females lay their eggs in spring, gene-
rally in some retired and obscure place; for the
cock, enraged at the loss of his mate while she
is employed in hatching, is apt otherwise to break
them. They sit on their eggs with so much per-
severance, that, if not taken away, they will
almost perish with hunger before they will entirely
leave the nest. They are exceedingly affectionate
to their offspring.
Kata Magd
Turkies are bred in great numbers in Nor-
folk, Suffolk, and some other counties, from
161
whence they are driven to the London markets
in flocks of several hundreds. The drivers
manage them with great facility, by means of a
bit of red rag tied to the end of a long stick;
which, from the antipathy these birds bear to
that colour, effectually answers the purpose of
a scourge.
In a wild state turkies keep together in flocks,
consisting sometimes of more than five hundred.
They frequent the great swamps of America, to
roost, but leave these situations at sun-rise, to
repair to the dry woods in search of acorns and
berries. They perch on trees, and gain the
height they wish by rising from bough to bough:
they generally mount to the summit of even the
loftiest, so as to be often beyond musket-shot.
They are very swift runners, but fly awkwardly;
and about the month of March they become so
fat that they cannot fly beyond three or four
hundred yards, and are then easily run down
by a horseman.
It is seldom indeed that wild turkies are now
seen in the inhabited parts of America; and
they are only found in any great numbers, in
the distant and most unfrequented parts. If the
eggs of these be hatched under tame turkies, the
young ones are said still to retain a certain de-
gree of wildness, and to perch separate from the
others; yet they will mix and breed together in the
season. The Indians sometimes use the breed
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162
produced from the wild birds, to decoy within
their reach those still in a state of nature.
The Indians make an elegant cloathing of the
feathers. They twist the inner webs into a
strong double string with hemp, or the inner
bark of the mulberry tree, and work it like mat-
ting. This appears very rich and glossy, and
as fine as silk shag. The natives of Louisiana
make fans of the tail; and of four tails joined
together, the French used formerly to con-
struct a parasol.
THE RAVEN.
THE raven is a bird found in every region of
the world: strong and hardy, he is not influenced
by the change of the weather; and when other
birds seem numbed with cold, or pining with
famine, the raven is active and healthy, busily
employed in prowling for prey, or sporting in
the coldest atmosphere. As the heats of warm
climates do not oppress him, so he bears the cold
of the polar countries with equal indifference.
He is sometimes indeed seen milk white; and
this may probably be the effect of the rigorous
climates of the north. It is most likely that this
change is wrought upon him as upon most other
animals in that part of the world, where their
robes, particularly in the winter, assume the
colour of the country they inhabit.
When domesticated, the raven is well
known for his pilfering and impudent qualities;
he is always busy and inquisitive, constantly
introducing himself wherever he an, and as
constantly carrying off whatever is able to
lay hold of.-But he seems more particularly
attached to money, tea-spoons, or rings; these
he will slily seize, and, if not observed, carry
them to his hiding-place, where they sometimes
remain for a considerable time before they are

164
discovered. This bird is inclined to prate, and
may be taught to pronounce several words; it
appears too, that he possesses a power of imita-
ting musical sounds, and Dr. Goldsmith men-
tions having heard a raven sing a tune with
great distinctness and truth.
Ravens build their nest on the tops of old de-
serted towers, in the clefts of rocks, or on the
high branches of large straggling trees, and they
are said to be particularly attached to the place
where they are bred. About the end of Fe-
bruary, or beginning of March, the female lays
five or six eggs, of a pale blueish green, marked
with spots and streaks of a dirty colour. She
sits about twenty days; and her attachment to
her eggs during the time is strongly marked in
the following account which Mr. White has
given of this bird: In the centre of a grove near
Selbourne, there stood an oak, which, though
shapely and tall on the whole, bulged out into a
large excrescence near the middle of the stem.
On this tree a pair of ravens had fixed their
residence for such a series of years that the oak
was distinguished by the title of The Raven-Tree.
Many were the attempts of the neighbouring
youths to get this nest, the difficulty whetted
their inclinations, and each was ambitious of
surmounting the arduous task; but when they
arrived at the swelling, it jutted out so in their
way, and was so far beyond their grasp, that
the boldest lads were deterred, and acknowled-

165
ged the undertaking to be too hazardous. Thus
the ravens continued to build, nest upon nest, in
perfect security, till the day arrived on which
the wood was to be levelled. This was in the
month of February, when these birds usually
sit. The saw was applied to the trunk, the
wedges were inserted into the opening, the
woods echoed to the heavy blows of the beetle
or mallet, the tree nodded to its fall; but still
the dam persisted to sit. At last, when it gave
way, the bird was flung from her nest; and,
though her paternal affection deserved a better
fate, was whipped down by the twigs, which
brought her dead to the ground.
The male is assiduous in providing his mate
with food during the time she sits, and when
the young brood make their first appearance he
watches for their safety, and ventures his life to
secure them from danger. If he sees a kite, or
other rapacious bird, approach the nest, he im-
mediately takes wing, and getting above his foe,
dashes downwards and strikes him violently with
his bill. The contest is fréquently obstinate;
both fight in earnest, both contend for the ascen-
dancy, and that with such perseverance, that
they sometimes mount entirely out of sight, till,
overcome with fatigue, one or both fall to the
ground. Their attachment to their young lasts
even after they can fly, as M. Herbert has proved
by the observations he made on the ravens which
inhabit the mountains of Bugey. This gentle-

166
man noticed a family of them, which bred every
year opposite to his windows upon the rocks
which terminate the prospect. The young, to
the number of four or five, sat on the large de-
tached fragments about the middle of the preci-
pice, where they were easily seen, and drew
notice by their continual wailings. Every time
that the parents brought them food, which hap-
pened frequently during the course of the day,
they called with a cry very different from their
other noise. Sometimes one tried to fly; and
after a slight essay, it returned to settle upon
the rock. Some one was generally left behind,
and its wailing then became incessant. After
the young had strength sufficient to fly, that is,
fifteen days at least after leaving the nest, the
parents conducted them every morning to the
field, and in the evening led them back. It was
commonly five or six in the afternoon when the
family returned, and they spent the rest of the
day in noisy brawling.
点
​In clear weather, ravens may be seen at a great
height in the air. They fly in pairs, and make
a deep loud noise, which differs from their com-
mon croaking. Their greedy disposition, and
appetite for carrion, make them of great service
in the neighbourhood of towns and cities, espe-
cially in warm countries, where they devour
the rotten carcases and filth that would otherwise
prove a nuisance. In Greenland they feed on
the offal of the seals, and on the shell-fish they
167
find upon the shore; these they carry to a
height, and drop them upon a rock to break
the shell and get at the contents. The Green-
landers are said to eat their flesh, to use their
wings for brushes, and to split the quills into
fishing lines.
Among the American savages, the raven is
the emblem of returning health, and his croak-
ing voice is mimicked by their physicians when
they invoke him in behalf of the sick.
Birds in general live longer than quadrupeds;
and the raven is said to be one of the most long-
lived of the number. Hesiod asserts that a
raven will live nine times as long as a man; but
though this is fabulous, it is certain that some
of them have been known to live near an hun-
dred years.
-
THE PIGEON.
THE tame pigeon, and all its beautiful va-
rieties, derive their origin from one species, the
stock dove only implying its being the stock or
stem from whence the other domestic kinds
have been propagated.
The dove-house pigeon, as is well known,
breeds every month; but then it is necessary to
supply it with food when the weather is severe,
or the fields are covered with snow. Upon
other occasions, it may be left to provide for it-
self; and it generally repays the owner for his
protection. The pigeon lays two white eggs,
which most usually produce young ones of dif-
ferent sexes. When the eggs are laid, the fe-
male, in the space of fifteen days, not including
the three days during which she is employed in
laying, continues to hatch, relieved at intervals
by the male. The turns are usually regulated
with great exactness. From three or four
o'clock in the evening till nine the next day,
the female continues to sit; she is then relieved
by the male, who takes his place from ten till
three, while his mate is feeding abroad. In this
manner they sit alternately, till the young are
excluded. If, during this term, the female de-
lays to return at the expected time, the male
169
follows and drives her to the nest; and, should
he in his turn be dilatory, she retaliates with
equal severity.
The young ones when hatched require no
food for the three first days, only wanting to be
kept warm, which is an employment the female
takes entirely upon herself. During this period,
she never stirs out, except for a few minutes to
take a little food. From this they are fed for
eight or ten days, with corn or grain of differ-
ent kinds, which the old ones gather in the fields,
and keep treasured up in their crops, from
whence they throw it up again into the mouths
of their young ones, who very greedily devour
it.
There are upwards of twenty varieties of the
domestic pigeon; and of these the Carriers are
the most justly celebrated. They obtained their
name from the circumstance of their conveying
letters and small packets from one place to an-
other.
It is through attachment to their native place,
and particularly to the spot where they have
brought up their young, that they are thus ren-
dered useful to mankind. The bird is conveyed
from its home to the place whence the informa-
tion is intended to be sent; the letter is tied
under its wing, and it is let loose. From the
instant of its liberation, its flight is directed
through the clouds at an amazing height, to its
home. By an instinct altogether inconceivable,
170
it darts onwards in a straight line to the very spot
from whence it was taken; but how it can direct
its flight so exactly, will probably for ever remain
unknown to us.
The rapidity of their flight is very wonderful ;
Lithgow assures us that one of them will carry a
letter from Babylon to Aleppo (which to a man
is usually a thirty days' journey) in forty-eight
hours. To measure their speed with some degree
of exactness, a gentleman some years ago, on a
trifling wager, sent a carrier-pigeon from Lon-
don by the coach, to a friend at Bury St. Ed-
mund's; and along with it a note, desiring that
the pigeon, two days after its arrival there,
might be thrown up precisely when the town
clock struck nine in the morning. This was ac-
cordingly done; and the pigeon arrived in Lon-
don and flew into the Bull inn, in Bishopsgate-
street, at half an hour past eleven o'clock of the
same morning, having flown seventy-two miles
in two hours and a half.
The carrier-pigeon is easily distinguished
from the other varieties, by a broad circle of
naked white skin round the eyes, and by its dark
blue or blackish colour.
Mr. Pennant received the following informa-
tion respecting the passenger pigeon, which is
another variety, from a person who had for many
years the opportunity of observing them.
"This is as remarkable a bird as any in Ame-
rica; they are in vast numbers in all parts, and
171
have been of great service, at particular times, to
our garrisons, in supplying them with fresh meat,
especially at the out-posts. A friend told me,
that in the year in which Quebec was taken, the
whole army was supplied with them, if they
chose The way was this: every man took
his club, for they were forbidden to use their fire-
locks,) when they flew, as it was termed, in
such quantities, that each person could kill as
many as he wanted. They in general begin to
fly soon after day-break, and continue till nine or
ten o'clock; and again about three in the afternoon
and continue till five or six; but what is very
remarkable, they always fly westerly. The
times of flying here are in the spring, about the
latter end of February or the beginning of
March, and continue every day for eight or
ten days; and again in the fall, when they be-
gin the latter end of July, or the beginning of
August. They catch vast quantities of them
in clap-nets with stale pigeons. I have seen
them brought to the market at New York by
sacks-full. People in general are very fond of
them; and I have heard many say they think
them as good as the common blue pigeon; but
I cannot agree with them by any ineans. They
taste more like our quest, or wild pigeon;
but are better meat. They have another way of
killing them; they make a hut of boughs of
trees, and fix stale pigeons on the ground, at
a small distance from the hut. They plant poles

172
for the wild pigeons to light on when they come
a-salting, as they term it, which they do every
morning in the season, repairing to the marshes
near the sea side; then the persons in the hut
pull the stale pigeons, when the birds will
alight in vast numbers on the poles, and great
multitudes are shot. Sir William Johnson told
me, that he killed at one shot, with a blunder-
buss, a hundred and twenty or thirty. Some
years past they have not been in such plenty as
they used to be. This spring I saw them fly
one morning, as I thought in great abundance;
but every body was amazed how few there
were, and wondered at the reason.
a
"I must remark one very singular fact; that,
notwithstanding the whole people of the town
go out a pigeoning, as they call it, they will
not in some days kill a single hen bird ; and on
the very next day not a single cock, and yet
both sexes always fly westerly, and when this
is the case, the people are always assured that
there will be great plenty of them that season.→
I have been at Niagara when the sentinel has
given the word that the pigeons were flying;
and the whole garrison were ready to run over
one another, so eager were they to get fresh
meat."

Mr. Weld, who lately travelled through the
States of North America, was assured that a
gentleman of the town of Niagara once ob-
served, as he was embarking for Toranta, 40
173
miles distant from Niagara, a flight of pigeons
coming from the quarter in which he was ad-
vancing; and on his arrival at the place of his
destination, he still discerned the birds coming
down from the north, in as large bodies as had
been noticed at any time during the whole
voyage. Supposing, therefore, that the pigeons
moved no faster than the vessel, the flight, ac-
cording to this account, must have extended at
least 80 miles.
THE ROOK.
THE rook is a harmless animal that has no
carnivorous appetites, and only feeds upon in-
sects and corn.
It builds, as is well known, in woods and
forests in the neighbourhood of man, and some-
times makes choice of groves in the
in the very midst
of cities for the place of its retreat and security.
In these it lays down a kind of regulation, by
which all intruders are excluded from coming to
live among them, and none suffered to build but
acknowledged natives of the place. At the
commencement of spring, the rookery, which
during the continuance of winter seemed to
have been deserted, or only guarded by about
five or six, like old soldiers in a garrison, now be-
gins to be once more frequented; and in a short
time all the bustle and hurry of business is fairly
commenced. Where these numbers reside dur-
ing the winter, it is not easy to guess; perhaps
in the trees of hedge-rows, to be nearer their
food. In the spring, however, they inhabit their
native trees; and, in the places where they
were themselves hatched, they prepare to pro-
pagate a future progeny.

They keep together in pairs; and at the pro-
per season prepare for making their nests and
175
laying. The old inhabitants of the place are
all already provided; the nest which served
them for years before, with a little trimming
and dressing, will serve very well again; the
difficulty of nestling lies only upon the young
ones who have no nest, and must therefore get
up one as well as they can. But not only the
materials are wanting, but also the place in
which to fix it. Every part of a tree will not
do for this purpose, as some branches may not
be sufficiently forked; others may not be
sufficiently strong, and still others may be too
much exposed to the rockings of the wind.
The male and female upon this occasion are, for
some days, seen examining all the trees of the
grove very attentively; and when they have
fixed upon a branch that seems fit for their pur-
pose, they continue to sit upon and observe it
very sedulously for two or three days longer.
The place being thus determined upon, they
begin to gather the materials for their nest;
such as sticks and fibrous roots, which they re-
gularly dispose in the most substantial manner.
But a new and unexpected obstacle arises. It
often happens that the young couple have made
choice of a place too near the mansion of an
older pair, who do not choose to be incommoded
by such troublesome neighbours. A quarrel
therefore instantly ensues; in which the old
ones are always victorious.


The young couple, thus expelled, are obliged
again to go through the fatigues of deliberating,
176
examining, and chusing; and having taken
care to keep their due distance, the nest begins
again, and their industry deserves commenda-
tion. But their alacrity is often too great in
the beginning; they soon grow weary of bring-
ing the materials of their nest from distant
places; and they very easily perceive that sticks
may be provided nearer home, with less ho-
nesty indeed, but some degree of address.
Away they go, therefore, to pilfer as fast as
they can; and wherever they see a nest un-
guarded, they take care to rob it of the very
choicest sticks of which it is composed. But
these thefts never go unpunished; and probably
upon complaint being made, there is a general
punishment inflicted. Eight or ten rooks have
been seen, upon such occasions, setting upon the
new nest of the young couple all at once, and
tearing it in pieces in a moment.
At length therefore the young pair find the
necessity of going more regularly and honestly
to work. While one flies to fetch the materials,
the other sits upon the tree to guard it; and thus
m the space of three or four days, with a skir-
mish now and then between, the pair have fitted
upa commodious nest composed of sticks without
and fibrous roots and long grass within. From
the instant the female begins to lay, all hostilities
are at an end; not one of the whole grove, that
a little before treated her so rudely, will now
venture to molest her; so that she brings forth
:


177
her brood with patient tranquillity. Such is the
severity with which native rooks are treated by
each other; but if a foreign rook should attempt
to make himself a denizen of their society, he
would meet with no favour; the whole grove
would at once be up in arms against him, and
expel him without mercy.
In some countries these birds are considered
as a benefit, in others as a nuisance: their chief
food is the worm of the dor-beetle and corn}
thus they may be said to do as much service by
destroying that noxious insect, as they do in
jury by consuming the produce of the hus
bandman's industry.
FINIS.
SUPERIOR BOOKS FOR YOUTH,
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9. REPTILES and SERPENTS.-The Natural History of
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11. NEW ROBINSON CRUSOE.-The New Robinson Cru-
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14. ROBINS.-Hi
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20. ROBINSON CRUSOE.-The Life and most surprising
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21. MISCELLANY.-The Miscellany; or, Evening's Occu-
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22. Loss of the SHIP WAGER.-Byron's Narrative of the
Loss of the Wager Man of War, one of Admiral
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23. COMMODORE ANSON.-The Voyage of Commodore
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27. ELIZABETH.-Elizabeth; or, the Exiles of Siberia:
a Tale founded on Truth. From the French of
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R
28. INSTINCT.-Instinct displayed: exemplifying the
extraordinary Sagacity of various Species of the
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