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Title: The People's Natural History: Vol. 1 Mammals
Date of first publication: 1905
Editor: Charles J. Cornish
Date first posted: December 6 2012
Date last updated: December 6 2012
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[Illustration: _Photo by the Duchess of Bedford, Woburn Abbey._

FEMALE KUDU.

The Kudu is one of the handsomest of the African Antelopes, the
corkscrew-like horns of the bucks forming some of the most striking
of all sporting trophies.]




  THE PEOPLE'S

  Natural History

  EMBRACING

  Living Animals of the World _and_ Living Races of Mankind


  EDITORS AND SPECIAL CONTRIBUTORS:

  Charles J. Cornish, F. C. Selous, Ernest Ingersoll, Sir Harry Johnston,
  K.C.B., Sir Herbert Maxwell, F.R.S., H. N. Hutchinson, F.R.G.S., J. W.
  Gregory, F.G.S., R. Lydekker, F.R.S., F.Z.S., and many other eminent
  naturalists

  _Nearly Two Thousand Illustrations_


  Vol. I
  MAMMALS


  1905
  THE UNIVERSITY SOCIETY
  NEW YORK




  Copyright, 1901-1902
  By DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY

  Copyright, 1903
  By THE UNIVERSITY SOCIETY




  LIVING ANIMALS
  OF THE WORLD


  VOLUME I




[Illustration: _Woburn_

PEKIN DEER IN SUMMER DRESS

_An example of the white spotted type of coloration as common among
herbivorous mammals_]


  INTRODUCTION


The interest now taken in Natural History is wide-spread and intelligent
to a degree never known before, and any publication that purports to
present the animal world in a new and clearer way is sure of a welcome,
and as wide an acceptance as it deserves.

[Illustration: _By permission of Herr Carl Hagenbeck_]    [_Hamburg_

NEGRO BOY AND APES

_An interesting picture of a Negro boy, with a young Chimpanzee (left
side of figure) and young Orang-utan (right side of figure)_]

Nothing is more essential to the successful presentation of animal life
and habits than good pictures. The universal interest of the public in
zoological gardens, traveling menageries and museums, the educational
value of which is more and more strongly recognised, arises not only
from a natural curiosity, but also from the need of seeing the real
creatures or their preserved embodiments, in order properly to
understand and realise the descriptions of animals and their ways with
which books of exploration and travel, school treatises and current
literature are nowadays crowded. Without such help, indeed, the study of
zoology would be practically impossible, and therefore pictures have
always been considered necessary to books of natural history. Too often,
however, they have been sorry treatises upon the reality, reflecting the
imaginations of the draughtsman rather than the truth of nature.

[Illustration: _By permission of Herr Umlauff_]    [_Hamburg_

SKELETONS OF MAN AND GORILLA

_This photograph shows the remarkable similarity in the structure of the
human frame (left) and that of the gorilla (right). This gorilla
happened to be a particularly large specimen; the man was of ordinary
height_]

Photography was therefore welcomed by naturalists and scientific writers
as a means of vastly needed improvement, yet only recently has it been
possible to utilise it in any important picturesque way in the
illustration of living animals. For a long time the difficulties to be
overcome baffled both photographers and naturalists. The makers of
photographic instruments and materials were compelled to experiment for
many years before they were able to perfect "quick" plates and lenses
that would answer the purpose, and then it was only here and there that
a man was able or willing, or had the opportunity to make use of the
portable cameras, telephoto lenses, and other special apparatus required
to obtain successful portraits of living creatures, especially those at
liberty "on their native heath."

It must be remembered, too, that the processes of mechanical engraving
had to be perfected in order to reproduce such photographs so that they
might be printed without the intervention of brush or graving-tool, with
their chances of loss of correctness.

[Illustration: _Photo by G. Watmough Webster & Son_]    [_Chester_

SEA-SWALLOWS

_From their long wings, forked tail, and flight, the Terns are popularly
called Sea-swallows_]

What would we not give had the pioneers of America or Africa been able
to take with them cameras, and, instead of taking advantage of the
tameness of the game unused to the hunter, which enabled them to kill
it, sometimes, with clubs, had gathered for us easily the portraits of
many an animal, perhaps in flocks and herds, which have now disappeared!
It is one of the most important functions of out-door photography,
to-day, to preserve for posterity a record of passing conditions and of
diminishing species; and a work like the present is of permanent
interest, and will increase in historical and bibliographical value as
time goes on.

[Illustration: _Photo by Ottomar Anschütz_]    [_Berlin_

AFRICAN LEOPARD

_An example of the black-spotted type of coloration so prevalent in
Carnivora_]

One by one in various parts of the world within the last half a dozen
years, ingenious, energetic, and capable men and women have overcome the
obstacles, and partly by great patience and skill, and partly by seizing
happy chances, have captured and preserved for us the portraits of a
host of animals of every sort. It is these which have now been gathered
to illustrate, in a comprehensive and original manner this new general
history of the Living Animals of the World,--mammals, birds, reptiles,
fishes, and lowly life of land and sea.

[Illustration: EAST AFRICAN GIRAFFE

_This photograph was taken in the wilds of Africa by Lord Delamere, and
shows the animal at home. The tree is a mimosa, on the top shoots of
which the giraffe habitually feeds_]

It is no disparagement of its often excellent predecessors to say that
in its illustrations, at least, this work surpasses anything that has
gone before it, since no previous publication could have presented its
pictorial contents. The materials, in respect to both pictures and
written text, have been gathered from the whole world, and represent
the latest studies, much of which has never been before popularly
published. Specialists of distinction and renowned scientific travelers
have contributed photographs and field-notes, often from remote regions
where alone many of the most rare and interesting animals may be found.
These unique contributions come from the most distant islands of the
Southern Ocean, the deserts and coral reefs of Australia, the New
Zealand hills, the Indian jungle, the African forest and veldt, and the
wilds of tropical and polar America. Such a collection as is here made
of photographs and accounts of the domestic animals of the world would
alone be a valuable and entertaining contribution to literature.

[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._]    [_Croydon_

FLYING-FOX

_This bat, which is a native of Australia (where it was photographed),
is commonly called the Flying-fox. Great flocks set out at sunset from
the forest to feed upon the indigenous fruits, such as that of the
native fig_]

[Illustration: _Photo by F. G. Apalo, F.Z.S._

DOLPHINS

_This photograph was taken in mid-ocean, and shows a couple of dolphins
following a ship across the Atlantic_]

Another highly interesting feature is the large number of pictures given
of the animals of various sorts trained by Carl Hagenbeck and others,
shown in "happy family" groups, or in the performances of various feats;
for this is material toward a better knowledge of the mental
characteristics and powers of the brutes, which is a subject attractive
to every thoughtful person, and upon which all the light is needed that
can be gained.

[Illustration: _Photo by Fratelli Alinari_]    [_Florence_

A HAPPY FAMILY

_Hyæna, tiger, and lions living in amity--a remarkable proof of their
tamer's power. In the same park at Hamburg, belonging to Herr Hagenbeck,
are also bears, dogs, leopards, and pumas, all loose together_]

The editor has had eminent assistance. Mr. F. C. Selous deals with the
African Lion and the Elephants, with which he has had thrilling
experiences; and other sportsmen treat of other game animals of the Dark
Continent. To Mr. W. Saville-Kent, author of "The Great Barrier Reef,"
has been assigned the Marsupials of Australia, and also the Reptiles
generally. Sir Herbert W. Maxwell writes on the Salmon family, and so
on; while Dr. Richard Lydekker, Dr. Bowdler Sharpe, Mr. F. W. Kirby, and
other specialists are editorial advisers in regard to the branches in
which they stand as authorities.

[Illustration: ELEPHANTS

_This is another of Lord Delamere's East African photographs, and shows
a couple of wild elephants in the open_]

Wherever it has not been possible to get really good pictures of some
shy wild creature in its native haunt, living examples have been sought
in the great Zoological Gardens of the world--London, Berlin, Antwerp,
Florence, New York, Calcutta, Sydney, etc.,--or in the parks of American
men of wealth and European noblemen. These have been "posed" as nearly
as possible in the surroundings natural to them, and faithful portraits
have been obtained. Now and then it was desirable, in order to complete
a family history, to include portraits of varieties which are not even
known in captivity, and here the museums have been drawn upon and
photographs of stuffed specimens and groups, naturally mounted, have
been obtained; but these cases are not many, and though less interesting
serve their purpose almost as well as the "living pictures" that
predominate from end to end of this portrait-gallery of the animal life
of the globe.

[Illustration: _By permission of the Hon. Walter Rothschild_]    [_Tring_

GIANT TORTOISE

_This photograph of Mr. Walter Rothschild riding on one of his huge
tortoises gives a good idea of the relative sizes of one of the "giant
tortoises" and a human being_]

[Illustration: _Photo by Fratelli Alinari_]    [_Florence_

A GROUP OF CROCODILIANS

_A wonder of modern animal-training. The photograph shows a number of
living crocodilians with their trainer. They have been on exhibition in
Florence for some years past, and are still to be seen there_]

Such a book as this, covering in an entertaining style the whole range
of zoology, carefully prepared by men of exact knowledge, yet avoiding
technicalities, and wholly illustrated by precise reproductions of
photographs, many of the full size of the quarto page and colored to
life, is not only novel and beautiful, but of high value as an educator;
and it would seem to be as indispensable a part of the library of every
family and school-room as is a dictionary or yearbook, since by its aid
all reading may be illuminated, and perchance corrected, and the whole
view of nature enlightened and enlarged.

  Ernest Ingersoll.

[Illustration: SOMALI ZEBRAS

_This is a photograph of a group of zebras taken in Africa, and gives
some idea of the surrounding country, where they live in happy freedom_]

    *    *    *    *    *

_The special thanks of the Editor and Publishers are due to a great many
naturalists and zoologists for the valuable help they have given to, and
the interest they have taken in, this work while it has been in
preparation. No doubt, before the complete work is published, a great
many more names will be added to the list, but meanwhile grateful
acknowledgment should be made to the following:--Her Grace the Duchess
of Bedford, who has kindly allowed many of her fine photographs to be
reproduced in these pages; the Hon. Walter Rothschild, M. P., for the
splendid collection of photographs taken especially for him in all parts
of the world; Lord Delamere, for several unique photographs taken with a
telephoto lens during his celebrated expedition to Africa; Major Nott,
F. Z. S., for the use of his scientific series of animal photographs;
Dr. R. W. Shufeldt, of Washington, for many photographs of fish and
other animals in their natural surroundings; Mr. W. Saville-Kent, F. Z.
S., F. L. S., for the photographs taken by him while in Australia; Mr.
Lewis Medland, F. Z. S., for the use of his singularly complete set of
animal photographs; Herr Carl Hagenbeck, of Hamburg, for permission to
use his photographs of some extremely rare specimens of animals which
from time to time have found a temporary home at his wonderful
Thierpark; the Trustees of the British Museum, for permission to
photograph some of their animals; Professor E. Ray Lankester, Director
of the Natural History Branch of the British Museum; and the Zoological
Society, for permission to photograph some of the animals. And also to
Herr Ottomar Anschütz, of Berlin; Messrs. Bond & Grover, of the
Scholastic Photographic Co.; Signor Alinari, of Florence; Messrs. Kerry
& Co. and Mr. Henry King, of Sydney; Mr. Charles Knight; Mr. J. W.
McLellan; Messrs. Charles and William Reid; Messrs. A. S. Rudland &
Sons; and Messrs. York & Sons, for permission to reproduce their
photographs._

[Illustration: _Photo by Dr. R. W. Schufeldt_]    [_Washington_

SUN-FISH

_This photograph was taken through the water by Dr. R. W. Shufeldt, who
has made a speciality of this kind of photography_]





[Illustration: _Photo by G. W. Wilson & Co., Ltd._]    [_Aberdeen_

A YOUNG CHIMPANZEE

_Anger_    _Pleasure_    _Fear_]


  _The Living Animals of The World_


  _BOOK I. MAMMALS_


  CHAPTER I

  _APES, MONKEYS, AND LEMURS_


  THE MAN-LIKE APES

  The Chimpanzee


Of all the great apes the Chimpanzee most closely approaches man in
bodily structure and appearance, although in height it is less near the
human standard than the gorilla, 5 feet being probably that of an adult
male.

Several races of this ape are known, among them the True Chimpanzee and
the Bald Chimpanzee. The varieties also include the Kulo-kamba,
described by Du Chaillu, and the Soko, discovered by Livingstone, who
confounded it with the gorilla. But the variations in neither of these
are sufficiently important to justify their being ranked as species.

[Illustration: _Photo by Fratelli Alinari_]    [_Florence_

ARABIAN BABOON]

The first authentic mention of the chimpanzee is found in "The Strange
Adventures of Andrew Battell," an English sailor taken prisoner by the
Portuguese in 1590, who lived eighteen years near Angola. He speaks of
two apes, the Pongo and the Enjocko, of which the former is the gorilla,
the latter the chimpanzee. The animal was first seen in Europe in 1641,
and described scientifically fifty-eight years later, but we are
indebted to Dr. Savage, a missionary, for our first account of its
habits, in 1847.

[Illustration: _Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co._]    [_Parson's Green_

"JENNY," THE WELL-KNOWN CHIMPANZEE
A VERY CHARACTERISTIC POSE

_In this picture the rounded ear, human-like wrinkles in the forehead,
and length of the toes should be noted_]

The chimpanzee, like the gorilla, is found only in Africa. The range
includes West and Central Equatorial Africa, from the Gambia in the
north to near Angola in the south, while it occurs in the Niam-Niam
country to the northwest of the great lakes, and has been discovered
recently in Uganda. The new Uganda Railway, which will open out the
great lakes to the east, will bring many travelers well within reach of
the nearest haunts of these great apes. It is on the likeness and
difference of their form and shape to those of man that the attention of
the world has been mainly fixed.

The chimpanzee is a heavily built animal, with chest and arms of great
power. The male is slightly taller than the female. The crown is
depressed, the chin receding, the ridges which overhang the eye-sockets
more prominent than in man, less so than in the gorilla. The nose has a
short bridge, and a flat extremity. The ear is large, and less human
than that of the gorilla. The hands and feet are comparatively long; the
digits are, except the thumb and great toe, joined by a web. The arms
are short for an ape, reaching only to the knees. The teeth are similar
to those of man, and the canines of only moderate size. The chimpanzee
has thirteen pairs of ribs, and, like man, has a suggestion at the end
of the vertebræ of a rudimentary tail. It walks on all-fours, with the
backs of its closed fingers on the ground, and can only stand upright by
clasping its hands above its head. The skin is of a reddish or brown
flesh-colour, the hair black with white patches on the lower part of the
face. The bald chimpanzee has the top, front, and sides of the face
bare, exceedingly large ears, thick lips, and black or brown hands and
feet.

The chimpanzee's natural home is the thick forest, where tropical
vegetation ensures almost total gloom. But near Loango it frequents the
mountains near the coast. It is a fruit-feeding animal, said to do much
damage to plantations, but the bald race, at all events in captivity,
takes readily to flesh, and the famous "Sally" which lived in the Zoo
for over six years used to kill and eat pigeons, and caught and killed
rats. The male chimpanzee builds a nest in a tree for his family, and
sleeps under its shelter; when food becomes scarce in the vicinity, a
move is made, and a new nest built. This ape lives either in separate
families or communities not exceeding ten in number, and is monogamous.

As to the animal's courage, it is difficult to get accurate information,
as the sins of the gorilla and baboon have often been laid on its
shoulders, and information derived from natives is usually
untrustworthy. Apparently the chimpanzee avoids coming into collision
with man, although, when attacked, it is a formidable antagonist. Tales
of chimpanzees kidnapping women and children need stronger evidence than
they have yet obtained. The natives kill this ape by spearing it in the
back, or by driving it into nets, where it is entangled and easily
dispatched. According to Livingstone, the Soko, as the chimpanzee is
called in East Central Africa, kills the leopard by biting its paws, but
falls an easy prey to the lion.

[Illustration: _Photo by G. W. Wilson & Co., Ltd._

A YOUNG CHIMPANZEE

_This excellent photograph, by Major Nott, F.Z.S., is particularly good,
as showing the manner in which these animals use their hands and feet_]

In captivity it is docile and intelligent, but usually fails to stand a
northern climate for more than a few months. It is easily taught to wear
clothes, to eat and drink in civilised fashion, to understand what is
said to it, and reply with a limited vocabulary of grunts. Sally learnt
to count perfectly up to six, and less perfectly to ten; she could also
distinguish white from any colour, but if other colours were presented
her she failed, apparently from colour-blindness. Of this ape the late
Dr. G. J. Romanes wrote with something more than the enthusiasm of a
clever man pursuing a favourite theme: "Her intelligence was
conspicuously displayed by the remarkable degree in which she was able
to understand the meaning of spoken language--a degree fully equal to
that presented by an infant a few months before emerging from infancy,
and therefore higher than that which is presented by any brute, so far
at least as I have evidence to show." Romanes here speaks _only_, be it
noticed, of ability to understand human speech--not to think and act.
But this is in itself a great mark of intelligence _on human lines_.
"Having enlisted the cooperation of the keepers, I requested them to ask
the ape repeatedly for one straw, two straws, three straws. These she
was to pick up and hand out from among the litter of her cage. No
constant order was to be observed in making these requests; but whenever
she handed a number not asked for her offer was to be refused, while if
she gave the proper number her offer was to be accepted, and she was to
receive a piece of fruit in payment. In this way the ape had learnt to
associate these three numbers with the names. As soon as the animal
understood what was required, she never failed to give the number of
straws asked for. Her education was then completed in a similar manner
from three to four, and from four to five straws. Sally rarely made
mistakes up to that number; but above five, and up to ten, to which one
of the keepers endeavoured to advance her education, the result is
uncertain. It is evident that she understands the words seven, eight,
nine, and ten to betoken numbers higher than those below them. When she
was asked for any number above six, she always gave some number over six
and under ten. She sometimes doubled over a straw to make it present two
ends, and was supposed (thus) to hasten the attainment of her task." By
no means all the chimpanzees are so patient as Sally. One kept in the
Zoological Gardens for some time made an incessant noise by stamping on
the back of the box in which it was confined. It struck this with the
flat of its foot while hanging to the cross-bar or perch, and made a
prodigious din. This seems to bear out the stories of chimpanzees
assembling and drumming on logs in the Central African forests.


[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

HEAD OF MALE GORILLA

_This is a photograph of the first gorilla ever brought to England. It
was sent by the famous M. du Chaillu_]


  The Gorilla

The name of this enormous ape has been known since 450 B.C. Hanno the
Carthaginian, when off Sierra Leone, met with wild men and women whom
the interpreter called Gorillas. The males escaped and flung stones from
the rocks, but several females were captured. These animals could not
have been gorillas, but were probably baboons. Andrew Battell, already
mentioned, described the gorilla under the name of Pongo. He says it is
like a man, but without understanding even to put a log on a fire; it
kills Negroes, and drives off the elephant with clubs; it is never taken
alive, but its young are killed with poisoned arrows; it covers its dead
with boughs. Dr. Savage described it in 1847. Later Du Chaillu visited
its haunts, and his well-known book relates how he met and killed
several specimens. But Mr. Winwood Reade, who also went in quest of it,
declared that Du Chaillu, like himself, never saw a live gorilla. Von
Koppenfels, however, saw a family of four feeding, besides shooting
others. The late Miss Kingsley met several, one of which was killed by
her elephant-men.

The gorilla has a limited range, extending from 2° north to 5° south
latitude in West Africa, a moist overgrown region including the mouth of
the Gaboon River. How far east it is found is uncertain, but it is known
in the Sierra del Cristal. In 1851-52 it was seen in considerable
numbers on the coast.

The Gorilla is the largest, strongest, and most formidable of the
Primates. An adult male is from 5 feet 8 inches to 6 feet high, heavily
built, with arms and chest of extraordinary power. The arms reach to the
middle of the legs. The hands are clumsy, the thumb short, and the
fingers joined by a web. The neck scarcely exists. The leg has a slight
calf. The toes are stumpy and thick; the great toe moves like a thumb.
The head is large and receding, with enormous ridges above the eyes,
which give it a diabolical appearance. The canine teeth are developed
into huge tusks. The nose has a long bridge, and the nostrils look
downwards. The ear is small and man-like.

In colour the gorilla varies from deep black to iron-gray, with a
reddish tinge on the head; old animals become grizzled. The outer hair
is ringed gray and brown; beneath it is a woolly growth. The female is
smaller--not exceeding 4 feet 6 inches--and less hideous, as the canines
are much smaller, and the ridges above the eyes are not noticeable, a
feature common also to the young.

[Illustration: _By permission of Herr Umlauff._

THE LARGEST GORILLA EVER CAPTURED.

This huge ape, 5 feet 5 inches high, measures a distance of over 8 feet
from finger to finger.]

Timid, superstitious natives and credulous or untrustworthy travelers
have left still wrapped in mystery many of the habits of this mighty
ape, whose fever-stricken, forest-clad haunts render investigation
always difficult, often impossible. Many tales of its ferocity and
strength are obviously untrue, but we think that too much has been
disbelieved. That a huge arm descends from a tree, draws up and chokes
the wayfarer, must be false, for intelligent natives have confessed to
knowing no instance of the gorilla attacking man. That it vanquishes the
leopard is probable; that it has driven the lion from its haunts
requires proof. Nor can we accept tales of the carrying off of Negro
women; and the defeat of the elephants, too, must be considered a
fiction.

But we must believe that this ape, if provoked or wounded, is a terrible
foe, capable of ripping open a man with one stroke of its paw, or of
cracking the skull of a hunter as easily as a squirrel cracks a nut.
There is a tale of a tribe that kept an enormous gorilla as executioner,
which tore its victims to pieces, until an Englishman, doomed to meet
it, noticing a large swelling near its ribs, killed it with a heavy blow
or two on the weak spot.

Gorillas live mainly in the trees on whose fruit they subsist; they
construct a shelter in the lower boughs for the family, and as a
lying-in place for the female. The male is said to sleep below, with his
back against the tree--a favourite attitude with both sexes--to keep off
leopards. On the ground it moves on all-fours, with a curious swinging
action, caused by putting its hands with fingers extended on the ground,
and bringing its body forward by a half-jump. Having a heel, it can
stand better than other apes; but this attitude is not common, and Du
Chaillu appears to have been mistaken when he describes the gorilla as
attacking upright.

In captivity only immature specimens have been seen--Barnum's great ape
being one of the larger forms of chimpanzee. Accounts vary as to the
temper of the gorilla, some describing it as untamable, while others say
it is docile and playful when young. There is a wonderful tale that a
gorilla over 6 feet high was captured near Tanganyika, but nothing more
has reached us about it.

When enraged, a gorilla beats its breast, as the writer was informed by
a keeper, who thus confirmed Du Chaillu's account. Its usual voice is a
grunt, which, when the animal is excited, becomes a roar.

[Illustration: _By permission of Herr Omlauff_]    [_Hamburg_

A MALE GORILLA

_This photograph of the largest gorilla known was taken immediately
after death by Herr Paschen at Yaunde, and gives an excellent idea of
the size of these animals as compared with Negroes. The animal weighed
400 lbs._]


  The Orang-utan

This great red ape was mentioned by Linnæus in 1766, and at the
beginning of the last century a specimen living in the Prince of
Orange's collection was described by Vosmaer.

There are three varieties of the Orang, called by the Dyaks
Mias-pappan, Mias-rambi, and Mias-kassu, the third of which is smaller,
has no cheek-excrescences, and very large teeth. Some naturalists
recognise a pale and a dark race.

Most of our information is due to Raja Brooke and Dr. Wallace. The
species is confined to Borneo and Sumatra, but fossils have been found
in India of this genus, as well as of a chimpanzee. The orang is less
man-like than the chimpanzee and gorilla. In height the male varies from
3 feet 10 inches to 4 feet 6 inches, the female being a few inches
shorter. It is a heavy creature, with large head--often a foot in
breadth--thick neck, powerful arms, which reach nearly to the ankles,
and protuberant abdomen. Its legs are short and bowed. The forehead is
high, the nose fairly large, the ears very human. The throat is
ornamented with large pouches, and there are often callosities on the
cheeks. The fingers are webbed, the thumb small, the foot long and
narrow, the great toe small and often without a nail. The brain is man
like, and the ribs agree in number with those of man; but there are nine
bones in the wrist, whereas man, the gorilla, and the chimpanzee have
but eight. The canine teeth are enormous in the male. The hair, a foot
or more long on the shoulders and thighs, is yellowish red: there is a
slight beard. The skin is gray or brown, and often, in adults, black.

The orang is entirely a tree-living animal, and is only found in moist
districts where there is much virgin forest. On the ground it progresses
clumsily on all-fours, using its arms as crutches, and with the side
only of its feet on the ground. In trees it travels deliberately but
with perfect ease, swinging along underneath the branches, although it
also walks along them semi-erect. It lives alone with mate and young,
and builds a sleeping place sufficiently low to avoid the wind. Its food
is leaves and fruit, especially the durian; its feeding-time, midday.

[Illustration: _Photo by Ottomar Anschütz_]    [_Berlin_

YOUNG ORANG-UTANS

_It will be seen here, from the profile, that the young anthropoid ape
has only the upper part of the head at all approaching the human type_]

No animal molests the mias save--so say the Dyaks--the python and
crocodile, both of which it kills by tearing with its hands. It never
attacks man, but has been known to bite savagely when brought to bay,
and it is very tenacious of life, one being found by Mr. Wallace still
alive after a fall from a tree, when "both legs had been broken, its
hip-joint and the root of the spine shattered, and two bullets flattened
in neck and jaws."

In captivity young orangs are playful and docile, but passionate. Less
intelligent than chimpanzees, they may be taught to eat and drink
nicely, and to obey simple commands. One in the Zoo at present has
acquired the rudiments of drill. They will eat meat and eggs, and drink
wine, beer, spirits, and tea. An orang described years ago by Dr. Clarke
Abel was allowed the run of the ship on the voyage to England, and would
play with the sailors in the rigging. When refused food he pretended to
commit suicide, and rushed over the side, only to be found under the
chains.

[Illustration: _Photo by Ottomar Anschütz_]    [_Berlin_

BABY ORANG-UTANS AT PLAY]

The orang is the least interesting of the three great apes; he lacks the
power and brutality of the gorilla and the intelligence of the
chimpanzee. "The orang," said its keeper to the writer "is a buffoon;
the chimpanzee, a gentleman."

It is worth remark that, although all these apes soon die in menageries,
in Calcutta, where they are kept in the open, orangs thrive well.

[Illustration: _Photo by Ottomar Anschütz_]    [_Berlin_

TWO BABY ORANG-UTANS. THE TUG-OF-WAR]


  The Gibbons

Next after the great apes in man-like characters come a few long-armed,
tailless apes, known as the Gibbons. Like the orang-utan, they live in
the great tropical forests of Asia, especially the Indian Archipelago;
like the latter, they are gentle, affectionate creatures; and they have
also a natural affection for man. But it is in mind and temperament,
rather than in skeleton, that the links and differences between men and
monkeys must be sought. It will be found that these forest apes differ
from other animals and from the true monkeys mainly in this--that they
are predisposed to be friendly to man and to obey him, and that they
have no bias towards mischief, or "monkey tricks." They are thoughtful,
well behaved, and sedate.

The Siamang, one of the largest of the long-armed, tailless gibbons,
lives in the Malay Archipelago. The arms of a specimen only 3 feet high
measured 5 feet 6 inches across. This, like all the gibbons, makes its
way from tree to tree mainly by swinging itself by its arms. But the
siamang can _walk_ upright and run. One kept on board ship would walk
down the cabin breakfast-table without upsetting the china. The
White-handed Gibbon is found in Tenasserim, southwest of Burma. This ape
has a musical howl, which the whole flock utters in the early mornings
on the tree-tops. In Northern India, in the hills beyond the
Brahmaputra, lives another gibbon, the Hulock. One of these kept in
captivity soon learnt to eat properly at meals, and to drink out of a
cup, instead of dipping his fingers in the tea and milk and then sucking
them. The Silvery Gibbon kept at the Zoological Gardens was a most
amiable pet, and had all the agility of the other gibbons. It is very
seldom seen in this country, being a native of Java, where it is said to
show the most astonishing activity among the tall cane-groves. One of
the first ever brought to England belonged to the great Lord Clive. The
Agile Gibbon is another and darker ape of this group.

[Illustration: _Photo by York & Son_]    [_Notting Hill_

WHITE-HANDED GIBBON

_This gibbon is found in the forests of the Malay Archipelago_]

The list of the man-like ape closes with this group. All the gibbons are
highly specialised for tree-climbing and an entirely arboreal life; but
it is undeniable that, apart from the modifications necessary for this,
such as the abnormal length of the arms, the skeleton closely resembles
that of the human being. In their habits, when wild, none of these apes
show any remarkable degree of intelligence; but their living is gained
in so simple a way, by plucking fruits and leaves, that there is nothing
in their surroundings to stimulate thought. They do not need even to
think of a time of famine or winter, or to lay up a stock of food for
such a season, because they live in the forests under the Equator.

[Illustration: _Photo by York & Son_]    [_Notting Hill_

HULOCK GIBBON

_The great length of arm in comparison with the body and head should
here be noted_]


  MONKEYS

  The Dog-shaped Monkeys

After the gibbons come a vast number of monkeys of every conceivable
size, shape, and variety, which naturalists have arranged in consecutive
order with fair success. Until we reach the Baboons, and go on to the
South American Monkeys and the Lemurs, it is not easy to give any idea
of what these monkeys do or look like merely by referring to their
scientific groups. The usual order of natural histories will here be
followed, and the descriptions will, so far as possible, present the
habits and appearance of the monkeys specially noticed.

This great family of true monkeys contains the Sacred Monkeys, or
Langurs, of India, the Guerezas and Guenons of Africa, the Mangabeys,
Macaques, and Baboons. Most of them have naked, hard patches of skin on
the hindquarters, and the partition between the nostrils is narrow. Some
have tails, some none, and they exhibit the most astonishing differences
of size and shape. Perhaps the most grotesque and astonishing of them
all is the Proboscis Monkey. It is allied to the langurs, and is a
native of the island of Borneo, to which it is confined; its home is the
west bank of the Sarawak River. It is an arboreal creature, living in
small companies. Mr. Hose, who saw them in their native haunts, says
that the proboscis monkeys kept in the trees overhanging the river, and
were most difficult to shoot. "I saw altogether about 150 of these
monkeys, and without a single exception all were in trees over the
water, either lake, river, or in submerged forest. As long as they are
in sight, they are very conspicuous objects, choosing the most
commanding positions on open tree-tops. Once I saw thirteen in one tree,
sitting lazily on the branches, as is their habit, sunning themselves,
and enjoying the scenery." They are very striking animals in colour, as
well as in form. The face is cinnamon-brown, the sides marked with
reddish brown and white, the belly white, the back red-brown and dark
brown. Next to the orang-utan, these are the most striking monkeys in
the Malay Archipelago.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

HEAD OF PROBOSCIS MONKEY

_A native of Borneo. Next to the orang-utan, the most striking monkey in
the Malay Archipelago_]

The greater number of the species intermediate between the gibbons and
the New World species are called "Dog-shaped" Monkeys. We wonder why?
Only the baboon and a few others are in the least like dogs. The various
Sacred Monkeys of India are often seen in this country, and are quite
representative of the "miscellaneous" monkeys in general. Most of them
have cheek-pouches, a useful monkey-pocket. They poke food into their
pouches, which unfold to be filled, or lie flat when not wanted; and
with a pocketful of nuts or rice on either side of their faces, they can
scream, eat, bite, or scold quite comfortably, which they could not do
with their mouths full. The pouchless monkeys have only their big
stomachs to rely on.

The Entellus Monkey is the most sacred of all in India. It is gray above
and nutty brown below, long-legged and active, a thief and an impudent
robber. In one of the Indian cities they became such a nuisance that the
faithful determined to catch and send away some hundreds. This was done,
and the holy monkeys were deported in covered carts, and released many
miles off. But the monkeys were too clever. Having thoroughly enjoyed
their ride, they all refused to part with the carts, and, hopping and
grimacing, came leaping all the way back beside them to the city,
grateful for their outing. One city obtained leave to kill the monkeys;
but the next city then sued them for "killing their deceased ancestors."
In these monkey-infested cities, if one man wishes to spite another, he
throws a few handfuls of rice on to the roof of his house about the
rainy season. The monkeys come, find the rice, and quietly lift off many
of the tiles and throw them away, seeking more rice in the interstices.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

CROSS-BEARING LANGUR AND YOUNG

_A forest monkey of Borneo_]

This is not the monkey commonly seen in the hills and at Simla. The
large long-tailed monkey there is the Himalayan Langur, one of the
common animals of the hills. "The langur," says Mr. Lockwood Kipling in
his "Beast and Man in India," "is, in his way, a king of the jungle, nor
is he often met with in captivity. In some parts of India troops of
langurs come bounding with a mighty air of interest and curiosity to
look at passing trains, their long tails lifted like notes of
interrogation; but frequently, when fairly perched on a wall or tree
alongside, they seem to forget all about it, and avert their heads with
an affectation of languid indifference."

In India no distinction is made between monkeys. It is an abominable act
of sacrilege to kill one of any kind. In the streets holy bulls, calves,
parrakeets, sparrows, and monkeys all rob the shops. One monkey-ridden
municipality sent off its inconvenient but holy guests by rail, advising
the station-master to let them loose at the place to which they were
consigned. The station, Saharanpur, was a kind of Indian Chicago, and
the monkeys got into the engine-sheds and workshops among the
driving-wheels and bands. One got in the double roof of an
inspection-car, and thence stole mutton, corkscrews, camp-glasses, and
dusters. Among many other interesting and correct monkey stories of Mr.
Kipling's is the following: "The chief confectioner of Simla had
prepared a most splendid bride-cake, which was safely put by in a locked
room, that, like most back rooms in Simla, looked out on the
mountainside. It is little use locking the door when the window is left
open. When they came to fetch the bride-cake, the last piece of it was
being handed out of the window by a chain of monkeys, who whitened the
hillside with its fragments."

From India to Ceylon is no great way, yet in the latter island different
monkeys are found. The two best known are the White-bearded Wanderoo
Monkey and the Great Wanderoo. Both are grave, well-behaved monkeys. The
former has white whiskers and a white beard, and looks so wise he is
called in Latin _Nestor_, after the ancient counsellor of the Greeks.
Nice, clean little monkeys are these, and pretty pets. The great
wanderoo is rarer. It lives in the hills. "A flock of them," says Mr.
Dallas, "will take possession of a palm-grove, and so well can they
conceal themselves in the leaves that the whole party become invisible.
The presence of a dog excites their irresistible curiosity, and in order
to watch his movements they never fail to betray themselves. They may be
seen congregated on the roof of a native hut. Some years ago the child
of a European clergyman, having been left on the ground by a nurse, was
bitten and teased to death by them. These monkeys have only one wife."
Near relatives of the langurs are the two species of Snub-nosed Monkeys,
one of which (see figure on page 18) inhabits Eastern Tibet and
Northwestern China, and the other the valley of the Mekong.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

MALE HIMALAYAN LANGUR

_A king of the jungle, not often met with in captivity_]


  The Guerezas and Guenons

Among the ordinary monkeys of the Old World are some with very striking
hair and colours. The Guereza of Abyssinia has bright white and black
fur, with long white fringes on the sides. This is the black-and-white
skin fastened by the Abyssinians to their shields, and, if we are not
wrong, by the Kaffirs also. Among the Guenons, a large tribe of monkeys
living in the African forests, many of which find their way here as
"organ monkeys," is the Diana, a most beautiful creature, living on the
Guinea Coast. It has a white crescent on its forehead, bluish-gray fur,
a white beard, and a patch of brilliant chestnut on the back, the belly
white and orange. A lady, Mrs. Bowditch, gives the following account of
a Diana monkey on board ship. It jumped on to her shoulder, stared into
her face, and then made friends, seated itself on her knees, and
carefully examined her hands. "He then tried to pull off my rings, when
I gave him some biscuits, and making a bed for him with my handkerchief
he then settled himself comfortably to sleep; and from that moment we
were sworn allies. When mischievous, he was often banished to a
hen-coop. Much more effect was produced by taking him in sight of the
panther, who always seemed most willing to devour him. On these
occasions I held him by the tail before the cage; but long before I
reached it, knowing where he was going, he pretended to be dead. His
eyes were closed quite fast, and every limb was as stiff as though there
were no life in him. When taken away, he would open one eye a little, to
see whereabouts he might be; but if he caught sight of the panther's
cage it was instantly closed, and he became as stiff as before." This
monkey stole the men's knives, tools, and handkerchiefs, and even their
caps, which he threw into the sea. He would carefully feed the parrots,
chewing up biscuit and presenting them the bits; and he caught another
small monkey and painted it black! Altogether, he must have enlivened
the voyage. The Grivet Monkey, the Green Monkey, the Mona Monkey, and
the Mangabey are other commonly seen African species.

[Illustration: GELADA BABOONS AT HOME

_This photograph is probably unique, as a gelada baboon has been rarely
seen. It shows them at home looking for food on the ground under the
bamboos and palms. It was taken by Lord Delamere in the East African
jungle_]

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

MANTLED GUEREZA

_This group of monkeys supplies the "monkey muffs" once very
fashionable. The species with white plumes is used to decorate the
Kaffir shields_]


  The Macaques

The Macaques, of which there are many kinds, from the Rock of Gibraltar
to far Japan, occupy the catalogue between the guenon and the baboon.
The Common Macaque and many others have tails. Those of Japan, and some
of those of China, notably the Tcheli Monkey, kept outside the
monkey-house at the Zoo, and the Japanese Macaque, at the other
entrance, are tailless, and much more like anthropoid apes. The Tcheli
monkey is large and powerful, but other macaques are of all sizes down
to little creatures no bigger than a kitten. Some live in the hottest
plains, others in the mountains. The Common Macaque, found in the Malay
Archipelago, is a strong, medium-sized monkey. The Formosan Macaque is a
rock-living creature; those of Japan inhabit the pine-groves, and are
fond of pelting any one who passes with stones and fir-cones. The Bonnet
Macaque is an amusing little beast, very fond of hugging and nursing
others in captivity. The Bandar or Rhesus Monkey, a common species, also
belongs to this group. But the most interesting to Europeans is the
Magot, or Barbary Ape. It is the last monkey left in Europe. There it
only lives on the Rock of Gibraltar. It was the monkey which Galen is
said to have dissected, because he was not permitted to dissect a human
body. These monkeys are carefully preserved upon the Rock. Formerly,
when they were more common, they were very mischievous. The following
story was told by Mr. Bidcup: "The apes of the Rock, led by one
particular monkey, were always stealing from the kit of a certain
regiment encamped there. At last the soldiers caught the leader, shaved
his head and face, and turned him loose. His friends, who had been
watching, received him with a shower of sticks and stones. In these
desperate circumstances the ape sneaked back to his old enemies, the
soldiers, with whom he remained." Lord Heathfield, a former Governor of
the Rock, would never let them be hurt; and on one occasion, when the
Spaniards were attempting a surprise, the noise made by the apes gave
notice of their attempt.

[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._]    [_North Finchley_

DIANA MONKEY

_One of the most gaily coloured monkeys of Africa_]


  The Baboons

Far the most interesting of the apes in the wild state are the Baboons.
Their dog-like heads (which in some are so large and hideous that they
look like a cross between an ill-tempered dog and a pig), short bodies,
enormously strong arms, and loud barking cry distinguish them from all
other creatures. The greater number--for there are many kinds--live in
the hot, dry, stony parts of Africa. They are familiar figures from the
cliffs of Abyssinia to the Cape, where their bold and predatory bands
still occupy Table Mountain. They are almost the only animals which the
high-contracting Powers of Africa have resolved not to protect at any
season, so mischievous are they to crops, and recently to the flocks.
They kill the suckling lambs, and tear them to pieces for the sake of
the milk contained in their bodies.

[Illustration: _Photo by G. W. Wilson & Co., Ltd._]    [_Aberdeen_

BARBARY APE

_The last of the European monkeys on this side of the Mediterranean; and
it is only found on the Rock of Gibraltar_]

One of the best-known baboons is the Chacma of South Africa. The old
males grow to a great size, and are most formidable creatures.
Naturally, they are very seldom caught; but one very large one is in the
Zoological Gardens, Regent's Park, at the time of writing. The keeper
declares he would rather go into a lion's cage than into the den of this
beast when angry. Its head is nearly one-third of its total length from
nose to the root of the tail. Its jaw-power is immense, and its forearm
looks as strong as Sandow's. Like all monkeys, this creature has the
power of springing instantaneously from a sitting position; and its bite
would cripple anything from a man to a leopard. The chacmas live in
companies in the kopjes, whence they descend to forage the
mealie-grounds, river-beds, and bush. Thence they come down to steal
fruit and pumpkins or corn, turn over the stones and catch beetles, or
eat locusts. Their robbing expeditions are organised. Scouts keep a
lookout, the females and young are put in the centre, and the retreat is
protected by the old males. Children in the Cape Colony are always
warned not to go out when the baboons are near. When irritated--and they
are very touchy in their tempers--the whole of the males will sometimes
charge and attack. The possibility of this is very unpleasant, and
renders people cautious.

[Illustration: _Photo by C. Reid_]    [_Wishaw, N.B._

RHESUS MONKEY

_A young specimen of the common Bengal monkey_]

Not many years ago a well-known sportsman was shooting in Somaliland. On
the other side of a rocky ravine was a troop of baboons of a species of
which no examples were in the British Museum. Though he knew the danger,
he was tempted to shoot and to secure a skin. At 200 yards he killed one
dead, which the rest did not notice. Then he hit another and wounded it.
The baboon screamed, and instantly the others sat up, saw the
malefactor, and charged straight for him. Most fortunately, they had to
scramble down the ravine and up again, by which time the sportsman and
his servant had put such a distance between them, making "very good time
over the flat," that the baboons contented themselves by barking
defiance at them when they reached the level ground.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

RHESUS MONKEY AND SOOTY MANGABEY

_The sooty mangabey (to the right of the picture) is gentle and
companionable, but petulant and active_]

They are the only mammals which _thoroughly_ understand combination for
defense as well as attack. But Brehm, the German traveler, gives a
charming story of genuine courage and self-sacrifice shown by one. His
hunting dogs gave chase to a troop which was retreating to some cliffs,
and cut off a very young one, which ran up on to a rock, only just out
of reach of the dogs. An old male baboon saw this, and came along to the
rescue. Slowly and deliberately he descended, crossed the open space,
and stamping his hands on the ground, showing his teeth, and backed by
the furious barks of the rest of the baboons, he disconcerted and cowed
these savage dogs, climbed on to the rock, picked up the baby, and
carried him back safely. If the dogs had attacked the old patriarch, his
tribe would probably have helped him. Burchell, the naturalist after
whom Burchell's zebra is named, let his dogs chase a troop. The baboons
turned on them, killed one on the spot by biting through the great
blood-vessels of the neck, and laid bare the ribs of another. The Cape
Dutch in the Old Colony would rather let their dogs bait a lion than a
troop of baboons. The rescue of the infant chacma which Brehm saw
himself is a remarkable, and indeed the most incontestable, instance of
the exhibition of courage and self-sacrifice by a _male_ animal.

[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._]    [_North Finchley_

GREY-CHEEKED MANGABEY

_One of the small African monkeys_]

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

CHINESE MACAQUE

_This monkey lives in a climate as cold as ours_]

If the baboons were not generally liable to become bad-tempered when
they grow old, they could probably be trained to be among the most
useful of animal helpers and servers; but they are so formidable, and so
uncertain in temper, that they are almost too dangerous for attempts at
semi-domestication. When experiments have been made, they have had
remarkable results. Le Vaillant, one of the early explorers in South
Africa, had a chacma baboon which was a better watch than any of his
dogs. It gave warning of any creature approaching the camp at night long
before the dogs could hear or smell it. He took it out with him when he
was shooting, and used to let it collect edible roots for him. The
latest example of a trained baboon only died a few years ago. It
belonged to a railway signalman at Uitenhage station, about 200 miles
up-country from Port Elizabeth, in Cape Colony. The man had the
misfortune to undergo an operation in which both his feet were
amputated, after being crushed by the wheels of a train. Being an
ingenious fellow, he taught his baboon, which was a full-grown one, to
pull him along the line on a trolley to the "distant" signal. There the
baboon stopped at the word of command, and the man would work the lever
himself. But in time he taught the baboon to do it, while he sat on the
trolley, ready to help if any mistake were made.

[Illustration: _Photo by York & Son, Notting Hill_

GRIVET MONKEY

_This is the small monkey commonly taken about with street-organs_]

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

BONNET MONKEY, AND ARABIAN BABOON (ON THE RIGHT)]

The chacmas have for relations a number of other baboons in the rocky
parts of the African Continent, most of which have almost the same
habits, and are not very different in appearance. Among them is the
Gelada Baboon, a species very common in the rocky highlands of
Abyssinia; another is the Anubis Baboon of the West Coast of Africa. The
latter is numerous round the Portuguese settlement of Angola. Whether
the so-called Common Baboon of the menageries is a separate
species or only the young of some one of the above-mentioned is not very
clear. But about another variety there can be no doubt. It has been
separated from the rest since the days of the Pharaohs. It does not
differ in habits from the other baboons, but inhabits the rocky parts of
the Nile Valley. It appears in Egyptian mythology under the name of
Thoth, and is constantly seen in the sculptures and hieroglyphs.

[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._]    [_North Finchley_

RHESUS MONKEYS

_This photograph is particularly interesting. It was actually taken by
another monkey, which pressed the button of Mr. Medland's camera_]

Equally strong and far more repulsive are the two baboons of West
Africa--the Drill and the Mandrill. As young specimens of these beasts
are the only ones at all easily caught, and these nearly always die when
cutting their second teeth when in captivity, large adult mandrills are
seldom seen in Europe. They grow to a great size, and are probably the
most hideous of all beasts. The frightful nose, high cheek-bones, and
pig-like eyes are the basis of the horrible heads of devils and goblins
which Albert Dürer and other German or Dutch mediæval painters sometimes
put on canvas. Add to the figure the misplaced bright
colours--cobalt-blue on the cheeks, which are scarred, as if by a rake,
with scarlet furrows, and scarlet on the buttocks--and it will be
admitted that nature has invested this massive, powerful, and ferocious
baboon with a repulsiveness equaling in completeness the extremes of
grace and beauty manifested in the roe-deer or the bird of paradise.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

ORANGE SNUB-NOSED MONKEY

_This should be contrasted with the Proboscis Monkey_]

The natives of Guinea and other parts of West Africa have consistent
accounts that the mandrills have tried to carry off females and
children. They live in troops like the chacmas, plunder the fields, and,
like all baboons, spend much time on the ground walking on all-fours.
When doing this, they are quite unlike any other creatures. They walk
slowly, with the head bent downwards, like a person walking on hands and
knees looking for a pin. With the right hand (usually) they turn over
every stick and stone, looking for insects, scorpions, or snails, and
these they seize and eat. The writer has seen baboons picking up sand,
and straining it through their fingers, to see if there were ants in it.
He has also seen one hold up sand in the palm of its hand, and blow the
dust away with its breath, and then look again to see if anything edible
were left. Mandrills kept in captivity until adult become very savage.
One in Wombwell's menagerie killed another monkey and a beagle. Mr.
Cross owned one which would sit in an armchair, smoke, and drink porter;
but these convivial accomplishments were accompanied by a most ferocious
temper.

[Illustration: _Photo by Ottomar Anschütz_]    [_Berlin_

PIG-TAILED MONKEY

_"Footing the line." Note how the monkey uses its feet as hands when
walking on a branch_]

One of the earliest accounts of the habits of the Abyssinian baboons was
given by Ludolf in his "History of Ethiopia." It was translated into
quaint, but excellent old English: "Of Apes," he says, "there are
infinite flocks up and down in the mountains, a thousand and more
together, and they leave no stone unturned. If they meet with one that
two or three cannot lift they call for more aid, and all for the sake of
the Worms that lye under, a sort of dyet which they relish exceedingly.
They are very greedy after Emmets. So that having found an emmet hill,
they presently surround it, and laying their fore paws with the hollow
downward upon the ant heap, as soon as the Emmets creep into their
treacherous palms they lick 'em off, with great comfort to their
stomachs. And there they will lye till there is not an Emmet left. They
are also pernicious to fruits and apples, and will destroy whole fields
and gardens unless they be looked after. For they are very cunning, and
will never venture in till the return of their spies, which they send
always before, who, giving all information that it is safe, in they rush
with their whole body and make a quick despatch. Therefore they go very
quiet and silent to their prey; and if their young ones chance to make a
noise, they chastise them with their fists; but if the coast is clear,
then every one has a different noise to express his joy." Ludolf clearly
means the baboons by this description.

[Illustration: _Photo by Ottomar Anschütz_]    [_Berlin_

CHACMA BABOON

_This photograph shows his attitude when about to make an attack_]

A more ancient story deals with Alexander's campaigns. He encamped on a
mountain on which were numerous bands of monkeys (probably baboons). On
the following morning the sentries saw what looked like troops coming
to offer them battle. As they had just won a victory, they were at a
loss to guess who these new foes might be. The alarm was given, and the
Macedonian troops set out in battle-array. Then through the morning
mists they saw that the enemy was an immense troop of monkeys. Their
prisoners, who knew what the alarm was caused by, made no small sport of
the Macedonians.

[Illustration: _Photo by C. Reid_]    [_Wishaw, N.B._

A YOUNG MALE CHACMA BABOON

_Note the protruding tusk in the upper jaw. A baboon sitting in this
position of rest can instantly leap six or seven feet, and inflict a
dangerous bite_]


  The Speech of Monkeys

Something should be said of the alleged "speech of monkeys" which
Professor Garner believed himself to have discovered. He rightly
excluded mere sounds showing joy, desire, or sorrow from the faculty of
speech, but claimed to have detected special words, one meaning "food,"
another "drink," another "give me that," another meaning "monkey," or an
identification of a second animal or monkey. He used a phonograph to
keep permanent record of the sounds, and made an expedition to the West
African forests in the hope that he might induce the large anthropoid
apes to answer the sounds which are so often uttered by their kind in
our menageries. The enterprise ended, as might have been expected, in
failure. Nor was it in the least necessary to go and sit in a cage in an
African forest in the hope of striking up an acquaintance with the
native chimpanzees. The little Capuchin monkeys, whose voices and sounds
he had ample opportunity of observing here, give sufficient material for
trying experiments in the meaning of monkey sounds. The writer believes
that it is highly probable that the cleverer monkeys have a great many
notes or sounds which the others do understand, if only because they
make the same under similar circumstances, otherwise they would not
utter them. They are like the sounds which an intelligent but nearly
dumb person might make. Also they have very sharp ears, and some of them
can understand musical sounds, so far as to show a very marked attention
to them. The following account of an experiment of this kind, when a
violin was being played, is related in "Life at the Zoo": "The Capuchin
monkeys, the species selected by Professor Garner for his experiments in
monkey language, showed the strangest and most amusing excitement. These
pretty little creatures have very expressive and intelligent faces, and
the play and mobility of their faces and voices while listening to the
music were extraordinarily rapid. The three in the first cage at once
rushed up into their box, and then all peeped out, chattering and
excited. One by one they came down, and listened to the music with
intense curiosity shrieking and making faces at a crescendo, shaking
the wires angrily at a discord, and putting their heads almost
upside-down in efforts at acute criticism at low and musical passages.
Every change of note was marked by some alteration of expression in the
faces of the excited little monkeys, and a series of discordant notes
roused them to a passion of rage." At the same time a big baboon,
chained up near, evidently disliked it. He walked off in the opposite
direction to the farthest limits of his chain.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

HEAD OF MALE MANDRILL

_This is one of the most hideous of living animals. The natives of West
Africa hold it in greater dislike even than the large carnivora, from
the mischief it does in their crops_]

[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._]    [_North Finchley_

BROWN CAPUCHIN

_The most intelligent of the common monkeys of America. It uses many
sounds to express emotions, and perhaps desires_]

[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._]    [_North Finchley_

DRILL

_Only less ugly than the Mandrill. Its habits are the same_]


  The American Monkeys

Mention of the Capuchins takes us to the whole group of the American
Monkeys. Nearly all of these live in the tropical forests of Brazil,
Guiana, Venezuela, and Mexico. They are all different from the Old World
monkeys, and many are far more beautiful. The most attractive of the
hardier kinds are the Capuchins; but there are many kinds of rare and
delicate little monkeys more beautiful than any squirrel, which would
make the most delightful pets in the world, if they were not so
delicate. To try to describe the Old World monkeys in separate groups
from end to end is rather a hopeless task. But the American monkeys are
more manageable by the puzzled amateur. Most of them have a broad and
marked division between the nostrils, which are not mere slits close
together, but like the nostrils of men. They also have human-looking
rounded heads. Their noses are of the "cogitative" order, instead of
being snouts or snubs with narrow openings in them; and the whole face
is in many ways human and intelligent. The Howler Monkeys, which utter
the most hideous sounds ever heard in the forests, and the Spider
Monkeys are the largest. The latter have the most wonderfully developed
limbs and tails for catching and climbing of any living animals. As
highly specialised creatures are always interesting, visitors to any
zoological garden will find it worth while to watch a spider monkey
climbing, just as it is always worth while to watch a great snake on the
move. The tail is used as a fifth hand: the Indians of Brazil say they
catch fish with it, which is not true. But if you watch a spider monkey
moving from tree to tree, his limbs and tail move like the five fingers
of a star-fish. Each of the extremities is as sensitive as a hand, far
longer in proportion than an ordinary man's arm, and apparently able to
work independently of joints. The monkey can do so many things at once
that no juggler can equal it. It will hold fruit in one hand, pick more
with one foot, place food to the mouth with another hand, and walk and
swing from branch to branch with the other foot and tail, all
simultaneously. These monkeys have no visible thumb, though dissection
shows that they have a rudimentary one; but the limbs are so flexible
that they can put one arm round behind their heads over on to the
opposite shoulder, and brush the fur on their upper arm. The end of the
tail seems always "feeling" the air or surroundings, and has hairs, thin
and long, at the end, which aid it in knowing when it is near a leaf or
branch. It is almost like the tentacle of some sea zoophyte. Gentle
creatures, all of them, are these spider monkeys. One of them, of the
species called Waita, when kept in captivity, wore the fur off its
forehead by rubbing its long gaunt arms continually over its brow
whenever it was scolded. The spider monkeys differ only in the degree of
spidery slenderness in their limbs. In disposition they are always
amiable, and in habits tree climbers and fruit-eaters.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

RED HOWLER MONKEY

_The male possesses a most extraordinary voice_]

The Capuchins are, in the writer's opinion, the nicest of all monkeys.
Many species are known, but all have the same round merry faces, bright
eyes, pretty fur, and long tails. There is always a fair number at the
Zoological Gardens. They are merry, but full of fads. One hates children
and loves ladies; another adores one or two other monkeys, and screams
at the rest. All are fond of insects as well as of fruit. A friend of
the writer kept one in a large house in Leicestershire. It was not very
good-tempered, but most amusing, climbing up the blind-cord first, and
catching and eating the flies on the window-panes most dexterously,
always avoiding the wasps. This monkey was taught to put out a lighted
paper (a useful accomplishment) by dashing its hands on to the burning
part, or, if the paper were twisted up, by taking the unlighted end and
beating the burning part on the ground; and it was very fond of turning
the leaves of any large book. This it did not only by vigorous use of
both arms and hands, but by putting its head under too, and "heaving"
the leaves over.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

A SPIDER MONKEY

_This monkey is specially adapted for arboreal life. The tail acts as a
fifth hand_]

In the private room behind the monkey-house at the Zoo there are always
a number of the rare and delicate monkeys from America, which cannot
stand the draughts of the outer house, like the Capuchins and spider
monkeys. The greater number of these come from tropical America. There,
in the mighty forests, so lofty that no man can climb the trees, so
dense that there is a kind of upper story on the interlaced tree-tops,
where nearly all the birds and many mammals live without descending to
earth, forests in which there is neither summer nor winter, but only the
changes from hour to hour of the equatorial day, the exquisite
Marmosets, whose fur looks like the plumage and whose twittering voices
imitate the notes of birds, live and have their being. They are all much
alike in shape, except that the Lion Marmoset's mane is like that of a
little lion clad in floss silk; and they all have sharp little claws,
and feed on insects. The Pinché Marmoset from the Guiana forests has a
face like a black Indian chief, with white plumes over his head and neck
like those worn by a "brave" in full war-paint. Merchants who do
business with Brazil very frequently import marmosets and the closely
allied tamarins as presents for friends at home in England; the
Brazilians themselves like to have them as pets also; so there is to
some extent a trade demand for them.

[Illustration: _Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co._]    [_Parson's Green_

PATAS MONKEY

_Found in West Africa. A large and brilliantly coloured species_]

[Illustration: _Photo by C. Reid_]    [_Wishaw, N.B._

WANDEROO MONKEY

_The number of monkeys which have leonine manes is large. The manes act
as capes to keep the dew and wet from their chests and shoulders._]

Among the most delicate of American monkeys are the Oukaris, which have
somewhat human faces, exquisite soft fur, and are as gentle as most of
these forest creatures. They seldom live long in captivity, a few months
being as much as they will generally endure, even in Brazil. Perhaps the
rarest of all is the white-haired Scarlet-faced Oukari. This monkey has
long white hair from neck to tail, sandy whiskers, and a bright scarlet
face. It lives in a district of partly flooded forest, and is only
obtained by the Indians using blow-pipes and arrows dipped in very
diluted urari poison. The White-headed Saki is a rare and very pretty
little monkey of Brazil; and there are a very large number of other
species of this group whose names it would be mere weariness to mention.
All these small monkeys are very quick and intelligent, while the
rapidity of their movements, their ever-changing expression, and sharp,
eager cries heighten the idea of cleverness given by their general
appearance. Other little imps of these forests are the Squirrel Monkeys.
In the common species the face is like a little furry man's, its arms
brilliant yellow (as if dipped in gamboge dye), the cheeks pink, and
eyes black. In habits it is a quick-tempered, imperious little
creature, carnivorous, and a great devourer of butterflies and beetles.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

COMMON SQUIRREL MONKEY

_The squirrel monkeys have soft, bright-coloured fur, and long, hairy
tails. They are found from Mexico to Paraguay_]

The most beautiful and entertaining of all monkeys are these New World
species. No person clever at interpreting the ways of animals would fail
to consider them far more clever and sympathetic than the melancholy
anthropoid apes, while for appearance they have no equals. Probably the
most attractive monkey in Europe is a South American one now in the
London Zoological Gardens. It was first mentioned to Europeans by Baron
von Humboldt, who saw it in the cabin of an Indian on the Orinoco. These
forest Indians of South America are gentle creatures themselves. Among
other amiable qualities, they have a passion for keeping pets. One who
worked for a friend of the writer, with others of his tribe, was asked
what he would take in payment, which was given in kind. The others chose
cloth, axes, etc. This Indian said that he did not care for any of these
things. He said he wanted a "poosa." No one knew what he meant. He
signed that he wished to go to the house and would show them. Arrived
there, he pointed to the cat! "Pussy," to the Arawak Indian, was a
"poosa," and that was what he wanted as a month's wages. Humboldt's
Indian had something better than a "poosa." It was a monkey, as black as
coal, with a round head, long thickly furred tail, and bright vivacious
eyes. The explorer called it the Lagothrix, which means Hare-skin
Monkey. The fur is not the least like a hare's, but much resembles that
of an opossum. The more suitable name is the Woolly Monkey. The one kept
at the Gardens is a most friendly and vivacious creature, ready to
embrace, play and make friends with any well-dressed person. It dislikes
people in working-clothes which are dirty or soiled--a not uncommon
aversion of clever animals.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

BLACK-EARED MARMOSET

_These are among the prettiest of small tropical monkeys in America:
they are insect-feeders, and very delicate_]

In spite of all the varieties of _temperament_ in the monkey tribe, from
the genial little Capuchins to the morose old baboon, they nearly all
have one thing in common--that is, the monkey brain. The same curious
restlessness, levity, and want of concentration mark them all, except
the large anthropoid apes. Some of these have without doubt powers of
reflection and concentration which the other monkeys do not possess. But
in all the rest, though the capacity for understanding exists, the wish
to please, as a dog does, and the desire to remember and to retain what
it has learnt, seem almost entirely wanting. Egoism, which is a sign of
human dementia, is a very leading characteristic of all monkeys. There
is no doubt that the baboons might be trained to be useful animals if
they always served one master. Le Vaillant and many other travelers have
noted this. But they are _too clever_, and at the bottom too
ill-tempered ever to be trustworthy, even regarded as "watches," or to
help in minor manual labour. Baboons would make an excellent substitute
for dogs as used in Belgium for light draught; but no one could ever
rely on their behaving themselves when their master's eye was elsewhere.

[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._]    [_North Finchley_

HUMBOLDT'S WOOLLY MONKEY

_This is the most popular monkey in captivity. He looks for all the
world like a Negro, and has a most beautiful, soft, woolly coat. He is
very tame, and loves nothing better than being petted_]

Taken as a family, the monkeys are a feeble and by no means likeable
race. They are "undeveloped" as a class, full of promise, but with no
performance.

[Illustration: _Photo by Ottomar Anschütz_]    [_Berlin_

PIG-TAILED MONKEY CATCHING A FLY

_Most of the smaller monkeys, as well as the baboons, are fond of eating
insects. Beetles, white ants, and flies are eagerly sought and
devoured_]


  THE LEMURS

The South American monkeys, with their squirrel-like forms and fur, are
followed by a beautiful and interesting group of creatures, called the
Lemurs, with their cousins the Lorises, Maholis, and Pottos. Their
resemblance to monkeys is mainly in their hands and feet. These are real
and very highly developed hands, with proper thumbs. The second toe on
the hind foot nearly always terminates in a long, sharp claw. "Elia,"
the Indian naturalist, who kept them as pets noticed that they used this
to scratch themselves with. Some of them have the finger-tips expanded
into a sensitive disk, full of extra nerves. Lemur means "ghost."
Unlike the lively squirrels and monkeys, they do not leave their
hiding-places till the tropical darkness has fallen on the forest, when
they seek their food, not by descending to the ground, but by ascending
to the upper surface of the ocean of trees, and again, at the first
approach of dawn, seek refuge from the light in the recesses of some
dark and hollow trunk. The Ring-tailed Lemur is as lively by day as
night; but most of the race are so entirely creatures of darkness that
the light seems to stupefy them. When wakened, they turn over like
sleeping children, with the same inarticulate cries and deep, uneasy
sighs. But at night most are astonishingly active; they fly from tree to
tree, heard, but invisible; so that the natives of Madagascar doubt
whether they are not true _lemures_, the unquiet ghosts of their
departed dead.

Though the lemurs are here treated apart from the other animals of
Madagascar, it will be obvious that they are a curious and abnormal
tribe. This is true of most of the animals of that great island, which
has a fauna differing both from that of the adjacent coast of Africa and
from that of India or Australia. In the Fossa, a large representative of
the Civets, it possesses a species absolutely unlike any other. The
Aye-aye is also an abnormal creature. Nor must it be forgotten that
Madagascar was until recently the home of some of the gigantic
ground-living birds. But, after all, none of its inhabitants are more
remarkable than its hosts of lemurs, some of which are to be met with in
almost every coppice in the island. There are also many extinct kinds.

[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._]    [_North Finchley_

RING-TAILED LEMUR

_This lemur is often kept as a domestic animal, and allowed to run about
the house like a cat_]

Exquisite fur, soft and beautifully tinted, eyes of extraordinary size
and colour (for the pupil shuts up to a mere black line by day, and the
rest of the eye shows like a polished stone of rich brown or yellow or
marble gray), are the marks of most of the lemurs. But there are other
lemur-like creatures, or "lemuroids," which, though endowed with the
same lovely fur, like softest moss, have no tails. The strangest of all
are two creatures called the Slender Loris and the Slow Loris. The
slender loris, which has the ordinary furry coat of the lemurs, and no
tail, moves on the branches exactly as does a chameleon. Each hand or
foot is slowly raised, brought forward, and set down again. The fingers
then as slowly close on the branch till its grasp is secure. It is like
a slow-working mechanical toy. Probably this is a habit, now
instinctive, gained by ages of cautiously approaching insects. But the
result is to give the impression that the creature is almost an
automaton.

[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._]    [_North Finchley_

A DWARF LEMUR

_These tiny animals take the place of the dormouse in Madagascar_]

Madagascar is the main home of the lemurs, though some of the related
animals are also found in Africa and in the East Indies. But the dense
forests of the great island are full of these curious nocturnal beasts,
of which there are so many varieties presenting very slight differences
of form and habit, that naturalists have some difficulty in giving even
a complete list of their species. Add to this that nearly all of them
are intensely and entirely nocturnal, and the scarcity of data as to
their habits is easily accounted for. When seen by us, their faces all
lack expression--that is to say, the eyes, which mainly give expression,
seem entirely vacant and meaningless. But this is due to their special
adaptation to seeing in the dark tropical night. By day the pupil of the
eye almost disappears. If only we could also see in the dark, the eyes
of the lemur might have as much expression as those of a faithful dog.
The change which night makes in their general demeanour is simply
miraculous. By day many of them are like hibernating animals, almost
incapable of movement. When once the curtain of night has fallen, they
are as active as squirrels, and as full of play as a family of kittens.
The Ring-tailed Lemur is often kept as a pet, both in Madagascar and in
the Mauritius. It is one of the very few which are diurnal in their
habits. When in a hurry it jumps along, standing on its hind feet, like
a little kangaroo, but holding its tail upright behind its back. It will
follow people up-stairs in this way, jumping from step to step, with its
front paws outstretched, as if it were addressing an audience. The
French call these day lemurs Makis. The ring-tailed lemur lives largely
among rocks and precipices. Most of these creatures live upon fruit, the
shoots and leaves of trees, and other vegetable food. But, like the
squirrel, they have no objection to eggs and nestlings, and also kill
and eat any small birds and insects. Some of the smaller kinds are
almost entirely insect-feeders. The largest kind of lemur belongs to the
group known as the Indris. The Black-and-white Indri measures about two
feet in length. It has only a rudimentary tail, large ears, and a
sharp-pointed nose. The amount of white colouring varies much in
different individuals. This variation in colouring--a very rare feature
among wild mammalia, though one of the first changes shown when animals
are domesticated--is also found in the next three species, called
Sifakas. The Diademed Sifaka, the Woolly Indri, and the Black Indri all
belong to this group. The Sifakas, as some of these and the allied forms
are called, are venerated by the Malagasys, who never kill one
intentionally. Mr. Foster observes that "they live in companies of six
or eight, and are very gentle and inoffensive animals, wearing a very
melancholy expression, and being as a rule morose, inactive, and more
silent than the other lemurs. They rarely live long in captivity. In
their native state they are most alert in the morning and evening, as
during the day they conceal themselves under the foliage of trees. When
asleep or in repose, the head is dropped on the chest and buried between
the arms, the tail rolled up on itself and disposed between the hind
legs. The sifakas live exclusively on vegetable substances, fruits,
leaves, and flowers, their diet not being varied, as in the other
lemurs, by small birds, eggs, or insects. Their life is almost entirely
arboreal, for which the muscles of their hands and feet, as well as the
parachute-like folds between their arms and bodies, and their peculiar
hooked fingers, are well fitted. The young one is carried by the mother
on its back, its hands grasping her armpits tightly."

[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._]    [_North Finchley_

BLACK LEMUR

_Found on the coast of Madagascar_]

[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._]    [_North Finchley_

COQUEREL'S LEMUR

_A lemur which strongly objects to being awakened in the daytime_]

This is not the universal way of carrying the young among lemurs. The
Crowned Lemur, a beautiful gray-and-white species, often breeds at the
Zoo. The female carries its young one partly on its side. The infant
clings tightly with arms and tail round the very slender waist of the
lemur, and pushes out its sharp little face just above the thigh of the
mother. The Woolly Indri has more woolly fur than the others of its
tribe, a shorter nose, and a longer tail.

[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._]    [_North Finchley_

RUFFED LEMUR

_Another of the nocturnal lemurs. It lives mainly on fruit and insects_]


  The True Lemurs

Of these there are several species, all confined to Madagascar and the
Comoro Islands. One of the best known is the Ring-tailed Lemur,
mentioned above. It is called Lemur Catta, the Cat Lemur, from being so
often kept in domestication. The Weasel Lemur, the Gray Lemur, the Mouse
Lemur, the Gentle Lemur, the Sportive Lemur, the Crowned Lemur, and
Coquerel's Lemur, all represent various small, pretty, and interesting
varieties of the group. The Black-and-white Lemur, one of the larger
kinds, is capable of domestication. A specimen kept in a London house,
where the present writer saw it, was always called "Pussy" by the
children. The other small kinds are very like squirrels, mice, weasels,
and other creatures, with which they have no connection. It seems as
though the curiously limited and primitive fauna of Madagascar tried to
make up for its want of variety by mimicking the forms of other animals,
and something of the same kind is seen in Australia, where the
marsupials take the place of all kinds of ordinary mammals. There are
marsupial rats, marsupial wolves, marsupial squirrels, and even
marsupial moles. The small squirrel and rat-like lemurs are called
Chirogales. Coquerel's Lemur is really a chirogale. It is a quaint and
by no means amiable little animal, sleeping obstinately all day, and
always ready to growl and bite if disturbed. Its colour is brownish gray
and cream-colour. A pair of these, rolled up tightly into balls in a box
of hay, will absolutely refuse to move, even when handled. They only
feed by night.


  The Galagos

[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._]    [_North Finchley_

GARNETT'S GALAGO

_One of the squirrel-like lemuroids_]

[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._]    [_North Finchley_

MAHOLI GALAGO

_This little animal is a native of East Africa. It has very large eyes,
and fur as soft as the chinchilla's_]

An allied group, confined to tropical Africa, is that of the Galagos.
They are most beautiful little creatures, whose nearest relatives are
the Malagasy lemurs. Generally speaking, they have even more exquisite
fur than the lemurs. It is almost as soft as floss silk, and so close
that the hand sinks into it as into a bed of moss. The colour of the fur
is rich and pleasing, generally some shade of brown. The head is small,
the nose pointed, and the ears thin, hairless, and capable of being
folded up, like the wings of a beetle. But the most beautiful feature of
the galagos is their eyes. These are of immense size, compared with the
head. The eye is of the richest and most beautiful brown, like a
cairngorm stone, but not glassy or clear. Though quite translucent, the
eye is marked with minute dividing-lines, like the grain in an agate--a
truly exquisite object. When handled or taken in the arms, the little
galago clasps the fingers or sleeve tightly, as if it thought it was
holding a tree, and shows no disposition to escape. A family of three or
four young ones, no larger than mice, with their large-eyed mother
attending to them, forms an exquisitely dainty little group. The galagos
vary from the size of a squirrel to that of a small cat. The kind most
often seen in England is the Maholi Galago from East Africa. Another
species comes from Senegal, and others from Calabar and the forests of
the Gold Coast. Garnett's Galago, another species, is shown above. They
may be regarded as nocturnal tropical lemuroids, analogous to the
chirogales of Madagascar. It has been suggested, with great probability,
that the intensely drowsy sleep of many of the lemuroid animals
corresponds to the hibernation of many northern mammals. Tropical
animals often become torpid to avoid the famine caused by the hot
season, just as creatures in cold countries hibernate to avoid the
hunger which would otherwise come with winter.


  The Slow Lemurs or Lorises, and Tarsiers

Another group of lemuroids is distinguished from the foregoing by having
the second finger of the fore paws either very short or rudimentary. The
thumb and great toe are also set very widely apart from the other
fingers and toes. A far more striking distinction to the non-scientific
eye is their astonishingly deliberate and slow movements. They have no
tails, enormous eyes, and very long, slender legs.

The Slow Loris is found in Eastern India and the Malay countries, where
it is fairly common in the forests. The Bengali natives call it
_sharmindi billi_ ("bashful cat"), from its slow, solemn, hesitating
movements when in pursuit of insects. Of a slow loris kept by him, Sir
William Jones, in the "Asiatic Researches," wrote: "At all times he
seemed pleased at being stroked on the head and throat, and he
frequently allowed me to touch his extremely sharp teeth. But his temper
was always quick, and when he was unseasonably disturbed he expressed a
little resentment, by an obscure murmur, like that of a squirrel. . . .
When a grasshopper or any insect alighted within his reach, his eyes, as
he fixed them on his prey, glowed with uncommon fire; and having drawn
himself back to spring on his prey with greater force, he seized it with
both his fore paws, and held it till he had devoured it. He never could
have enough grasshoppers, and spent the whole night in prowling for
them."

[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._]    [_North Finchley_

SLOW LORIS

_Another of the slow-moving loris group. These animals are not shown to
the general public at the Zoo, but kept in a specially warmed room_]

The Slender Loris, an equally curious creature, is only found in
Southern India and Ceylon. Its food consists entirely of insects, which
it captures by gradual, almost paralysed approach. It has been described
as a "furry-coated chameleon." A group of slow lemurs, living in Western
Africa, are known as Pottos. They are odd little quadrupeds, in which
the "forefinger" never grows to be more than a stump. The tail is also
either sharp or rudimentary. They are as slow as the lorises in their
movements.

[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._]    [_North Finchley_

SLENDER LORIS

_This extraordinary creature has the habits of a chameleon when seeking
insects for food. The photograph is unique_]

In the Malay islands a distant relative, even more curiously formed, is
found in the Tarsier. It has the huge eyes, pointed ears, and beautiful
fur of the galagos, but the tail is long, thin and tufted. The fingers
are flattened out into disks, like a tree-frog's. These creatures hop
from bough to bough in a frog-like manner in search of insects. They are
not so large as a good-sized rat. Our photograph does not give an
adequate idea of the size of the eyes.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

TARSIER

_These little animals hop about in the trees like frogs. They are
nocturnal, and seldom seen_]


  The Aye-aye

Last, and most remarkable of all these weird lemuroids, is the Aye-aye.
It is placed in a group by itself, and has teeth like those of the
Rodents, a large bushy tail, and most extraordinarily long, slender
fingers, which it probably uses for picking caterpillars and grubs out
of rotten wood. It is nearly as large as an Arctic fox, but its habits
are those of a lemur. In Madagascar it haunts the bamboo forests,
feeding on the juice of sugar-cane, grubs, and insects. The fingers of
its hands are of different sizes and lengths, though all are abnormally
long and slender. The second finger seems to have "wasted," but is said
to be of the utmost value to its owner in extracting grubs and insects
from the burrows in which they dwell, or the crannies in which they may
have taken refuge. Very seldom is this animal seen alive in captivity.
Although commonly called Aye-aye in this country, it is doubtful if this
is really its native name. The aye-aye was long a puzzle to naturalists,
but is now classed as a lemuroid.

[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._]    [_North Finchley_

HEAD OF AYE-AYE

_The aye-aye lives mainly in the wild sugar-cane groves, and feeds on
insects and grubs, as well as on the juice of the sugar-cane_]

The living races of animals have thus far been reviewed along the
completed list of the first great order--the Primates. Even in that
circumscribed group how great is the tendency to depart from the main
type, and how wonderful the adaptation to meet the various needs of the
creatures' environment! The skeletons, the frames on which these various
beings are built up, remain the same in character; but the differences
of proportion in the limbs, of the muscles with which they are equipped,
and of the weight of the bodies to be moved are astonishing. Compare,
for instance, the head of the male Gorilla, with its great ridges of
bone, to which are attached the muscles which enable it to devour hard
tropical fruits and bite off young saplings and bamboos, with the
rounded and delicate head of the Insect-eating Monkeys of South Africa;
or set side by side the hand of the Chimpanzee with that of the Aye-aye,
with its delicate, slender fingers, like those of a skeleton hand. What
could be more diverse than the movements of these creatures, whose
structure is nevertheless so much alike? Some of the lemuroids are as
active as squirrels, flying lightly from branch to branch; in others, as
the Slow Lorises, the power of rapid movement has disappeared, and been
replaced by a creeping gait which cannot be accelerated. Already, in a
single order, we see the rich diversity of nature, and its steady
tendency to make all existing things serviceable by adapting other parts
of creation to their use or enjoyment.




[Illustration: _Photo by Charles Knight, Aldershot._

AFRICAN LION AND LIONESS.

These animals are so numerous in East Africa that they are exempted from
protection.]

[Illustration: _Photo by Fratelli Alinari_]    [_Florence_

AFRICAN LION

_This lion is almost in the attitude of those sculptured by Sir Edwin
Landseer for the Nelson Monument, but the feet are turned in, not lying
flat_]


  CHAPTER II

  _THE CAT TRIBE_


Though only one species is entirely domesticated, and none of the Cats
have flesh edible by man, except perhaps the puma, no group of animals
has attracted more interest than this. Containing more than forty
species, ranging in size from the ox-devouring tiger or lion to the
small wild cats, they are so alike in habit and structure that no one
could possibly mistake the type or go far wrong in guessing at the
habits of any one of them. They are all flesh-eaters and destroyers of
living animals. All have rounded heads, and an extraordinary equipment
of teeth and of claws, and of muscles to use them. The blow of the
forearm of a lion or tiger is inconceivably powerful, in proportion to
its size. A stroke from a tiger's paw has been known to strike off a
native's arm from the shoulder and leave it hanging by a piece of skin,
and a similar blow from a lion to crush the skull of an ox. The true
cats are known by the power to draw back, or "retract," their claws into
sheaths of horn, rendering their footsteps noiseless, and keeping these
weapons always sharp. The hunting-leopard has only a partial capacity
for doing this.

[Illustration: _By permission of Herr Carl Hagenbeck, Hamburg_

AN UNWILLING PUPIL

_This is one of Herr Hagenbeck's famous performing tigers_]

The characteristics of the Cats and their allies are too well known to
need description. We will therefore only mention the chief types of the
group, and proceed to give, in the fullest detail which space allows,
authentic anecdotes of their life and habits. The tribe includes Lions,
Tigers, Leopards, Pumas, Jaguars, a large number of so-called Tiger-cats
(spotted and striped), Wild Cats, Domestic Cats, and Lynxes. The
Hunting-leopard, or Cheeta, stands in a sub-group by itself, as does
the Fossa, the only large carnivore of Madagascar. This closes the list
of the most cat-like animals. The next links in the chain are formed by
the Civets and Genets, creatures with more or less retractile claws, and
long, bushy tails; the still less cat-like Binturong, a creature with a
prehensile tail; and the Mongooses and Ichneumons, more and more nearly
resembling the weasel tribe.

[Illustration: _Photo by York & Sons_]    [_Notting Hill_

LIONESS AROUSED

_The pose of the animal here shows attention, but not anger or fear_]


  THE LION

Recent intrusions for railways, sport, discovery, and war into Central
and East Africa have opened up new lion countries, and confirmed, in the
most striking manner, the stories of the power, the prowess, and the
dreadful destructiveness to man and beast of this king of the Carnivora.
At present it is found in Persia, on the same rivers where Nimrod and
the Assyrian kings made its pursuit their royal sport; in Gujerat, where
it is nearly extinct, though in General Price's work on Indian game
written before the middle of the last century it is stated that a
cavalry officer killed eighty lions in three years; and in Africa, from
Algeria to the Bechuana country. It is especially common in Somaliland,
where the modern lion-hunter mainly seeks his sport. On the Uganda
Railway, from Mombasa to Lake Victoria, lions are very numerous and
dangerous. In Rhodesia and the Northern Transvaal they have killed
hunters, railway officials, and even our soldiers near Komati Poort. It
has been found that whole tracts of country are still often deserted by
their inhabitants from fear of lions, and that the accounts of their
ravages contained in the Old Testament, telling how Samaria was almost
deserted a second time from this cause, might be paralleled to-day.


  The African Lion

  BY F. C. SELOUS

When, in the latter half of the seventeenth century, Europeans first
settled at the Cape of Good Hope, the lion's roar was probably to be
heard almost nightly on the slopes of Table Mountain, since a quaint
entry in the Diary of Van Riebeck, the first Dutch governor of the Cape,
runs thus: "This night the lions roared as if they would take the fort
by storm"--the said fort being situated on the site of the city now
known as Cape Town.

At that date there can be little doubt that, excepting in the waterless
deserts and the dense equatorial forests, lions roamed over the whole of
the vast continent of Africa from Cape Agulhas to the very shore of the
Mediterranean Sea; nor was their range very seriously curtailed until
the spread of European settlements in North and South Africa, and the
acquisition of firearms by the aboriginal inhabitants of many parts of
the country, during the latter half of the nineteenth century, steadily
denuded large areas of all wild game.

[Illustration: _Photo by M. Geiser_]    [_Algiers_

ALGERIAN LIONESS

_This lioness, sitting under an olive-tree, was actually photographed
in the Soudan by the intrepid M. Geiser_]

As the game vanished, the lions disappeared too; for although at first
they preyed to a large extent on the domestic flocks and herds which
gradually replaced the wild denizens of the once-uninhabited plains,
this practice brought them into conflict with the white colonists or
native herdsmen armed with weapons of precision, before whom they
rapidly succumbed.

[Illustration: A FOSTER-MOTHER

_This is a remarkable photograph of a setter suckling three lion cubs
which had lost their mother. It is reproduced here by permission of the
Editor of the_ Irish Field]

To-day lions are still to be found wherever game exists in any quantity,
and their numbers will be in proportion to those of the wild animals on
which they prey.

[Illustration: _By permission of Herr Carl Hagenbeck_]    [_Hamburg_

A PERFORMING LION

_Lions, it would seem, are capable of being taught almost anything, even
tricycle-riding_]

The indefinite increase of lions must be checked by some unknown law of
nature, otherwise they would have become so numerous in the sparsely
inhabited or altogether uninhabited parts of Africa, that they would
first have exterminated all the game on which they had been wont to
prey, and would then have had to starve or to have eaten one another.
But such a state of things has never been known to occur; and whenever
Europeans have entered a previously unexplored and uninhabited tract of
country in Africa, and have found it teeming with buffaloes, zebras, and
antelopes, they have always found lions in such districts very plentiful
indeed, but never in such numbers as to seriously diminish the abundance
of the game upon which they depended for food.

[Illustration: _Photo by G. W. Wilson & Co., Ltd._]    [_Aberdeen_

LIONESS AND CUB

_Lion cubs thrive both in Dublin and Amsterdam, but not so well at the
London Zoo_]

It is easy to understand that the increase of a herd of herbivorous
animals would be regulated by the amount of the food-supply available,
as well as constantly checked by the attacks of the large carnivora,
such as lions, leopards, cheetas, hyænas, and wild dogs; but I have
never been able to comprehend what has kept within bounds the inordinate
increase of lions and other carnivorous animals in countries where for
ages past they have had an abundant food-supply, and at the same time,
having been almost entirely unmolested by human beings, have had no
enemies. Perhaps such a state of things does not exist at the present
day, but there are many parts of Africa where such conditions have
existed from time immemorial up to within quite recent years.

[Illustration: _Photo by Fratelli Alinari_]    [_Florence_

A YOUNG LIONESS

_The sole of the hind foot shows the soft pads on which the Cats
noiselessly approach their prey_]

Since lions were once to be found over the greater portion of the vast
continent of Africa, it is self-evident that these animals are able to
accommodate themselves to great variations of climate and surroundings;
and I myself have met with them, close to the sea, in the hot and sultry
coastlands of Southeast Africa; on the high plateau of Mashonaland,
where at an altitude of 6,000 feet above sea-level the winter nights are
cold and frosty; amongst the stony hills to the east of the Victoria
Falls of the Zambesi; and in the swamps of the Chobi. In the great
reed-beds of the latter river a certain number of lions appeared to live
constantly, preying on buffaloes and lechwe antelopes. I often heard
them roaring at nights in these swamps, and I once saw two big male
lions wading slowly across an open space between two beds of reeds in
water nearly a foot in depth.

[Illustration: _By permission of Herr Carl Hagenbeck_]    [_Hamburg_

A HAPPY FAMILY

_Here is a group of animals and their keeper from Herr Hagenbeck's
Thierpark. The animal in front is a cross between a lion and a tigress;
he lives on quite friendly terms with his keeper, and also with lions,
tigers, and leopards, as seen in the photograph_]

Although there are great individual differences in lions as regards
size, general colour of coat, and more particularly in the length,
colour, and profuseness of the mane with which the males are adorned,
yet as these differences occur in every part of Africa where lions are
met with, and since constant varieties with one fixed type of mane
living by themselves and not interbreeding with other varieties do not
exist anywhere, modern zoologists are, I think, now agreed that there is
only one species of lion, since in any large series of wild lion skins,
made in any particular district of Africa or Asia, every gradation will
be found between the finest-maned specimens and those which are
destitute of any mane at all. Several local races have, however, been
recently described by German writers.

[Illustration: _By permission of Herr Carl Hagenbeck_]    [_Hamburg_

A CROSS BETWEEN LION AND TIGRESS

_This unique photograph shows a remarkable hybrid and its proud parents.
The father (on the right) is a lion, and the mother (on the left) a
tigress. The offspring (in the centre) is a fine, large male, now four
years old; it is bigger than an average-sized lion or tiger_]

In the hot and steamy coastlands of tropical Africa lions usually have
short manes, and never, I believe, attain the long silky black manes
sometimes met with on the high plateaux of the interior. However, there
is, I believe, no part of Africa where all or even the majority of male
lions carry heavy manes, the long hair of which does not as a rule cover
more than the neck and chest, with a tag of varying length and thickness
extending from the back of the neck to between the shoulder-blades.
Lions with very full black manes, covering the whole shoulders, are rare
anywhere, but more likely to be encountered on the high plateaux, where
the winter nights are extremely cold, than anywhere else. In such cases,
in addition to the tufts of hair always found on the elbows and in the
armpits of lions with fair-sized manes, there will probably be large
tufts of hair in each flank just where the thighs join the belly; but I
have never yet seen the skin of a lion shot within the last thirty years
with the whole belly covered with long, thick hair, as may constantly be
observed in lions kept in captivity in menageries. There is, however,
some evidence to show that, when lions existed on the high plains of the
Cape Colony and the Orange River Colony, where the winter nights are
much colder than in the countries farther north where lions may still be
encountered, certain individuals of the species developed a growth of
long hair all over the belly, as well as an extraordinary luxuriance of
mane on the neck and shoulders.

[Illustration: _Photo by Ottomar Anschütz_]    [_Berlin_

A HUNGRY LION

_Notice that the mane, as in most wild lions, is very scanty_]

From the foregoing remarks it will be seen that wild lions, having as a
rule much less luxuriant manes than many examples of their kind to be
seen in European menageries, are ordinarily not so majestic and
dignified in appearance as many of their caged relatives. On the other
hand, the wild lion is a much more alert and active animal than a
menagerie specimen, and when in good condition is far better built and
more powerful-looking, being free from all appearance of lankiness and
weakness in the legs, and having strong, well-formed hindquarters. The
eyes of the menagerie lion, too, look brown and usually sleepy, whilst
those of the wild animal are yellow, and extraordinarily luminous even
after death. When wounded and standing at bay, with head held low
between his shoulders, growling hoarsely, and with twitching tail, even
if he is not near enough to be observed very closely, a lion looks a
very savage and dangerous animal; but should he be wounded in such a way
as to admit of a near approach--perhaps by a shot that has paralysed his
hindquarters--his flaming eyes will seem to throw out sparks of living
fire.

Speaking generally, there is little or no danger in meeting a lion or
lions in the daytime. Even in parts of the country where firearms are
unknown, and where the natives seldom or never interfere with them,
these animals seem to have an instinctive fear of man, and even when
encountered at the carcase of an animal freshly killed, and at a time
when they may be supposed to be hungry, they will almost invariably
retreat before the unwelcome presence, sometimes slowly and sulkily, but
in districts where much hunting with firearms has been going on at a
very rapid pace. However, I have known of two cases of Europeans mounted
on horseback having been attacked by lions in broad daylight, and Dr.
Livingstone mentions a third. In one of the instances which came within
my own knowledge, a lion sprang at a Boer hunter as he was riding slowly
along, carrying an elephant-gun in his right hand and followed by a
string of natives on foot. The lion attacked from the left side, and
with its right paw seized my friend from behind by the right side of his
face and neck, inflicting deep gashes with its sharp claws, one of which
cut right through his cheek and tore out one of his teeth. My friend was
pulled from his horse, but, clutching the loosely girthed saddle tightly
with his knees, it twisted round under the horse's belly before he fell
to the ground. Instead of following up its success, the lion, probably
scared by the shouting of the Kaffirs, trotted away for a short
distance, and then turned and stood looking at the dismounted hunter,
who, never having lost his presence of mind, immediately shot it dead
with his heavy old muzzle-loading elephant-gun. Besides these three
instances of Europeans having been attacked in the daytime by lions, I
have known of a certain number of natives having been killed in broad
daylight. Such incidents are, however, by no means every-day
occurrences, and, speaking generally, it may be said that the risk of
molestation by lions in Africa during daylight is very small. It is
night that lions roam abroad with stealthy step in search of prey; and
at such times they are often, when hungry, incredibly bold and daring. I
have known them upon several occasions to enter a hunter's camp, and,
regardless of fires, to seize oxen and horses and human beings.

During the year following the first occupation of Mashonaland in 1890, a
great deal of damage was done by lions, which could not resist the
attractions of the settler's live stock. For the first few months I kept
as accurate an account as I could of the number of horses, donkeys,
oxen, sheep, goats, and pigs which were killed by lions, and it soon
mounted up to over 200 head. During the same time several white men were
also mauled by lions, and one unfortunate man named Teale was dragged
from beneath the cart, where he was sleeping by the side of a native
driver, and at once killed and eaten. Several of the horses were killed
inside rough shelters serving as stables. In the following year (1891)
over 100 pigs were killed in one night by a single lioness. These pigs
were in a series of pens, separated one from another, but all under one
low thatched roof. The lioness forced her way in between two poles, and
apparently was unable, after having satisfied her hunger, to find her
way out again, and, becoming angry and frightened, wandered backwards
and forwards through the pens, killing almost all the pigs, each one
with a bite at the back of the head or neck. This lioness, which had
only eaten portions of two young pigs, made her escape before daylight,
but was killed with a set gun the next night by the owner of the pigs.

When lions grow old, they are always liable to become man-eaters.
Finding their strength failing them, and being no longer able to hunt
and pull down large antelopes or zebras, they are driven by hunger to
killing small animals, such as porcupines, and even tortoises, or they
may visit a native village and catch a goat, or kill a child or woman
going for water; and finding a human being a very easy animal to catch
and kill, an old lion which has once tasted human flesh will in all
probability continue to be a man-eater until he is killed. On this
subject, in his "Missionary Travels," Dr. Livingstone says: "A man-eater
is invariably an old lion; and when he overcomes his fear of man so far
as to come to villages for goats, the people remark, 'His teeth are
worn; he will soon kill men.' They at once acknowledge the necessity of
instant action, and turn out to kill him." It is the promptness with
which measures are taken by the greater part of the natives of Southern
Africa to put an end to any lion which may take to eating men that
prevents these animals as a rule from becoming the formidable pests
which man-eating tigers appear to be in parts of India. But man-eating
lions in Africa are not invariably old animals. One which killed
thirty-seven human beings in 1887, on the Majili River, to the north-west
of the Victoria Falls of the Zambesi, was, when at last he was killed,
found to be an animal in the prime of life; whilst the celebrated
man-eaters of the Tsavo River, in East Africa, were also apparently
strong, healthy animals. These two man-eating lions caused such
consternation amongst the Indian workmen on the Uganda Railway that the
work of construction was considerably retarded, the helpless coolies
refusing to remain any longer in a country where they were liable to be
eaten on any night by a man-eating lion. Both these lions were at last
shot by one of the engineers on the railway (Mr. J. H. Patterson), but
not before they had killed and devoured twenty-eight Indian coolies and
an unknown number of native Africans.

[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._]    [_North Finchley_

TIGER CUB

_Note the great development of the legs and paws_]


  THE TIGER

Tigers are the "type animal" of Asia. They are found nowhere else. Lions
were inhabitants, even in historic times, of Europe, and are still
common on the Euphrates and in parts of Persia, just as they were when
the Assyrian kings shot them with arrows from their hunting-chariots.
They survived in Greece far later than the days when story says that
Hercules slew the Nemean lion in the Peloponnesus, for the
baggage-animals of Xerxes' army of invasion were attacked by lions near
Mount Athos. But the tiger never comes, and never did come in historic
times, nearer to Europe than the Caucasian side of the Caspian Sea. On
the other hand, they range very far north. All our tiger-lore is Indian.
There is scarcely a story of tigers to be found in English books of
sport which deals with the animal north of the line of the Himalaya.
These Chinese northern tigers and the Siberian tigers are far larger
than those of India. They have long woolly coats, in order to resist the
cold. Their skins are brought to market in hundreds every year to the
great fur-sales. But the animals themselves we never see. The present
writer was informed by a friend that in the Amur Valley he shot three
of these tigers in a day, putting them up in thick bush-scrub by the aid
of dogs.

[Illustration: _Photo by Valentine & Sons, Ltd._]    [_Dundee_

A ROYAL TIGER

_This is an old Bengal Tiger, with the smooth, short coat grown in that
hot climate_]

The Royal Bengal Tiger, so called, and very properly called in the old
books of natural history, is a different and far more savage beast. It
is almost _invariably_ a ferocious savage, fierce by nature, never
wishing to be otherwise than a destroyer--of beasts mainly, but often of
men. Compared with the lion, it is far longer, but rather lighter, for
the lion is more massive and compact. "A well-grown tigress," says Sir
Samuel Baker, "may weigh on an average 240 lbs. live weight. A very fine
tiger may weigh 440 lbs., but if fat the same tiger would weigh 500 lbs.
There may be tigers which weigh 50 lbs. more than this; but I speak
according to my experience. I have found that a tiger of 9 feet 8 inches
is about 2 inches above the average. The same skin may be _stretched_ to
measure 10 feet. A tiger in the Zoological Gardens is a long, lithe
creature with little flesh. Such a specimen affords a poor example of
this grand animal in its native jungles, with muscles in their full,
ponderous development from continual exertion in nightly travels over
long distances, and in mortal struggles when wrestling with its prey. A
well-fed tiger is by no means a slim figure. On the contrary, it is
exceedingly bulky, broad in the shoulders, back, and loins, and with an
extraordinary girth of limbs, especially in the forearms and wrists."

[Illustration: _Photo by Fratelli Alinari_]    [_Florence_

A TIGER BEFORE SLEEPING

_Tigers, when about to sleep, sit in this position; when more drowsy,
they lie down or roll over on their backs_]

This ponderous, active, and formidably armed creature is, as might be
expected, able to hold its own wherever Europeans do not form part of
the regular population. In India the peasants are quite helpless even
against a cattle-killing tiger in a populous part of the country. In the
large jungles, and on the islands at the mouths of the great rivers, the
tigers have things all their own way. Things are no better in the Far
East. A large peninsula near Singapore is said to have been almost
abandoned by its cultivators lately, owing to the loss of life caused by
the tigers. In the populous parts of India the tiger is far more
stealthy than in the out-of-the-way districts. It only hunts by night;
and after eating a part of the animal killed, moves off to a distance,
and does not return. Otherwise the regular habit is to return to the
kill just at or after dusk, and finish the remainder. Its suspicions
seem quite lulled to sleep after dark. Quite recently a sportsman sat up
to watch for a tiger at a water-hole. It was in the height of the Indian
hot season, when very little water was left. All the creatures of that
particular neighbourhood were in the habit of coming to drink at one
good pool still left in the rocky bed of the river. There the tigers
came too. The first night they did not come until all the other
creatures--hog, deer, peacocks, and monkeys--had been down to drink.
They then came so softly over the sand that the gunner in waiting did
not hear them pass. His first knowledge that they were there was due to
the splashing they made as they entered the water. It was quite dark,
and he felt not a little nervous, for the bush on which he was seated on
a small platform was only some 10 feet high. He heard the two tigers
pass him, not by their footsteps, but by the dripping of the water as it
ran off their bodies on to the sand. Next night they came again. This
time, though it was dark, he shot one in a very ingenious manner. The
two tigers walked into the water, and apparently lay down or sat down in
it, with their heads out. They only moved occasionally, lapping the
water, but did not greatly disturb the surface. On this was reflected a
bright star from the sky above. The sportsman put the sight of the rifle
on the star, and kept it up to his shoulder. Something obliterated the
star, and he instantly fired. The "something" was the tiger's head,
which the bullet duly hit.

[Illustration: _Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co._]    [_Parson's Green_

A HALF-GROWN TIGER CUB

_Tigers "grow to their head," like children. The head of a half-grown
cub is as long, though not so broad, as that of the adult_]

[Illustration: _Photo by Fratelli Alinari_]    [_Florence_

TIGERS IN ITALY

_These tigers were photographed in Turin. Italy was the first European
country to which these animals were brought from the East_]

The hill-tigers of India are, or were, much more given to hunting by day
than the jungle-tigers. In the Nilgiri Hills of Southern India the late
General Douglas Hamilton said that before night the tigers were already
about hunting, and that in the shade of evening it was dangerous to ride
on a pony--not because the tigers wished to kill the rider, but because
they might mistake the pony and its rider for a sambar deer. He was
stalked like this more than once. Often, when stalking sambar deer and
ibex by day, he saw the tigers doing the same, or after other prey. "My
brother Richard," he writes, "was out after a tiger which the hillmen
reported had killed a buffalo about an hour before. He saw the tiger on
first getting to the ground, and the tiger had seen him. It was lying
out in the open watching the buffalo, and shuffled into the wood, and
would not come out again. Next morning, when we got to the ground, the
tiger was moving from rock to rock, and had dragged the body into a
nullah. . . . We were upon the point of starting home when we observed a
number of vultures coming down to the carcase. The vultures began to
collect in large numbers on the opposite hill. I soon counted fifty;
but they would not go near the buffalo. Then some crows, bolder than the
rest, flew down, and made a great row over their meal. All of a sudden
they all flew up, and I made certain it was the tiger. Then my brother
fired, and there he was, shot right through the brain, lying just above
the buffalo. He had been brought down by the noise the crows were
making. Upon driving the _sholas_ (small woods on these hills), tigers
were often put out. Sometimes they availed themselves of the drive to
secure food for themselves. A wood was being driven, when a tremendous
grunting was heard, and out rushed an old boar, bristling and savage.
B---- was about to raise his rifle, when a growl like thunder stopped
him, and a great tiger with one spring cleared the nullah, and alighted
on the back of the old boar. Such a battle then took place that, what
with the growls of the tiger and the squeals of the boar, one might
believe oneself in another world. I thought of nothing but of how to
kill one or the other, or both; so, as they were rolling down over and
over, about fifty yards from me on the open hillside, I let fly both
barrels. For a second or two the noise went on; then the tiger jumped
off, and the boar struggled into the nullah close by. The tiger pulled
up, and coolly stared at us without moving; but his courage seemed to
fail him, and he sprang into the nullah and disappeared."

[Illustration: _By permission of Herr Carl Hagenbeck_]

A LEOPARD-PUMA HYBRID

_This is a photograph from life of a very rare hybrid. The animal's
father was a puma, its mother a leopard. It is now dead, and may be seen
stuffed in Mr. Rothschild's Museum at Tring_]

In most parts of India tigers are now scarce and shy, except in the
preserves of the great rajas, and the dominions of some mighty and pious
Hindu potentates, such as the Maharaja of Jeypur, who, being supposed to
be descended from a Hindu god, allows no wild animals to be killed.
There the deer and pig are so numerous that tigers are welcome to keep
them down. But the Sunderbunds, unwholesome islands at the Ganges mouth,
still swarm with them. So does the Malay Peninsula.

Mr. J. D. Cobbold shot a tiger in Central Asia in a swamp so deep in
snow and so deadly cold that he dared not stay for fear of being frozen
to death. Tigers sometimes wander as far west as the Caucasus near the
Caspian. The farther north, the larger your tiger, is the rule. The
biggest ever seen in Europe was a Siberian tiger owned by Herr Carl
Hagenbeck, of Hamburg, and the largest known skin and skull is from the
Far North. The skin is 13 feet 6 inches from the nose to the end of the
tail. The largest Indian tiger-skin, from one killed by the Maharaja of
Cuch Behar, measures 11 feet 7 inches.


  LEOPARDS

Less in size, but even more ferocious, the Leopard has a worse character
than the tiger. Living mainly in trees, and very nocturnal, this fierce
and dangerous beast is less often seen than far rarer animals. It is
widely spread over the world, from the Cape of Good Hope to the Atlas
Mountains, and from Southern China to the Black Sea, where it is
sometimes met with in the Caucasus. There seems to be no legend of its
presence in Greece, Italy, or Spain; but it was quite common in Asia
Minor; and Cicero, when governor of Cilicia, was plagued by an
aristocratic young friend in Rome to send him leopards to exhibit in a
_fête_ he was giving.

[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._]    [_North Finchley_

LEOPARDS

_A pair of leopards, one spotted, the other black. Black leopards may be
the offspring of the ordinary spotted form; they are generally much more
savage_]

Any one who has frequented the Zoo for any time must have noticed the
difference in size and colour between leopards from different parts of
the world. On some the ground-colour is almost white, in others a clear
nut-brown. Others are jet-black. Wherever they live, they are cattle
thieves, sheep thieves, and dog thieves. Though not formidable in
appearance, they are immensely strong. Sometimes one will turn
man-eater. Both in India and lately in Africa cases have been known
where they have "set up" in this line as deliberately as any tiger. They
have four or five young at a birth, which may often be kept tame for
some time and are amusing pets. But the following plain story shows the
danger of such experiments. At Hongkong an English merchant had a tame
leopard, which was brought into the room by a coolie for the guests to
see at a dinner party. Excited by the smell of food, it refused to go
out when one of the ladies, who did not like its looks, wished for it to
be removed. The man took hold of its collar and began to haul it out. It
seized him by the neck, bit it through, and in a minute the coolie was
dying, covered with blood, on the dining-room floor!

[Illustration: _Photo by C. Reid_]    [_Wishaw, N.B._

A YOUNG LEOPARD

_The leopard cub is far more cat-like in appearance than the young tiger
or lion_]

The Chinese leopard ranges as far north as the Siberian tiger, and, like
the latter, seems to grow larger the farther north it is found. The
colour of these northern leopards is very pale, the spots large, and the
fur very long. At the March fur-sales of the present year, held at the
stores of Sir Charles Lampson, there were Siberian leopard-skins as
large as those of a small tiger.

Leopards are essentially tree-living and nocturnal animals. Sleeping in
trees or caves by day, they are seldom disturbed. They do an incredible
amount of mischief among cattle, calves, sheep, and dogs, being
especially fond of killing and eating the latter. They seize their prey
by the throat, and cling with their claws until they succeed in breaking
the spine or in strangling the victim. The largest leopards are
popularly called Panthers. In India they sometimes become man-eaters,
and are always very dangerous. They have a habit of feeding on putrid
flesh; this makes wounds inflicted by their teeth or claws liable to
blood-poisoning. Nothing in the way of prey comes amiss to them, from a
cow in the pasture to a fowl up at roost. "In every country," says Sir
Samuel Baker, "the natives are unanimous in saying that the leopard is
more dangerous than the lion or tiger. Wherever I have been in Africa,
the natives have declared that they had no fear of a lion, provided they
were not hunting, for it would not attack unprovoked, but that a leopard
was never to be trusted. I remember when a native boy, accompanied by
his grown-up brother, was busily employed with others in firing the
reeds on the opposite bank of a small stream. Being thirsty and hot, the
boy stooped down to drink, when he was immediately seized by a leopard.
His brother, with admirable aim, hurled his spear at the leopard while
the boy was in his jaws. The point separated the vertebræ of the neck,
and the leopard fell stone-dead. The boy was carried to my hut, but
there was no chance of recovery. The fangs had torn open the chest and
injured the lungs. These were exposed to view through the cavity of the
ribs. He died the same night."

[Illustration: _Photo J. W. McLellan_]    [_Highbury_

SNOW-LEOPARD, OR OUNCE

_This is a striking portrait of a very beautiful animal. Note the long
bushy tail, thick coat, and large eyes_]

In the great mountain-ranges of Central Asia the beautiful Snow-leopard
is found. It is a large creature, with thick, woolly coat, and a long
tail like a fur boa. The colour is white, clouded with beautiful gray,
like that of an Angora cat. The edges of the cloudings and spots are
marked with black or darker gray. The eyes are very large, bluish gray
or smoke-coloured. It lives on the wild sheep, ibex, and other mountain
animals. In captivity it is far the tamest and gentlest of the large
carnivora, not excepting the puma. Unlike the latter, it is a sleepy,
quiet animal, like a domestic cat. The specimen shown here belonged to a
lady in India, who kept it for some time as a pet. It was then brought
to the Zoological Gardens, where it was more amiable and friendly than
most cats. The writer has entered its cage with the keeper, stroked it,
and patted its head, without in the least ruffling its good-temper. The
heat of the lion-house did not suit it, and it died of consumption.

[Illustration: _Photo by Ottomar Anschütz_]    [_Berlin_

CHEETA

_A cheeta is a hunting-leopard; this one is a particularly large
specimen. The cheetas are dealt with later on in this chapter_]


  THE AMERICAN CATS

The cats, great and small, of the New World resemble those of the Old,
though not quite so closely as the caribou, wapiti deer, and moose of
the northern forests resemble the reindeer, red deer, and elk of Europe.
They are like, but with a difference. The Jaguar and the Ocelot are
respectively larger and far more beautiful than their counterparts, the
leopard and serval cats. But the Puma, the one medium-sized feline
animal which is unspotted, is something unique. The jaguar and puma are
found very far south in South America; and though the jaguar is really a
forest animal, it seems to have wandered out on to the Pampas of
Argentina, perhaps attracted by the immense numbers of cattle, sheep,
and horses on these plains.

[Illustration: _Photo by G. W. Wilson & Co., Ltd._]    [_Aberdeen_

JAGUAR

_The largest and strongest of the Cats of America. A South American species_]


  The Jaguar

The Jaguar is as savage as it is formidable, but does not often attack
men. Its headquarters are the immense forests running from Central
America to Southern Brazil; and as all great forests are little
inhabited, the jaguar is seldom encountered by white men. By the banks
of the great rivers it is semi-aquatic; it swims and climbs with equal
ease, and will attack animals on board boats anchored in the rivers. As
there are few animals of great size in these forests, its great strength
is not often seen exercised, as is that of the lion; but it is the
personification of concentrated force, and its appearance is well worth
studying from that point of view. The spots are larger and squarer than
in the leopard, the head ponderous, the forearms and feet one mass of
muscle, knotted under the velvet skin. On the Amazons it draws its food
alike from the highest tree-tops and the river-bed; in the former it
catches monkeys in the branches, fish in the shallows of the rivers, and
scoops out turtles' eggs from the sand banks. Humboldt, who visited
these regions when the white population was scarce, declared that 4,000
jaguars were killed annually, and 2,000 skins exported from Buenos Ayres
alone. It was clearly common on the Pampas in his day, and made as great
havoc among the cattle and horses as it does to-day.


  The Puma

The Puma is a far more interesting creature. It is found from the
mountains in Montana, next the Canadian boundary, to the south of
Patagonia. Many stories of its ferocity may have some foundation; but
the writer believes there is no recorded instance of the northern puma
attacking man unprovoked, though in the few places where it now survives
it kills cattle-calves and colts. It is relentlessly hunted with dogs,
treed, and shot. As to the puma of the southern plains and central
forests, the natives, whether Indians or Gauchos, agree with the belief,
steadily handed down from the days of the first Spanish conquest, that
the puma is the one wild cat which is naturally friendly to man. The old
Spaniards called it _amigo del Cristiano_ (the Christian's friend); and
Mr. Hudson, in "The Naturalist in La Plata," gives much evidence of this
most curious and interesting tendency: "It is notorious that where the
puma is the only large beast of prey it is perfectly safe for a small
child to go out and sleep on the plain. . . . The puma is always at
heart a kitten, taking unmeasured delight in its frolics; and when, as
often happens, one lives alone in the desert, it will amuse itself for
hours fighting mock battles or playing hide-and-seek with imaginary
companions, or lying in wait and putting all its wonderful strategy in
practice to capture a passing butterfly." From Azara downwards these
stories have been told too often not to be largely true; and in old
natural histories, whose writers believed the puma was a terrible
man-eater, they also appear as "wonderful escapes." One tells how a man
put his _poncho_, or cloak, over his back when crawling up to get a shot
at some duck, and felt something heavy on the end of it. He crept from
under it, and there was a puma sitting on it, which did not offer to
hurt him.

[Illustration: _Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co., Parson's Green_

PUMA

_A puma in the act of lying down, like a domestic cat_]

As space forbids further quotation from Mr. Hudson's experiences, which
should be read, the writer will only add one anecdote which was told him
by Mr. Everard im Thurn, C. B., formerly an official in British Guiana.
He was going up one of the big rivers in his steam-launch, and gave a
passage to an elderly and respectable Cornish miner, who wanted to go up
to a gold-mine. The visitor had his meals on the boat, but at night went
ashore with the men and slung his hammock between two trees, leaving the
cabin to his host. One morning two of the Indian crew brought the
miner's hammock on board with a good deal of laughing and talking. Their
master asked what the joke was, whereupon, pointing to the trees whence
they had unslung the hammock, one said, "Tiger sleep with old man last
night." They were quite in earnest, and pointed out a hollow and marks
on the leaves, which showed that a puma had been lying _just under the
man's hammock_. When asked if he had noticed anything in the night, he
said, "Only the frogs croaking wakened me up." The croaking of the frogs
was probably the hoarse purring of the friendly puma enjoying his
proximity to a sleeping man. Mr. Hudson quotes a case in which four
pumas played round and leapt over a person camping out on the Pampas. He
watched them for some time, and then went to sleep! Many of those
brought to this country come with their tempers ruined by ill-treatment
and hardship; but a large proportion are as tame as cats. Captain
Marshall had one at Marlow which used to follow him on a chain and watch
the boats full of pleasure-seekers at the lock.

[Illustration: _Photo by Ottomar Anschütz_]    [_Berlin_

FEMALE PUMA

_This shows a puma alert and vigilant, with ears pricked forward_]

The puma is always a beautiful creature,--the fur cinnamon-coloured,
tinged with gold; the belly and chest white; the tail long, full, and
round. Though friendly to man, it is a desperate cattle-killer, and
particularly fond of horse-flesh, so much so that it has been suggested
that the indigenous wild horses of America were destroyed by the puma.

There are two other cats of the Pampas--the Grass-cat, not unlike our
wild cat in appearance and habits, and the Wood-cat, or Geoffroy's Cat.
It is a tabby, and a most elegant creature, of which there is a
specimen, at the time of writing, in the Zoo.

[Illustration: _Photo by Ottomar Anschütz_]    [_Berlin_

OCELOT

_Note the elongated spots, and their arrangement in chains_]


  The Ocelot

[Illustration: _Photo by Ottomar Anschütz, Berlin._

OCELOT FROM CENTRAL AMERICA.

This is one of the most beautifully marked of all Mammals. The
ornamental colouring is seldom quite the same in any two specimens.]

In the forest region is also found the most beautiful of the
medium-sized cats. This is the Ocelot, which corresponds somewhat to the
servals, but is not the least like a lynx, as the servals are. It is
entirely a tree-cat, and lives on birds and monkeys. The following
detailed description of its coloration appeared in "Life at the Zoo":--

"Its coat, with the exception perhaps of that of the clouded leopard of
Sumatra, marks the highest development of ornament among four-footed
animals. The Argus pheasant alone seems to offer a parallel to the
beauties of the ocelot's fur, especially in the development of the
wonderful ocelli, which, though never reaching in the beast the perfect
cup-and-ball ornament seen on the wings of the bird, can be traced in
all the early stages of spots and wavy lines, so far as the irregular
shell-shaped rim and dot on the feet, sides, and back, just as in the
subsidiary ornament of the Argus pheasant's feathers. Most of the
ground-tint of the fur is smoky-pearl colour, on which the spots develop
from mere dots on the legs and speckles on the feet and toes to large
egg-shaped ocelli on the flanks. There are also two beautiful
pearl-coloured spots on the back of each ear, like those which form the
common ornaments of the wings of many moths."

[Illustration: _Photo by Ottomar Anschütz_]    [_Berlin_

OCELOT FROM CENTRAL AMERICA

_The ocelot can be tamed and almost domesticated if taken young, and is
occasionally kept as a pet by the forest Indians_]

The nose is pink; the eye large, convex, and translucent.

A tame ocelot described by Wilson, the American naturalist, was most
playful and affectionate, but when fed with flesh was less tractable. It
jumped on to the back of a horse in the stable, and tried to curl up on
its hindquarters. The horse threw the ocelot off and kicked it, curing
it of any disposition to ride. On seeing a horse, the ocelot always ran
off to its kennel afterwards. When sent to England, it caught hold of
and threw down a child of four years old, whom it rolled about with its
paws without hurting it.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

CLOUDED LEOPARD

_It shares with the ocelot the first place among the highly ornamented cats_]


  OTHER WILD CATS

A handsome leopard-like animal is the Clouded Leopard. It is the size of
a small common leopard, but far gentler in disposition. Its fur is not
spotted, but marked with clouded patches, outlined in gray and
olive-brown. Its skin is among the most beautiful of the Cats. It is
found in the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, Sumatra, Formosa, and along the
foot of the Himalaya from Nepal to Assam. Writing of two which he kept,
Sir Stamford Raffles said: "No kitten could be more good-tempered. They
were always courting intercourse with persons passing by, and in the
expression of their countenance showed the greatest delight when
noticed, throwing themselves on their backs, and delighting in being
tickled and rubbed. On board ship there was a small dog, which used to
play around the cage with the animal. It was amusing to watch the
tenderness and playfulness with which the latter came in contact with
its smaller-sized companion." Both specimens were procured from the
banks of the Bencoolin River, in Sumatra. They are generally found near
villages, and are not dreaded by the natives, except in so far that they
destroy their poultry.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

FISHING-CAT

_This wild cat haunts the sides of rivers, and is an expert at catching fish_]

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

MARBLED CAT

_Another beautifully marked cat. The tail is spotted and very long, the
marbled markings being on the body only_]

[Illustration: _Photo by Ottomar Anschütz_]    [_Berlin_

GOLDEN CAT

_Sumatra is the home of this very beautifully coloured cat.
The general tint is that of gold-stone. Sometimes the belly is pure white_]

The number of smaller leopard-cats and tiger-cats is very great. They
fall, roughly, into three groups: those which are yellow and spotted,
those which are gray and spotted, and those which are gray and striped,
or "whole-coloured." There is no wholly gray wild cat, but several
sandy-coloured species. All live on birds and small mammals, and
probably most share the tame cat's liking for fish. Among the
gray-and-spotted cats are the Mottled Cat of the Eastern Himalaya and
Straits Settlements and islands; the Tibetan Tiger-cat; the Fishing-cat
of India and Ceylon, which is large enough to kill lambs, but lives much
on fish and large marsh-snails; Geoffroy's Cat, an American species; the
Leopard-cat of Java and Japan, which seems to have gray fur in Japan
and a fulvous leopard-like skin in India, where it is also called the
Tiger-cat; and the smallest of all wild cats, the little Rusty-spotted
Cat of India. This has rusty spots on a gray ground. "I had a kitten
brought to me," says Dr. Jerdon of the species, "when very young. It
became quite tame, and was the delight and admiration of all who saw it.
When it was about eight months old, I introduced the fawn of a gazelle
into the room where it was. The little creature flew at it the moment it
saw it, seized it by the nape of the neck, and was with difficulty taken
off." Of the whole-coloured wild cats--which include the Bay Cat, the
American Pampas-cat, Pallas' Cat of Tibet and India--the most beautiful
is the Golden Cat of Sumatra, one of which is now in the Zoological
Gardens. It has a coat the colour of gold-stone. The nose is pink, the
eyes large and topaz-coloured, the cheeks striped with white, and the
underparts and lower part of the tail pure white.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

PAMPAS-CAT

_Note the likeness of the thick tail and barred legs to the English wild
cat. "Inexpressibly savage in disposition" (Hudson)_]

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

EYRA CAT

_The lowest and longest of the cats, shaped more like a civet; it is
readily tamed, and makes a charming pet_]

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

BAY CAT]

Four kinds of wild cats are known in South Africa, of which the largest
is the Serval, a short-tailed, spotted animal, with rather more woolly
fur than the leopard's. The length is about 4 feet 2 inches, of which
the tail is only 12 inches. It is found from Algeria to the Cape; but
its favourite haunts, like those of all the wild cats of hot countries,
are in the reeds by rivers. It kills hares, rats, birds, and small
mammals generally.

The Black-footed Wild Cat is another African species. It is a beautiful
spotted-and-lined tabby, the size of a small domestic cat, and as likely
as any other to be the origin of our tabby variety, if tame cats came to
Europe from Africa. At present it is only found south in the Kalahari
Desert and Bechuanaland.

The Kaffir Cat is the common wild cat of the Cape Colony, and a very
interesting animal. It is a whole-coloured tawny, upstanding animal,
with all the indifference to man and generally independent character of
the domestic tom-cat. It is, however, much stronger than the tame cats,
with which it interbreeds freely. In the Colony it is often difficult to
keep male tame cats, for the wild Kaffir cats come down and fight them
in the breeding-season. The Egyptian cat is really the same animal,
slightly modified by climate. A very distinct species is the Jungle-cat,
ranging from India, through Baluchistan, Syria, and East Africa, and
called in Hindustani the Chaus. The European striped wild cat extends to
the Himalaya, where the range of the lion-coloured, yellow-eyed chaus
begins. The chaus has a few black bars inside the legs, which vary in
different regions. The Indian chaus has only one distinctly marked; the
Kaffir cat has four or five. The Egyptian Fettered Cat has been said to
be the origin of the domestic and sacred cats of Egypt. A male chaus is
most formidable when "cornered." General Hamilton chased one, which had
prowled into the cantonments on the lookout for fowls, into a fence.
"After a long time I spied the cat squatting in a hedge," he writes,
"and called for the dogs. When they came, I knelt down and began
clapping my hands and cheering them on. The cat suddenly made a clean
spring at my face. I had just time to catch it as one would a
cricket-ball, and, giving its ribs a strong squeeze, threw it to the
dogs; but not before it had made its teeth meet in my arm just above the
wrist. For some weeks I had to carry my arm in a sling, and I shall
carry the marks of the bite to my grave."

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Son_

KAFFIR CAT

_The common wild cat of South Africa. It will interbreed with domestic
cats_]

The chaus, as will be seen from the above, wanders boldly down into the
outskirts of large towns, cantonments, and bungalows, on the lookout for
chickens and pigeons. Its favourite plan is to lie up at dawn in some
piece of thick cover near to where the poultry wander out to scratch,
feed, and bask. It then pounces on the nearest unhappy hen and rushes
off with it into cover. An acquaintance of the writer once had a number
of fine Indian game fowl, of which he was not a little proud. He noticed
that one was missing every morning for three days, and, not being able
to discover the robber, shut them up in a hen-house. Next morning he
heard a great commotion outside, and one of his bearers came running in
to say that a leopard was in the hen-house. As this was only built of
bamboo or some such light material, it did not seem probable that a
leopard would stay there. Getting his rifle, he went out into the
compound, and cautiously approached the hen-house, in which the fowls
were still making loud protests and cries of alarm. The door was shut;
but some creature--certainly not a leopard--might have squeezed in
through the small entrance used by the hens. He opened the door, and saw
at the back of the hen-house a chaus sitting, with all its fur on end,
looking almost as large as a small leopard. On the floor was one dead
fowl. The impudent jungle-cat rushed for the door, but had the coolness
to seize the hen as it passed, and with this in its mouth rushed past
the owner of the hens, his servants and retainers, and reached a piece
of thick scrub near with its prize.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

AFRICAN CHAUS, OR JUNGLE-CAT

_The chaus is the Indian and African equivalent of our wild cat. It is
equally strong and savage_]

As the chaus is common both in India and Africa, a comparison of its
habits in both continents is somewhat interesting. Jerdon, the Indian
naturalist, writes: "It is the common wild cat from the Himalaya to Cape
Comorin, and from the level of the sea to 7,000 or 8,000 feet elevation.
It frequents alike the jungles and the open country, and is very partial
to long reeds, and grass, sugarcane-fields, and corn-fields. It does
much damage to all game, especially to hares and partridges. Quite
recently I shot a pea-fowl at the edge of a sugarcane-field. One of
these cats sprang out, seized the pea-fowl, and after a short
struggle--for the bird was not quite dead--carried it off before my
astonished eyes, and, in spite of my running up, made his escape with
his booty. It must have been stalking these very birds, so closely did
its spring follow my shot. It is said to breed twice a year, and to have
three or four young at a birth. I have very often had the young brought
to me, but always failed in rearing them; and they always showed a
savage and untamable disposition. I have seen numbers of cats about
villages in various parts of the country that must have been hybrids
between this cat and the tame ones."

The late Sir Oliver St. John was more fortunate with his jungle-cat
kittens. He obtained three in Persia. These he reared till they were
three months old, by which time they became so tame that they would
climb on to his knees at breakfast-time, and behave like ordinary
kittens. One was killed by a greyhound, and another by a scorpion--a
curious fate for a kitten to meet. The survivor then became morose and
ill-tempered, but grew to be a large and strong animal. "Two English
bull-terriers of mine, which would make short work of the largest
domestic cat, could do nothing against my wild cat," says the same
writer. "In their almost daily battles the dogs always got the worst of
it."

[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._]    [_North Finchley_

SERVAL

_This is a spotted cat, with long ears, but no tufts on them, as in the
true lynxes_]

In Africa the chaus haunts the thick cover bordering the rivers. There
it catches not only water-fowl, but also fish. According to Messrs.
Nicolls and Eglington, "its spoor may constantly be seen imprinted on
the mud surrounding such pools in the periodical watercourses as are
constantly being dried up, and in which fish may probably be imprisoned
without chance of escape." The chaus has for neighbour in Africa the
beautiful Serval, a larger wild cat. This species is reddish in colour,
spotted on the body, and striped on the legs. The ears are long, but not
tufted, like those of the lynx. The serval is more common in North and
Central Africa than in the South. But it is also found south of the
Tropic of Capricorn. Messrs. Nicolls and Eglington say of it: "Northward
through South Central Africa it is fairly common. It frequents the thick
bush in the vicinity of rivers. The _karosses_, or mantles, made from
its skins are only worn by the chiefs and very high dignitaries amongst
the native tribes, and are in consequence eagerly sought after, on which
account the species runs a risk of rapid extermination. Its usual prey
consists of the young of the smaller antelopes, francolins, and wild
guinea-fowls, to the latter of which it is a most destructive enemy in
the breeding-season. When obtained young, the serval can be tamed with
little trouble; but it is difficult to rear, and always shows a singular
and almost unaccountable aversion to black men. Its otherwise even
temper is always aroused at the sight of a native. When in anger, it is
by no means a despicable antagonist, and very few dogs would like to
engage in a combat with one single-handed."

[Illustration: _Photo by Ottomar Anschütz_]    [_Berlin_

MALE SERVAL

_The serval is a link between the leopards and tiger-cats, quite large
enough to kill the young of the smaller antelopes_]

[Illustration: _Photo by Ottomar Anschütz_]    [_Berlin_

SERVAL CLIMBING

_Note the active, cat-like method of climbing_]


  The Common Wild Cat

The Wild Cat was once fairly common all over England. A curious story,
obviously exaggerated, shows that traditions of its ferocity were common
at a very early date. The tale is told of the church of Barnborough, in
Yorkshire, between Doncaster and Barnsley. It is said that a man and a
wild cat met in a wood near and began to fight; that the cat drove the
man out of the wood as far as the church, where he took refuge in the
porch; and that both the man and cat were so injured that they died.
According to Dr. Pearce, the event was formerly commemorated by a rude
painting in the church.

Mr. Charles St. John had an experience with a Scotch wild cat very like
that which General Douglas Hamilton tells of the jungle-cat. He heard
many stories of their attacking and wounding men when trapped or when
their escape was cut off, and before long found out that these were
true. "I was fishing in a river in Sutherland," he wrote, "and in
passing from one pool to another had to climb over some rocky ground. In
doing so, I sank almost up to my knees in some rotten heather and moss,
almost upon a wild cat which was concealed under it. I was quite as much
startled as the cat itself could be, when I saw the wild-looking beast
rush so unexpectedly from between my feet, with every hair on her body
on end, making her look twice as large as she really was. I had three
small Skye terriers with me, which immediately gave chase, and pursued
her till she took refuge in a corner of the rocks, where, perched in a
kind of recess out of reach of her enemies, she stood with her hair
bristled out, spitting and growling like a common cat. Having no weapon
with me, I laid down my rod, cut a good-sized stick, and proceeded to
dislodge her. As soon as I was within six or seven feet of the place,
she sprang straight at my face over the dogs' heads. Had I not struck
her in mid-air as she leaped at me, I should probably have received a
severe wound. As it was, she fell with her back half broken among the
dogs, who with my assistance dispatched her. I never saw an animal fight
so desperately, or one which was so difficult to kill. If a tame cat has
nine lives, a wild cat must have a dozen. Sometimes one of these animals
will take up its residence at no great distance from a house, and,
entering the hen-roosts and outbuildings, will carry off fowls in the
most audacious manner, or even lambs. Like other vermin, the wild cat
haunts the shores of lakes and rivers, and it is therefore easy to know
where to set a trap for them. Having caught and killed one of the
colony, the rest of them are sure to be taken if the body of their slain
relative is left in the same place not far from their usual
hunting-ground and surrounded with traps, as every wild cat passing that
way will to a certainty come to it."

The wild cat ranges from the far north of Scotland, across Europe and
Northern Asia, to the northern slopes of the Himalaya. It has always
been known as one of the fiercest and wildest of the cats, large or
small. The continual ill-temper of these creatures is remarkable. In the
experience of the keepers of menageries there is no other so intractably
savage. One presented to the Zoological Gardens by Lord Lilford some
eight years ago still snarls and spits at any one who comes near it,
even the keeper.

[Illustration: _By permission of Percy Leigh Pemberton, Esq._

EUROPEAN WILD CAT

_The British representative of this species is rapidly becoming extinct.
The specimen whose portrait is given here was caught in Argyllshire_]

The food of the wild cat is grouse, mountain-hares, rabbits, small
birds, and probably fish caught in the shallow waters when chance
offers. It is wholly nocturnal; consequently no one ever sees it hunting
for prey. Though it has long been confined to the north and northwest of
Scotland, it is by no means on the verge of extinction. The deer-forests
are saving it to some extent, as they did the golden eagle. Grouse and
hares are rather in the way when deer are being stalked; consequently
the wild cat and the eagle are not trapped or shot. The limits of its
present fastnesses were recently fixed by careful Scotch naturalists at
the line of the Caledonian Canal. Mr. Harvie Brown, in 1880, said that
it only survived in Scotland north of a line running from Oban to the
junction of the three counties of Perth, Forfar, and Aberdeen, and
thence through Banffshire to Inverness. But the conclusion of a writer
in the _Edinburgh Review_ of July, 1898, in a very interesting article
on the survival of British mammals, has been happily contradicted. He
believed that it only survived in the deer-forests of Inverness and
Sutherlandshire. The wild cats shown in the illustrations of these pages
were caught a year later as far south as Argyllshire. The father and two
kittens were all secured, practically unhurt, and purchased by Mr. Percy
Leigh Pemberton for his collection of British mammals at Ashford, in
Kent. This gentleman has had great success in preserving his wild cats.
They, as well as others--martens, polecats, and other small
carnivora--are fed on fresh wild rabbits killed in a warren near;
consequently they are in splendid condition. The old "tom" wild cat,
snarling with characteristic ill-humour, was well supported by the wild
and savage little kittens, which exhibited all the family temper.
Shortly before the capture of these wild cats another family were
trapped in Aberdeenshire and brought to the Zoological Gardens. Four
kittens, beautiful little savages, with bright green eyes, and
uninjured, were safely taken to Regent's Park. But the quarters given
them were very small and cold, and they all died. Two other full-grown
wild cats brought there a few years earlier were so dreadfully injured
by the abominable steel traps in which they were caught that they both
died of blood-poisoning.

[Illustration: _By permission of Percy Leigh Pemberton, Esq._

SCOTCH WILD CATS

_These wildcats, the property of Mr. P. Leigh Pemberton, though
regularly fed and well treated, show their natural bad-temper in their
faces_]

The real wild cats differ in their markings on the body, some being more
clearly striped, while others are only brindled. But they are all alike
in the squareness and thickness of head and body, and in the short tail,
ringed with black, and growing larger at the tip, which ends off like a
shaving-brush.

It may well be asked, Which of the many species of wild cats mentioned
above is the ancestor of our domestic cats? Probably different species
in different countries. The African Kaffir cat, the Indian leopard-cat,
the rusty-spotted cat of India, and the European wild cat all breed with
tame cats. It is therefore probable that the spotted, striped, and
brindled varieties of tame cats are descended from wild species which
had those markings. The so-called red tame cats are doubtless descended
from the tiger-coloured wild cats. But it is a curious fact that, though
the spotted gray-tabby wild varieties are the least common, that colour
is most frequent in the tame species.


  THE LYNXES

In the Lynxes we seem to have a less specially cat-like form. They are
short-tailed, high in the leg, and broad-faced. Less active than the
leopards and tiger-cats, and able to live either in very hot or very
cold countries, they are found from the Persian deserts to the far north
of Siberia and Canada.

The Caracal is a southern, hot-country lynx. It has a longer tail than
the others, but the same tufted ears. It seems a link between the lynxes
and the jungle-cats. It is found in India, Palestine, Persia, and
Mesopotamia. In India it was trained, like the cheeta, to catch birds,
gazelles, and hares. The Common Lynx is probably the same animal,
whether found in Norway, Russia, the Carpathians, Turkestan, China, or
Tibet. The Canadian Lynx is also very probably the same, with local
differences of colour. The Northern Lynx is the largest feline animal
left in Europe, and kills sheep and goats equally with hares and
squirrels. The beautiful fur, of pale cinnamon and light gray, is much
admired. In some southern districts of America we have the Red Lynx, or
so-called "wild cat," which is distinct from the lynx of Canada. The
Mediterranean or Spanish Lynx seems likewise entitled to rank as a
distinct species.

Of the lynxes the Caracals are perhaps the most interesting, from their
capacity for domestication. They are found in Africa in the open desert
country, whereas the Serval is found in the thick bush. In Africa it is
believed to be the most savage and untamable of the Cats. That is
probably because the Negro and the Kaffir never possessed the art of
training animals, from the elephant downwards. In India the caracal's
natural prey are the fawns of deer and antelope, pea-fowl, hares, and
floricans. The caracal is the quickest with its feet of any of the Cats.
One of its best-known feats is to spring up and catch birds passing over
on the wing at a height of six or eight feet from the ground. A writer,
in the Naturalist's Library, notes that, besides being tamed to catch
deer, pea-fowl, and cranes, the caracal was used in "pigeon matches."
Two caracals were backed one against the other to kill pigeons. The
birds were fed on the ground, and the caracals suddenly let loose among
them, to strike down as many as each could before the birds escaped.
Each would sometimes strike down with its forepaws ten or a dozen
pigeons. "Caracal" means in Turkish "Black Ear," in allusion to the
colour of the animal's organ of hearing.

[Illustration: _Photo by Ottomar Anschütz_]    [_Berlin_

LYNX

_This animal is a uniformly coloured species common to India and Africa_]

The Common Lynx is a thick-set animal, high in the leg, with a square
head and very strong paws and forearms. It is found across the whole
northern region of Europe and Asia. Although never known in Britain in
historic times, it is still occasionally seen in parts of the Alps and
in the Carpathians; it is also common in the Caucasus. It is mainly a
forest animal, and very largely nocturnal; therefore it is seldom seen,
and not often hunted. If any enemy approaches, the lynx lies perfectly
still on some branch or rock, and generally succeeds in avoiding
notice. The lynx is extremely active; it can leap great distances, and
makes its attack usually in that way. When traveling, it trots or
gallops in a very dog-like fashion. Where sheep graze at large on
mountains, as in the Balkans and in Greece, the lynx is a great enemy of
the flocks. In Norway, where the animal is now very rare, there is a
tradition that it is more mischievous than the wolf, and a high price is
set on its head.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

EUROPEAN LYNX

_The largest of the cat tribe left in Europe_]

In Siberia and North Russia most of the lynx-skins taken are sold to the
Chinese. The lynx-skins brought here are mainly those of the Canadian
species. The fur is dyed, and used for the busbies of the officers in
the hussar regiments. These skins vary much in colour, and in length and
quality of fur. The price varies correspondingly. The Canadian lynx
lives mainly on the wood-hares and on the wood-grouse of the North
American forests. The flesh of the lynx is said to be good and tender.

[Illustration: _By permission of Mr. S. B. Gundy_]    [_Toronto_

CANADIAN LYNX

_Great numbers of these are trapped every year for the sake of their fur_]

Brehm says of the Siberian lynx: "It is a forest animal in the strictest
sense of the word. But in Siberia it occurs only singly, and is rarely
captured. Its true home is in the thickest parts in the interior of the
woods, and these it probably never leaves except when scarcity of food
or the calls of love tempt it to wander to the outskirts. Both
immigrants and natives hold the hunting of the lynx in high esteem. This
proud cat's activity, caution and agility, and powers of defense arouse
the enthusiasm of every sportsman, and both skin and flesh are valued,
the latter not only by the Mongolian tribes, but also by the Russian
hunters. The lynx is seldom captured in fall-traps; he often renders
them useless by walking along the beam and stepping on the lever, and he
usually leaps over the spring-traps in his path. So only the rifle and
dogs are left."

The Red Lynx is a small American variety, the coat of which turns tawny
in summer, when it much resembles a large cat. It is called in some
parts of the United States the Mountain-cat. This lynx is 30 inches long
in the body, with a tail 6 inches long. It is found on the eastern or
Atlantic side of the continent, and by no means shuns the neighbourhood
of settlements.

[Illustration: _Photo by Ottomar Anschütz_]    [_Berlin_

CHEETAS

_Cheetas can be distinguished at a glance from the ordinary leopards by
the solid black spots upon the back instead of the "rosettes."_]


  THE CHEETA

  The Non-Retractile-Clawed Cat

The Cheeta, or Hunting-leopard, is the only example of this particular
group, though there was an extinct form, whose remains are found in the
Siwalik Hills, in the north of India. It is a very widely dispersed
animal, found in Persia, Turkestan, and the countries east of the
Caspian, and in India so far as the lower part of the centre of the
peninsula. It is also common in Africa, where until recent years it was
found in Cape Colony and Natal. Now it is banished to the Kalahari
Desert, the Northern Transvaal, and Bechuanaland.

The cheeta is more dog-like than any other cat. It stands high on the
leg, and has a short, rounded head. Its fur is short and rather woolly,
its feet rounded, and its claws, instead of slipping back into sheaths
like a lion's, are only partly retractile.

[Illustration: _Photo by York & Son_]    [_Notting Hill_

A CHEETA HOODED

_The cheeta is not unhooded until fairly near his quarry, when he is
given a sight of the game, and a splendid race ensues_]

Mr. Lockwood Kipling gives the following account of the cheeta and its
keepers: "The only point where real skill comes into play in dealing
with the hunting-leopard is in catching the adult animal when it has
already learnt the swift, bounding onset, its one accomplishment. The
young cheeta is not worth catching, for it has not yet learnt its trade,
nor can it be taught in captivity. . . . There are certain trees where
these great dog-cats (for they have some oddly canine characteristics)
come to play and whet their claws. The hunters find such a tree, and
arrange nooses of deer-sinew round it, and wait the event. The animal
comes and is caught by the leg, and it is at this point that the trouble
begins. It is no small achievement for two or three naked, ill-fed men
to secure so fierce a capture and carry it home tied on a cart. Then his
training begins. He is tied in all directions, principally from a thick
rope round his loins, while a hood fitted over his head effectually
blinds him. He is fastened on a strong cot-bedstead, and the keepers and
their wives and families reduce him to submission by starving him and
keeping him awake. His head is made to face the village street, and for
an hour at a time, several times a day, his keepers make pretended
rushes at him, and wave clothes, staves, and other articles in his face.
He is talked to continually, and the women's tongues are believed to be
the most effective of things to keep him awake. No created being could
withstand the effects of hunger, want of sleep, and feminine scolding;
and the poor cheeta becomes piteously, abjectly tame. He is taken out
for a walk occasionally--if a slow crawl between four attendants, all
holding hard, can be called a walk--and his promenades are always
through the crowded streets and bazaars, where the keepers' friends are
to be found; but the people are rather pleased than otherwise to see the
raja's cheetas amongst them." Later, when the creature is tamed, "the
cheeta's bedstead is like that of the keeper, and leopard and man are
often curled up under the same blanket! When his bedfellow is restless,
the keeper lazily stretches out an arm from his end of the coat and
dangles a tassel over the animal's head, which seems to soothe him. In
the early morning I have seen a cheeta sitting up on his couch, a red
blanket half covering him, and his tasseled red hood awry, looking
exactly like an elderly gentleman in a nightcap, as he yawns with the
irresolute air of one who is in doubt whether to rise or to turn in for
another nap."

[Illustration: _Photo by Ottomar Anschütz_]    [_Berlin_

A CHEETA ON THE LOOK-OUT

_Cheetas are common to Africa and India. By the native princes of the
latter country they are much used for taking antelope and other game_]

This charming and accurate description shows the cheeta at home. In the
field he is quite another creature. He is driven as near as possible to
the game, and then unhooded and given a sight of them. Sir Samuel Baker
thus describes a hunt in which a cheeta was used: "The chase began after
the right-hand buck, which had a start of about 110 yards. It was a
magnificent sight to see the extraordinary speed of pursuer and pursued.
The buck flew over the level surface, followed by the cheeta, which was
laying out at full stretch, with its long, thick tail brandishing in the
air. They had run 200 yards, when the keeper gave the word, and away we
went as fast as our horses could carry us. The horses could go over this
clear ground, where no danger of a fall seemed possible. I never saw
anything to equal the speed of the buck and the cheeta; we were
literally nowhere, although we were going as hard as horse-flesh could
carry us; but we had a glorious view. The cheeta was gaining in the
course, while the buck was exerting every muscle for life or death in
its last race. Presently, after a course of about a quarter of a mile,
the buck doubled like a hare, and the cheeta lost ground as it shot
ahead, instead of turning quickly, being only about thirty yards in rear
of the buck. Recovering itself, it turned on extra steam, and the race
appeared to recommence at increased speed. The cheeta was determined to
win, and at this moment the buck made another double in the hope of
shaking off its terrible pursuer; but this time the cheeta ran cunning,
and was aware of the former game. It turned as sharply as the buck.
Gathering itself together for a final effort, it shot forward like an
arrow, picked up the distance which remained between them, and in a
cloud of dust we could for one moment distinguish two forms. The next
instant the buck was on its back, and the cheeta's fangs were fixed like
an iron vice in its throat. The course run was about 600 yards, and it
was worth a special voyage to India to see that hunt."

[Illustration: _Photo by T. Fall_]    [_Baker Street_

WHITE SHORT-HAIRED

_Most white cats are not albinoes--that is to say, they have ordinarily
coloured and not red eyes_]


  THE DOMESTIC CAT

  By Louis Wain

Of the domestication of the cat we know very little, but it is recorded
that a tribe of cats was trained to retrieve--_i.e._, to fetch and carry
game. In our own time I have seen many cats fetch and carry corks and
newspapers, and on one occasion pounce upon a small roach at the end of
a line and place it at its owner's feet. Gamekeepers whom I have known
agree that, for cunning, craftiness, and tenacity in attaining an
object, the semi-wild cat of the woods shows far superior intelligence
to the rest of the woodland denizens. It is quite a usual thing to hear
of farm cats entering upon a snake-hunting expedition with the greatest
glee, and showing remarkable readiness in pitching upon their quarry and
pinning it down until secured. These farm cats are quite a race by
themselves. Of decided sporting proclivities, they roam the countryside
with considerable fierceness, and yet revert to the domesticity of the
farmhouse fireside as though innocent of roving instincts. They are
spasmodic to a degree in their mode of life, and apparently work out one
mood before entering upon another. It will be remembered that this
spasmodic tendency--the true feline independence, by the bye--is and has
been characteristic of the cat throughout its history, and any one who
has tried to overcome it has met with failure.

[Illustration: _Photo by T. Fall_]    [_Baker Street_

LONG-HAIRED WHITE

_White cats with blue eyes are generally deaf, or at all events hard of
hearing_]

Watch your own cat, and you will see that he will change his
sleeping-quarters periodically; and if he can find a newspaper
conveniently placed, he will prefer it to lie upon, before anything
perhaps, except a cane-bottomed chair, to which all cats are very
partial. If you keep a number of cats, as I do, you will find that they
are very imitative, and what one gets in the habit of doing they will
all do in time: for instance, one of my cats took to sitting with his
front paws inside my tall hat and his body outside, and this has become
a catty fashion in the family, whether the object be a hat, cap, bonnet,
small basket, box, or tin. If by chance one of the cats is attacked by a
dog, a peculiar cry from the aggrieved animal will immediately awaken
the others out of their lethargy or sleep, and bring them fiercely to
the rescue. They are, too, particularly kind and nice to the old cat,
and are tolerant only of strange baby kittens and very old cats in the
garden as long as they do not interfere with the "catty" subject. The
same quality obtains in Spain or Portugal, where a race of scavenging
cats exists, which go about in droves or families, and are equal to
climbing straight walls, big trees, chimneys, and mountainsides. Long,
lanky, and thin, they are built more on the lines of a greyhound than
the ordinary cat, and are more easily trained in tricks than home cats.

[Illustration: _Photo by Fratelli Alinari_]    [_Florence_

MACKEREL-MARKED TABBY

_Tabbies are probably the best known and the commonest cats_]

[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._]    [_North Finchley_

CAT CARRYING KITTEN

_A unique photograph, showing the way in which the cat carries its
young_]

[Illustration: _Photo by E. Landor, Ealing_

BLUE LONG-HAIRED, OR PERSIAN

_Persian or long-haired cats are of various colours; this is one of the
least common_]

[Illustration: _By permission of Lady Alexander_

ORANGE TABBY

_A champion winner of 90 first prizes_]

[Illustration: _Photo by E. Landor, Ealing_

SMOKE AND BLUE LONG-HAIRED

_Two pretty and valuable Persian kittens_]

[Illustration: _Photo by E. Landor, Ealing_

LONG-HAIRED TABBY

_A pretty pose_]

[Illustration: _Photo by E. Landor, Ealing_

SILVER PERSIAN

_A handsome specimen_]

[Illustration: _Photo by E. Landor, Ealing_

SMOKE LONG-HAIRED, OR PERSIAN

_A new breed_]

The Tortoiseshell has long been looked upon as the national cat of
Spain, and in fact that country is overrun with the breed, ranging from
a dense black and brown to lighter shades of orange brown and white. The
pure tortoiseshell might be called a black and tan, with no white,
streaked like a tortoiseshell comb if possible, and with wonderful amber
eyes. It is characteristic of their intelligence that they will
invariably find their way home, and will even bring that mysterious
instinct to bear which guides them back long distances to the place of
their birth; and, with regard to this cat, the stories of almost
impossible journeys made are not one bit exaggerated. The tom-cats of
this breed are very rare in England; I myself have only known of the
existence of six in fifteen years, and of these but three are recorded
in the catalogues of the cat shows.

[Illustration: SHORT-HAIRED BLUE

_This champion cat belongs to Lady Alexander, by whose kind permission
it is here reproduced_]

The Black Cat has many of the characteristics of the tortoiseshell, but
is essentially a town cat, and is wont to dream his life away in shady
corners, in underground cellars, in theatres, and in all places where he
can, in fact, retire to monastic quiet. The black cat of St. Clement
Danes Church was one of the remarkable cats of London. It was his wont
to climb on to the top of the organ-pipes and enjoy an occasional
musical concert alone. A christening or a wedding was his pride; and
many people can vouch for a lucky wedding who had the good-fortune to be
patronised by the black cat of St. Clement Danes, which walked solemnly
down the aisle of the church in front of the happy couples.

My old pet Peter was a black-and-white cat, and, like most of his kind,
was one of the most remarkable cats for intelligence I have ever known.
A recital of his accomplishments would, however, have very few
believers--a fact I find existing in regard to all really intelligent
cats. There are so many cats of an opposite character, and people will
rarely take more than a momentary trouble to win the finer nature of an
animal into existence. Suffice it to say, that Peter would lie and die,
sit up with spectacles on his nose and with a post-card between his
paws--a trick I have taught many people's cats to do. He would also mew
silent meows when bid, and wait at the door for my home-coming. For a
long time, too, it was customary to hear weird footfalls at night
outside the bedroom doors, and visitors to the house were a little more
superstitious as to their cause than we were ourselves. We set a watch
upon the supposed ghost, but sudden opening of the doors discovered only
the mystic form of Peter sitting purring on the stairs. He was, however,
ultimately caught in the act of lifting the corner of the door-rug and
letting it fall back in its place, and he had grown quite expert in his
method of raising and dropping it at regular intervals until he heard
that his signals had produced the required effect, and the door was
opened to admit him.

[Illustration: _Photo by T. Fall_]    [_Baker Street_

SILVER TABBY

_A beautiful variety of a typical cat_]

White Cats I might call musical cats, for it is quite characteristic of
the albinoes that noises rarely startle them out of their simpering,
loving moods. The scraping of a violin, which will scare an ordinary cat
out of its senses, or the thumping of a piano, which would terrorise
even strong-nerved cats, would only incite a white cat to a happier
mood. Certainly all white cats are somewhat deaf, or lack acute quality
of senses; but this failing rather softens the feline nature than
becomes dominant as a weakness.

The nearest to perfection perhaps, and yet at the same time extremely
soft and finely made, is the Blue Cat, rare in England as an English
cat, but common in most other countries, and called in America the
Maltese Cat--for fashion's sake probably, since it is too widely
distributed there to be localised as of foreign origin. It is out in the
mining districts and agricultural quarters, right away from the beaten
tracks of humanity, where the most wonderful breeds of cats develop in
America; and caravan showmen have told me that at one time it was quite
a business for them to carry cats into these wildernesses, and sell them
to rough, hardy miners, who dealt out death to each other without
hesitation in a quarrel, but who softened to the appeal of an animal
which reminded them of homelier times.

[Illustration: _Photo by E. Lander_]    [_Ealing_

SHORT-HAIRED TABBY

_This is perhaps the most famous cat now living. It has won no less than
200 prizes_]

One man told me that upon one occasion he sold eight cats at an isolated
mining township in Colorado, and some six days' journey farther on he
was caught up by a man on horseback from the township, who had ridden
hard to overtake the menagerie caravan, with the news that one of the
cats had climbed a monster pine-tree, and that all the other cats had
followed in his wake; food and drink had been placed in plenty at the
foot of the tree, but that the cats had been starving, frightened out of
their senses, for three days, and despite all attempts to reach them
they had only climbed higher and higher out of reach into the uppermost
and most dangerous branches of the pine. The showman hastened with his
guide across country to the township, only to find that in the interval
one bright specimen of a man belonging to the village had suggested
felling the tree and so rescuing the cats from the pangs of absolute
starvation, should they survive the ordeal. A dynamite cartridge had
been used to blast the roots of the pine, and a rope attached to its
trunk had done the rest and brought the monster tree to earth, only,
however, at the expense of all the cats, for not one survived the
tremendous fall and shaking. A sad and tearful procession followed the
remains of the cats to their hastily dug grave, and thereafter a bull
mastiff took the place of the cats in the township, an animal more in
character with the lives of its inhabitants.

[Illustration: _Photo by E. Lander_]    [_Ealing_

LONG-HAIRED ORANGE

_A good specimen of this variety is always large and finely furred_]

Analogous to this case of the traveling menageries, we have the great
variety of blues, silvers, and whites which are characteristic of
Russia. There is a vast tableland of many thousands of miles in extent,
intersected by caravan routes to all the old countries of the ancients,
and it is not astonishing to hear of attempts being made to steal the
wonderful cats of Persia, China, and Northern India, as well as those of
the many dependent and independent tribes which bound the Russian
kingdom. But it is a remarkable fact that none but the blues can live in
the attenuated atmosphere of the higher mountainous districts through
which they are taken before arriving in Russian territory. It is no
uncommon thing to find a wonderful complexity of blue cats shading to
silver and white in most Russian villages, or blue cats of remarkable
beauty, but with a dash of tabby-marking running through their coats.
Their life, too, is lived at the two extremes. In the short Russian
summer they roam the woodlands, pestered by a hundred poisonous insects;
in the winter they are imprisoned within the four walls of a
snow-covered cottage, and are bound down prisoners to domesticity till
the thaw sets in again. Many of the beautiful furs which come to us from
Russia are really the skins of these cats, the preparation of which for
market has grown into a large and thriving industry. The country about
Kronstadt, in the Southern Carpathian Mountains of Austria, is famous
for its finely developed animals; and here, too, has grown up a colony
of sable-coloured cats, said to be of Turkish origin, where the pariahs
take the place of cats.

[Illustration: _Photo by C. Reid_]    [_Wishaw, N.B._

MANX

_These tailless cats are well known; they were formerly called "Cornwall
cats." Note the length of the hind legs, which is one of the
characteristics of this variety of the domestic cat_]

[Illustration: _Photo by E. Lander_]    [_Ealing_

SIAMESE

_These strikingly coloured cats are now fairly numerous, but command
high prices. They have white kittens, which subsequently become
coloured_]

[Illustration: BLUE LONG-HAIRED, OR PERSIAN

_This cat belonged to Queen Victoria_]

[Illustration: SILVER PERSIANS

_Three of Mrs. Champion's celebrated cats_]

The Tabby is remarkable to us in that it is characteristic of our own
country, and no other colour seems to have been popular until our own
times. If you ask any one which breed of cat is the real domestic cat,
you will be told the tabby, probably because it is so well known to all.
The complexity of the tabby is really remarkable, and for shape and
variety of colouring it has no equal in any other tribe of cat. It has
comprised in its nature all the really great qualities of the feline,
and all its worst attributes. You can truthfully say of one of its
specimens that it attaches itself to the individual, while of another in
the same litter you will get an element of wildness. A third of the same
parents will sober down to the house, but take only a passing notice of
people. You can teach it anything if it is tractable, make it follow
like a dog, come to whistle, but it will have its independence.

[Illustration: _Photo by E. Lander_]    [_Ealing_

LONG-HAIRED CHINCHILLA

_Note the beautiful "fluffiness" of this cat's fur_]

The Sand-coloured Cat, with a whole-coloured coat like the rabbit, which
we know as the Abyssinian or Bunny Cat, is a strong African type. On the
Gold Coast it comes down from the inland country with its ears all
bitten and torn away in its fights with rivals. It has been acclimatised
in England, and Devonshire and Cornwall have both established a new and
distinct tribe out of its parentage. The Manx Cat is nearly allied to
it, and a hundred years ago the tailless cat was called the Cornwall
Cat, not the Manx.

Siam sends us a regal animal in the Siamese Royal Cat; it has a brown
face, legs, and tail, a cream-coloured body, and mauve or blue eyes. The
Siamese take great care of their cats, for it is believed that the souls
of the departed are transmitted into the bodies of animals, and the cat
is a favourite of their creed; consequently the cats are highly
cultivated and intelligent, and can think out ways and means to attain
an end.

I have tried for years to trace the origin of the Long-haired or Persian
Cats, but I cannot find that they were known to antiquity, and even the
records of later times only mention the Short-haired. European
literature does not give us an insight into the subject; and unless
Chinese history holds some hidden lights in its records, we are thrown
back upon the myths of Persia to account for the wonderful modern
contribution of the long-haired cat, which is gradually breeding out
into as many varieties as the short-haired, with this difference--that
greater care and trouble are taken over the long-haired, and they will,
as a breed, probably soon surpass the short-haired for intelligence and
culture.

[Illustration: _Photo by H. Trevor Jessop_

THE "BUN" OR "TICKED" SHORT-HAIRED CAT

_This is one of the rarest of cats. It belongs to Miss K. Maud Bennett
who has kindly had it photographed for this work_]

One variety is quite new and distinctive--the Smoke Long-haired, whose
dark brown or black surface-coat, blown aside, shows an under coat of
blue and silver, with a light brown frill round its neck. All the other
long-haired cats can pair with the short-haired for colouring and
marking, but I have not yet seen a Bunny Long-haired.




  CHAPTER III

  _THE FOSSA, CIVETS, AND ICHNEUMONS_


  THE FOSSA

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

FOSSA

_The only feline animal of Madagascar_]

In the Fossa Madagascar possesses an altogether peculiar animal. It is a
very slender, active creature, with all its proportions much elongated.
It is of a bright bay uniform colour, with thick fur, and has sharp
retractile claws. It has been described as the natural connecting link
between the Civets and the Cats, anatomically speaking. Thus it has
retractile claws, but does not walk on its toes, like cats, but on the
soles of its feet (the hind pair of which is quite naked), like a civet.
Very few have been brought to captivity; indeed, the first time that one
was exhibited in the Zoological Gardens was only ten years ago. Formerly
stories were told of its ferocity, which was compared to that of the
tiger. These tales were naturally the subject of ridicule. The fossa
usually attains a length of about 5 feet from snout to tail, and is the
largest of the carnivora of Madagascar. A fine young specimen lately
brought to London, and in the Zoological Gardens at the time of writing,
is now probably full grown. It is about the same length and height as a
large ocelot, but with a far longer tail, and is more slenderly built.
The extreme activity of the fossa no doubt renders it a very formidable
foe to other and weaker creatures. It has been described by a recent
writer as being entirely nocturnal, and preying mainly on the lemurs and
birds which haunt the forests of Madagascar. The animal kept at the
Zoological Gardens has become fairly tame. It is fed mainly on chickens'
heads and other refuse from poulterers' shops. Apparently it has no
voice of any kind. It neither growls, roars, nor mews, though, when
irritated or frightened, it gives a kind of hiss like a cat.

[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._]    [_North Finchley_

LARGE INDIAN CIVET

_Civets are nocturnal in their habits. That shown here has just
awakened in broad daylight_]


  THE CIVETS AND GENETS

The Civets are the first marked deviation from the Cat Family. Their
bodies are elongated, their legs short, their claws only partially
retractile. Some of them have glands holding a strong scent, much
esteemed in old days in Europe, when "The Civet Cat" was a common
inn-sign even in England. The civets are generally beautifully marked
with black stripes and bands on gray. But none of them grow to any large
size, and the family has never had the importance of those which contain
the large carnivora, like the true cats or bears. Many of the tribe and
its connections are domesticated. Some scholars have maintained that the
cat of the ancient Greeks was one of them--the common genet. The fact is
that both this and the domestic cat were kept by the ancients; and the
genet is still used as a cat by the peasants of Greece and Southern
Italy.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

AFRICAN CIVET

_This is one of the largest of the Civet Tribe. The perfume known as
"civet" is obtained from it_]

The African Civet and Indian Civet are large species. The former is
common almost throughout Africa. Neither of them seems to climb trees,
but they find abundance of food by catching small ground-dwelling
animals and birds. They are good swimmers. The Indian civet has a
handsome skin, of a beautiful gray ground-colour, with black collar and
markings. It is from these civets that the civet-scent is obtained. They
are kept in cages for this purpose, and the secretion is scooped from
the glands with a wooden spoon. They produce three or four kittens in
May or June. Several other species very little differing from these are
known as the Malabar, Javan, and Burmese Civets.

[Illustration: _Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co._]    [_Parson's Green_

AFRICAN CIVET

_This photograph shows the finely marked fur of the species and front
view of the head_]

The Rasse is smaller, has no erectile crest, and its geographical
distribution extends from Africa to the Far East. It is commonly kept as
a domestic pet. Like all the civets, it will eat fruit and vegetables.

The Genets, though resembling the civets, have no scent-pouch. They are
African creatures, but are found in Italy, Spain, and Greece, and in
Palestine, and even in the south of France. Beautifully spotted or
striped, they are even longer and lower than the civet-cats, and steal
through the grass like weasels.

The Common Genet is black and gray, the latter being the ground-colour.
The tail is very long, the length being about 15 inches, while that of
the body and head is only 19 inches. Small rodents, snakes, eggs and
birds are its principal food. It is kept in Southern Europe for killing
rats. Several other very similar forms are found in Africa. The presence
of such a very Oriental-looking animal in Europe is something of a
surprise, though many persons forget that our South European animals are
very like those of Africa and the East. The porcupine, which is common
in Italy and Spain, and the lynx and Barbary ape are instances. A tame
genet kept by an acquaintance of the writer in Italy was absolutely
domesticated like a tame mongoose. It had very pretty fur, gray, marbled
and spotted with black, and no disagreeable odour, except a scent of
musk. It was a most active little creature, full of curiosity, and
always anxious to explore not only every room, but every cupboard and
drawer in the house. Perhaps this was due to its keenness in hunting
mice, a sport of which it never tired. It did not play with the mice
when caught as a cat does, but ate them at once.

The Lingsangs, an allied group, are met with in the East, from India to
Borneo and Java. They are more slender than the genets, and more
arboreal. Of the Nepalese Linsang Hodgson writes: "This animal is
equally at home on trees and on the ground. It breeds and dwells in the
hollows of decaying trees. It is not gregarious, and preys mainly on
living animals." A tame female owned by him is stated to have been
wonderfully docile and tractable, very sensitive to cold, and very fond
of being petted. There is an allied West African species.

The Palm-civets and Hemigales still further increase this numerous
tribe. Slight differences of skull, of the markings of the tail, which
may only have rings on the base, and of the foot and tail, are the
naturalist's guide to their separation from the other civets;
Hardwicke's Hemigale has more zebra-like markings. Borneo, Africa,
India, and the Himalaya all produce these active little carnivora; but
the typical palm-civets are Oriental. They are sometimes known as
Toddy-cats, because they drink the toddy from the jars fastened to catch
the juice. The groves of cocoanut-palm are their favourite haunts; but
they will make a home in holes in the thatched roofs of houses, and even
in the midst of cities. There are many species in the group.

The Binturong is another omnivorous, tree-haunting animal allied to the
civets; but it has a prehensile tail, which few other mammals of the Old
World possess. It is a blunt-nosed, heavy animal, sometimes called the
Bear-cat. Very little is known of its habits. It is found from the
Eastern Himalaya to Java.

[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._]    [_North Finchley_

SUMATRAN CIVET

_A small and very beautiful member of the Civet Family. It feeds largely
on fish_]

The last of the Civet Family is Bennett's Civet, the only instance of a
cat-like animal with partly webbed feet. Found in the Malay Peninsula
and in Sumatra and Borneo, it is very rare, but is known to feed on fish
and crustacea, and to be semi-aquatic. The author of the chapter on the
civets in the Naturalist's Library says, "It may be likened to a
climbing otter."


  THE MONGOOSE AND ICHNEUMON FAMILY

These are a numerous and useful race of small mammals, feeding mainly on
the creatures most annoying to man within tropical countries. Snakes,
the eggs of the crocodile, large lizard, rats, mice, and other creatures
known generally as "vermin," are their favourite food. It must be added
that, though they are most useful in destroying these, they also kill
all kinds of birds, and that their introduction into some of the West
India Islands, for the purpose of killing rats, has been fatal to the
indigenous bird life.


  The Indian Mongoose

This universal favourite is one of the largest, the head and body being
from 15 to 18 inches long, and the tail 14 inches. The fur is loose and
long, and capable of being erected. As in all the tribe, the tint is a
"pepper and salt," the "pepper" colour being sometimes blackish and
sometimes red, but a speckled appearance characterises the whole group.
This is the animal supposed to be immune from snake-bite. It is possibly
so to some extent, for it kills and eats the poisonous snakes, and it is
now known that the _eating_ of snake-poison tends to give the same
protection as inoculation does against certain diseases. But it is
certain that in most cases the mongoose, by its activity, and by setting
up the hair on its body, which makes the snake "strike short," saves
itself from being bitten.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

GENET

_The genets are smaller than some civets, but allied to them. One was
anciently domesticated like a cat_]

Many descriptions of the encounters between these brave little animals
and the cobra have been written. Here is one of the less known: "One of
our officers had a tame mongoose, a charming little pet. Whenever we
could procure a cobra--and we had many opportunities--we used to turn it
out in an empty storeroom, which had a window at some height from the
ground, so that it was perfectly safe to stand there and look on. The
cobra, when dropped from the bag or basket, would wriggle into one of
the corners of the room and there coil himself up. The mongoose showed
the greatest excitement on being brought to the window, and the moment
he was let loose would eagerly jump down into the room, when his
behaviour became very curious and interesting. He would instantly see
where the snake was, and rounding his back, and making every hair on his
body stand out at right angles, which made his body appear twice as
large as it really was, he would approach the cobra on tiptoe, making a
peculiar humming noise. The snake, in the meantime, would show signs of
great anxiety, and I fancy of fear, erecting his head and hood ready to
strike when his enemy came near enough. The mongoose kept running
backwards and forwards in front of the snake, gradually getting to
within what appeared to us to be striking distance. The snake would
strike at him repeatedly, and _appeared_ to hit him, but the mongoose
continued his comic dance, apparently unconcerned. Suddenly, and with a
movement so rapid that the eye could not follow it, he would pin the
cobra by the back of the head. One could hear the sharp teeth crunch
into the skull, and, when all was over, see the mongoose eating the
snake's head and part of his body with great gusto. Our little favourite
killed a great many cobras, and, so far as I can see, never was bitten."

[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._]    [_North Finchley_

TWO-SPOTTED PALM-CIVET

_This is a West African species, which, with an allied form from East
Africa, represents the palm-civets in the Dark Continent_]

The Egyptian Mongoose, or Ichneumon, has an equally great reputation for
eating the eggs of the crocodile; and the Kaffir Mongoose, a rather
larger South African species, is kept as a domestic animal to kill rats,
mice, and snakes, of which, like the Indian kind, it is a deadly foe.
There are more than twenty other species, most of much the same
appearance and habits.

[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._]    [_North Finchley_

MASKED PALM-CIVET

_A whole-coloured species of the group_]

The smooth-nosed mongoose tribe are closely allied creatures in South
Africa, mainly burrowing animals, feeding both on flesh and fruit. The
Cusimanses of Abyssinia and West Africa are also allied to them. Their
habits are identical with the above.


  The Meerkats, or Suricates

Most people who have read Frank Buckland's Life will remember the
suricate which was his chief pet in Albany Street. The Suricates or
Meerkats, burrow all over the South African veldt, especially in the
sandy parts, where they sit up outside their holes like prairie-dogs,
and are seen by day. They are sociable animals, and make most amusing
pets. A full-grown one is not much larger than a hedgehog, but more
slender. It barks like a prairie-dog, and has many other noises of
pleasure or anger. A lady, the owner of one, writes in _Country Life_:
"It gets on well with the dogs and cats, especially the latter, as they
are more friendly to her, and allow her to sleep by their side and on
the top of them. One old cat brings small birds to her (her favourite
is a sparrow), and makes her usual cry, and Janet runs to her and
carries off the bird, which she eats, feathers and all, in a very few
minutes, if she is hungry." When near a farm, the meerkats will devour
eggs and young chickens. They are also said to eat the eggs of the large
leopard-tortoise. The commonest is the Slender-tailed Meerkat. It is
found all over South Africa, and is very common in the Karroo. It eats
insects and grubs as well as small animals, and is commonly kept as a
pet throughout the Colony.

We have now traced the long line of the Carnivora from the lordly Lion,
the slayer of man and his flocks and herds, and the Tiger, equally
formidable and no less specially developed for a life of rapine on a
great scale, to creatures as small and insignificant as the Meerkat,
which is at least as much an insect-feeder as a devourer of flesh, and
the Ichneumons and Civets. The highest form of specialisation in the
group is the delicate mechanism by which the chief weapons of offense,
the claws, are enabled to keep their razor edge by being drawn up into
sheaths when the animal walks, but can be instantly thrust out at
pleasure, rigid and sharp as sword-blades. The gradual process by which
this equipment deteriorates in the Civets and disappears in the Mongoose
should be noted. There are many other carnivora, but none so formidable
as those possessing the retractile claws. Thus the Bears, though often
larger in bulk than the Lion, are far inferior in the power of
inflicting violent injury. At the same time such delicate mechanism is
clearly not necessary for the well-being of a species. The members of
the Weasel Tribe are quite as well able to take care of themselves as
the small cats, though they have non-retractile and not very formidable
claws.

[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._]    [_North Finchley_

MONGOOSE

_The Indian mongoose is the great enemy of snakes. Another species eats
the eggs of the crocodile_]

Such a very abnormal animal as the Binturong--of which we are able to
give an excellent photograph--is doubtless rightly assigned to the place
in which modern science has placed it. But it will be found that there
are several very anomalous forms quite as detached from any general type
as is the binturong. Nature does not make species on any strictly
graduated scale. Many of these nondescript animals are so unlike any
other group or family that they seem almost freaks of nature. The
binturong is certainly one of these.

[Illustration: _Photo by Robert D. Carson_]    [_Philadelphia_

BINTURONG

_The binturong is placed with the civets. It has a prehensile tail like
the kinkajou (see page 127)_]

The next group with which we deal is that of the Hyænas. In these the
equipment for catching living prey is very weak. Speed and pursuit are
not their _métier_, but the eating of dead and decaying animal matter,
and the consumption of bones. Hence the jaws and teeth are highly
developed, while the rest of the body is degenerate.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

MEERKAT

_A small, mainly insectivorous animal, found in South Africa; also
called the Suricate_]

The question of the comparative intelligence of the Apes and Monkeys,
and the carnivorous animals subsequently described in these pages, is an
interesting one. It would seem at first as if the Cat Tribe and their
relations, which have to obtain their prey by constant hunting, and
often to make use of considerable reflection and thought to bring their
enterprises against other animals to a successful issue, would be more
likely to develop intelligence and to improve in brain-power than the
great Apes, which find an easy living in the tropical forests, and only
seek fruits and vegetables for their food. Yet it is quite certain that
this is not the case. The Cat Tribe, with the exception of the
domesticated cats, does not show high intelligence. Even the latter are
seldom trained to obey man, though they learn to accommodate themselves
to his ways of life. There is no evidence that cats have any sense of
number, or that any of them in a wild state make any effort to provide
shelter for themselves or construct a refuge from their enemies, though
the Leopard will make use of a cave as a lair. In matters requiring
intelligence and cooperation, such rodents as the Beaver, or even the
Squirrel, are far beyond the feline carnivora in sagacity and acquired
or inherited ingenuity. Except the Stoat, which sometimes hunts in
packs, no species of the carnivora yet dealt with in this work combines
to hunt its prey, or for defense against enemies. Each for itself is the
rule, and even among the less-specialised flesh-eating animals of the
other groups it is only the Dog Tribe which seems to understand the
principles of association for a common object.




  CHAPTER IV

  _THE HYÆNAS AND AARD-WOLF_


If every animal has its place in nature, we must suppose that the
hyæna's business is to clear up the bones and such parts of the animal
dead as the vultures and other natural "undertakers" cannot devour.
Hyænas have very strong jaws, capable of crushing almost any bone. In
prehistoric times they were common in England, and lived in the caves of
Derbyshire and Devon. In these caves many bones were found quite smashed
up, as if by some very large wild animal. It was supposed that this was
done by bears--Dean Buckland said "by hyænas." He procured a hyæna, kept
it at his house, and fed it on bones. The smashed fragments he laid on
the table at a scientific lecture beside the fragments from the
caverns. The resemblance was identical, and the Dean triumphed.

The hyænas are carnivorous animals, with the front limbs longer than the
hind. The tail is short, the colour spotted or brindled, the teeth and
jaws of great strength.

The Brown Hyæna, or Strand-wolf, is an African species, with very long,
coarse hair, reaching a length of 10 inches on the back. It is not found
north of the Zambesi; and it is nocturnal, and fond of wandering along
the shore, where it picks up crabs and dead fish. Young cattle, sheep,
and lambs are also killed by it, and offal of all kinds devoured.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

SPOTTED HYÆNA

_The largest of the carrion-feeding animals. A South African species_]

The Spotted Hyæna is a large and massive animal, the head and body being
4 feet 6 inches long without the tail. It is found all over Africa from
Abyssinia and Senegal southwards. A few are left in Natal. It is
believed to be the same as the cave-hyæna of Europe. By day it lives
much in the holes of the aard-vark (ant-bear); by night it goes out,
sometimes in small bands, to seek food. It has a loud and mournful howl,
beginning low and ending high. It also utters a horrible maniacal laugh
when excited, which gives it the name of Laughing-hyæna. "Its appetite,"
says Mr. W. L. Sclater in his "South African Mammals," "is boundless. It
is entirely carnivorous, but seems to prefer putrid and decaying matter,
and never kills an animal unless driven to do so by hunger. Sheep and
donkeys are generally attacked at the belly, and the bowels torn out by
its sharp teeth. Horses are also frequent objects of attack; but in this
case shackling is useful, as the horse, unable to escape, faces the
hyæna, which instantly bolts. It is an excellent scavenger, and it has
been known to kill and carry off young children, though the least
attempt at pursuit will cause it to drop them. Many stories are told,
too, of its attacking sleeping natives; in this case it invariably goes
for the man's face. Drummond states that he has seen many men who had
been thus mutilated, wanting noses, or with the whole mouth and lips
torn away. This is confirmed by other authors." Drummond gives an
instance of seven cows being mortally injured in a single night by two
hyænas, which attacked them and bit off the udders. Poisoned meat is the
only means to get rid of this abominable animal.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

SPOTTED HYÆNA

_The jaws of the hyæna are specially made for cracking bones. They will
smash the thigh-bone of a buffalo_]

Sir Samuel Baker says: "I can safely assert that the bone-cracking power
of this animal is extraordinary. I cannot say that it exceeds the lion
or tiger in the strength of its jaws; but they will leave bones unbroken
which a hyæna will crack in halves. Its powers of digestion are
unlimited. It will swallow and digest a knuckle-bone without giving it a
crunch, and will crack the thigh-bone of a buffalo to obtain the marrow,
and swallow either end immediately after. . . . I remember that once a
hyæna came into our tent at night. But this was merely a friendly
reconnaissance, to see if any delicacy, such as our shoes, or a saddle,
or anything that smelt of leather, were lying about. It was bright
moonlight, and the air was calm. There was nothing to disturb the
stillness. I was awakened from sleep by a light touch on my sleeve, and
my attention was directed by my wife to some object that had just
quitted our tent. I took my rifle from beneath the mat on which I lay,
and, after waiting for a few minutes sitting up in bed, saw a large form
standing in the doorway preparatory to entering. Presently it walked in
cautiously, and immediately fell dead, with a bullet between its eyes.
It proved to be a very large hyæna, an old and experienced depredator,
as it bore countless scars of encounters with other strong biters of its
race."

[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._]    [_North Finchley_

STRIPED HYÆNA

_This is the hyæna of Northern Africa, Palestine, and India_]

The Striped Hyæna is found in India as well as in Africa. In portions of
Abyssinia these animals are so numerous that on the Nile tributaries Sir
Samuel Baker used to hear them cracking the bones after supper every
night just as they had been thrown by the Arabs within a few feet of the
deserted table. In this way they are useful scavengers.


  The Aard-wolf

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

AARD-WOLF

_The aard-wolf stands in a family by itself. It is allied to the hyænas,
but is a far feebler animal_]

This small African hyæna-like creature stands in a family by itself. The
animal is like a small striped hyæna, with a pointed muzzle, longer
ears, and a kind of mane. It is common all through South and East
Africa, where it lives on carrion, white ants, and lambs and kids. It
has not the strong jaws and teeth of the dog or hyæna family. The
colonists commonly hunt and kill it with fox-terriers.




  CHAPTER V

  _THE DOG FAMILY_


The tribe now treated is called the Dog Family, and rightly so, for our
domestic dogs are included in the group, which comprises the Wolves,
Dogs, Jackals, Wild Dogs, and Foxes. Their general characters are too
familiar to need description, but it should be noted that the foxes
differ from the dogs in having contracting pupils to the eye (which in
bright sun closes like a cat's to a mere slit), and some power of
climbing. The origin of the domestic dog is still unsettled.

[Illustration: _Photo by New York Zoological Society_

YOUNG GREY WOLF

_The grey wolf of North America, which once preyed mainly on young
bison calves, is now a formidable enemy to the increasing flocks of
sheep and herds of cattle in the north and west_]


  The Wolf

This great enemy of man and his dependents--the creature against the
ravages of which almost all the early races of Europe had to combine,
either in tribes, villages, or principalities, to protect their
children, themselves, and their cattle--was formerly found all over the
northern hemisphere, both in the Old and New Worlds. In India it is
rather smaller, but equally fierce and cunning, though, as there are no
long winters, it does not gather in packs. It is still so common in
parts of the Rocky Mountains that the cattle and sheep of the
ranch-holders and wild game of the National Yellowstone Park suffer
severely. In Switzerland the ancient organisations of wolf clubs in the
cantons are still maintained. In Brittany the Grand Louvetier is a
government official. Every very hard winter wolves from the Carpathians
and Russia move across the frozen rivers of Europe even to the forests
of the Ardennes and of Fontainebleau. In Norway they ravage the reindeer
herds of the Lapps. Only a few years ago an artist, his wife, and
servant were all attacked on their way to Budapest, in Hungary, and the
man and his wife killed. The last British wolf was killed in 1680 by
Cameron of Lochiel. Wolves are common in Palestine, Persia, and India.

[Illustration: _Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co., Parson's Green_

A GROWING CUB

_Note how the wolf club develops the long pasterns, large feet, and long
jaw before its body grows in proportion_]

Without going back over the well-known history of the species, we will
give some anecdotes of the less commonly known exploits of these fierce
and dangerous brutes. Mr. Kipling's "Jungle Book" has given us an
"heroic" picture of the life of the Indian wolves. There is a great deal
of truth in it. Even the child-stealing by wolves is very probably a
fact, for native opinion is unanimous in crediting it. Babies laid down
by their mothers when working in the fields are constantly carried off
and devoured by them, and stories of their being spared and suckled by
the she-wolves are very numerous.

[Illustration: _Photo by Ottomar Anschütz, Berlin._

WOLF FROM CENTRAL EUROPE

_The last persons recorded as killed by these animals were an artist and
his wife travelling in Hungary_]

Indian wolves hunt in combination, without assembling in large packs.
The following is a remarkable instance, recorded by General Douglas
Hamilton: "When returning with a friend from a trip to the mountain
caves of Ellora, we saw a herd of antelope near a range of low rocky
hills; and as there was a dry nullah, or watercourse, we decided on
having a stalk. While creeping up the nullah, we noticed two animals
coming across the plain on our left. We took them at first for
leopards, but then saw that they were wolves. When they were about 500
yards from the antelope, they lay down quietly. After about ten minutes
or so, the smaller of the two got up and trotted off to the rocky hills,
and suddenly appeared on the ridge, running backwards and forwards like
a Scotch collie dog. The larger wolf, as soon as he saw that the
antelope were fully occupied in watching his companion, got up and came
as hard as he could gallop to the nullah. Unfortunately he saw us and
bolted; and his companion, seeing there was something wrong, did the
same. Now, it is evident that these wolves had regularly planned this
attack. One was to occupy the attention of the antelope, the other to
steal up the watercourse and dash into the midst of them. At another
time a brother-officer of mine was stalking a herd of antelope which
were feeding down a grassy valley, when suddenly a wolf got up before
him, and then another and then another, until fourteen wolves rose out
of the grass. They were extended right across the valley in the shape of
a fishing-net or jelly-bag, so that as soon as the herd had got well
into the jelly-bag they would have rushed on the antelope, and some must
have fallen victims to their attack." They have been known to join in
the chase of antelopes by dogs. Captain Jackson, of the Nizam's service,
let his dogs course an antelope fawn. A wolf jumped up, joined the dogs,
and all three seized the fawn together. He then came up, whipped off the
dogs and the wolf, and secured the fawn, which did not seem hurt. The
wolf immediately sat down and began to howl at the loss of his prey, and
in a few moments made a dash at the officer, but when within a few yards
thought better of it, and recommenced howling. This brought another wolf
to his assistance. Both howled and looked very savage, and seemed
inclined to make another dash at the antelope. But the horse-keepers
came up, and the wolves retired.

[Illustration: _Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co._]    [_Parson's Green_

WOLF CUBS

_These are evidently the foster-brothers of Romulus and Remus_]

The Indian wolf, if a male, stands about 26 inches high at the shoulder.
The length of head and body is 37 inches; tail, 17 inches.

The same species practically haunts the whole of the world north of the
Himalaya. It varies in colour from almost black to nearly pure white. In
the Hudson Bay fur-sales every variety of colour between these may be
seen, but most are of a tawny brindle. The male grows to a very great
size. One of the largest ever seen in Europe was for years at the London
Zoo. It stood 6 feet high when on its hind legs, and its immense head
and jaws seemed to occupy one-third of the space from nose to
tail. Horses are the main prey of the Northern Wolf. It will kill any
living creature, but horse-flesh is irresistible. It either attacks by
seizing the flank and throwing the animal, or bites the hocks. The
biting power is immense. It will tear a solid mass of flesh at one grip
from the buttock of a cow or horse. In the early days of the United
States, when Audubon was making his first trip up the head-waters of the
Missouri, flesh of all kinds was astonishingly abundant on the prairies.
Buffalo swarmed, and the Indians had any quantity of buffalo meat for
the killing. Wolves of very large size used to haunt the forts and
villages, and were almost tame, being well fed and comfortable. Far
different was the case even near St. Petersburg at the same period. A
traveler in 1840 was chased by a pack of wolves so closely that when the
sledge-horses reached the post-house and rushed into the stable, the
doors of which were open, seven of the wolves rushed in after them. The
driver and traveler leaped from the sledge just as it reached the
building, and horses and wolves rushed past them into it. The men then
ran up and closed the doors. Having obtained guns, they opened the roof,
expecting to see that the horses had been killed. Instead all seven
wolves were slinking about beside the terrified horses. All were killed
without resistance.

[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._]    [_North Finchley_

WHITE WOLF

_White wolves are quite common in North America. Recently two white
wolves were brought to the Zoological Gardens from Russia_]

In Siberia and Russia the wolves in winter are literally starving.
Gathering in packs, they haunt the roads, and chase the sledges with
their unfaltering gallop. Seldom in these days does a human life fall
victim; but in very hard winters sledge-horses are often killed, and now
and then a peasant. Rabies is very common among wolves. They then enter
the villages, biting and snapping at every one. Numbers of patients are
sent yearly from Russia and Hungary to the Pasteur Institutes, after
being bitten by rabid wolves. In Livonia, in 1823, it was stated that
the following animals had been killed by wolves: 15,182 sheep, 1,807
oxen, 1,841 horses, 3,270 goats, 4,190 pigs, 703 dogs, and numbers of
geese and fowls. They followed the Grand Army from Russia to Germany in
1812, and restocked the forests of Europe with particularly savage
wolves. It is said that in the retreat from Moscow twenty-four French
soldiers, with their arms in their hands, were attacked, killed, and
eaten by a pack of wolves.

From very early times special breeds of dogs have been trained to guard
sheep against the attacks of wolves. Some of these were intended to
defend the flock on the spot, others to run down the wolves in the open.
The former are naturally bred to be very large and heavy; the latter,
though they must be strong, are light and speedy. Of the dogs which
guard the flocks several races still survive. Among the most celebrated
are those of Albania and the mountainous parts of Turkey, and the
wolf-dogs of Tibet, generally called Tibetan Bloodhounds. The Tartar
shepherds on the steppes near the Caucasus also keep a very large and
ferocious breed of dog. All these are of the mastiff type, but have
long, thick hair. When the shepherds of Albania or Mount Rhodope are
driving their flocks along the mountains to the summer pastures, they
sometimes travel a distance of 200 miles. During this march the dogs act
as flankers and scouts by day and night, and do battle with the wolves,
which know quite well the routes along which the sheep usually pass, and
are on the lookout to pick up stragglers or raid the flock. The Spanish
shepherds employ a large white shaggy breed of dog as guards against
wolves. These dogs both lead the sheep and bring up the rear in the
annual migration of the flocks to and from the summer pastures. In the
west of America, now that sheep-ranching on a large scale has been
introduced, wolf-dogs are bred to live entirely with the sheep. They are
suckled when puppies by the ewes instead of by their own mothers, and
become, as it were, a part of the flock.

[Illustration: _Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co._]    [_Parson's Green_

PRAIRIE-WOLF, OR COYOTE

_This is the small, grey, thickly furred species found on the prairies_]

President Theodore Roosevelt gives an interesting account of
wolf-coursing in Russia, in an article contributed to "The Encyclopædia
of Sport" (Lawrence & Bullen). "In Russia the sport is a science," he
writes. "The princes and great landowners who take part in it have their
hunting-equipages equipped perfectly to the smallest detail. Not only do
they follow wolves in the open, but they capture them and let them out
before dogs, like hares in a closed coursing-meeting. The huntsman
follows his hounds on horseback. (These hounds are the Borzoi, white
giant greyhounds, now often seen in England.) Those in Russia show signs
of reversion to the type of the Irish wolf-hound, dogs weighing
something like 100 lbs., of remarkable power, and of reckless and savage
temper. Now three or four dogs are run together. They are not expected
to kill the wolf, but merely to hold him. . . . The Borzois can readily
overtake and master partly grown wolves, but a full-grown dog-wolf, in
good trim, will usually gallop away from them."

[Illustration: _Photo by Ottomar Anschütz_]    [_Berlin_

"THE WOLF WITH PRIVY PAW"

_The photograph shows admirably the slinking gate and long stride of the
wolf_]

A number of these Borzoi dogs have been imported into America, and are
used to course wolves in the Western States. But there professional
wolf-hunters are employed to kill off the creatures near the ranches.
One such hunter lives near President Roosevelt's ranch on the Little
Missouri. His pack of large dogs will tear in pieces the biggest wolf
without aid from the hunter. Of his own efforts in wolf-coursing he
writes: "We generally started for the hunting-ground very early, riding
across the open country in a widely spread line of dogs and men. If we
put up a wolf, we simply went at him as hard as we knew how. Young
wolves, or those which had not attained their full strength, were
readily overtaken, and the pack would handle a she-wolf quite readily.
A big dog-wolf, or even a full-grown and powerful she-wolf, offered an
altogether different problem. Frequently we came upon one after it had
gorged itself on a colt or calf. Under such conditions, if the dogs had
a good start, they ran into the wolf and held him. . . . Packs composed
of nothing but specially bred and trained greyhounds of great size and
power made a better showing. Under favourable circumstances three or
four of these dogs readily overtook and killed the largest wolf. . . .
Their dashing courage and ferocious fighting capacity were marvelous,
and in this respect I was never able to see much difference between the
smooth and rough--the Scotch deerhound or the greyhound type."

[Illustration: _Photo by J. W. McLellan_]    [_Highbury_

RUSSIAN WOLF

_This is a most characteristic photograph of one of the so-called
"greyhound wolves" of the Russian forests_]

Wolf cubs are born in April or May. The litter is from four to nine.
There was one of six a few years ago at the Zoological Gardens at the
Hague, pretty little creatures like collie puppies, but quarrelsome and
rough even in their play. When born, they were covered with
reddish-white down; later the coat became woolly and dark.

The European wolf's method of hunting when in chase of deer is by steady
pursuit. Its speed is such and its endurance so great that it can
overtake any animal. But there is no doubt that the favourite food of
the wolf is mutton, which it can always obtain without risk on the wild
mountains of the Near East, if once the guardian dogs are avoided. M.
Tschudi, the naturalist of the Alps, gives a curious account of the
assemblage of wolves in Switzerland in 1799. They had, as it is
mentioned above, followed the armies from Russia. Having tasted human
flesh, they preferred it to all other, and even dug up the corpses. The
Austrian, French, and Russian troops penetrated in 1799 into the highest
mountain valleys of Switzerland, and fought sanguinary battles there.
Hundreds of corpses were left on the mountains and in the forests, which
acted as bait to the wolves, which were not destroyed for some years.

Wolves will interbreed with dogs readily, which the red fox will not.
The progeny do not bark, but howl. The Eskimo cross their dogs with
wolves to give them strength.


  The Coyote, or Prairie-Wolf

Besides the large gray wolf, a smaller and less formidable animal is
common on the prairies and mountains of the northern half of the
continent of America. This is the Coyote. It takes the place of the
hyæna as a scavenger, but has some of the habits of the fox. It catches
birds and buck-rabbits, and feeds on insects, as well as small rodents
like prairie-dogs and mice. Its melancholy howls make night hideous on
the northern prairies, and it is the steady foe of all young creatures,
such as the fawns of prong-horned antelope and deer. Its skin, like that
of most northern carnivora, is thick and valuable for fur wraps. The
coyotes assemble in packs like jackals.

In the National Park in the Yellowstone Valley gray wolves and coyotes
are the only animals which it is absolutely necessary to destroy. As the
deer and antelope and other game increased under State protection, the
wolves and coyotes drew towards a quarter where there were no hunters
and a good supply of food. It was soon found that the increase of the
game was checked. The coyotes used to watch the hinds when about to drop
their calves, and usually succeeded in killing them. The large gray
wolves killed the hinds themselves, and generally made life most
unpleasant for the dwellers in this paradise. Orders were issued to kill
off all the wolves by any means. Poison was found to be the best remedy;
but in the winter, when all the game descended into the valleys, the
wolves found so much fresh food in the carcases of the animals they
killed for themselves that they would not eat very eagerly of the
poisoned baits. The coyotes were killed off fairly closely, as they are
less able to obtain living prey; but the gray wolves are constantly
reinforced from the mountains, and are a permanent enemy to be coped
with.

[Illustration: _Photo by Ottomar Anschütz_]    [_Berlin_

WOLF OF THE CARPATHIANS

_This wolf is a shorter and more heavily built specimen than the Russian
wolf on the previous page_]

A curious instance of change of habit in wolves on the American prairies
was recently noted in the _Spectator_. Formerly they followed the
caravans; now they come down to the great transcontinental railways, and
haunt the line to obtain food. Each train which crosses the prairie is,
like a ship, full of provisions. Three meals a day take place regularly,
and these are not stinted. The black cooks throw all the waste
portions--beef-bones, other bones, stale bread, and
trimmings--overboard. The wolves have learnt that the passing of a train
means food, and when they hear one they gallop down to the line, and
wait like expectant dogs in the hope of picking up a trifle. The coyotes
come close to the metals, and sit like terriers, with their sharp noses
pricked up. The big gray wolves also appear in the early morning,
standing on the snow, over which the chill wind of winter blows, gaunt
and hungry images of winter and famine.

[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._]    [_North Finchley_

INDIAN WOLF

_This photograph shows the Indian wolf alarmed. It has a reputation for
stealing children as well as killing cattle_]

Some years ago experiments were made at the Regent's Park Zoological
Gardens to ascertain if there were any foundation for the old legends
that wolves feared the sound of stringed instruments such as the violin.
Every one will remember the story of the fiddler pursued by wolves. It
is said that as the pack overtook him he broke a string of his
instrument, and that the sudden noise of the parting cord caused the
pack to stand still for a minute, and so enabled him to reach a tree,
which he climbed. Further, that when he improved on the hint so given,
and played his fiddle, the wolves all sat still; when he left off, they
leapt up and tried to reach him. Experiments with the Zoo wolves showed
that there was no doubt whatever that the low minor chords played on a
violin cause the greatest fear and agitation in wolves, both European
and Indian. The instrument was first played behind the den of an Indian
wolf, and out of sight. At the first sound the wolf began to tremble,
erected its fur, dropped its tail between its legs, and crept uneasily
across its den. As the sound grew louder and more intense, the wolf
trembled so violently, and showed such physical evidence of being
dominated by excessive fright, that the keeper begged that the
experiment might be discontinued, or the creature would have a fit. A
large European wolf is described in "Life at the Zoo" as having
exhibited its dislike of the music in a different way. It set up all its
fur till it looked much larger than its ordinary size, and drew back its
lips until all the white teeth protruding from the red gums were shown.
It kept silent till the violin-player approached it; then it flew at him
with a ferocious growl, and tried to seize him.

[Illustration: _Photo by Ottomar Anschütz_]    [_Berlin_

WOLF'S HEAD

_A very fine study of the head, jaws, and teeth of a female wolf. The
head of the male is much larger_]

There are instances of wolves having been quite successfully tamed, and
developing great affection for their owners. They are certainly more
dog-like than any fox; yet even the fox has been tamed so far as to
become a domesticated animal for the lifetime of one particular
individual. An extraordinary instance of this was lately given in
Country Life, with a photograph of the fox. It was taken when a cub, and
brought up at a large country house with a number of dogs. Among these
were three terriers, with which it made friends. There were plenty of
wild foxes near, some of which occasionally laid up in the laurels in a
shrubbery not far from the house. These laurels were, in fact, a fairly
safe find for a fox. It was the particular sport of the terriers to be
taken to "draw" this bit of cover, and to chase out any fox in it. On
these expeditions the tame fox invariably accompanied them, and took an
active part in the chase, pursuing the wild fox as far as the terriers
were able to maintain the hunt.

[Illustration: _Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co._]    [_Parson's Green_

RUSSIAN WOLF

_Note the expression of fear and ferocity on the face of this wolf; also
the enormously jaws_]

In Central Asia the wolves lie out singly on the steppes during the
summer, and feed on the young antelopes and the lambs and kids of the
Tartar's flocks. The Kirghiz organise wolf-killing parties, to which as
many mounted men and dogs come as can be brought together. In order to
aid the dogs, the Tartars often employ eagles trained to act like
falcons, which sit on the arm of the owner. As the eagle is too heavy to
be carried for any time in this way, a crutch is fastened to the left
side of the saddle, on which the bearer of the falcon rests his arm.
When a wolf is sighted, the eagle is loosed, and at once flies after the
wolf, and overtakes it in a short time, striking at its head and eyes
with its talons, and buffeting it with its wings. This attack so
disconcerts the wolf that it gives time for the dogs to come up and
seize it.

The habits of the Siberian wolf are rather different from those in West
Russia, and the settlers and nomad Tartars of Siberia are far more
adventurous and energetic in defending themselves against its ravages
than the peasants of European Russia. Being mounted, they also have a
great advantage in the pursuit. The result is that Siberian wolves
seldom appear in large packs, and very rarely venture to attack man. Yet
the damage they do to the flocks and herds which constitute almost the
only property of the nomad tribes is very severe.

Both the Russians and Siberians believe that when a she-wolf is suckling
her young she carefully avoids attacking flocks in the neighbourhood of
the place where the cubs lie, but that if she be robbed of her whelps
she revenges herself by attacking the nearest flock. On this account the
Siberian peasants rarely destroy a litter, but hamstring the young
wolves and then catch them when partly grown, and kill them for the sake
of their fur. Among the ingenious methods used for shooting wolves in
Siberia is that of killing them from sledges. A steady horse is
harnessed to a sledge, and the driver takes his seat in front as usual.
Behind sit two men armed with guns, and provided with a small pig, which
is induced to squeak often and loudly. In the rear of the sledge a bag
of hay is trailed on a long rope. Any wolf in the forest near which
hears the pig concludes that it is a young wild one separated from its
mother. Seeing the hay-bag trailing behind the sledge in the dusk, it
leaps out to seize it, and is shot by the passengers sitting on the back
seat of the sledge.


  The Jackal

Of the Wild Canine Family, the Jackal is the next in numbers and
importance to the wolves. Probably in the East it is the most numerous
of any. In India, Egypt, and Syria it regularly haunts the outskirts of
cities, and lives on refuse. In the Indian plains wounded animals are
also killed by the jackals. At night the creatures assemble in packs,
and scour the outskirts of the cities. Horrible are the howlings and
weird the cries of these hungry packs. In Ceylon they live in the hills
and open country like foxes, and kill the hares. When taken young
jackals can be tamed, and have all the manners of a dog. They wag their
tails, fawn on their master, roll over and stick up their paws, and
could probably be domesticated in a few generations, were it worth
while. They eat fruits and vegetables, such as melons and pumpkins,
eagerly.

[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._]    [_North Finchley_

NORTH AFRICAN JACKAL

_This is the common jackal of Cairo and Lower Egypt_]

In Africa two species are found--the Black-backed Jackal and the Striped
Jackal; the former is the size of a large English fox. The young jackals
are born in holes or earths; six seems to be the usual number of
puppies. They have nearly always a back door by which they can escape;
this is just large enough for the puppies to squeeze through, whatever
their size. When fox-terriers are put into the earth, the jackal puppies
fly out of their back doors, through which, as a rule, the terriers are
unable to follow them. Should there be no one outside, the puppies race
out on to the veldt as hard as they can go. This jackal is terribly
destructive to sheep and lambs in the Colony. A reward of $1.80 per tail
is paid to the Kaffirs for killing them. The Side-striped Jackal is a
Central African species, said to hunt in packs, to interbreed with
domestic dogs, and to be most easily tamed.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

INDIAN JACKAL

_This Indian jackal might be sitting for his portrait in Mr. Rudyard
Kipling's tale of the "undertakers"--the jackal, alligator, and
adjutant_]

Both in India and South Africa the jackal has been found to be of some
service to the white man by providing him with a substitute for the fox
to hunt. It has quite as remarkable powers of endurance as the fox,
though it does not fight in the same determined way when the hounds
overtake it. But it is not easy to estimate the courage of a fox when in
difficulties. The writer has known one, when coursed by two large
greyhounds, to disable both almost instantaneously. One was bitten
across the muzzle, the other through the foot. The fox escaped without a
bite from either. In India the hounds used are drafts from English
packs. The hot weather does not suit them, and they are seldom
long-lived; but while they are in health they will run a jackal across
the Indian plains as gaily as they would a fox over the Hampshire Downs.
The meet is very early in the morning, as the scent then lies, and
riding is not too great an exertion. The ground drawn is not the
familiar English covert, but fields, watercourses, and old buildings. A
strong dog-jackal goes away at a great pace, and as the ground is open
the animal is often in view for the greater part of the run; but it
keeps well ahead of the hounds often for three or four miles, and if it
does not escape into a hole or ruin is usually pulled down by them.
Major-General R. S. S. Baden-Powell has written and illustrated an
amusing account of his days with the fox-hounds of South Africa hunting
jackals. The local Boer farmers, rough, unkempt, and in ragged trousers,
used to turn up smoking their pipes to enjoy the sport with the smartly
got-up English officers. When once the game was found, they were just as
excited as the Englishmen, and on their Boer ponies rode just as hard,
and with perhaps more judgment.

[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._]    [_North Finchley_

TURKISH JACKAL

_This Jackal is common in both Turkey in Europe and in Asia. Near
Constantinople it feeds largely on the bodies buried in the cemeteries
at Scutari_]

Jackals are said to be much increasing in South Africa since the
outbreak of the war. The fighting has so far arrested farming operations
that the war usually maintained on all beasts which destroy cattle or
sheep has been allowed to drop. In parts of the more hilly districts
both the jackal and the leopard are reappearing where they have not been
common for years, and it will take some time before these enemies of the
farmer are destroyed.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

MANED WOLF

_A South American animal; its coat is chestnut-red_]


  The Maned Wolf

This is by far the largest of several peculiar South American species of
the Dog Family which we have not room to mention. It occurs in Paraguay
and adjoining regions, and is easily distinguishable by its long limbs
and large ears. It is chestnut-red in colour, with the lower part of
the legs black, and is solitary in its habits.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

WILD DOG

_These animals range from the plains of India and Burma to the Tibetan
Plateau and Siberia. They hunt in small packs, usually by day, and are
very destructive to game, but seldom attack domestic animals_]


  The Wild Dog of Africa, or Cape Hunting-dog

This is a most interesting creature, differing from the true dogs in
having only four toes on both fore and hind feet, and in being spotted
like a hyæna. These dogs are the scourge of African game, hunting in
packs. Long of limb and swift of foot, incessantly restless, with an
overpowering desire to snap and bite from mere animal spirits, the Cape
wild dog, even when in captivity and attached to its master, is an
intractable beast. In its native state it kills the farmers' cattle and
sheep and the largest antelopes. A pack has been seen to kill and devour
to the last morsel a large buck in fifteen minutes. Drummond says: "It
is a marvelous sight to see a pack of them hunting, drawing cover after
cover, their sharp bell-like note ringing through the air, while a few
of the fastest of their number take up their places along the expected
line of the run, the wind, the nature of the ground, and the habits of
the game being all taken into consideration with wonderful skill." The
same writer says that he has seen them dash into a herd of cattle
feeding not a hundred yards from the house, drive out a beast, disappear
over a rising ground, kill it, and pick its bones before a horse could
be saddled and ridden to the place.


  The Indian Wild Dogs

[Illustration: _Photo by Kerry & Co._]    [_Sydney_

DINGOES

The destruction done to the flocks of the settlers by the dingoes caused
the latter to combine and almost to destroy these wild dogs.]

Mr. Rudyard Kipling's stories of the "Dhole," the red dogs of the Indian
jungle, have made the world familiar with these ferocious and
wonderfully bold wild dogs. There is very little doubt that they were
found in historic times in Asia Minor. Possibly the surviving stories of
the "Gabriel hounds" and other ghostly packs driving deer alone in the
German and Russian forests, tales which remain even in remote parts of
England, are a survival of the days when the wild dogs lived in Europe.
At present there is one species of long-haired wild dog in West Central
Siberia. These dogs killed nearly all the deer in the large forests near
Omsk some years ago. Across the Himalaya there are several species, one
of them as far east as Burma; but the most famous are the Red Dogs of
the Deccan. They frequent both the jungles and the hills; but their
favourite haunt is the uplands of the Indian Ghats. They are larger than
a jackal, much stronger, and hunt in packs. They have only ten teeth on
each side, instead of eleven, as in the other dogs and foxes. There is
no doubt that these fierce hunting-dogs actually take prey from the
tiger's jaws, and probably attack the tiger itself. They will beset a
tiger at any time, and the latter seems to have learnt from them an
instinctive fear of dogs. Not so the leopard, which, being able to
climb, has nothing to fear even from the "dhole." A coffee-planter,
inspecting his grounds, heard a curious noise in the forest bordering
his estate. On going round the corner of a thick bush, he almost trod on
the tail of a tiger standing with his back towards him. He silently
retreated, but as he did so he saw that there was a pack of wild dogs a
few paces in front of the tiger, yelping at him, and making the peculiar
noise which had previously attracted his attention. Having procured a
rifle, he returned with some of his men to the spot. The tiger was gone,
but they disturbed a large pack of wild dogs feeding on the body of a
stag. This, on examination, proved to have been killed by the tiger, for
there were the marks of the teeth in its neck. The dogs had clearly
driven the tiger from his prey and appropriated it. The dread of the
tiger for these wild dogs was discovered by the sportsmen of the Nilgiri
Hills, and put to a good use. They used to collect scratch packs and
hunt up tigers in the woods. The tiger, thinking they were the dreaded
wild pack, would either leave altogether or scramble into a tree. As
tigers never do this ordinarily, it shows how wild dogs get on their
nerves.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

CAPE HUNTING-DOG

_This animal hunts in packs. It is very active and most destructive to
large game of many kinds_]

Several South American wild dogs and foxes are included in the series
with the wolves and jackals. Among these are Azara's Dog and the
Raccoon-dog. These are commonly called foxes, though they have wolf-like
skulls.


  The Dingo

The only non-marsupial animal of Australia when the continent was
discovered was the Wild Dog, or Dingo. Its origin is not known; but as
soon as the settlers' flocks and herds began to increase its ravages
were most serious, though doubtless some of the havoc with which it was
accredited was due in a great measure to runaways from domestication.
Anyhow, in the dingo the settlers found the most formidable enemy with
which they had to contend, and vigorous measures were taken to reduce
their numbers and minimise their ravages, so that by now they are nearly
exterminated in Van Diemen's Land and rare on the mainland of Australia.

[Illustration: _Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co._]    [_Parson's Green_

DINGO

_The wild dog of Australia. It was found there by the first discoverers,
but was probably introduced from elsewhere_]

It is a fine, bold dog, of considerable size, generally long-coated, of
a light tan colour, and with pricked-up ears. It is easily tamed, and
some of those kept in this country have made affectionate pets. Puppies
are regularly bred and sold at the Zoological Gardens. The animal has
an elongated, flat head which is carried high; the fur is soft, and the
tail bushy. In the wild state it is very muscular and fierce.


  THE FOXES

Foxes form a very well-marked group. They have very pointed muzzles,
strong though slightly built bodies, very fine thick fur, often
beautifully coloured and very valuable, bushy tails, pricked-up ears,
and eyes with pupils which contract by day into a mere slit. They are
quite distinct from dogs (although wolves are not), and will not
interbreed, though stories are told to the contrary. The smell of a fox
is disgusting to a dog, and quite sufficient to distinguish it.

[Illustration: _Photo by C. Reid_]    [_Wishaw, N.B._

FOX CUBS

_Fox cubs are born from March 25 till three weeks later, the time when
young rabbits, their best food, are most numerous_]

If the present writer takes a simpler view of the kinds and species of
foxes than that adopted by many naturalists, he must plead to a study of
the subject on slightly different lines than those usually followed. The
skins of all foxes are valuable, some more than others. But they are
sent in hundreds of thousands, and from all parts of the northern
hemisphere, to London to the great fur-sales. There these differences
can be studied as they can be studied nowhere else. As the habits and
structure of foxes are much alike, allowing for differences of climate,
and the discrepancies in size, not more than can be accounted for by
abundance or scarcity of food, it seems pretty certain that these
animals are some of the few, almost alone among mammals, showing almost
every variety of colouring, from black to white, from splendid
chameleon-red to salmon-pink, and many exquisite shades of brown, gray,
and silver. At the Hudson Bay Company's sales you may see them all, and
trace the differences and gradations over whole continents. The most
important are those of North America. There the Red Canadian Fox, of a
ruddier hue than brown, shades off into the yellow and gray Cross Fox of
farther north. But of these there are many varieties. Then farther north
still comes an area where red foxes, cross foxes, and black foxes are
found. The black fox, when the fur is slightly sprinkled with white, is
the famous Silver Fox. This and the black fox are also found in North
Siberia and Manchuria. Farthest north we find the little stunted Arctic
Foxes. In the Caucasus and Central Asia large yellowish-red foxes live,
and in Japan and China a very bright red variety. A small gray fox lives
in Virginia, and is hunted with hounds descended from packs taken out
before the American Revolution. India has its small Desert-foxes ("the
little foxes that eat the grapes") and the Bengal Fox.

[Illustration: _Photo by G. W. Wilson & Co., Ltd._

MOUNTAIN-FOX

_In hilly countries the fox becomes a powerful and destructive animal,
killing not only game but lambs_]

The value of the foxes as fur-bearing animals is immense. Only white,
blue, and black skins seem to be appreciated here. The black fox has
been known to fetch $750 a skin. But in the East, from Asia Minor to
China, red, gray, and yellow fox skins are the lining of every rich
man's winter wraps. Splendid mixed robes are made by the Chinese by
inserting portions of cross fox-skins into coats of cut sable, giving
the idea that it is the fur of a new animal.

[Illustration: _Photo by C. Reid_]    [_Wishaw, N.B._

LEICESTERSHIRE FOX]

The Common Fox, the foundation or type of all the above, is the best
known carnivorous animal in this country. Abroad its habits do not
greatly differ, except that, not being hunted much with hounds, it is
less completely nocturnal. It drops its young in an earth early in
April. Thither the vixen carries food till late in June, when the cubs
come out, and often move to a wood or a corn-field. There they are still
fed, but learn to do a little on their own account by catching mice and
moles. By late September the hounds come cub-hunting, partly to kill off
superfluous foxes, partly to educate the young hounds, and to teach the
foxes to fear them and to make them leave cover easily. Four or five
cubs in a litter are commonly seen. The distance which a fox will run is
extraordinary. The following is a true account of one of the most
remarkable runs ever known. The hounds were those of Mr. Tom Smith,
master of the Hambledon Hunt. He was the man of whom another famous
sportsman said that if he were a fox he should prefer to be hunted by a
pack of hounds rather than by Tom Smith with a stick in his hand. The
fox was found in a cover called Markwells, at one o'clock in the
afternoon in December, near Petersfield. It crossed into Sussex, and ran
into an earth in Grafham Hill a little before dark. The fox had gone
twenty-seven miles. The hounds had forty miles to go back to kennel that
night, and three only found their way home four days afterwards.
Dog-foxes assemble in considerable numbers when a vixen is about in
spring, and at all times common foxes are sociable creatures, though not
actually living in societies. Sometimes as many as five or six are found
in a single earth. Two years ago five foxes and a badger were found in
one near Romford. They eat mice, beetles, rats, birds, game, poultry,
and frogs. Their favourite food is rabbits. If there are plenty of
these, they will not touch other game. They hunt along the railway-lines
for dead birds killed by the telegraph-wires. In the New Forest they
also go down to the shore and pick up dead fish. One in the writer's
possession was shot when carrying away a lamb from a sheepfold near the
cliffs of Sidmouth, in Devon. The shepherd thought it was a marauding
dog, and lay in wait with a gun.

[Illustration: _Photo by Ottomar Anschütz_]    [_Berlin_

TOO DIFFICULT!

_Foxes can easily climb trees with small projecting branches. One was
found 37 feet up a tree in Savernake Forest; but a branchless stump such
as that here shown no fox could climb_]


  The Arctic Fox

[Illustration: _Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co._]    [_Parson's Green_

ARCTIC FOX

_In summer_    _Changing his coat_    _In winter_

_The Arctic Fox is one of the few animals showing different phases of
colour, some being blue at all seasons, while others are white in winter
and mottled brownish in summer_]

The Arctic Fox is somewhat different in habits from others. It is also
much smaller than the red foxes. Its fur is almost as soft as eiderdown,
and so thick that the cold does not penetrate. In winter the whole coat
changes colour, not gradually, but in patches. At the same time a dense
growth of under-fur comes up on the body. In summer this is shed in
patches, almost like loose felt. The foxes live in colonies, but are so
hard put to it for food in the winter that they desert their homes to
gather round whaling-ships or encampments. There they steal everything
edible, from snow-shoe-thongs to seal-flesh. Blue foxes are bred and
kept for the sake of their fur on some of the islands in Bering Sea.
They are fed on the flesh of the seals killed on the neighbouring
islands, and are, like them, killed when their coat is in condition.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

FENNEC-FOX

_Remarkable for the great size of the ears. An African species. Its
sense of hearing is probably very acute_]


  The Fennecs

Africa has a group of small foxes of its own. They have very large ears
and dark eyes. Some of them remind us of the Maholis and other
large-eyed lemuroids. Several are not more than 9 or 10 inches long;
they are a whitish-khaki colour, but the eyes are very dark and
brilliant.

The Common Fennec is found over the whole of Africa. Its favourite food
is dates and any sweet fruit, but it is also fond of eggs, and will eat
mice and insects. It is probably the original hero of the story of the
fox and the grapes. The large-eared fennec, which is sometimes called
the Silver Fox, is found from the Cape to as far north as Abyssinia. It
is 23 inches long, and lives mainly on insects and fruit.


  DOMESTIC DOGS

  BY C. H. LANE


The Dog, almost without exception, shows a marked liking for the society
of human beings, and adapts itself to their ways more than any other
animal.

Fox-, Stag-, and Hare-hounds--the latter better known as Hariers and
Beagles--have many points in common, much beauty of shape and colour,
and great suitability for their work, though differing in some other
particulars.

[Illustration: _Photo by F. H. Dembrey_]    [_Bristol_

STAG-HOUND PUPPIES

_This gives an interesting group of hounds in kennel_]

Another group--Greyhounds, Whippets, Irish Wolf-hounds, Scottish Deer
hounds, all of which come under the category of Gaze-hounds, or those
which hunt by sight--are built for great speed, to enable them to cope
with the fleet game they pursue. In the same group should be included
the Borzoi, or Russian Wolf-hound, now very popular in this country,
with something of the appearance of the Scottish deer-hound about it as
to shape, but with a finer, longer head, deeper body, more muscular
limbs, and shaggier in the hair on body and tail.

[Illustration: _Photo by Lambert_]    [_Bath_

DEER-HOUND

_This is a capital portrait of one the best of this graceful variety_]

The Otter-hound is one of the most picturesque of all the hound tribe.
This variety somewhat reminds one of a large and leggy Dandie Dinmont
terrier, with a touch of the blood-hound, and is thought to have been
originally produced from a cross between these or similar varieties.

The Blood-hound is another, with much style and beauty of shape, colour,
and character about it which cannot fail to favourably impress any
beholder. The matches or trials which have of late years been held in
different localities have been most interesting in proving its ability
for tracking footsteps for long distances, merely following them by
scent, some time after the person hunted started on the trail. By the
kindness of my friend Mr. E. Brough, I am able to give as an
illustration a portrait of what he considers the best blood-hound ever
bred.

[Illustration: BLOOD-HOUND

_This photograph shows what an almost perfect blood-hound should be like_]

Much valued by sportsmen with the gun are Pointers, so called from their
habit of remaining in a fixed position when their quarry is discovered,
eagerly pointing in its direction until the arrival of the guns. They
are most often white, with liver, lemon, or black markings; but
occasionally self-colours, such as liver or black, are met with. They
have been largely bred in the west of England. I have been fortunate in
obtaining one of Mr. E. C. Norrish's celebrated strain as a typical
specimen for illustration.

[Illustration: _Photo by H. Cornish_]    [_Crediton_

POINTER

_This is a young dog not yet shown, but full of quality and type_]

The Setter group, which comprises three varieties, are all useful and
beautiful in their way. The English are usually white, with markings or
tickings of blue, lemon, or black; they are rather long and narrow in
the head, with bodies and sterns well feathered, and are graceful and
active movers. Gordon setters, which are always black and tan in colour,
and preferred without any white, are generally larger and stronger in
build than the last-named. Irish setters are more on the lines of the
English, being a rich tawny red in colour, rather higher on the leg,
with narrow skulls, glossy coats, feathered legs and stern, ears set low
and lying back, and lustrous, expressive eyes.

[Illustration: _Photo by T. Fall_]    [_Baker Street_

GREYHOUND

_A typical specimen of this elegant variety_]

Retrievers may be divided into flat-coated and curly-coated. Both are
usually black, but other colours are occasionally seen. The coats of the
first-named are full, but without curl in them; while the latter have
their bodies, heads, legs, thighs, and even tails covered with small
close curls. The eyes of both should be dark, and the ears carried
closely to the sides of the head. In an article dealing with retrievers,
which appeared in the _Cornhill Magazine_ under the title of "Dogs which
Earn their Living," the author writes: "There is not the slightest doubt
that in the modern retrievers acquired habits, certainly one acquired
habit, that of fetching dead and wounded game, are transmitted directly.
The puppies sometimes retrieve without being taught, though with this
they also combine a greatly improved capacity for further teaching.
Recently a retriever was sent after a winged partridge which had run
into a ditch. The dog followed it some way down the ditch, and presently
came out with an old rusty teakettle, held in its mouth by the handle.
The kettle was taken from the dog, amid much laughter; then it was found
that inside the kettle was the partridge! The explanation was that the
bird, when wounded, ran into the ditch, which was narrow. In the ditch
was the old kettle, with no lid on. Into this the bird crept; and as the
dog could not get the bird out, it very properly brought out the kettle
with the bird in it. Among dogs which earn their living, these good
retrievers deserve a place in the front rank." The illustration shows a
good flat-coated retriever at work.

[Illustration: _Photo by C. Reid_]    [_Wishaw, N.B._

RETRIEVER

_This represents a flat-coated retriever at work, and is remarkably true
to life_]

The Spaniel group is rather large, including the English and Irish
water-spaniels, the former an old-fashioned, useful sort, often liver or
roan, with some white or other markings, and a good deal of curl in the
coat and on the ears. His Irish brother is always some shade of liver in
colour, larger in the body and higher on the leg, covered with a curly
coat, except on the tail, which is nearly bare of hair, with a profusion
of hair on the top of the head, often hanging down over the eyes,
giving a comical appearance, and increasing his Hibernian expression.
They make lively, affectionate companions and grand assistants at
waterfowl-shooting.

Clumber Spaniels are always a creamy white, with lemon or light tan
markings, and are rather slow and deliberate in their movements, but
have a stylish, high-class look about them.

Sussex Spaniels are also rather heavy in build and of muscular frame,
but can do a day's work with most others. They are a rich copper-red in
colour, with low short bodies, long feathered ears, full eyes of deep
colour, and are very handsome.

Black Spaniels should be glossy raven-black in colour, with strong
muscular bodies on strong short legs, long pendulous ears, and
expressive eyes. Good specimens are in high favour, and command long
prices. I regret I cannot find room for an illustration of this breed,
so deservedly popular.

Cockers, which are shorter in the back, higher on the leg, and lighter
in weight, being usually under 25 lbs., are very popular, full of life,
and very attractive in appearance.

Basset-hounds, both rough-and smooth-coated, are probably the most
muscular dogs in existence of their height, with much dignity about
them. In the Sporting Teams at the Royal Agricultural Hall there were
some thirteen or fifteen teams of all kinds of sporting dogs, and of
these a team each of rough and smooth bassets was in the first four.

[Illustration: [_Baker Street_

DACHSUND

_The photograph conveys a fair idea of these quaint dogs_]

Dachshunds are often erroneously treated as Sporting Dogs. There are
certainly not so many supporters of the breed as formerly. Their lean
heads, with long hanging ears, long low bodies, and crooked fore legs,
give them a quaint appearance. The colours are usually shades of
chestnut-red or black and tan; but some are seen chocolate and
"dappled," which is one shade of reddish brown, with spots and blotches
of a darker shade all over it.

[Illustration: ENGLISH SETTER

_A typical but rather coarse specimen of a beautiful variety_]

Great Danes, though mostly classed amongst Non-sporting Dogs, have much
of the hound in their bearing and appearance. The whole-coloured are
not so popular as the various shades of brindle and harlequin, but I
have seen many beautiful fawns, blues, and other whole colours. They are
being bred with small natural drooping ears. One of the first I remember
seeing exhibited was a large harlequin belonging to the late Mr. Frank
Adcock, with the appropriate name of "Satan," as, although always shown
muzzled, he required the attentions of three or four keepers to deal
with him; and at one show I attended he overpowered his keepers, got one
of them on the ground, tore his jacket off, and gave him a rough
handling.

[Illustration: _Photo by Fratelli Alinari_]    [_Florence_

GREAT DANE

_This shows a typical specimen of this breed, with cropped ears, which
will be discontinued in show dogs_]


  Non-sporting Varieties.

Saint Bernards, although sometimes exceeding 3 feet at the shoulder, are
as a rule very docile and good-tempered, and many are owned by ladies.
The coat may be rough or smooth, according to taste; but either are
splendid animals. They are sometimes seen self-coloured, but those with
markings--shades of rich red, with white and black, for preference--are
the handsomest. They are still used as "first aids" in the snow on the
Swiss mountains. So far as I remember, this is the only breed of dog
used for stud and exhibition for which as much as $7,500 has been paid;
and this has occurred on more than one occasion.

[Illustration: _Photo by E. Lander_]    [_Ealing_

SMOOTH-COATED SAINT BERNARD

_The illustration gives a capital idea of these handsome dogs_]

Newfoundlands have regained their place in popularity, and many good
blacks and black-and-whites can now be seen. Numerous cases are on
record of their rendering aid to persons in danger of drowning, and
establishing communication with wrecked vessels and the shore.

[Illustration: _Photo by T. Fall_]    [_Baker Street_

NEWFOUNDLAND

_The dog shown here gives a good idea of size and character, but is not
in best coat_]

Mastiffs are looked on as one of the national breeds. Their commanding
presence and stately manner make them highly suitable as guards, and
they are credited with much attachment and devotion to their owners. The
colours are mostly shades of fawn with black muzzle, or shades of
brindle. I am able to give the portrait of one of the best specimens
living, belonging to Mr. R. Leadbeater.

[Illustration: MASTIFF

_The photograph gives almost an ideal picture of this splendid breed,
the colour being known as black-brindle_]

Bull-dogs are also regarded as a national breed. They are at present in
high favour. The sizes and colours are so various that all tastes can be
satisfied. Recently there has been a fancy for toy bull-dogs, limited to
22 lbs. in weight, mostly with upright ears of tulip shape. In spite of
the many aspersions on their character, bull-dogs are usually easy-going
and good-tempered, and are often very fastidious feeders--what fanciers
call "bad doers."

[Illustration: _Photo by T. Fall_]    [_Baker Street_

BULL-DOGS

_The photograph is remarkably good and characteristic of this variety_]

Rough Collies are very graceful, interesting creatures, and stand first
in intelligence among canines. They are highly popular. Several have
been sold for over $5,000, and the amounts in prize-money and fees
obtained by some of the "cracks" would surprise persons not in "the
fancy." A high-bred specimen "in coat" is most beautiful. The colours
most favoured are sables with white markings; but black, white, and
tans, known as "tricolors," are pleasing and effective. I quite hoped to
give a portrait of one of the most perfect of present-day champions,
belonging to H. H. the Princess de Montglyon, but could not find room.

Smooth Collies are a handsome breed, full of grace, beauty, and
intelligence, and very active and lively. A favourite colour is merle, a
sort of lavender, with black markings and tan and white in parts,
usually associated with one or both eyes china-coloured. Specimens often
win in sheep-dog trials; a bitch of mine won many such, and was more
intelligent in other ways than many human beings.

Old English Sheep-dogs are a most fascinating breed, remarkably active,
possessed of much endurance and resource, and very faithful and
affectionate. I have often made long journeys through cross-country
roads accompanied by one or more of them, and never knew them miss me,
even on the darkest night or in the crowded streets of a large town. The
favourite colour is pigeon-blue, with white collar and markings. The
coat should be straight and hard in texture. The illustration is from a
portrait of one of the best bitches ever shown, belonging to Sir H. de
Trafford.

[Illustration: OLD ENGLISH SHEEP-DOG

_This is a remarkably fine photograph of a well-known specimen of this
interesting variety_]

Dalmatians are always white, with black, liver, or lemon spots, the size
of a shilling or less, evenly distributed over the body, head, ears, and
even tail, and pure, without mixture of white. There is much of the
pointer about this variety, which has long been used for sporting
purposes on the continent of Europe. I can testify to their many good
qualities as companions and house-dogs. To quote again from the article
above mentioned: "It is commonly believed that the spotted carriage-dogs
once so frequently kept in stables were about the most useless creatures
of the dog kind, maintained only for show and fashion. This is a
mistake. They were used at a time when a traveling-carriage carried,
besides its owners, a large amount of valuable property, and the dog
watched the carriage at night when the owners were sleeping at country
inns. We feel we owe an apology to the race of carriage-dogs. . . .
While this dog is becoming extinct, in spite of his useful qualities,
other breeds are invading spheres of work in which they had formerly no
part." There is only one point in which I differ from the above, and
that is contained in the last sentence. There are a number of
enthusiastic breeders very keen on reviving interest in this variety,
and I have during the last few years had large entries to judge, so that
we shall probably see more of them in the future.

[Illustration: _Photo by Kitchener Portrait Co._

DALMATIANS

_All are typical, but the first is the best in quality and marking_]

Poodles are of many sizes and colours. They are very intelligent, easily
taught tricks, and much used as performing dogs. They have various
kinds of coats: _corded_, in which the hair hangs in long strands of
ringlets; _curly_, with a profusion of short curls all over them,
something like retrievers; and _fluffy_, when the hair is combed out, to
give much the appearance of fleecy wool. A part of the body, legs, head,
and tail is usually shorn.

[Illustration: _Photo by T. Fall_]    [_Baker Street_

CORDED POODLE

_The length of the cords of which the coat is composed is clearly shown_]

Bull-terriers are now bred with small natural drooping ears, and should
have long wedge-shaped heads, fine coats, and long tails. There is also
a toy variety, which hitherto has suffered from round skulls and tulip
ears, but is rapidly improving. I have bred many as small as 3 lbs. in
weight. In each variety the colour preferred is pure white, without any
markings, and with fine tapering tails.

Irish Terriers are very popular, and should be nearly wholly red in
colour, with long lean heads, small drooping ears, hard coats, not too
much leg, and without coarseness. They make good comrades.

Bedlington Terriers have long been popular in the extreme north of
England, and are another fighting breed. It is indeed often difficult to
avoid a difference of opinion between show competitors. Their lean long
heads, rather domed skulls, with top-knot of lighter hair, long pointed
ears, and small dark eyes, give them a peculiar appearance. The coats,
which are "linty" in texture, should be shades of blue or liver.

Three breeds, all more or less hard in coat-texture, and grizzled in
colour on heads and bodies, while tanned on other parts, are Airedale,
Old English, and Welsh Terriers, which may be divided into large,
medium, and small. The first-named make very good all round dogs; the
Old English, less in number, make useful dogs, and are hardy and
companionable; while Welsh terriers are much the size of a small
wire-haired fox-terrier, but usually shorter and somewhat thicker in the
head. I intended one of Mr. W. S. Glynn's best dogs to illustrate the
last-named.

Fox-terriers are both smooth- and wire-haired. Their convenient size and
lively temperament make them very popular as pets and companions for
both sexes and all ages. The colour is invariably white, with or without
markings on head or body, or both.

[Illustration: _Photo by C. Reid_]    [_Wishaw, N.B._

FOX-TERRIER

_A picture full of life and go--at present odds in favour of our friend
with the prickly coat_]

Black-and-tan and White English Terriers are built upon the same lines,
differing chiefly in colour, the former being raven-black, with tan
markings on face, legs, and some lower parts of the body, and the latter
pure white all over. Both should have small natural drooping ears, fine
glossy coats, and tapering sterns. The toy variety of the former should
be a miniature of the larger, and is very difficult to produce of
first-class quality.

Scottish Terriers are very interesting, often with much "character"
about them. The usual colours are black, shades of gray, or brindle, but
some are seen fawn, stone-colour, and white. The ears should be carried
bolt upright, the coat as hard as a badger's, teeth even, small dark
expressive eyes, fore legs straight, the back short. One I brought from
Skye many years since I took with me when driving some miles into the
country; coming back by a different route, he missed me; but on nearing
my starting-point I found him posted at a juncture of four roads, by one
of which I must return. He could not have selected a better position.
The illustration is that of a first-rate specimen of the variety,
"Champion Balmacron Thistle."

[Illustration: _Photo by Kitchener & Salmon_]    [_Bond Street_

SCOTTISH TERRIER

_A smart picture of one of the best of these popular dogs_]

[Illustration: _Photo by E. Landor_]    [_Ealing_

BUTTERFLY-DOG

_The photograph gives an excellent idea of this somewhat rare variety_]

Dandie Dinmont Terriers have many quaint and charming ways. They are
very strongly built, being among the most muscular of the terriers, of
high courage, devotedly attached to their owners, and admirably adapted
for companions, being suitable for indoors or out, and at home anywhere.
The colours are pepper (a sort of darkish iron-gray) and mustard (a
yellowish red fawn), both with white silky hair on head, called the
top-knot, and lustrous dark eyes, very gipsy-like and independent in
expression.

Skyes, both Prick- and Drop-eared, are another Scottish breed which well
deserve their popularity, as they are thorough sporting animals. The
colours are chiefly shades of dark or light gray, but sometimes fawn
with dark points and whites are seen. The texture of coat should be hard
and weather-resisting; the eyes dark and keen in expression; bodies
long, low, and well knit; legs straight in front; even mouths; tails
carried gaily, but not curled over the back.

[Illustration: _Photo by Villiers & Sons_]    [_Newport_

SKYE TERRIER

_The photograph is of a well-known winner in show form_]

Schipperkes are of Belgian origin. To those who do not know them, they
are something like medium-sized Pomeranians, short of coat, but without
tails. They are nearly always pure black in colour, with coats of
hardish texture, fullest round the neck and shoulders, the ears standing
straight up like darts, short cobby bodies, and straight legs. They make
smart guards and companions.

Chows originally came from China, but are now largely bred here. They
are square-built sturdy dogs, with dense coats, tails carried over the
side, blunt-pointed ears, and rather short thick heads. They have a
little of a large coarse Pomeranian, with something of an Eskimo about
them, but are different from either, with a type of their own. The
colour is usually some shade of red or black, often with a bluish tinge
in it. One marked peculiarity is that the tongues of chows are
blue-black in colour.

[Illustration: _Photo by T. Fall_]    [_Baker Street_

HER MAJESTY QUEEN ALEXANDRA, WITH CHOW AND JAPANESE SPANIELS]

Pomeranians can be procured of any weight from 3 to 30 lbs., and of
almost every shade of colour. At present brown of various shades is much
in favour, but there are many beautiful whites, blacks, blues, sables,
and others. They are very sharp and lively, and make charming pets and
companions. Really good specimens command high prices. The illustration
is of one of the best of his colour ever seen--"Champion Pippin."

[Illustration: _By permission of Mrs. Hall-Walker_

POMERANIAN

_Probably about the best all-black Toy Pomeranian ever shown_]

Pugs, both fawn and black, are old-fashioned favourites very quaint and
peculiar in appearance. They should have square heads and muzzles, with
small ears, large protruding eyes, short thick bodies, and tails tightly
curled over the back. The illustration, "Duchess of Connaught," is of a
well-known winner.

[Illustration: _Photo by County of Gloucester Studio, Cheltenham_

PUG AND PEKINESE SPANIEL

_A typical portrait of two well-known winners in these popular
varieties_]

Maltese Terriers are very beautiful when pure bred. They have a long
straight coat of silky white hair nearly reaching the ground, black nose
and eyes, and the tail curled over the back of their short cobby body.
Their beauty well repays the trouble of keeping them in good condition.
The illustration, from a photograph taken for this article, is that of
the high-class dog "Santa Klaus."

[Illustration: _Photo by G. N. Taylor_]    [_Cowley Road_

MALTESE TOY TERRIER

_A very excellent representation of one of the best specimens of the
present day_]

Yorkshire Toy Terriers, with their steel-blue bodies and golden-tanned
faces, legs, and lower parts, and long straight coats, require skilful
attention to keep in order, but are very attractive as pets.

Toy Spaniels are very old members of the toy division, dating from or
before the time of King Charles: King Charles Spaniels being black and
tan; Prince Charles Spaniels black, white, and tan; another strain, the
Blenheim, white, with shades of reddish-tan markings on the head and
body, and a spot of same colour on forehead; and the Ruby, a rich
coppery red all over. They should be small and stout in size and shape,
without coarseness, long in the ear, with large full protruding eyes of
dark colour, a short face, a straight coat, and not leggy.

[Illustration: _Photo by E. Lander_]    [_Ealing_

BLENHEIM AND PRINCE CHARLES SPANIELS

_This little group will serve to show the appearance of these charming
little pets_]

Japanese Spaniels carry heavy coats, usually black, or yellow, and white
in colour, shorter in the ears, which are carried more forward than in
the last-named, broader in the muzzle, with nearly flat faces, dark
eyes, and bushy tails carried over the back. They have very short legs,
and their hair nearly reaches the ground as they walk. When I kept them
they were much larger in size, but they are often now produced under 6
lbs. in weight.

Pekin Spaniels, the last of the toy spaniels I need mention, come from
China. They should have soft fluffy coats, tails inclined to turn over
the back, short faces, broad muzzles, large lustrous eyes, and a grave,
dignified expression. The colour is usually some shade of tawny fawn or
drab, but I have seen them black and dark brown; whatever colour, it
should be without white. The illustration, Mrs. Lindsay's "Tartan
Plaid," was one of the early importations.

Italian Greyhounds, another old-fashioned variety of toy dog, should not
exceed 12 lbs. in weight, but in my opinion are better if they are some
pounds less. Much like miniature greyhounds in shape and build, they are
elegant, graceful little creatures, very sensitive to cold. Shades of
fawn, cream, or French gray are most common; but some are slate-blue,
chestnut-red, and other tints. Of late years the breed has met with more
encouragement, and there is less fear of its being allowed to die out.

Griffons Brusselois have been greatly taken up the last few years. They
are something like Yorkshire toy terriers in size and shape, but with a
shortish harsh coat, generally of some shade of reddish brown, very
short face, small shining dark eyes, heavy under-jaw, short thick body,
and an altogether comical appearance. Imported specimens, particularly
before reaching maturity, are often difficult to rear.

The African Sand-dog occasionally seen in this country (mostly at shows)
is remarkable for being entirely hairless, except a few hairs of a
bristly character on the top of the head and a slight tuft at the end of
the tail; it is chiefly blue-black or mottled in colour, something in
shape and size like a coarse black-and-tan terrier, and very susceptible
to cold.

[Illustration: _Photo by T. Fall_]    [_Baker Street_

SAND-DOG

_A quaint picture of a quaint variety, quite hairless, and much the
colour of Castile soap_]

Having been supplied with an illustration of Pariah Puppies, I will say
a few words about this variety, which is seen in large numbers at
Constantinople and other Eastern cities, where they roam about
unclaimed, and act as amateur scavengers; they are said to divide the
places they inhabit into districts or beats, each with its own leader,
and resent any interference with their authority. I have known cases
where they have made a determined attack on travelers out late at night;
but they are rather a cowardly race, and easily repulsed with a little
firmness on the part of the attacked. Probably these are the descendants
of the dogs so often mentioned in Scripture with opprobrium; and, among
Eastern peoples, to call a man "a dog" is even now the most insulting
epithet that can be used. By the Jews, in ancient times, the dog never
seems to have been used, as with us, in hunting and pursuing game and
wild animals, but merely as a guardian of their flocks, herds, and
sometimes dwellings.

[Illustration: _Photo by the Duchess of Bedford, Woburn Abbey_

PARIAH PUPPIES

_This capital photograph of a variety seldom seen in this country will
be very interesting_]




[Illustration: _Photo by Ottomar Anschütz_]    [_Berlin_

COMMON BROWN BEAR

_In Scandinavia a few still haunt the highest mountain-ridges, as here shown_]


  CHAPTER VI

  _THE BEARS_


Except the great cats, no creatures have longer held a place in human
interest than the Bears. Their size and formidable equipment of claws
and teeth give the touch of fear which goes with admiration. On the
other hand, they do not, as a rule, molest human beings, who see them
employing their great strength on apparently insignificant objects with
some amusement. Except one species, most bears are largely fruit and
vegetable feeders. The sloth-bear of India sucks up ants and grubs with
its funnel-like lips; the Malayan bear is a honey-eater by profession,
scarcely touching other food when it can get the bees' store; and only
the great polar bear is entirely carnivorous. The grizzly bear of the
Northern Rocky mountains is largely a flesh eater, consuming great
quantities of putrid salmon in the Columbian rivers. But the ice-bear is
ever on the quest for living or dead flesh; it catches seals, devours
young sea-fowl and eggs, and can actually kill and eat the gigantic
walrus.

[Illustration: _Photo by Ottomar Anschütz, Berlin_

AN INVITING ATTITUDE

_The upright position is not natural to the brown bear. It prefers to
sit on its hams, and not to stand_]

Every one will have noticed the deliberate flat-footed walk of the
bears. This is due partly to the formation of the feet themselves. The
whole sole is set flat upon the ground, and the impressions in a bear's
track are not unlike those of a man's footsteps. The claws are not
capable of being retracted, like those of the Cats; consequently they
are worn at the tips where the curve brings them in contact with the
ground. Yet it is surprising what wounds these blunt but hard weapons
will inflict on man--wounds resembling what might be caused by the use
of a very large garden-rake. Against other animals protected by hair
bears' claws are of little use. Dogs would never attack them so readily
as they do were they armed with the talons of a leopard or tiger. The
flesh-teeth in both jaws of the bear are unlike those of other
carnivora. The teeth generally show that bears have a mixed diet. Bears
appear to have descended from some dog-like ancestor, but to have been
much modified.

[Illustration: _Photo by Fratelli Alinari_]    [_Florence_

THREE PERFORMING BEARS

_Those on the right and left are Himalayan black bears. The white collar
is plainly seen_]

Except the ice-bear, all the species are short and very bulky. It is
said that a polar bear has been killed which weighed 1,000 lbs. It is
far the largest, and most formidable in some respects, of all the
carnivora. The claws of the grizzly bear are sometimes 5 inches long
over the outer curve. All bears can sit upright on their hams, and stand
upright against a support like a tree. Some can stand upright with no
aid at all. Except the grizzly bear, they can all climb, many of them
very well. In the winter, if it be cold, they hibernate. In the spring,
when the shoots of the early plants come up, they emerge, hungry and
thin, to seek their food. Bears were formerly common in Britain, and
were exported for the Roman amphitheatres. The prehistoric cave-bears
were very large. Their remains have been found in Devon, Derbyshire, and
other counties. The species inhabiting Britain during the Roman period
was the common brown bear of Europe.

[Illustration: _Photo by Ottomar Anschütz_]    [_Berlin_

EUROPEAN BROWN BEAR

_The specimen of the brown bear of Europe from which this picture was
taken was an unusually light and active bear. Its flanks are almost
flat_]


  The Common Brown Bear.

Only one species of bear is found in Europe south of the ice-line,
though above it the white ice-bear inhabits Spitzbergen and the islands
off the White Sea. This is the Brown Bear, the emblem of Russia in all
European caricature, and the hero of innumerable fragments of folklore
and fable, from the tents of the Lapps to the nurseries of American
children. Except the ice-bear, it is far the largest of European
carnivora, but varies much in size. Russia is the main home of the brown
bear, but it is found in Sweden and Norway, and right across Northern
Asia. It is also common in the Carpathian Mountains, in the Caucasus,
and in Mount Pindus in Greece. In the South it is found in Spain and the
Pyrenees, and a few are left in the Alps. The dancing-bears commonly
brought to England and America are caught in the Pyrenees. The "Queen's
bear," so called because its owner was allowed to exhibit it at Windsor,
was one of these. But lately dancing-bears from Servia and Wallachia
have also been seen about our roads and streets. In Russia the bear
grows to a great size. Some have been killed of 800 lbs. in weight. The
fur is magnificent in winter, and in great demand for rich Russians'
sledge-rugs. The finest bear-skins of all are bought for the caps of the
Grenadier and Coldstream Guards. In the Alps the bears occasionally
visit a cow-shed in winter and kill a cow; but as a rule the only damage
done by those in Europe is to the sheep on the hills in the far north of
Norway. Tame brown bears are amusing creatures, but should never be
trusted. They are always liable to turn savage, and the bite is almost
as severe as that of a tiger. Men have had their heads completely
crushed in by the bite of one of these animals. In Russia bears are shot
in the following manner. When the snow falls, the bears retire into the
densest thickets, and there make a half-hut, half-burrow in the most
tangled part to hibernate in. The bear is tracked, and then a ring made
round the cover by beaters and peasants. The shooters follow the track
and rouse the bear, which often charges them, and is forthwith shot. If
it escapes, it is driven in by the beaters outside. High fees are paid
to peasants who send information that a bear is harboured in this way.
Sportsmen in St. Petersburg will go 300 or 400 miles to shoot one on
receipt of a telegram.

The brown bear, like the reindeer and red deer, is found very little
modified all across Northern Asia, and again in the forests of North
America. There, however, it undergoes a change. Just as the red deer is
found represented by a much larger creature, the wapiti, so the brown
bear is found exaggerated into the great bear of Alaska. The species
attains its largest, possibly, in Kamchatka, on the Asiatic side of
Bering Sea; but the Alaskan bear has the credit with sportsmen of being
the largest. A skin of one of the former, brought to the sale-rooms of
Sir Charles Lampson & Co., needed two men to carry it. Last spring, in
the sale-rooms of the same great firm, some persons present measured the
skin of an Alaskan bear which was 9 feet across the shoulders from paw
to paw.


  The Grizzly Bear.

This is a very distinct race of brown bear. It has a flat profile, like
the polar bear; in addition it grows to a great size, is barely able to
climb trees, and has the largest claws of any--they have been known to
measure 5 inches along the curve. The true grizzly, which used to be
found as far north as 61° latitude and south as far as Mexico, is a rare
animal now. Its turn for cattle-killing made the ranchmen poison it, and
rendered the task an easy one. It is now only found in the Northern
Rocky Mountains, and perhaps in North California and Nevada. Formerly
encounters with "Old Ephraim," as the trappers called this bear, were
numerous and deadly. It attacked men if attacked by them, and often
without provocation. The horse, perhaps more than its rider, was the
object of the bear. A great furrier measured a grizzly which was 9 feet
long from nose to tail. The weight sometimes reaches 800 lbs.
Measurements of much larger grizzly bears have been recorded, but it is
difficult to credit them. On a ranche near the upper waters of the
Colorado River several colts were taken by grizzly bears. One of them
was found buried according to the custom of this bear, and the owner sat
up to shoot the animal. Having only the old-fashioned small-bored rifle
of the day, excellent for shooting deer or Indians, but useless against
so massive a beast as this bear, unless hit in the head or heart, he
only wounded it. The bear rushed in, struck him a blow with its paw (the
paw measures a foot across), smashed the rifle which he held up as a
protection, and struck the barrel on to his head. The man fell
insensible, when the bear, having satisfied himself that he was dead,
picked him up, carried him off, and buried him in another hole which it
scratched near the dead colt. It then dug up the colt and ate part of
it, and went off. Some time later the man came to his senses, and awoke
to find himself "dead and buried." As the earth was only roughly thrown
over him, he scrambled out, and saw close by the half-eaten remains of
the colt. Thinking that it might be about the bear's dinner-time, and
remembering that he was probably put by in the larder for the next meal,
he hurried home at once, and did not trouble the bear again. Not so a
Siberian peasant, who had much the same adventure. He had been laughed
at for wishing to shoot a bear, and went out in the woods to do so. The
bear had the best of it, knocked him down, and so frightfully mangled
his arm that he fainted. Bruin then buried him in orthodox bear fashion;
and the man, when he came to, which he fortunately did before the bear
came back, got up, and made his way to the village. There he was for a
long time ill, and all through his sickness and delirium talked of
nothing but shooting the bear. When he got well, he disappeared into the
forest with his gun, and after a short absence returned with the bear's
skin!

[Illustration: _Photo by W. D. Dando_]    [_Regent's Park_

LARGE RUSSIAN BROWN BEAR

_The picture shows to what a size and strength the brown bear attains_]


  The American Brown Bear.

The brown bear of America is closely allied to that of Europe; it was
first described by Sir John Richardson, who called it the Barrenlands
Bear, and noted, quite rightly, that it differed from the grizzly in the
smallness of its claws. The difference in the profile is very
marked--the brown bear having a profile like that of the European bear,
while that of the grizzly is flat. The brown bear of North America lives
largely on the fruits and berries of the northern plants, on dead deer,
and on putrid fish, of which quantities are left on the banks of the
northern rivers. Whether the large brown bear of the Rocky Mountains is
always a grizzly or often this less formidable race is doubtful. The
writer inclines to think that it is only the counterpart of the North
European and the North Asiatic brown bear. The following is Sir Samuel
Baker's account of these bears. He says: "When I was in California,
experienced informants told me that no true grizzly bear was to be found
east of the Pacific slope. There are numerous bears of three if not four
kinds in the Rocky Mountains. These are frequently termed grizzlies; but
it is a misnomer. The true grizzly is far superior in size, but of
similar habits, and its weight is from 1,200 lbs. to 1,400 lbs." After
giving various reasons for believing this to be a fair weight, Sir
Samuel Baker adds that this weight is equivalent to that of a large
cart-horse. There are certainly three Rocky Mountain bears--the Grizzly,
the Brown, and the small Black Bear. There is probably also another--a
cross between the black and the brown. It is ridiculous to say that the
brown bears which come to eat the refuse on the dust-heaps of the hotels
of the Yellowstone Park, and let ladies photograph them, are savage
grizzly bears.

[Illustration: _Photo by E. Landor_]    [_Ealing_

SYRIAN BEAR

_This is the bear generally alluded to in the Old Testament_]


  The Syrian Bear.

This bear, which figures in the story of Elisha, is a variety of the
brown bear. It is found from the Caucasus to the mountains of Palestine,
and is a smaller animal than the true brown bear, weighing about 300
lbs. The fur in summer is of a mixed rusty colour, with a whitish collar
on the chest. It steals the grapes on Mount Horeb, and feeds upon ripe
fruits, apples, chestnuts, corn, and the like. It is then ready to face
the long winter sleep.

[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._]    [_North Finchley_

YOUNG SYRIAN BEAR FROM THE CAUCASUS

_This is, properly speaking, a Syrian bear, but the species is found in
the Caucasus and in the Taurus Range_]


  The American Black Bear.

This is the smallest North American species, and perhaps the most
harmless. It seldom weighs more than 400 lbs. Its coat is short and
glossy, and its flesh, especially in autumn, is esteemed for food. The
early backwoodsmen found it a troublesome neighbour. The bears liked
Indian corn, and were not averse to a young pig. "Like the deer," says
Audubon, "it changes its haunts with the seasons, and for the same
reason--_viz._ the desire of obtaining food. During the spring months it
searches for food in the low alluvial lands that border the rivers, or
by the margins of the inland lakes. There it procures abundance of
succulent roots, and of the tender, juicy stems of plants, upon which it
chiefly feeds at that season. During the summer heat it enters the
gloomy swamps, and passes much of its time in wallowing in the mud like
a hog, and contents itself with crayfish, roots, and nettles; now and
then, when hard pressed by hunger, it seizes a young pig, or perhaps a
sow or calf. As soon as the different kinds of berries ripen, the bears
betake themselves to the high grounds, followed by their cubs. In
much-retired parts of the country, where there are no hilly grounds, it
pays visits to the maize-fields, which it ravages for a while. After
this the various kinds of nuts and grapes, acorns and other forest
fruits, attract its attention. The black bear is then seen wandering
through the woods to gather this harvest, not forgetting to rob every
tree which it comes across."

[Illustration: _Photo by New York Zoological Society_

AMERICAN BLACK BEAR

_The black bear was the species first encountered by the early settlers
on the Atlantic side of America. The grizzly belongs to the Rocky
Mountain region_]


  The Indian Sloth-bear.

Few people would believe that this awkward and ugly beast is so
formidable as it is. It is the commonest Indian species, seldom eats
flesh, prefers sucking up the contents of a white ants' nest to any
other meal, and is not very large; from 200 lbs. to 300 lbs. is the
weight of a male. But the skull and jaws are very strong, and the claws
long and curved. As they are used almost like a pickaxe when the bear
wishes to dig in the hardest soil, their effect upon the human body can
be imagined.

Sir Samuel Baker says that there are more accidents to natives of India
and Ceylon from this species than from any other animal.

[Illustration: _Photo by C. Reid_]    [_Wishaw, N.B._

A BROWN BEAR IN SEARCH OF INSECTS

_The photograph shows a bear feeding on insects, possibly large ants,
which he licks up from the ground, after scratching them out with his
claws_]

Mr. Watts Jones writes an interesting account of his sensations while
being bitten by one of these bears: "I was following up a bear which I
had wounded, and rashly went to the mouth of a cave to which it had got.
It charged. I shot, but failed to stop it. I do not know exactly what
happened next, neither does my hunter who was with me; but I believe,
from the marks in the snow, that in his rush the bear knocked me over
backwards--in fact, knocked me three or four feet away. When next I
remembered anything, the bear's weight was on me, and he was biting my
leg. He bit two or three times. I felt the flesh crush, but I felt no
pain at all. It was rather like having a tooth out with gas. I felt no
particular terror, though I thought the bear had got me; but in a hazy
sort of way I wondered when he would kill me, and thought what a fool I
was to get killed by a stupid beast like a bear. The shikari then very
pluckily came up and fired a shot into the bear, and he left me. I felt
the weight lift off me, and got up. I did not think I was much
hurt. . . . The main wound was a flap of flesh torn out of the inside
of my left thigh and left hanging. It was fairly deep, and I could see
all the muscles working underneath when I lifted it up to clean the
wound." This anecdote was sent to Mr. J. Crowther Hirst to illustrate a
theory of his, that the killing of wild animals by other animals is not
a painful one.

[Illustration: _Photo by Fratelli Alinari_]    [_Florence_

POLAR BEARS

_Though Arctic animals, polar bears can endure great heat. During a
"heat wave" at Hamburg, Herr C. Hagenbeck found two of his leopards
suffering from heat apoplexy, but the polar bears were enjoying the
sun_]

Rustem Pasha, once Turkish Ambassador in England, had an accident when
brown bear shooting in Russia, and writes of it in the same sense: "When
I met the accident alluded to, the bear injured both my hands, but did
not tear off part of the arm or shoulder. In the moment of desperate
struggle, the intense excitement and anger did, in fact, render me
insensible to the feeling of actual pain as the bear gnawed my left
hand, which was badly torn and perforated with holes, most of the bones
being broken."

There is good reason to believe that when large carnivora, or beasts
large in proportion to the size of their victims, strike and kill them
with a great previous shock, the sense of pain is deadened. Not so if
the person or animal is seized quietly. Then the pain is intense, though
sometimes only momentary. A tigress seized Mr. J. Hansard, a forest
officer in Ceylon, by the neck. In describing his sensations afterwards,
he said: "The agony I felt was something frightful. My whole skull
seemed as if it were being crushed to atoms in the jaws of the great
brute. I certainly felt the most awful pain as she was biting my neck;
but not afterwards, if I can remember." Sir Samuel Baker says he has
twice seen the sloth-bear attack a howdah-elephant. Lord Edward St.
Maur, son of the Duke of Somerset, was killed by one. Mr. Sanderson, the
head of the Government Elephant-catching Department, used to hunt bears
in the jungle with bull-terriers. Against these the bear was unable to
make a good fight. They seized it by the nose; and as its claws were not
sharp like those of the leopard, the bear could not get them off.

This bear seldom produces more than two or three young at a birth. The
young cub is very ugly, but very strong, especially in the claws and
legs. A six weeks' old cub has been turned upside-down in a basket,
which was shaken violently, without dislodging the little animal
clinging inside.


  The Isabelline Bear and Himalayan Black Bear.

The former animal is a medium-sized variety of the brown bear. The coat
in winter is of a beautiful silver-tipped cinnamon colour. The Himalayan
Black Bear has a half-moon of white on its throat. The habits of both do
not differ markedly from those of the brown bear of Europe.

Recently black bears have been most troublesome in Kashmir, attacking
and killing and wounding the wood-cutters with no provocation. Dr. E. T.
Vere, writing from Srinagar, says: "Every year we have about half a
dozen patients who have been mauled by bears. Most of our people who are
hurt are villagers or shepherds. Bears have been so shot at in Kashmir
that, although not naturally very fierce, they have become truculent.
When they attack men, they usually sit up and knock the victim over with
a paw. They then make one or two bites at the arm or leg, and often
finish up with a snap at the head. This is the most dangerous part of
the attack. One of our fatal cases this year was a boy, the vault of
whose skull was torn off and lacerated. Another man received a compound
fracture of the cranium. A third had the bones of his face smashed and
lacerated. He had an axe, but said, 'When the bear sat up, my courage
failed me.'"

[Illustration: _Photo by Fratelli Alinari_]    [_Florence_

TWO POLAR BEARS AND A BROWN BEAR

_Although this is a photograph from life, it is scarcely a very natural
scene; as a matter of fact, all three animals belong to Herr Carl
Hagenbeck's remarkable menagerie_]


  The Malayan Sun-bear.

These small, smooth-coated bears have a yellow throat-patch like a
mustard plaster, and are altogether the most amusing and comical of all
the tribe. They are almost as smooth as a pointer dog, and are devoted
to all sweet substances which can be a substitute for honey, their main
delicacy when wild. There are always a number of these bears at the Zoo
incessantly begging for food. When one gets a piece of sugar, he cracks
it into small pieces, sticks them on the back of his paw, and licks the
mess until the paw is covered with sticky syrup, which he eats with
great gusto. This bear is found in the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, Sumatra,
and Java. It is only 4 feet high, or sometimes half a foot taller. It is
more in the habit of walking upright than any other species.


  The Polar Bear.

Ice-bear is the better name for this, the most interesting in its habits
of all the bears. It is an inhabitant of the lands of polar darkness and
intense cold, and one of the very few land animals which never try to
avoid the terrible ordeal of the long Arctic night, which rolls on from
month to month. It can swim and dive nearly as well as a seal, climbs
the icebergs, and goes voyages on the drifting ice, floating hundreds of
miles on the polar currents, and feeding on the seals which surround it.
Of the limits of size of the ice-bear it is impossible to speak with
certainty. From the skins brought to this country the size of some of
them must be enormous. One which lived for more than thirty years at the
Zoo was of immense length and bulk. When the first discoverers went to
the Arctic Seas, dressed in thick clothes and skins, the polar bears
took them for seals. On Bear Island, below Spitzbergen, a Dutch sailor
sat down on the snow to rest. A bear walked up behind him, and seized
and crushed his head, evidently not in the least aware of what kind of
animal it had got hold of. When the Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition was
wintering in Franz-Josef Land, the bears were a positive nuisance. They
were not afraid of man, and used to come round the huts at all hours.
The men shot so many of them that they formed a valuable article of food
for the dogs. The flesh is said to be unwholesome for men. The power of
these bears in the water is wonderful; though so bulky, they are as
light as a cork when swimming, and their strong, broad feet are
first-class paddles. Whenever a dead whale is found near the shore, the
polar bears assemble to feed upon it. In the various searches for the
Franklin Expedition they pulled to pieces nearly all the cabins erected
to hold provisions for the sledge-parties. In one case it was found that
the bears had amused themselves by mounting the roof of a half-buried
hut, and sliding down the snowy, frozen slope. Cubs are often brought
home in whaling- and sealing-ships, after the mothers have been shot.
There is a ready sale of them for the great menageries. Herr Hagenbeck,
of Hamburg, by purchasing them quite young, has induced bears to live on
good terms with tigers, boar-hounds, and leopards.

[Illustration: _Photo By J. W. McLellan_]    [_Highbury_

POLAR BEAR

_This bear is the most formidable of all aquatic mammals. It is almost
as much at home in the water as a seal_]

The manoeuvres of an ice-bear in the water are marvelous to watch.
Though so bulky a beast, it swims, dives, rolls over and over, catches
seals or fish, or plays both on and under the water with an ease and
evident enjoyment which show that it is in its favourite element. One
favourite game of the ice-bear is to lie on its back in the water, and
then to catch hold of its hind toes with its fore feet, when it
resembles a half-rolled hedgehog of gigantic size. It then rolls over
and over in the water like a revolving cask. Its footsteps are
absolutely noiseless, as the claws are shorter than in the land-bear's,
and more muffled in fur. This noiseless power of approach is very
necessary when it has to catch such wary creatures as basking seals. A
very large proportion of the food formerly eaten by ice-bears in summer
was probably putrid, as they were always supplied with a quantity of the
refuse carcases of whales and seals left by the whaling-ships. This may
account for the bad results to the sailors who ate the bears' flesh. Now
the whaling industry is so little pursued that the bears have to catch
their dinners for themselves, and eat fresh food.

[Illustration: _Photo by the New York Zoological Society_

HALF-GROWN POLAR BEARS

_When young polar bears are brought to England or New York on board
ship, they arrive with coats almost as yellow as a sponge. It takes a
week's bathing to restore the pure white colour_]

The Arctic explorer Nordenskiöld saw much of the ice-bears on his
voyages, and left us what is perhaps the best description of their
attempts to stalk men, mistaking them for other animals. "When the polar
bear observes a man," he writes in his "Voyage of the Vega," "he
commonly approaches him as a possible prey, with supple movements and a
hundred zigzag bends, in order to conceal the direction he means to
take, and to prevent the man feeling frightened. During his approach he
often climbs up on to blocks of ice, or raises himself on his hind legs,
in order to get a more extensive view. If he thinks he has to do with a
seal, he creeps or trails himself forward on the ice, and is then said
to conceal with his fore paws the only part of his body that contrasts
with the snow--his large black nose. If the man keeps quite still, the
bear comes in this way so near that it can be shot at the distance of
two gun-lengths, or killed with a lance, which the hunter considers
safer."

When a vessel lies at anchor, a polar bear sometimes swims out to it, to
inspect the visiting ship; it has also a special fancy for breaking open
and searching stores of provisions, boats abandoned and covered over,
and cabins of wrecked ships. One bear which had looted a provision depôt
was found to have swallowed a quantity of sticking-plaster. The ice-bear
has been met swimming at a distance of eighty miles from land, and with
no ice in sight. This shows how thoroughly aquatic its habits and powers
are. Polar bears do not hug their victims, like the brown bear, but
bite, and use their immense feet and sharp claws. It has been said that
when one catches a seal on the ice it will play with it as a cat does
with a mouse. The size of these bears varies very much. Seven or eight
feet from the tip of the nose to the tail is the usual length; yet they
have been known to exceed even 13 feet in length. This would correspond
to an immense difference in bulk and weight. An ice-bear was once found
feeding on the body of a white whale, 15 feet in length, and weighing
three or four tons. The whale could not have got on to the ice by
itself, and it is difficult to imagine that any other creature except
the bear could have dragged it there from the sea, where it was found
floating. When hunting seals, polar bears will chase them in the water
as an otter does a fish, but with what result is not known. Besides
stalking them in the manner described above, they will mark the place at
which seals are basking on the rim of an ice-floe, and then dive, and
come up just at the spot where the seal would naturally drop into the
water. Those shot for the sake of their skins are nearly all killed when
swimming in the sea. The hunters mark a bear on an ice-floe, and
approach it. The bear always tries to escape by swimming, and is pursued
and shot through the head from the boat. When the females have a cub or
cubs with them, they will often attack persons or boats which molest
them; otherwise they do not willingly interfere with man, except, as has
been said above, when they mistake men for seals or other natural prey.

[Illustration: _Photo by G. W. Wilson & Co., Ltd._]    [_Aberdeen_

THE ICE-BEAR'S COUCH

_A favourite attitude of the polar bear is to lie stretched on its
stomach, with the hind and fore legs extended flat. The head often lies
between the fore paws. Notice the hair on the feet, which keeps the
animal from slipping when on the ice._]

The instances recorded of the affection shown by these animals for their
young are somewhat pathetic. When the _Carcase_ frigate, which was
engaged on a voyage of Arctic discovery, was locked in the ice, a
she-bear and two cubs made their way to the ship, attracted by the scent
of the blubber of a walrus which the crew had killed a few days before.
They ran to the fire, and pulled off some of the walrus-flesh which
remained unconsumed. The crew then threw them large lumps of the flesh
which were lying on the ice, which the old bear fetched away singly, and
laid before her cubs as she brought it, dividing it, and giving each a
share, and reserving but a small portion for herself. As she was
fetching away the last piece, the sailors shot both the cubs dead, and
wounded the dam. Although she could only just crawl to the place where
the cubs lay, she carried the lump of flesh which she had last fetched
away, and laid it before them; and when she saw that they refused to
eat, laid her paws on them, and tried to raise them up, moaning
pitifully. When she found she could not stir them, she went to some
distance, and looked back, and then returned, pawing them all over and
moaning. Finding at last that they were lifeless, she raised her head
towards the ship and uttered a growl, when the sailors killed her with a
volley of musket-balls.




  CHAPTER VII.

  _THE SMALLER CARNIVORA._


  THE RACCOON FAMILY.

[Illustration: _Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co._]    [_Parson's Green_

COMMON RACCOON

_This is the typical representative of the Raccoon Family. It is found
in most parts of the United States, and also in South America._]

A link between the Bears and the Weasel Tribe is made by the Raccoons
and their allies. They are bear-like in having a short, thick body, and
in their flat-footed manner of walking; also in their habit of sitting
up on end, and using their paws as hands, to some extent, in aiding them
to climb. But they are also much like the Civets; and the pretty little
Cacomixle, or Ring-tailed Cat of Mexico, was formerly classed with the
civets. They are all very active, enterprising, and quick-witted
creatures of no great size, very different in temperament from the
bears.


  The Raccoon.

The type of the family is the American Raccoon itself. Its scientific
name of "Loter," the "Washer," was given to it from an odd habit these
creatures have of wetting and washing their food in any water which is
near. One kept at the Zoo washed her kittens so much when they were born
that they all died.

[Illustration: _Photo by C. Reid_]    [_Wishaw, N.B._

RACCOON

_This animal has the habit of always washing its food, if possible,
before it eats it_]

The 'coon inhabits America from Canada to the south as far down as
Paraguay. In size it is equal to a common fox, but is short and stout.
Restless, inquisitive, and prying, it is a most mischievous beast where
farmyards and poultry are within reach. It kills the fowls, eats the
eggs, samples the fruit, and if caught shams dead with all the
doggedness of an opossum. It is very fond of fish and shell-fish.
Oysters are a special dainty, as are mussels and clams. A gentleman who
kept one says: "It opens oysters with wonderful skill. It is sufficient
for it to break the hinge with its teeth; its paws complete the work of
getting out the oyster. It must have a delicate sense of touch. In this
operation it rarely avails itself of sight or smell. It passes the
oyster under its hind paws; then, without looking, it seeks with its
hands the weakest place. It there digs in its claws, forces asunder the
valves, and tears out the flesh in fragments, leaving nothing behind."
Its favourite haunt is in the cane-brakes of the south. There the
planters follow it by night with dogs, and shoot it in the trees in
which it takes refuge. The skins, with handsome alternations of yellow
and brown, make fine carriage rugs.

[Illustration: _Photo by Dr. R. W. Shufeldt_]    [_Washington._

RACCOON.

This animal is found from Alaska, through the United States, to Central
America.]


  The Coatis.

The Coatis are small arboreal creatures, with the habits of a raccoon
and squirrel fairly proportioned. They are flesh-eaters, but active and
playful. Their long pig-like snouts give them an unpleasant appearance.
They inhabit Mexico and Central and South America as far as Paraguay.
Several specimens are generally to be seen at the Zoological Gardens.
Their habits are much the same as those of the small tree climbing cats,
but with something of the badger added. Insects and worms, as well as
birds and small animals, form their food.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

GREAT PANDA

_This very rare animal is found on the high plateau of Tibet_]


  The Pandas and Kinkajou.

Among the small carnivorous mammals the Bear-cat, or Panda, is a very
interesting creature. Its colour is striking--a beautiful red-chestnut
above, the lower surface jet-black, the tail long and ringed. The
quality of the fur is fine also. It is found in the Eastern Himalaya,
and is as large as a badger. The Great Panda, from Eastern Tibet, is a
much larger, short-tailed, black-and-white animal, once thought to be a
bear. The Kinkajou has a prehensile tail, and uses its paws as hands so
readily that it was formerly placed among the lemurs. It is a native of
Southern and intertropical America. Nocturnal, and living in the great
forests, it is seldom seen by man. Its head is round and cat-like, its
feet are the same, but with non-retractile claws, and it has a long,
full tail. It has a long tongue, with which it can lick out insects from
the crevices and holes of trees. Baron von Humboldt says that it attacks
the nests of wild bees. It uses its tongue to draw objects of food
towards it, even if they are not living. A pleasant description of this
animal appeared in Charles Knight's "Museum of Animated Nature,"
published many years ago: "In its aspect there is something of
gentleness and good-nature. In captivity it is extremely playful,
familiar, and fond of being noticed. One lived in the gardens of the
Zoological Society for seven years. During the greater part of the
morning it was asleep, rolled up in a ball in its cage. In the afternoon
it would come out, traverse its cage, take food, and play with those to
whom it was accustomed. Clinging to the top wires of its cage with its
tail and hind paws, it would thus swing itself backwards and forwards.
When thus hanging, it would bring its fore paws to the bars, as well as
the hind pair, and in this manner would travel up and down its cage with
the utmost address, every now and then thrusting out its long tongue
between the wires, as if in quest of food, which, when offered to it, it
would endeavour to draw in between the wires with this organ. It was
very fond of being gently stroked and scratched, and when at play with
any one it knew it would pretend to bite, seizing the hand or fingers
with its teeth, as a dog will do when playing with its master. As the
evening came on, it was full of animation, and exhibited in every
movement the most surprising energy."

[Illustration: _Photo by Scholastic Photo Co._]    [_Parson's Green_

KINKAJOU

_The kinkajou eats birds and eggs as well as honey and fruit. One kept
in South America killed a whole brood of turkeys, and was partial to
birds' eggs._]


  THE OTTERS.

As the badgers and ratels seem specially adapted to an underground and
cave-making existence, so the Otters all conform in structure to an
aquatic life; yet, except the webbing of the space between the toes and
the shortening and flattening of the head, there is very little obvious
change in their structure to meet the very great difference in the
conditions under which they live.

The Short-toed Otter is a small Indian species. It has nails on its
hands in place of claws. One kept at the Zoo was a most amusing and
friendly little pet, which let itself be nursed like a kitten.

The North American Otter has the same habits as the English kind, but is
somewhat larger, and has a far finer coat. It is trapped in thousands,
and the fur sent over to this country to the Hudson Bay Company's and
other great fur-sales. These otters, like all their family, are very
fond of playing. One of their regular games is to make a snow-slide or
an ice-slide down a frozen waterfall. The alighting-place from this
chute is, if possible, in the water. There the trapper sets his traps,
and the poor otters are caught.

[Illustration: _By permission of Percy Leigh Pemberton, Esq._

YOUNG OTTERS

_Otters, when taken young, can be trained to catch fish for their
owners. In India several tribes employ them for this purpose_]

The Common Otter is far the most attractive of the British carnivora. It
is still fairly common all over Britain where fish exist. It is found on
the Norfolk broads and rivers, all up the Thames, in Scotland,
Devonshire, Wales, Cumberland, and Northumberland. It travels
considerable distances from river to river, and sometimes gets into a
preserved trout-pool or breeding-pond, and does much mischief. The
beautiful young otters here figured are in Mr. Percy Leigh Pemberton's
collection of British mammals. Their owner made a large brick tank for
them, where they were allowed to catch live fish. Once one of them
seized a 4-lb. pike by the tail. The pike wriggled round and seized the
otter's paw, but was soon placed _hors de combat_. The largest otter
which the writer has seen was bolted by a ferret from a rabbit-warren on
the edge of the Norfolk fen at Hockwold, and shot by the keeper, who was
rabbiting.

English dog otters sometimes weigh as much as 26 lbs. They regularly
hunt down the rivers by night, returning before morning to their holt,
where they sleep by day. No fish stands a chance with them. They swim
after the fish in the open river, chase it under the bank, and then
corner it, or seize it with a rush, just as the penguins catch gudgeon
at the Zoo. Captain Salvin owned a famous tame otter which used to go
for walks with him, and amuse itself by catching fish in the roadside
ponds.

[Illustration: TWO TAME OTTERS

_These two little otters were photographed by the Duchess of Bedford.
Alluding to the old signs of the zodiac and their fondness for the
watering-pot, their portrait was called "Aquarius" and "The Twins."_]


  The Sea-otter.

Common otters killed on the coast are often confounded with the
Sea-otter. This is a great mistake. The sea-otter is as much a marine
animal as the seal or the sea-lion. It swims out in the open ocean, and
is even more of a pelagic creature than the seal, for it either produces
its young when in the water, or at any rate carries and suckles them on
the open sea. The sea-otter is much larger than the common otter.
Unfortunately the fish and other marine creatures which form the food of
the sea-otters are found mainly near the coast. Following them, the
otters come near the Aleutian Islands, where the hunters are ever on the
watch for them. If a single otter is seen, five or six boats, with a
rifleman in each, at once put out, and the otter stands little chance of
escape. It never was a common animal, and the prices given for the fur,
up to $1000 for a first-class skin, have caused its destruction. The
skin, when stretched and cured, is sometimes 5 feet long, and is of an
exquisite natural rich brown, like long plush, sprinkled all over with
whitish hairs like hoarfrost.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Son_

SEA-OTTER

_The sea-otter has the most valuable fur of any animal_]


  THE SKUNKS.

Of all the strange equipments given by nature to animals for their
protection that possessed by the various species of Skunk is the most
effective. These animals are able to emit a fluid so vile in odour that
it seems equally hateful to all animals. Dogs, pumas, men, alike shun
them, and the animals seem to know this and to presume on their
immunity. An ordinary skunk is about the size of a cat, black, with
bright white stripes down the sides and back. The fur is thick and
handsome, and, if the animal be killed before it discharges its fluid,
is not too strongly odorous to make trimmings for jackets. Mr. Hudson,
in his "Naturalist in La Plata," says: "In talking to strangers from
abroad, I have never thought it necessary to speak of the dangers of
sunstroke, jaguars, or the assassin's knife. But I have never omitted to
warn them of the skunk, minutely describing its habits and personal
appearance. I knew an Englishman who, on taking a first gallop across
the Pampas, saw one, and quickly dismounting, hurled himself bodily on
to it to effect its capture. Poor man! He did not know that the animal
is never unwilling to be caught. Men have been blinded by them forever
by a discharge of the fiery liquid in their faces. The smell pervades
the whole system of any one subjected to it, like a pestilent ether,
nauseating the victim till seasickness seems pleasant in comparison."
Dogs can be taught to kill skunks; but they show the greatest disgust
and horror when the fluid of the animal falls upon them, and sometimes
roll in mud or dust in the endeavour to get rid of it.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

A SKUNK

_An American animal, noted chiefly for the scent-gland it possesses,
from which it emits a most obnoxious-smelling fluid_]


  THE BADGERS.

The Badgers include several genera. The Sand-badgers of the East have a
naked snout, small ears, and rough fur, with softer fur underneath. The
Indian Badger is larger than that of Europe, while that of Java,
Sumatra, and Borneo is smaller, and has a very short tail.

[Illustration: _Photo by C. Reid_]    [_Wishaw, N.B._

A BADGER IN THE WATER

_They are nocturnal animals_]

The Ferret-badgers from the East have elongated bodies and short tails.
They are tree-climbers, and as omnivorous as the badger itself. The Cape
Zorilla, with another species found in Egypt, is more nearly allied to
the polecats, but is striped like a skunk.

[Illustration: _Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co._]    [_Parson's Green_

EUROPEAN BADGER

_Badgers can be readily kept in confinement, and are not difficult to
tame thoroughly_]

The European Badger is still fairly numerous. There is not a county in
England where it is not found. A large colony has been established in
Epping Forest, some fifty yards square of hillside being honeycombed
with badger-earths. The European badger is found all over temperate
Northern Europe and Asia; but being shy, wary, and mainly nocturnal, is
seldom seen. At night it wanders about, and in August gets into the
corn-fields, whence it is chased and caught by dogs. A Somersetshire
farmer had a pointer and sheep-dog which were adepts at this night
catching of badgers. They would accompany their master along the roads,
and the pointer instantly winded any badger which had crossed. Both dogs
then bounded off, and soon their loud barking showed that they had found
and "held up" the badger. The dogs' owner then came up, picked the
badger up by its tail, and dropped it in a sack. The badger's "earth" is
wonderfully deep and winding; in it the badger sleeps during the winter,
and gives birth to its young, three or four of which are produced at a
time. The end of March is the period of birth, but the cubs do not come
out until June. In October they are full-grown. The badger carries in a
great quantity of fern and grass as a bed for its cubs. Mr.
Trevor-Battye writes: "I had a pair which were probably about six weeks
old. They were called Gripper and Nancy. They would rest on my lap when
feeding, and sit up and beg like dogs. Their hearing and power of scent
were remarkable. The badgers were in a closed yard; but if any of the
dogs came near, even following a path which ran at a distance of six or
seven yards, they would instantly jump off my lap and disappear into a
corner. The animals could walk and trot _backwards_ with the greatest
ease." I have never seen this noticed elsewhere, yet it is worth
mentioning, because it is characteristic of the Weasel Family, not being
shared, to my knowledge, by any other mammal--not, for instance, by the
Bears.

Mr. A. E. Pease says of the badger: "It is easily domesticated, and if
brought up by hand is found an interesting and charming companion. I had
at one time two that I could do anything with, and which followed me so
closely that they would bump against my boots each step I took, and come
and snuggle in under my coat when I sat down."


  The Ratels.

As the mink is adapted for an aquatic diet, so the Ratels, a link
between the Weasels and the Badgers, seem to have been specialised to
live upon insects and honey as well as flesh. They are quaint creatures,
with rounded iron-gray backs, and black bellies, noses, and feet. The
African kind is found in Cape Colony and East Africa, and is believed to
live largely on honey and bee-brood. The habits of the ratel are almost
identical with those of the badger, except that it is less shy and very
restless. A nearly similar species of ratel is found in Southern Asia
from the Caspian to India.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

RATEL

_Ratels are curiously restless little animals, with a peculiar trot-like
walk_]

The ratels are strictly nocturnal, and make their lair by day in hollow
trees, though they are said not to climb. The skin is protected by
thick, close hair, so that bees cannot sting through the fur. The skin
is also very loose. If a dog bites it, the ratel can generally twist
round and bite back. The African ratel is omnivorous. It eats snakes and
birds. The body of a cobra has been found in the stomach of one.


  THE WEASEL TRIBE.

No animals are more bloodthirsty and carnivorous than most of the Weasel
Tribe. They are also well equipped both in actual weapons and in
activity of body, and have powers quite out of proportion to their size.
They are also gifted with magnificent coats, and constitute the most
valuable source of choice furs. Sable, Marten, Mink, Wolverine, Ermine,
Otters, and several others are among the most highly prized. Their claws
are sharp, but not retractile. It is indeed fortunate that these
creatures are so small in size, otherwise they would be among the
greatest enemies of animal life. As things are, they are useful in
keeping down the numbers of creatures which, like field-mice, moles,
rabbits, and rats, might, and occasionally do, become a pest.


  The Martens.

There are two species of marten in Europe--the Beech- and the
Pine-marten. The latter has a yellow throat, the former a white one. The
fur is almost as fine as sable. All so-called Canadian sables are really
martens. These animals are found throughout Northern Europe and Northern
Asia, in Japan, and all over Northern America. In Scotland the
pine-marten survives in the pine forests; also in Ireland, where it is
occasionally killed on the Wicklow Mountains, near Dublin, and on the
Mourne Mountains. It is believed to remain in Cumberland, Devonshire,
and possibly in parts of Wales. It is a tree-loving animal, and feeds
mainly on squirrels, which it pursues through the branches. It is also
fond of fruit. Mr. Charles St. John discovered this in a curious way. He
noticed that his raspberries were being stolen, so set a trap among the
canes. Next day all he could see was a heap of newly gathered raspberry
leaves where the trap was. Stooping down to move them, a marten sprang
up and tried to defend itself. The poor beast had come to gather more
raspberries, and had been caught. Unable to escape, it gathered the
leaves near and concealed itself.

[Illustration: _By permission of Percy Leigh Pemberton, Esq._

PINE-MARTEN

_Pine-martens have most beautiful fur, and for that reason are much
hunted in America_]


  The Sable.

This is so little different from the marten that some have thought it
only a northern variety. That is not the case, as both are found in the
same area, and no one who knows anything of form and colour could
mistake the true sable's fur. This fur is so fine and even that each
single hair tapers gradually to a point: that is why sable brushes for
painting are so valuable; they always form a point when wet. The price
of these brushes, which are of genuine sable fur, though made up from
fragments of the worst coloured or damaged skins, varies yearly with
the price of sable in the market.


  The Mink.

Ladies are very familiar with the fur of the Mink, which is one of the
best of the less expensive varieties; it is not glossy as marten or
sable, and of a lighter and more uniform brown. The mink is a
water-haunting polecat, found in Siberia, North America, and Japan. Its
main home is in North America, where the immense system of lakes and
rivers gives scope for its aquatic habits. The under-fur is particularly
warm and thick, to keep out the cold of the water, in which the animal
spends more time than on land. It is not stated to catch fish, as does
the otter, in the water; but it lives on frogs, crayfish, mussels, and
dead or stranded fish. Minks have been kept in confinement and regularly
bred in "minkeries," as is the blue fox, and in Manchuria the chow dog,
for the sake of its fur.


  The Polecat.

This is now probably the rarest of the British weasels. It is almost
identically the same as the polecat-ferret, a cross-breed between it and
the domesticated variety. It survives in a few of the great woodlands of
the Midlands and of Oxfordshire, in Scotland, and Wales. It is found in
Cumberland, near Bowness, and on Exmoor and Dartmoor where rabbits
abound. It is an expert swimmer. Its habits are the same as those of the
stoat, but it is slower in its movements. It catches fish, and can pick
up food from the bottom of the water. Wild ones can be trained to work
like ferrets. "They do not delay in the hole, but follow the rat out and
catch it in a couple of bounds" (Trevor-Battye). The Ferret is a
domesticated breed of polecat. It is identical in shape and habits, but
unable to stand the cold of our climate in the open.

[Illustration: _By permission of Percy Leigh Pemberton, Esq._

POLECAT]


  The Weasel.

The smallest, fiercest, and commonest of its race, the little Weasel is
by no means the least formidable to other animals of the carnivora of
our country. It is cinnamon-coloured, with a white throat and belly, and
climbs as neatly as a cat, running up vertical boughs with almost
greater facility. A weasel in a high hedge will run the whole length of
the fence, from twig to twig, without descending; it threads the
galleries of the field-mice, sucks the eggs of small birds in their
nests, and attacks rats, mice, rabbits, and even such large birds as
grouse without fear or hesitation. During a great plague of field-voles
in the Lowlands of Scotland in the years 1890 and 1891 the weasels
increased enormously. A shepherd took the trouble to follow a weasel
down a hollow drain in the vole-infested hillside; he found the bodies
of no less than thirteen field-mice, which the weasel had amused itself
by killing. In winter weasels hunt the corn-stacks for mice, and often
make a home among the sheaves. One was seen chasing a vole by Mr.
Trevor-Battye, who picked up the vole, which the weasel was just about
to jump up for, when he threw it into the hedge. There the weasel
pounced on it and carried it off!

The main food of the weasel is the field-mouse and small voles. Weasels
are very devoted to their young; they will pick them up and carry them
off as a cat does a kitten, if the nest is in danger. Their hunting
shows great marks of cunning. One was seen in a field in which a number
of corn-buntings were flying about, alighting on thistles. The weasel
went and hid under one of the tallest thistles, on which a bunting soon
alighted; an instant after it sprang up and caught and killed the bird.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

HIMALAYAN WEASEL

_They are fierce, and absolutely fearless when in pursuit of game_]


  The Stoat, or Ermine.

This is the commonest and most widely distributed of all the Weasel
Tribe. In winter the fur turns to pure white in the northern countries,
and occasionally in Southern England. It is then known as the Ermine,
and yields the ermine fur. In every country where it is found it is the
deadly foe of all small animals, from the hare to the smallest
field-mice. It has the same passion for killing for killing's sake
shared by the ferret. If a stoat finds a rabbit's nest, for instance, it
always murders all the young ones. These creatures sometimes contrive to
hunt in packs, or to migrate in society. They are very fond of their
young, which they lay up in old crows' nests, holes in banks, or
straw-stacks. They have often been seen to carry them out of danger in
their mouths. The length of the head and body is 10¾ inches, and of the
tail 6½ inches. The young are usually from five to eight in number, and
are born in April or May. They soon move into the long standing-grass,
and remain there till it is cut. After that they move to the woods and
covers, and great numbers are trapped. If not, they attack the young
pheasants, and do great damage. They can climb well, and are known, as
is the polecat, to ascend trees and kill birds on their nests. They also
suck eggs. Forty-two pheasants' eggs were taken by Mr. de Winton from
one stoat's hole.

[Illustration: _Photos by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

COMMON STOAT

_In summer coat_            _In winter coat_

_These photographs show the stoat (or ermine, as it is often called) in
its summer and winter coats. This animal gives us the well-known ermine
fur_]


  The Glutton, or Wolverine.

This largest and most destructive of all the Weasel Tribe is found all
round the northern edge of the Arctic Circle, from Norway to Hudson Bay.
It is a large heavy animal, with a short head, sharp claws, long thick
fur, and a clumsy gait. Its tusks are very long and sharp; and its
appetite, if not so insatiable as the old travelers were told, is sharp
enough to keep it always hunting. It follows the fur-trappers in the
woods, and, being very cunning, breaks in at the back of their
fall-traps, and robs the baits or the prey caught. When Lord Milton and
Dr. Cheadle made the Northwest Passage by land, they lost nearly all
their furs in this way. Once, having trapped a valuable silver fox, the
only one caught by them, they found nothing but shreds of fur left by
the glutton. As the marten-hunters' line of traps is perhaps fifty or
sixty miles long, the loss and damage caused by the glutton is most
mortifying. This animal can only be caught in steel traps, and that with
great difficulty.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

GLUTTON

_A cunning, destructive animal, which follows the trappers and robs them
of the animals taken in the traps_]




[Illustration: _By permission of the New York Zoological Society_

CALIFORNIAN SEA-LIONS, OR EARED SEALS

_Seal-herds form "rookeries" when on land at the breeding-season, during
which time they undergo a complete fast_]


  CHAPTER VIII.

  _MARINE CARNIVORA: THE SEALS, SEA-LION, AND WALRUS._


There are three families of the Sea Carnivora,--the Fur-seals, or Eared
Seals; the Walrus; and the True or Earless Seals.

The first group, which are called Eared Seals, and occasionally
Sea-lions and Sea-bears, have a small outer ear, and when on land the
hind flippers are folded forwards beneath the body. There is a distinct
neck, and on the flippers are rudimentary claws. Some of the eared seals
have the close and fine under-fur which makes their capture so
remunerative. Under the skin there is often a thick layer of blubber,
which is also turned to commercial uses by the sealers.

The Walrus stands by itself. It is a purely Arctic species, whereas
fur-seals are found from Bering Sea to the Antarctic; and forms in some
degree a connecting link between the eared seals and the true seals.
Like the former, it turns the front flippers forwards and inwards when
on land; but it resembles the true seals in having no external ears. The
upper canine teeth are developed into enormous tusks of hard ivory.

The Common Seals are the most thoroughly aquatic. The hind flippers seem
almost to have coalesced with the tail, and are always directed
backwards in line with it. They have no under-fur. On land they can only
use the front flippers to aid their progress.

Most seals are marine, though some are found in the land-locked sea of
Lake Baikal, in Central Asia, and the true seals often come up rivers.


[Illustration: _Photo by G. W. Wilson & Co., Ltd._]    [_Aberdeen_

STELLER'S SEA-LION

_The eared seal, or sea-lion, has the hind flippers divided, and is thus
able to move with comparative ease on land_]


  The Eared Seals, or Sea-lions.

These and the walrus have their hind limbs so far free that they can
crawl on land and use their flippers for other purposes than swimming;
they can comb their hair with them, and walk in an awkward way. They are
divided into the fur-seals and hair-seals in the language of trade. The
fur-seals are those from which ladies' sealskin jackets are made; the
hair-seals are sought for their hides and oil. A demand has sprung up
for the latter to make coats for automobilists to wear when riding at
high speed in cold weather. The "porpoise-hide" boots are really made
from the skin of the hair-seal.

Both hair-seals and fur-seals have in common the remarkable habit of
assembling in large herds during the breeding-season, and of spending a
long period on land after the young are born. The male seals reach the
islands, or "rookeries," first, followed by the females. The latter give
birth to their young almost as soon as they reach the rocks, and are
then seized and gathered into harems by the strongest and oldest males.
The sea-lions of Patagonia, equally with the fur-seals of Bering Sea and
the Pribyloff Islands, never feed during the whole time which they spend
on the rocks, often for a period of two months.

[Illustration: _Photo by G. W. Wilson & Co., Ltd._]    [_Aberdeen_

SEA-LION

_This photograph shows the dry mane of the sea-lion, a rather uncommon
sight, as it rarely remains long enough out of the water for its fur to
become absolutely dry_]


  The Fur-seals.

The Northern Fur-seal is the only member of this group surviving in any
number. These animals still annually resort to the Aleutian Islands, in
the territory of Alaska, in great herds to produce their young, and to
certain other islets off the coast of Japan. This northern fur-seal,
from the fur of which the sealskin jackets are obtained, is, when full
grown, between 6 and 7 feet long. The females are only 4 feet or 4½ feet
in length. The shoulder of the male is gray, the rest of the body
varying between reddish gray and deep black. The female is lighter in
colour. Males of this species are not full grown till six years of age,
but breed when four years old. The females produce young at three years
of age. The male seals take possession of the females almost immediately
after reaching the breeding grounds, each male collecting as many
females as it can round it. The pups keep with their mothers. This
assemblage is surrounded by great numbers of young male or bachelor
seals, which the old males prevent from annexing any of the females. The
greatest of all these gathering-places are on the Pribyloff Islands and
certain other islets in Bering Sea. By the end of May both male and
female seals swim in flocks through Bering Straits, making for the
islands. The islands themselves are leased to American merchants. But as
those seals killed on the way are all just about to bring forth young,
the waste and cruelty of this "pelagic sealing" will be easily
understood. On the islands, or "rookeries," the males, mothers, and pups
remain till August, when the pups take to the water. The male seals have
remained for at least two months, incessantly fighting and watching,
without taking any food. By that time they are quite exhausted, the fat
which they laid up previously being all absorbed. The fur has not
naturally either the colour or texture which art gives it. The outer fur
is long and coarse, and only the inner fur of the exquisite texture of
the "made" skin. The former is removed, and the latter dyed to the rich
brown colour which we see. The fur-seals are steadily diminishing, and
each year's catch is smaller than that of the year before.

The Cape Fur-seal, Southern Fur-seal, and New Zealand Fur-seal are
practically extinct for commercial purposes.


  The Hair-seals.

Among these are the large so-called "sea-lions" of Patagonia and the
North Pacific. We are familiar with their appearance, because for many
years specimens have been kept at the Zoological Gardens. Their habits
are much the same as those of the fur-seals. The principal species are,
in the north, Steller's Sea-lion, and the Patagonian Sea-lion in the
south. Those kept at the Zoological Gardens are usually of the latter
species.

Steller's Sea-lion is already on the road to extinction. When the annual
catch of fur-seals reached 100,000 a year, the total number of these
northern sea-lions was estimated at between 30,000 and 40,000. They
repair every year to the Pribyloff Islands to breed, as the fur-seals
do, but are shier and more entirely aquatic. The fur of the old males is
tawny, and makes a kind of mane over the shoulders, whence its name. Off
San Francisco there is a small rocky island, one of the ancient
"rookeries" of these sea-lions, where they are carefully preserved by
the United States Government as one of the sights of the bay. Another
favourite haunt in old days was on the Farralone Islands, thirty miles
from the bay.

Southwards, towards the Antarctic, on the desolate and uninhabited
coasts and islets of the Far Southern Ocean, the most characteristic of
the fauna still remaining are the sea-lions. Formerly they swarmed in
great packs, crowding at the breeding-season the seaweed-covered rocks
with their huge and unwieldy forms, and at other times cruising in
uncouth and noisy companies in search of the fishes and squids, which
they pursued like packs of ocean-wolves. In spring the sea-lions used to
struggle on to the flat shore, where the equally aquatic tribes of
penguins, which had lost the use of their wings, covered acre after acre
of rock with their eggs and young. These the sea-lions devoured. When
the men of the first exploring-ships visited the penguins' nurseries,
all the ungainly birds began to hop inland, evidently taking the men for
seals, and thinking it best to draw them as far from their native
element as possible. But the eared seals can make good progress of a
kind on land. When Captain Musgrave and his crew were cast away for
twenty months on the Auckland Islands, they found their tracks on the
top of a hill four miles from the water. Captain Musgrave also saw the
mother seals teaching their puppies to swim; they were by no means
inclined to do this, and were afraid of the water--fairly clear
presumptive evidence that seals have only recently, so far as natural
time is counted, taken to the aquatic life, and modified their form so
profoundly as they have.

[Illustration: _By permission of Professor Bumpus_]    [_New York_

SEA-LION

_All sea-lions are polygamous. The males guard their harems very
jealously; and fight determinedly with any intruder_]

The Patagonian Sea-lion is perhaps the most numerous species, though its
numbers have been greatly reduced by whalers in search of skins and oil.
The first sea-lion ever brought here was one of these. The Zoological
Society did not import it; they found it in the possession of a
Frenchman called Lecomte, who had taken it on the Patagonian coast,
trained it, and brought it home, where he showed it in a caravan. Its
training was long and difficult; it bit like a bull-dog, and Lecomte's
limbs were scarred all over with its bites. In spite of this it was the
cleverest performing animal ever seen up to that time in England. This
sea-lion died from swallowing a fish-hook concealed in some fish with
which it was fed. Lecomte was then sent out by the Zoological Society to
obtain some more. With the greatest difficulty several were secured, but
all died on the voyage to New York. Lecomte returned and obtained
others, one of which he succeeded in bringing here. The cleverness of
these animals--or rather their power of understanding what they are
required to do, and their willingness to do it--probably exceeds that of
any other animal, except the elephant and the dog. Why this is so is not
easy to conjecture, except that the brain is more developed. They have
been taught to fetch and carry on dry land like a retriever, in addition
to the well-known tricks exhibited by those at the Zoo. One belonging to
Barnum's Show caught strawberry-punnets on its nose when they were
thrown to it, and waved a torch, which it held in its teeth and caught
after tossing it into the air.

The sea-lions are much more powerful animals than the fur-seals. The
male of Steller's sea-lion attains a length of 10 feet and a weight of
1,000 lbs. The Australian Sea-lion is even larger than that of the North
Pacific. Some specimens are said to attain 12 feet in length. Captain
Cook mentions seeing male Patagonian sea-lions 14 feet long and from 8
to 10 feet in circumference. Though none are now seen of such
dimensions, skulls found on the beach show that anciently some of the
sea-lions were larger than any now known.

It should be noted that all these creatures are carnivorous, yet the
supply of food for them never seems to fail, as undoubtedly it would
were the animals dependent for their food on land.

[Illustration: _By permission of Herr Carl Hagenbeck_]    [_Hamburg_

FEMALE WALRUS

_This is a photograph of the only walrus which has ever been tamed and
taught to perform tricks. It was taken when she was two years old and
weighed 380 lbs. At that time she consumed 70 lbs. of boneless fish a
day; a year later not less than 100 lbs. satisfied her. She is now an
inmate of the Roumanian Zoological Gardens_]

It should be noted that all these creatures are carnivorous, yet the
supply of food for them never seems to fail, as undoubtedly it would
were the animals dependent for their food on land.

[Illustration: _By permission of the Hon. Walter Rothschild_]    [_Tring_

MALE WALRUS

_The "tusks" of the walrus are put to many practical uses during life,
and after death are much valued for the ivory_]


  The Walrus.

The distinguishing features of the walrus have been mentioned in the
introductory remarks to this chapter. It should be added that it has an
external ear-passage, though no external ears, and very thick and
bristly whiskers. It is practically confined to the Arctic Circle,
though once its range extended to the British coasts (where its bones
are found in the Suffolk Crag) and to Virginia. The skull of one was
found in the peat at Ely--evidence that it once ascended rivers.

The walrus stands alone; it is a real monster of the deep. Strange and
awful stories were told of it by some of the early voyagers to the
Arctic Seas; but Captain Cook gave a very different account of his
impressions of the walruses which he saw on the north coast of America:
"They lie in herds of many hundreds on the ice, huddling over one
another like swine. (They lie just like a lot of pigs in a yard.) They
roar and bray so very loud, that in the night, or in foggy weather, they
gave us notice of the vicinity of the ice before we could see it. We
never found the whole herd asleep, some being always on the watch.
These, on the approach of the boat, would awaken those next to them; and
the alarm being thus gradually communicated, the whole herd would awake
presently. But they were seldom in a hurry to get away, till after they
had been once fired at; they then would tumble over one another into the
sea in the utmost confusion. They did not appear to us to be that
dangerous animal which authors have described, not even when attacked.
Vast numbers of them would follow us, and come close up to the boats;
but the flash of the musket in the pan, or the bare pointing of it,
would send them down in an instant. The female will defend her young to
the last, and at the expense of her own life, whether in the water or
upon the ice; nor will the young one quit the dam, though she be dead;
so that if one be killed the other is certain prey." The long pendent
tusks, bristly whiskers, small bloodshot eyes, and great size lent
colour to the terrifying tales of the walrus. But more ancient voyagers
than Captain Cook told the truth--that the "morses," as they called
them, were harmless creatures, which often followed the ships from sheer
curiosity. They sleep on the ice like elephantine pigs, and dive and
rout on the sea-bottom for clams, cuttle-fish, and seaweeds. Probably
the long tusks are used to rake up mussels and clams; they also help the
walrus to climb on to the ice. A young walrus was kept for some time by
the members of the Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition, and was found to be an
amusing pet. One kept on board a Dundee whaler used to sleep with an
Eskimo dog, and got into the same kennel with it. It ate blubber and
salt pork, but liked the sailors' pea soup better than anything else; it
was most sociable, and could not bear to be alone--would tumble down the
hatchway to seek the society of its beloved sailors, and scramble into
the cabin if the door were open. When it fell ill and before it died, it
seemed most grateful for any attention shown to it. The parent walrus
shows the greatest courage in trying to defend the young one. Walruses
are now scarce; but as the ivory is the only part of them of much
present value, there is a chance that they may not be killed off
entirely.


  The True Seals.

The True Seals, with their greatly modified forms, heads set almost on
to their shoulders, with no neck visible, have well-developed claws on
all the toes, and in the typical species have double-rooted and small
cheek teeth. The number of the incisors is variable. The Gray Seal of
the North Atlantic is a large species which visits the North British
coasts and the Hebrides. One old male shot off the coast of Connemara
weighed nearly 400 lbs., and was 8 feet long. It is found off
Scandinavia and eastwards to the coast of Greenland, and breeds off our
coasts in October and November. This is the large seal occasionally shot
up Scotch lochs. Its colour is yellowish gray, varied with blots and
patches of dirty black and brown.


  The Common Seal.

This seal is smaller than the preceding. It breeds on parts of the Welsh
and Cornish coasts, and is found on both sides of the Atlantic and in
the North Pacific. It assembles in small herds, and frequents lochs,
estuaries, and river mouths. In the summer it is fond of following
flounders and sea-trout up rivers. A few years ago one came up the
Thames and was shot at Richmond. The young are born in June, and are
grayish white. The adults are variously mottled with gray, brown, and
black. The fondness of seals for music is proverbial. Macgillivray, the
Scotch naturalist, said that in the Hebrides he could bring half a score
of them within forty yards of him by a few notes on his flute, when they
would swim about with their heads above water like so many black dogs. A
seal was captured by the servants of a landowner near Clew Bay, on the
west coast of Ireland, and kept tame for four years. It became so
attached to the house that, after being carried out to sea three times,
it returned on each occasion. The cruel wretches who owned it then
blinded it, out of curiosity to see whether it could find its way back
sightless. The poor animal did so after eight days.

The common seal is still fairly numerous on the rocky western coasts of
the British Islands, though a few old seals, unable to forget their
early habits, appear now and then in Morecambe Bay and in the Solway. It
is not uncommon off the coasts of Caithness and Sutherland. It also
frequents a sand-bank in the Dornoch Firth, though it has been much
persecuted there. The common seal is gregarious, while the gray seal
usually lives only in pairs, or at most in small companies. Two or three
dozen like to lie closely packed on shore with all their heads turning
seawards. The white hair of the young seals--which, as already said, are
born in June--is shed in a day or two, when the young take to the water.
With regard to their reputed musical proclivities, some experiments made
at the Zoological Gardens did not bear out this belief; but there is
much evidence that in a state of nature they will approach and listen to
music. The common seal has a large brain capacity, and is a very
intelligent creature. The upper parts of this seal are yellowish gray,
spotted with black and brown, the under parts being silver-gray.

[Illustration: _By permission of Herr Carl Hagenbeck_]    [_Hamburg_

WALRUS AND SEA-LION

_Another photograph of the walrus tamed by Herr Carl Hagenbeck. Notice
the sea-lion in the right-hand corner, which also formed one of the same
performing troupe_]

The Harp-seal is an Arctic or ice-seal which sometimes finds its way
here. The young are born on ice-floes. It is found in great herds in
Davis Straits, on the coasts of Greenland and in the greater part of the
frozen Arctic Ocean. It is the animal which the sealing-vessels which
hunt seals for oil and "hair"--that is, the leather of the skins, not
the fur--seek and destroy. In the old days they could be seen in tens of
thousands blackening square miles of ice. They are still so numerous
that in Danish Greenland more than 30,000 are taken each year. The
Ringed Seal is a small variety, not more than 3 or 4 feet in length,
found in great numbers in the Far North. Its flesh is the main food of
the Eskimo, and its skin the clothing of the Greenlanders. The seals
make breathing-holes in the ice. There the Eskimo waits with uplifted
spear for hours at a time, until the seal comes up to breathe, when it
is harpooned. The Bladder-nosed Seal is a large spotted variety, with a
curious bladder-like crest on the head and nose of the male. Unlike all
other seals, it sometimes resists the hunters and attacks the Eskimo in
their kayaks.

[Illustration: _Photo by York and Son_]    [_Notting Hill_

GRAY SEAL

_Seals are not so well adapted as sea-lions for getting about on the dry
land, and, except for their habit of coming ashore to bask in the sun,
are thoroughly aquatic_]

If any evidence were needed of the great destruction which the sealing
and whaling industry causes, and has caused, among the large marine
animals, the case of the Elephant-seals ought to carry conviction. These
are very large seals, the male of which has a projecting nose like a
proboscis. They were formerly found both north and south of the Equator,
their main haunts being on the coast of California, and on the islands
of the South Pacific and Antarctic Ocean. They are gigantic compared
with the common seals, some of the males being from 16 to 20 feet long.
Cuttle-fish and seaweed are the principal food of this seal, which was
formerly seen in astonishing numbers. The whaling-ships which hunted
both these seals and sperm-whales at the same time almost destroyed
those which bred on the more accessible coasts, just as the earlier
whalers entirely destroyed Steller's sea-cow, and their modern
descendants destroyed the southern right-whales. The elephant-seal is
now very scarce, and when one is killed the skin is regarded as
something of a curiosity.

[Illustration: _Photo by J. W. McLellan_]    [_Highbury_

GREY SEAL

_Note the difference between the seal's and the sea-lion's hind
flippers. When on land, the seal advances by a jumping movement,
produced by the muscles of the body, assisted forward by the front
flippers_]

In the records of the voyage of the _Challenger_ it is stated that there
were still great numbers of the elephant-seals surviving near Heard
Island, and not a few round the shores of Kerguelen Island. Professor
Moseley states that on the windward shore of Heard Island "there is an
extensive beach, called Long Beach. This was covered with thousands of
sea-elephants in the breeding-season; but it is only accessible by land,
and then only by crossing two glaciers. No boat can safely land on this
shore; consequently men are stationed on the beach, and live there in
huts. Their duty is constantly to drive the sea-elephants from this
beach into the sea, which they do with whips made out of the hides of
the seals themselves. The beasts thus ousted swim off, and often 'haul
up,' as the term is, upon the accessible beach beyond. In very stormy
weather, when they are driven into the sea, they are forced to betake
themselves to the sheltered side of the island. Two or three old males,
which are called 'beach-masters,' hold a beach for themselves and cover
it with cows, but allow no other males to haul up. They fight
furiously, and one man told me that he had seen an old male take a young
one up in his teeth and throw him over, lifting him in the air. The
males show fight when whipped, and are with great difficulty driven into
the sea. The females give birth to their young soon after their arrival.
The new-born young ones are almost black, unlike the adults, which are
of a light slate-brown. They are suckled by the female for some time,
and then left to themselves, lying on the beach, where they seem to grow
fat without further feeding. They are always allowed by the sealers to
lie like this, 'in order to make more oil.' This account was
corroborated by all the sealers I met, but I do not understand it.
Probably the cows visit their offspring unobserved from time to time.
Péron says that both parent elephant-seals stay with the young without
taking any food at all till the latter are about six or seven weeks old,
and that the old ones conduct the young to the water and carefully keep
them company. The rapid increase in weight is in accordance with Péron's
account. Goodridge gives a somewhat different story--namely, that after
the females leave the young the old males and the pups proceed inland,
as far as two miles sometimes, and stop without food for more than a
month, during which time they lose fat. The male sea-elephants come
ashore for the purpose of breeding about the middle of August, the
females a little later."

Formerly the elephant-seals were found as far north as the Californian
coast, where their capture was the main business of the sealing-traders.
This species also formed the mainstay of the far southern sealers. As
the elephant-seals were killed off, so the business became less and less
profitable. It is to be hoped that the voyages of exploration to the
Antarctic ice-fringe will not lead to the discovery of fresh
sealing-grounds, for if this is the case there is little chance that any
of the southern seals will escape entire destruction. Some form of close
time has already been enforced in the pursuit of the hair-seals of
Northern Europe; but it is very desirable that the species still found
on our own coasts should also receive protection. Except when they paid
visits to the fixed salmon-nets, they never did any harm; and fixed nets
are now illegal. When a seal learned the use of the stake-nets, which
these animals were very quick to understand, it would wait quietly till
it saw a fish caught, and then swim up and carry it off before the
fishermen could take it.

[Illustration: _By permission of the Hon. Walter Rothschild_]    [_Tring_

HARP-SEAL

_The harp-seal comes from Greenland_]

Two species--namely, the Common Seal and Gray Seal--still regularly
visit our shores. The common seal breeds on our southwestern coasts, and
the gray seal off the Hebrides. If the common seal were accorded a close
time, its numbers would probably increase; and the spectacle of such
interesting creatures visible on our coast could not fail to be of great
interest. All the old legends of mermaids and wild men of the sea are
based on the capture of seals. Perhaps the most ancient is one which
records such a capture in the river near Orford Castle, in Suffolk, in
the reign of Henry II. The ignorant soldiers were persuaded that it was
a man, and tortured it to make it speak. They then took it to the
church, and showed it the sacred emblems. As it "showed no reverence,"
they took it back to the castle, and fed it on fish. It was allowed to
go into the river, but returned to its captors of its own accord. Later
it swam away to the sea. The monk who recorded the story stated his
conviction that this seal was an evil spirit which had got into the body
of a drowned sailor. A gray seal was taken not many years ago in the
creek leading up to the little town of Wells, in Norfolk. It was so
tame that the fishermen caught it by throwing coats over it as it lay
on the mud.

[Illustration: _By permission of the Hon. Walter Rothschild_]    [_Tring_

SEA-ELEPHANT

_These enormous seals (about 20 feet in length) are becoming very
scarce. When they come ashore, they are easily approached, though not
so easily killed. They are much valued for their oil. Now the
trunk-like prolongation of the nose, which, when the animal is excited,
becomes distended_]




  CHAPTER IX.

  _THE RODENTS, OR GNAWING ANIMALS._


The Rodents, or Gnawing Mammals, have all the same general type of
teeth, from which the order receives its distinctive name. There are a
very large number of families and of genera among the rodents, more than
in any other order of mammals. All the rodents possess a pair of long
chisel-shaped incisor teeth in each jaw. The ends of these teeth are
worn into a sharp edge which cuts like a steel tool. In most rodents
these are the only teeth in that part of the jaw, a wide gap intervening
between them and the other teeth. The hares, rabbits, and calling-hares
have a minute pair of teeth set just behind the large pair in the upper
jaw. The grinding-teeth are set far back, and are never more than six in
number, these being sometimes reduced to four. Rodents generally have
five toes on the fore feet; in the hind feet there are in some cases
only four, or even three. None of the species are of great size; the
largest, the Capybara, a water-living animal of South America, is about
the dimensions of a small pig. But the number of species of small
rodents is prodigious, and their fecundity so great that they constantly
increase in favourable seasons until they become a plague. Voles,
lemmings, field-mice, and rabbits are constant sources of loss to
agriculture in their seasons of extraordinary increase. Most rodents
feed on vegetables, though rats and mice have developed carnivorous
tastes. No rodents have canine teeth.

[Illustration: _Photo by W. P. Dando_]

CAPYBARA

_This, the largest of the rodents, is found by the rivers of South
America_]


  The Squirrels.

Those of the order of Gnawing Animals which have only two incisors in
each jaw, and no rudimentary teeth like those possessed by the hares,
are called "Simple-toothed Rodents." Of these the family usually placed
first in order is that of the Squirrels and their allies. The True
Squirrels and Marmots have five molar teeth on each side of the upper
jaw.

[Illustration: _By permission of Professor Bumpus, New York_

FLYING-SQUIRREL

_One of the small species of the group_]

Squirrels are found in nearly every temperate part of the globe, from
Norway to Japan, and in very great numbers in India and the tropics.
Everywhere they are favourites; and though they do some mischief in
highly cultivated countries, they are among the most harmless of
creatures. Most of them live on wild nuts and the kernels of fruit; they
suck eggs occasionally, and in Canada will come to the traps in extreme
cold and eat the meat with which they are baited.


  The Red Squirrel.

This, the common squirrel here, is representative of the whole order. In
old Scandinavian legends the squirrel is represented as the messenger of
the gods, who carried the news of what was going on in the world to the
other animals. Together with its close relations, it is the most
graceful of all climbers of trees. With its long tail waving behind it,
it races up or down the trunks and across the forests from branch to
branch as easily as a horse gallops across a plain. It will descend the
trunk head downwards as fast as it runs up. Squirrels pair for life, and
are most affectionate little creatures, always playing or doing
gymnastics together. The squirrel builds a very good house, in which he
shows himself far more sensible than the monkeys and apes; it is made of
leaves, moss, and sticks. The sticks come first as a platform; then this
is carpeted, and a roof put on. No one who has seen common squirrels at
work house-building has ever described exactly how they do it; it is the
best nest made by any mammal, thoroughly well fitted together and
waterproof. In this nest the young squirrels are born in the month of
June; that year they keep with the parents, and do not "set up for
themselves" till the next spring. The red colour is very persistent in
squirrels. One Chinese Variety, black and red, has even bright red
teeth. In cold countries the red squirrels make stores of food, but
spend much of the winter asleep.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

FLYING-SQUIRREL

_The large flying-squirrels are mainly nocturnal. They can leap a
distance of 40 feet with the aid of the parachutes of skin stretching
from the fore to the hind limbs_]

It is a great pity that in England no ones tries to tame the squirrels
as they do in America; there they are the greatest ornament of the parks
of cities, coming down to be fed as tamely as our sparrows. The writer
has known one instance in which a lady induced wild squirrels to pay
daily visits to her bedroom for food; they used to climb up the ivy and
jump in at the open window. The great enemies of squirrels near houses
are the cats, which kill all the young ones when they first come down
from the trees. In a garden in the country a pair of squirrels had a
family every summer for five years, but none ever survived the cats'
persistent attacks. These squirrels were most amusing and improvident.
They used to hide horse-chestnuts, small potatoes, kernels of stone
fruit, bulbs of crocuses, and other treasures in all kinds of places,
and then forget them. After deep snows they might be seen scampering
about looking into every hole and crevice to see whether that happened
to be the place where they had hidden something useful. Much of the
store was buried among the roots of trees and bushes, and quite hidden
when the snow fell.

[Illustration: _Photo by W. P. Dando_]    [_Regent's Park_

DORSAL SQUIRREL FROM CENTRAL AMERICA

_A most beautiful species. The main colour is red, but the back is
French gray, and the tail French gray and red mingled._]


  The Gray Squirrel.

In Northern Europe, and across Northern Asia and America, a large gray
squirrel is found. From its fur the "squirrel-cloaks" are made. These
squirrels live mainly on the seeds of pines in winter, and on wild
fruits, shoots, and berries in summer. It has been noticed that they
will entirely forsake some great area of forest for a year or two, and
as suddenly return to it. The marten and the sable are the great enemies
of the gray squirrel, but the eagle-owl and goshawk also kill numbers of
them. In many countries the flesh of the squirrel is eaten.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

ASIATIC CHIPMUNKS

_Small ground-squirrels which store food for the winter_]

The gray-and-black squirrel of the United states was thus described some
sixty years ago: "It rises with the sun, and continues industriously
engaged in the search of food for four or five hours every morning.
During the warm weather of spring it prepares its nest on the branch of
a tree, constructing it first of dried sticks, which it breaks off, or,
if these are not at hand, of green twigs as thick as a finger, which it
gnaws off from the boughs. These it lays in the fork of a tree, so as to
make a framework. It lines this framework with leaves and over these
again it spreads moss. In making the nest, the pair is usually engaged
for several days, spending an hour in the morning hard at work. The
noise they make in cutting the sticks and carrying material is heard at
some distance." In winter they reside entirely in the holes of trees,
where their young are in most cases born. Green corn and young wheat
suffered greatly from their depredations, and a wholesale war of
destruction used to be waged against them everywhere. In Pennsylvania an
old law offered threepence a head from the public treasury for every
squirrel destroyed, and in 1749 the enormous sum of $40,000 was paid out
of the public funds for this purpose. In those days vast migrations of
these squirrels used to take place, exciting not only the wonder but the
fear of the old settlers. In the Far Northwest multitudes of squirrels
used to congregate in different districts, forming scattered bands,
which all moved in an easterly direction, gathering into larger bodies
as they went. Neither mountains nor rivers stopped them. On they came, a
devouring army, laying waste the corn- and wheat-fields, until guns,
cats, hawks, foxes, and owls destroyed them.

[Illustration: _Photo by W. P. Dando_

RED-FOOTED GROUND-SQUIRREL

_This species has some of the characteristics of the tree-squirrels,
among them the bushy tail_]


  The Flying-squirrels.

One of the finest squirrels is the Taguan, a large squirrel of India,
Ceylon, and the Malacca forests. It is a "flying-squirrel," with a body
2 feet long, and a bushy tail of the same length. Being nocturnal, it is
not often seen; but when it leaps it unfolds a flap of skin on either
side, which is stretched (like a sail) when the fore and hind limbs are
extended in the act of leaping; it then forms a parachute. The colour of
this squirrel is gray, brown, and pale chestnut. There are a number of
different flying-squirrels in China, Formosa, and Japan, and in the
forests of Central America. One small flying-squirrel, the Polatouche is
found in Northeast Russia and Siberia. It flies from tree to tree with
immense bounds, assisted by the "floats" on its sides. Though only six
inches long, it can cover distances of 30 feet and more without
difficulty. Wherever there are birch forests this little squirrel is
found. One nearly as small is a native of the Southern states of
America, ranging as far south as Guatemala.

[Illustration: _Photo by Dr. R. W. Shufeldt_]    [_Washington_

BLACK FOX-SQUIRREL

_The fur of this species is as valuable as that of the gray squirrel_]

In Africa, south of the Sahara, the place of the Oriental
flying-squirrel is taken by a separate family. They have a different
arrangement of the parachute from that of the flying-squirrels of India.
This wide fold of skin is supported in the Asiatic squirrels by a
cartilage extending from the wrist. In the South African
flying-squirrels this support springs from the elbow, not from the
wrist; they have also horny plates on the under-surface of the tail.
Many of the tropical flying-squirrels are quite large animals, some
being as large as a small cat.

[Illustration: _Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co._]    [_Parson's Green_

LONG-TAILED MARMOT

_The marmots live by preference on high and cold mountains just below
the line of eternal snow in Europe. In Asia, where the snow-line is
higher, they are found at altitudes of 12,000 feet_]

Mr. W. H. Adams says of Pel's Flying-squirrel, a West African species:
"These squirrels come out of their holes in the trees some hours after
sunset, and return long before daybreak. They are only visible on bright
moonlight nights. The natives say that they do not come out of their
holes at all in stormy weather, or on very dark nights; they live on
berries and fruits, being especially fond of the palm-oil nut, which
they take to their nests to peel and eat. They pass from tree to tree
with great rapidity, usually choosing to jump from a higher branch to a
lower one, and then climbing up again to make a fresh start. . . . They
litter about twice in a year, once in September. The young remain in the
nest for about nine weeks, during which they are fed by the old ones on
such food as shoots and kernels. They do not attempt to jump or 'fly'
till the end of that period, extending the length of their jumps with
their growth."

The Ethiopian Spiny Squirrels have coarse spiny fur; the little Indian
Palm-squirrel is marked with longitudinal dark and light stripes on the
back; others have light bands on their flanks.


  The Ground-squirrels.

Many tree-living squirrels pass a good deal of their time on the ground;
but there are others which burrow like mice, and, though they climb
admirably, prefer to make their nest, and the regular squirrel's store
of nuts, in the earth, and not in the branches. The best known is the
little Chipmunk of the United States, a favourite pet of many American
children. There are many kinds of chipmunks, all of which have pouches
in their cheeks for carrying food. The commonest is the Striped
Chipmunk. It is from 8 to 10 inches long, with white stripes, bordered
with dark brown on each side. The chipmunks' hoards of grain and nuts
are so large that the Indians used to rob them in times of scarcity.
There is also a ground-squirrel in Northern Europe and Northern Asia
with much the same habits as the chipmunk.

The burrows of the chipmunks are deep and extensive, and into them these
rodents convey such quantities of grain and maize as to inflict
considerable loss on the farmer. The Siberian Ground-squirrel has been
known to conceal 8 lbs. weight of corn in its hole. This has a
sleeping-chamber at the end, filled with moss and leaves, on which the
family sleep. From this side passages are dug, all leading to chambers
stocked with food, often far in excess of the wants of these provident
little creatures. The surplus stores are said to be eaten in the spring
by wild boars and bears.


  The Prairie-dogs and Marmots.

Between squirrels which live in holes in the ground and the marmots and
their relations no great gap is found. These creatures drop the climbing
habit and increase that of burrowing. In disposition most of them are
still very squirrel-like, though they gain something in solemnity of
demeanour by never going far from their holes. A prairie-dog or marmot
is like a squirrel which has left society and settled down in a suburb.
The little creatures known in America as Prairie-dogs have in Northern
Europe and the steppes of Asia some first cousins, called Susliks. Both
live in colonies, burrow quickly and well, feed on grass, and have a
habit of sitting bolt upright outside their holes, keeping a lookout for
enemies. The prairie-dogs also bark like a little dog when alarmed.
Before going to sleep, the latter always carry the dry grass on which
they slept out of their burrow, and carefully bite up into short lengths
a fresh supply to make their beds. The susliks and prairie-dogs are of a
khaki colour, like the sand in which they delight to burrow. Every one
has heard that the little burrowing-owls live in the same holes in
company with the prairie-dogs, and that the rattlesnake sometimes eats
both the young prairie-dogs and the young owls. An acquaintance of the
writer who had killed a rattlesnake actually took a young prairie-dog
from its mouth. The snake had not struck it with the poison, but had
begun to swallow it uninjured. It was still alive, and recovered.

[Illustration: _By permission of the New York Zoological Society_

PRAIRIE-DOGS, OR MARMOTS

_A most characteristic picture. It shows the prairie-dogs' method of
holding their food while they eat, or cutting up grass to make their
beds_]

The suslik was once found in England; its remains, with those of other
steppe animals, are found in the river gravels and brick earth in the
London basin. The prairie-dogs form a kind of connecting-link between
the susliks and the true marmots. They have short ears, short tails,
rounded bodies, and possess great powers of digging. When a prairie-dog
has nothing better to do, it usually spends its time either in digging
holes or in cutting up grass or anything handy to make its bed with.
Young prairie-dogs are not so large as a mouse when born. The adult
animals feed almost entirely on grass and weeds in their wild state;
they seem quite independent of water, and able to live in the driest
places.

The Alpine Marmot is a much larger species than the prairie-dog. It
lives on the Alps just below the line of perpetual snow. From five to
fifteen marmots combine in colonies, dig very deep holes, and, like the
prairie-dogs, carefully line them with grass; they also store up dry
grass for food. In autumn they grow very fat, and are then dug out of
the burrows by the mountaineers for food. Young marmots used to be tamed
and carried about by the Savoyard boys, but this practice is now rare.
The monkey is probably more attractive to the public than the fat and
sleepy marmot. Marmots are about the size of a rabbit, and have close
iron-gray fur.

Tschudi, the naturalist of the Alps, says of the marmots that they are
the only mammal which inhabits the region of the snows. No other
warm-blooded quadrupeds live at such an altitude. In spring, when the
lower snows melt, there are generally small pieces of short turf near
their holes, as well as great rocks, precipices, and stones. Here they
make their burrows, outside which they feed, with a sentinel always
posted to warn them of the approach of the eagle or lammergeir. The
young marmots, from four to six in number, are born in June. When they
first appear at the mouth of the holes, they are bluish gray; later the
fur gains a brownish tint. The burrows are usually at a height of not
less than 7,000 or 8,000 feet. Winter comes on apace. By the end of
autumn the ground is already covered with snow, and the marmots retire
to sleep through the long winter. As they do not become torpid for some
time, they require food when there is none accessible; this they store
up in the form of dried grass, which they cut in August, and leave
outside their burrows for a time to be turned into hay.

The Alpine Marmot is also found in the Carpathians and the Pyrenees.
Another species, the Bobac, ranges eastward from the German frontier
across Poland, Russia, and the steppes of Asia to Kamchatka. In Ladak
and Western Tibet a short-tailed species, the Himalayan Marmot, is
found, sometimes living at a height of nearly 17,000 feet. The Golden
Marmot is found in the Pamirs.

[Illustration: _By permission of the New York Zoological Society_

AMERICAN BEAVER

_The engineering feats of the beavers, in damming streams and forming
pools, are the most remarkable achievements performed by living
animals_]


  The Beavers.

The Beavers are classed as the last family of the squirrel-like group of
the Rodents, and the largest creatures of that order in the northern
hemisphere. The value of their fur has caused their destruction in great
measure where they were once numerous, and has led to their total
extirpation where there is evidence that they existed as a not uncommon
animal. They were formerly distributed over the greater part of Europe.
In England semi-fossilised remains show that they were not uncommon. In
Wales beavers' skins were mentioned in the year 940 in the laws of Howel
Dha, and in 1188 Giraldus stated that they were living on the river
Teify, in Cardiganshire. Beavers were formerly found in France,
especially on the Rhone, where a few are still said to survive, in
Germany, Austria, Russia, Poland, and in Sweden, and Norway, on the
rivers Dwina and Petchora, and on the great rivers of Siberia. A few
still remain in two districts of Norway, and some were known to frequent
the Elbe in 1878. The Moldau, in Bohemia, is also credited with a
colony; but parts of the Danube are believed to be the chief haunt of
the European beaver at the present time. The American beaver, though its
range has greatly contracted, is still sufficiently numerous for its
fur to be a valuable item in the winter fur-sales.

[Illustration: _Photo by C. Reid_]    [_Wishaw, N.B._

BEAVER

_The beaver here shown was kept as a pet. It was photographed upon a
stream. The long upper fur is removed when the skin is prepared by the
furrier_]

The beaver's tail is flattened like a paddle and covered with scales;
its hind feet are webbed between the toes; it has sharp claws, which aid
it in scratching up mud, and a thick, close fur, with long brown hair
above, and a most beautiful and close under-fur, which, when the long
hairs have all been removed, forms the beaver fur of which hats were
once made, and trimmings for ladies' jackets and men's fur coats are now
manufactured. There are two separate lines of interest in connection
with the animal--political and zoological. The value of the fur was
anciently such that, when the first French explorers began to search the
Canadian lakes, and later when the Hudson Bay Company succeeded to the
French dominion, the history of Canada was largely bound up with
beaver-catching and the sale of the skins. In the early days of the
Company the "standard of trade" of the Northwest was a beaver skin. For
nearly a century the northern territories were organised, both under
French and English rule, with a view to the beaver trade. The beaver
was, and is, the crest of the Canadian Dominion.

[Illustration: _Photo by C. Reid_]    [_Wishaw, N.B._

BEAVER

_This is a photograph of a swimming beaver. Note the advantage it has
taken of the eddy in the stream_]

The beavers' engineering feats have for their object to keep up a
uniform depth of water in the streams where they live. On large rivers
there is always enough water for the beaver to swim in safety from its
enemies, and to cover the mouth of the hole which it makes in the bank,
just as a water-rat does. But on small streams, especially in Canada,
where during the winter the frost prevents the springs from running,
there is always the danger that the water may fall so low that the
beavers would be left in shallow water, a prey to the wolverine, wolf,
lynx, or human enemies. To keep up the water, the beavers make a dyke or
dam across the stream. This they go on building up and strengthening
until they have ponded back a large pool. In time, as they never seem to
stop adding to their dam, the pool floods the ground on either side of
the stream and makes a small lake. It flows over the parts of the bank
where their holes are; these also become filled up, because the beavers
carry into them every day fresh quantities of wood-chips to make their
beds. The beavers then scrape out the earth on the top, pile sticks over
this, plaster the sticks with mud, and so build a dome over their
bedroom. In time this is raised higher and higher, the artificial lake
rises too, and the complete "beaver-lodge" surrounded with water is
seen. The old trappers who found these _in situ_ imagined they were
built at once and outright in the water. The experiments and
observations at Leonardslee, in Sussex, where Sir E.G. Loder has kept
beavers in a stream for ten years, show that the "evolution" of the
lodge is gradual and only incidental. But the building of the dyke, the
cutting of the trees, and the making of the pool are done with a purpose
and definite aim.

[Illustration: _Photo by Dr. R. W. Shufeldt_]    [_Washington_

MUSK-RAT

_A small water rodent, a native of our rivers. Immense numbers are
killed for the sake of their fur_]

What this is, and how done, is explained in the following description of
the beaver colony at Leonardslee: "Their first object was to form in the
brook a pool, with water maintained at a constant height, to keep the
mouth of their burrow in the bank submerged during the droughts of
summer. To this end they build a dam, as good a specimen of their work
as can be seen even in Canada. Its situation was carefully chosen. A
small oak, growing on what appears to have been a projection in the
bank, gives support to the work. It may be concluded that this was part
of their intention; for though they have cut down every other tree in
their enclosure to which they had access, except two or three very large
ones, they have left this small tree which supports the dam untouched.
(Later, when the dyke was stronger, they cut it down.) Above this
stretches the dam, some 12 yards wide, and rising 5½ feet from the base
to the crest. The beavers build it solidly of battens of alder, willow,
larch, and other straight-limbed trees, cut into lengths of from 2 to 3
feet. The bark of each was carefully gnawed off for food; and the whole
work, constructed of these cut and peeled logs, has a very regular and
artificial appearance. Smaller twigs and sticks are jammed in between
the battens, and the interstices are stuffed with mud, which the beavers
bring up from the bottom of the pool in their mouths, and push in with
their feet, making the whole structure as water-tight as a wall." This
dam converted what was a narrow brook into a long lake, some 50 yards by
15 or 20 yards broad. Later the beavers made another larger dam below
this, cutting down some more trees. One tree gave them a great deal of
trouble; it was a beech, 40 feet high, and hard to gnaw; so they waited
till the water rose round it, and then _dug it up_. When the large dam
was made, quite a considerable lake was formed below the first. They
then neglected their first dam, and let the water run out of the top
lake into the lower one. At the time of writing there are five old
beavers and a family of young ones at Leonardslee. The work done by
these beavers, so few in numbers, shows how large colonies may alter the
course of rivers.

[Illustration: _Photo by W. P. Dando_

GAMBIAN POUCHED RAT

_These rats are able to carry food in their cheek-pouches, which are
used as pockets_]


  The Dormice.

There are a considerable number of animals, even here, which hibernate.
Most of these feed largely on insect food, which in winter is
unobtainable in any great quantity. Consequently the hedgehog and the
badger, which live largely on snails and worms, go to sleep in the
famine months. So does the sleepiest of all--the Dormouse. This alone
would show that this little rodent probably feeds on insects very
largely, for if it only ate nuts and berries it could easily store
these, and find a good supply also in the winter woods. It has been
recently proved that dormice are insectivorous, and will eat aphides,
weevils, and caterpillars. But a dormouse hibernates for so long a time
that one might imagine its vitality entirely lost; it sleeps for six
months at a time, and becomes almost as cold as a dead animal, and
breathes very slowly and almost imperceptibly. Mr. Trevor-Battye says
that if warmed and made to awaken suddenly in the winter it would die in
a minute or two, its heart beating very fast, "like a clock running
down." Before their hibernation dormice grow very fat. There is a large
species, found in Southern Europe, which the Romans used to eat when in
this fat stage. In winter dormice usually seek the nest of some small
bird, and use it as a sleeping-place. They pull out and renew the
lining, or add a roof themselves. Into the interior they carry a fresh
supply of moss, and sleep there in great comfort. Their great enemy at
this time is the weasel. There are two main groups of the dormice,
divided by naturalists in reference to the structure of their stomach.
The South African Graphiures have short tufted tails. The hibernating
habit is confined to the more northern species.


  The Mouse Tribe.

This family, which includes the Mice, Rats, and Voles, contains more
than a third of the number of the whole order of Rodents. Some are
arboreal, others aquatic; but most are ground-living animals and
burrowers. The number of known species has been estimated at 330. Among
the most marked types are the Water-mice of Australia and New Guinea,
and of the island of Luzon in the Philippines. The feet of the
Australian species are webbed, though those of the Philippine form are
not. The Gerbils form another group, mainly inhabitants of desert
districts. They have very large eyes, soft fur, and tails of various
length and form in different species. They have greatly developed hind
legs, and leap like jerboas, and are found in Southern Europe, Asia, and
Africa. The Philippine Rats, large and long-haired, and the Tree-mice of
Africa south of the Sahara, form other groups. A very mischievous race
of rodents is represented in Europe by the Hamsters, and in America by a
closely allied group, the White-footed Mice.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

POCKET-GOPHER

_The pocket-gophers are almost entirely subterranean. Their burrowing
powers are remarkable. The teeth as well as claws are used to aid them_]


  The Hamsters.

The Hamster is a well-known European species, and represents the group
of pouched rats.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

LONG-EARED JERBOA

_These curious little animals are mainly desert creatures. They move by
a series of leaps_]

These creatures have cheek-pouches to aid them in carrying food. In
addition they are most voracious and inquisitive, so that the hamster is
a type throughout Central Europe of selfishness and greed. We are sorry
to add that John Bull occasionally appears in German cartoons as the
"Land-hamster," or land-grabber. Hamsters are numerous from the Elbe to
the Obi. They burrow and make cellars in the corn- and bean-fields, and
convey thither as much as a bushel of grain. As soon as the young
hamsters can shift for themselves, each moves off, makes a separate
burrow, and begins to hoard beans and corn. As the litter sometimes
contains eighteen young, the mischief done by the hamster is great. Its
coloration is peculiar. The fur, which is so thick as to be used for the
linings of coats, is a light yellowish brown above. A yellow spot marks
each cheek. The lower surface of the body, the legs, and a band on the
forehead are black, and the feet white. Thus the hamster reverses the
usual natural order of colour in mammals, which tends to be dark on the
back and light below. The animal is 10 inches long, and very courageous.
Hamsters have been known to seize a horse by the nose which stepped on
their burrow, and at all times they are ready to defend their home.
Besides vegetables and corn, they destroy smaller animals. They spend
the winter in a more or less torpid state in their burrows, but emerge
early in spring. They then make their summer burrows and produce their
young, which in a fortnight after birth are able to begin to make a
burrow for themselves.

Among the South American members of the group to which the hamster
belongs are the Fish-eating Rats, with webbed hind feet. The Rice-rat,
which is found from the United States to Ecuador, lives on the Texas
prairies much as do the prairie-marmots, though its burrows are not so
extensive, and often quite shallow. In these the rats make beds of dry
grass.


  The Voles.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

CAPE JUMPING-HARE

_This animal is very common in South Africa. The Boers call it the
"Springbaas"_]

The Voles are allied to the preceding groups, but are marked externally
by a shorter and heavier form than the typical rats and mice. Their ears
are shorter, their noses blunter, their eyes smaller, and the tail
generally shorter. They are found in great numbers at certain seasons,
when they often develop into a pest. The Short-tailed Field-vole is
responsible for much destruction of crops in Europe. One of the latest
plagues of these animals took place in the Lowlands of Scotland, where
these voles devoured all the higher pastures on the hills. Nearly at the
same time a similar plague occurred in Turkish Epirus. When a special
commissioner was sent to enquire into the remedies (if any existed)
there in use, he found that the Turks were importing holy water from
Mecca to sprinkle on the fields affected. The Bank-vole is a small
English species, replaced on the Continent by the Southern Field-vole.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

OCTODONT

_The octodont, so called because they have four molar teeth on each side
of the jaw are a group of rodents found mainly in South America_]

The Water-rat belongs to the vole group. It is one of the most commonly
seen of all American mammals--probably, except the rabbit, the most
familiar. Although not entirely nocturnal, it prefers the darkness or
twilight; but whenever the visitor to the waterside keeps still, the
water-rats will allow him to watch them. The writer has had rather an
extensive acquaintance with these cousins of the beavers, and, while
watching them, has never ceased to be struck with their close
resemblance to those creatures. At Holkham Lake, in Norfolk, he noticed
a willow-bush, in which a number of twigs had been gnawed off; and then
saw the missing sticks lying neatly peeled, just like "beaver-wood," in
the water below. Waiting quietly, he noticed a water-rat climb into the
bush, gnaw off a willow twig, descend with it to the edge of the water,
and there, sitting on some crossed boughs, peel and eat the bark, just
as a beaver does. By rivers a sound is often heard in the round reeds as
of something tearing or biting them; it is made by the water-rats
getting their supper. The rat cuts off three or four sedges and makes a
rough platform. It then cuts down a piece of one of the large round
reeds full of pith, and, holding it in its hands, seizes the bark with
its teeth, and shreds it up the stem, peeling it from end to end. This
exposes the white pith, which the rat then eats. Water-rats have been
seen to swim out and pick up acacia blossoms floating on the water. When
swimming under water, each hair is tipped by a little bubble, which
makes the rat look like quicksilver. When it comes out, the rat shakes
itself with a kind of shiver, throwing all the water off its coat.
Though so good a swimmer, its feet are not webbed. It is found from
Scotland to the Bering Sea, but not in Ireland.

In the Far North the Lemming takes the place of the voles. It is a very
small, short-tailed creature, like a diminutive prairie-dog. Like the
voles, lemmings have seasons of immoderate increase. They then migrate
in enormous flocks, and are said never to stop till they reach the sea,
into which they plunge. It is believed that they are following an
inherited instinct, and that where there is now sea there once was land,
over which they passed onwards.

The Musk-rat inhabits the same waters as the beaver of North America. It
makes a house, generally of reeds piled in a mound, in the lakes and
swamps. The body is only 12 inches long, but the fur is thick and close,
and much used for lining coats and cloaks. The vast chains of rivers and
lakes in Canada make that country the favourite home of the musk-rat.
This creature lives upon roots of aquatic plants, fresh-water-mussels,
and stems of juicy herbs. Besides making the domed houses of grass,
reeds, and mud, it also burrows in the banks of streams. There it makes
rather an elaborate home, with numerous passages leading to the water.
The odour of musk is very strong even in the skin. The tail is narrow
and almost naked. This species is the largest of the vole group.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

SHORT-TAILED HUTIA

_The hutias are another group of octodonts, found in the West India
Islands_]


  The Typical Rats and Mice.

These animals were originally an Old World group. Though the brown rat
is now common in America, it is believed to have come originally from
China.

A very large number of animals are now almost dependent on man and his
belongings. Such creatures are said to be "commensalistic," or eaters at
the same table. They are often very unwelcome guests, whether they are
flies, sparrows, or cockroaches; but probably the least welcome of all
are the rats and mice. The Brown Rat is the best known of any. It has
come into worse repute than usual of late, because it is now certain
that it harbours the plague-bacillus, and communicates the disease to
man. Its habits and appearance need no description. The Black Rat is the
older and smaller species indigenous in Europe, which the brown rat has
almost extirpated from England. A few old houses still hold the black
rat, and there are always a few wild ones at the Zoological Gardens
which feed in the animals' houses. The Black-and-white Rat (not the
albino white rat) kept tame in this country is probably a domesticated
form of the Alexandrine Rat of Egypt.

The House-mouse is now found in all parts of the world to which
Europeans have access. In England its main home is in the corn-ricks.
Were the farmers to thresh the grain, as is done in the United States,
as soon as it is cut, mice would be far less common. Besides these
parasitic mice, there are a host of field- and forest-mice in this and
other countries. One of the best-known English species is the
Harvest-mouse, which makes a globular nest of grass in the wheat-fields,
attached to stems of corn or weeds. In this the young are born. In
winter the mouse lives in holes in banks, and lays up a store of kernels
and grain. The Wood-mouse is larger than the former, or than the
House-mouse. It is yellowish brown in colour, lays up a great store of
winter food, and is itself the favourite prey of the weasel.

[Illustration: _By permission of the Hon. Walter Rothschild, Tring_

PORCUPINE

_The common porcupine is found in North America, Italy, Spain, and North
Africa_]


  The Bandicoot.

A very mischievous class of rats is represented by the various species
of Bandicoot. They are found throughout Southern Asia as far as Ceylon,
and in Kashmir and Turkestan. The Bandicoot-rat of India is a large and
destructive species which is sometimes brought to the London docks in
ships, but has not spread into the country.


  Other Murine Rodents.

Among the numerous other rodents allied to the rat group are the
Mole-rats, with short mole-like bodies. The largest is the Great
Mole-rat, found in Southeastern Europe, Southwestern Asia, and
Northeastern Africa. It is a subterranean creature, burrowing for food
like a mole. The Bamboo-rats have minute eyes, small external ears, and
a short tail partly covered with hair. In Somaliland a small, almost
naked Sand-rat is found, which burrows in the sand of the desert,
throwing up little heaps like mole-hills.


  The Gophers.

In North and Central America the Pocket-gophers form a curious group of
small rodents with cheek-pouches opening on the outside. They spend
their entire existence underground, and are said to use their incisor
teeth as picks to open the hard earth in their tunnels. They push the
loosened soil out by pressing it with their chests and fore feet. When a
gopher has eaten enough to satisfy the immediate calls of hunger, it
stores all spare food away in the large cheek-pouches. When gophers
desire to empty the pouches, they pass their feet along their cheeks
from behind, and press the food forwards on to the ground.


  The Jerboas, Springhaas, and Jumping-mice.

The hopping rodents have an immense range, from Southern Europe, through
Africa, Arabia, India, and Ceylon, and even in the New World, where the
American Jumping-mouse is found throughout the northern part of the
continent. The latter is only 3 inches long. The true Jerboas are mainly
found in Africa. All these, when excited, move like kangaroos. Their
main home is the Central Asian steppe region, but they are found in
Egypt, India, Syria, and Arabia. The hind legs are much elongated, the
fore legs very small, and the body usually of a sandy colour. The
American jumping-mouse, though a very small creature, can cover from 3
to 5 feet at each leap. It inhabits the beech and hard-wood forests. In
winter it makes a globular nest about 6 inches under the surface of the
ground.

[Illustration: _Photo by W. P. Dando_]    [_Regent's Park_

VISCACHA

_The Viscacha forms colonies like those of the prairie-dogs. It is found
on the pampas south of the La Plata_]

The Cape Jumping-hare forms a family by itself, with no near allies. It
is of a tawny brown colour, becoming almost pure white below. The tail
is long, and carried upright as the animal leaps. The head and body are
nearly 2 feet long, and the tail 20 inches. It is found both in the
plains and mountains of South Africa, where it makes deep burrows, in
which several families live. It is mainly nocturnal.

[Illustration: _Photo by W. P. Dando_

CHINCHILLA

_A small rodent of the Andes, possessing very soft and valuable gray
fur_]


  The Octodont Family.

America is the main home of this family of rodents, though there are
several representatives in Africa. Their name is due to the fact that
they have four molar teeth on each side of the jaw. The best-known
species is the Coypu, or Nutria, of South America, an aquatic,
fur-bearing animal. It is very plentiful in the large rivers of that
continent, where its fur is a valuable commodity for export. When
swimming, the female coypu carries its young on its back. The coypu is
usually 20 inches long, with a tail two-thirds of the length of its head
and body. The general colour is brown above and brownish yellow below.
Coypus live in pairs in holes in the river-banks. In the Chonos
Archipelago they frequent the seashore, and burrow near the beach.

[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._]    [_North Finchley_

COYPU

_This is a large aquatic rodent, found on the South American rivers. Its
fur, called "nutria," forms a valuable export from Argentina_]

The Hutia, another large octodont, is found in the West Indies. There
are two species, both partly arboreal. The Tuco-tucos, burrowing
octodonts of the pampas and the far south of the American Continent, are
rat-like animals, with large claws and very small eyes and ears.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

PORCUPINE

_This photograph shows the arrangement of the porcupine's defense of
spines; but when frightened it erects these, so as to form a complete
protection to the body_]


  The Porcupines.

These animals are either tree-climbers or ground-dwellers. The former
are found in South America, though one, the Canadian Porcupine, is found
in the North; the latter are European and Asiatic. In Africa they are
also common. The Canadian porcupine passes nearly all its life in trees,
feeding on the leaves; but it has not a prehensile tail. The Common
Porcupine is abundant in Italy (where it is eaten by man), Greece,
Spain, and Africa. It lives in burrows or among rocks. In India a very
similar species is found. The head and shoulders of these
ground-porcupines are not protected by the larger sharp spines which
guard the rest of their bodies.

[Illustration: _Photo by York & Son_]    [_Notting Hill_

AGUTIS

_The agutis are also a South American group, found both in the forests
and on the plains_]

The tree-porcupines of the forests of Central America have long
prehensile tails, and are very lightly built. The quills are short, the
head rounded, and the appearance very different from that of the
European or African species. The common porcupine of Europe and North
Africa measures about 28 inches in length from the nose to the root of
the tail. The head, neck, and shoulders are covered with short spines
and hairs, and the shoulders and back by a crest of long spines, varying
from 12 to 15 inches in length. The tail also carries spines.


  Viscachas and Chinchillas.

On the plains of La Plata the commonest large rodent is the Viscacha. It
assembles in societies like the prairie-dogs, but is a much larger
animal, from 18 inches to 2 feet long. Viscachas always set a sentinel
to give warning of danger. They cut every kind of vegetable near and
drag them to their holes; they also have a habit of picking up and
collecting round the burrows any object which strikes them as curious.
Articles lost by travelers, even whips or boots, may generally be found
there. The viscacha belongs to the chinchilla family, but differs much
from the beautiful creature of the high Andes from which chinchilla fur
is taken. The Common Chinchilla is about 10 inches long, and the
Short-tailed Chinchilla rather smaller. The exquisite fur is well known.
Two other chinchillas are more like hares in appearance. All four
creatures are found on the Andes.


  The Agutis and Pacas.

South America also produces a family of rodents not unlike small pigs,
but nearer to the mouse-deer in general appearance; they are called
Agutis. Mainly forest animals, but living also in the plains, they feed
on grass, leaves, and plants of all kinds; they are very swift in their
movements, and have much the habits of the small South African bucks.
The fur is long, olive-or chestnut-coloured, and thick.

The Pacas are allied to the agutis, but are stouter; they live either in
burrows made by themselves, or in holes in the banks of rivers, or in
old tree-roots. The pacas are spotted and rather ornamentally marked;
they are found from Ecuador to Brazil and Paraguay.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

PACA, OR SPOTTED CAVY

_The pacas are among the larger rodents, found mainly in the northern
part of the South American region_]


  The Cavies.

The Dinomys, a spotted rodent known by one example from Peru, has been
thought to form a link between the pacas and the cavies, of which the
guinea-pig is the most familiar and the aquatic capybara the largest.
The original of our guinea-pig is believed to be the Restless Cavy, a
small rodent common on the plains of La Plata. It is dark blackish, with
yellowish-gray and white hairs of the domesticated species; and it is
suggested that the original of the present name was "Guiana pig." This
cavy lives in thickets rather than in forests or plains.

[Illustration: _Photo by York & Son_]    [_Notting Hill_

PACAS, OR SPOTTED CAVIES

_This photograph, which represents young animals, shows in great
perfection the linear arrangement of the stripes_]

The Patagonian Cavy is a larger form, about twice the size of our hare.
It burrows in the ground, and has a gray coat, with yellowish markings
on the sides. It has been acclimatised successfully in France and
England. The flesh is like that of the rabbit.

[Illustration: _Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co._

PATAGONIAN CAVY

_This large species of cavy has been acclimatised successfully both in
England and in France_]

The Capybara is the largest of all rodents. This species is, in fact, a
gigantic water guinea-pig. It is found in all the great rivers of South
America, from the Orinoco to the La Plata. It swims as well as a
water-rat, though it is as large as a small pig. It feeds on weeds,
water-plants, and grass. A capital photograph of this animal appears on
page 146.


  Pikas, Hares, and Rabbits.

The last two families of the Rodents have a small pair of rudimentary
incisor teeth behind the large ones in the upper jaw. The Pikas, or
Calling-hares, resemble the marmot tribe in general appearance. Their
heads are short, their ears rounded, and, being tailless, they still
less resemble the common hare; but their dentition marks them as allied.
One species, about 9 inches long, is found in Siberia; and another, only
7 inches long, in the Rocky Mountains. The former has a habit of cutting
grass and storing it in small stacks outside its hole for winter use;
the Rocky Mountain species carries its hay into its burrows.

The Hares are a widely distributed group. They are found from the north
of Scotland (where the gray mountain species turns white in winter) to
the south of India, in South Africa, and across the continent of Asia to
Japan. The Mountain-hare takes the place of the brown species in
Scandinavia, Northern Russia, and Ireland; it is rather smaller, and has
shorter ears and hind legs.

[Illustration: _By permission of Professor Bumpus_]    [_New York_

WOOD-HARE

_This is one of the forms intermediate between the hares and rabbits_]

As early as 54 B.C., Cæsar, in his account of Britain, writes that the
Common Hare was kept by the ancient Britons as a pet, but not eaten by
them. It was protected by the Normans in the second list, or schedule,
of animals reserved for sport. The first list included the _Beasts of
the Forest_, the second the _Beasts of the Chase_, of which the hare was
one of the first. The word "chase" has here a technical meaning, by
which was understood an open park, or preserved area, midway in dignity
between a forest and an enclosed park. "Hare parks" were also made,
perhaps the most recent being that made at Bushey for the amusement of
the sovereign when at Hampton Court Palace. The name is often found
surviving elsewhere. Near one of the large country English seats a
walled park of 1,500 acres holds almost all the hares on the estate. If
these parks and forest laws had not existed at an early date, it is
probable that the hare would have become very scarce in this country.

Hares produce their leverets about the middle of April, though in mild
seasons they are born much earlier. The number of the litter is from two
to five. They are placed in a small hollow scraped out by the doe hare,
but not in a burrow of any kind.

The instinct of concealment by remaining still is very highly developed
in the hares and rabbits. They will often "squat" on the ground until
picked up rather than take to flight. This seems almost a perverted
instinct yet hares often exhibit considerable courage and resource when
escaping from their enemies. The following is an instance:--A hare was
coursed by two young greyhounds on some marshes intersected by wide
ditches of water. It first ran to the side of one of these ditches, and
doubled at right angles on the brink. This caused the outer dog to lose
its balance and to fall heavily into the deep and cold water. The hare
then made straight for the line of walkers, and passed through them,
with the other greyhound close behind it. The dog reached out and seized
the hare by the fur of the back, throwing it down. The hare escaped,
leaving a large patch of fur in the dog's jaws, doubled twice, and was
again seized by the second dog, which had come up. It escaped from the
jaws of the second pursuer, leapt two ditches 12 feet wide, and then sat
for a moment behind a gate on a small bridge. This use of the only cover
near caused the dogs to lose sight of it; they refused to jump the
second drain, and the hare escaped.

[Illustration: _Photo by C. Reid_

WILD RABBITS]

The Rabbit is too well known to need description either of its habits or
appearance. It originally came from the countries south of the
Mediterranean, but is now common in Northern Europe, and has become a
pest in Australia and New Zealand. The rabbit breeds when six months
old, and has several litters in each year.




  CHAPTER X.

  _THE BATS AND INSECT-EATING MAMMALS._

  BY W. P. PYCRAFT, A.L.S., F.Z.S.


These two groups are really closely allied; but the bats are generally
considered apart, on account of their totally different mode of life.
Originally, like their more commonplace relatives, they were dwellers
upon the earth, or, more correctly, among the trees. By gradual
modification of the fore limbs, and a corresponding development of folds
of skin attached thereto, and to the body, they have acquired the power
of flight. The cobego, to be mentioned presently, gives us a hint of how
this may have come about.

The bats are the only members of the Mammalia which possess the power of
true flight. The so-called flying-squirrels do not rightly deserve this
title, for they have no wings. The wings of the bat have been formed by
modification of the fore limbs, the finger-bones having become
excessively lengthened, so as to serve as a support to a thin web of
skin extending outwards from the body, much as the ribs of an umbrella
support the covering. The hand of the bat is therefore a quite unique
organ.

[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._]    [_Croydon_

AUSTRALIAN FRUIT-BAT, OR "FLYING-FOX"

_This photograph shows the "flying-fox" in its customary resting
position. A photograph of it flying is shown on page v of Introduction_]

The wing-membrane serves yet another purpose, for its sense of touch is
exceedingly delicate, enabling even blind bats (for bats are not blind
usually, as is popularly supposed) to avoid objects placed in their
path. Some bats, however, appear to depend also in some slight degree
upon hearing. The sense of touch is still further increased by the
development of frills or leaf-like expansions of skin round the nose and
mouth, and by the excessive development of the external ears. Delicate
hairs fringing these membranes probably act like the "whiskers" of the
cat.

Insect-eating bats inhabiting regions with a temperate climate must in
winter, when food supplies cease, either hibernate or migrate to warmer
regions. The majority hibernate; but two species at least of Canadian
bats perform extensive migrations, it is supposed to escape the intense
cold.

The power of flight has made the bats independent of the barriers which
restrict the movements of terrestrial animals, and accordingly we find
them all over the world, even as far north as the Arctic Circle. But
certain groups of bats have an extremely restricted range. Thus the
Fruit-bats occur only in the warmer regions of the Old World, the
Vampires in America, whilst some of the more common insect eating forms
are found everywhere. Those forms with a restricted distribution are, it
should be noticed, all highly specialised--that is to say, they have all
become in some way adapted to peculiar local conditions, and cannot
subsist apart therefrom. It is the more lowly--less specialised--forms
which have the widest geographical range. There are some spots, however,
on the world's surface from which no bat has yet been recorded--such are
Iceland, St. Helena, Kerguelen, and the Galapagos Islands.

[Illustration: _Photo by Henry King_]    [_Sydney_

AUSTRALIAN FRUIT-BATS

_In their roosting-places these bats hang all over the trees in enormous
numbers, looking like great black fruits. Although shot in thousands, on
account of the damage they do to fruit orchards, their numbers do not
appear to be reduced_]


  The Fruit-bats.

These represent the giants of the bat world, the largest of them, the
Kalong, or Malay Fox-bat, measuring no less than 5 feet from tip to tip
of the wing. The best known of the fruit-bats is the Indian Fox-bat.
Sir J. E. Tennent tells us that a favourite resort of theirs near Kandy,
in Ceylon, was some india-rubber-trees, "where they used to assemble in
such prodigious numbers that large boughs would not infrequently give
way beneath the accumulated weight of the flock." An observer in
Calcutta relates that they occasionally travel in vast hordes, so great
as to darken the sky. Whether they are performing some preconcerted
migration or bent only on a foray to some distant feeding-ground is a
matter for speculation. These hordes are quite distinct from the "long
strings" which may be seen every evening in Calcutta on their way to
neighbouring fruit-trees.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

TUBE-NOSED FRUIT-BAT

_The tubular nostrils distinguish this and a species of insect-eating
bat from all other living mammals_]

One of the most remarkable of this group is the Tube-nosed Fruit-bat, in
which the nostrils are prolonged into a pair of relatively long tubes.
Strangely enough, a group of insect-eating bats has developed similar
though smaller tubes. Except in these bats, such tubes are unknown among
mammals. Their function is not known.

[Illustration: _Photo by Fratelli Alinari_]    [_Florence_

PIPISTRELLE BAT

_This is one of the commonest bats. It is the first to appear in the
spring, and the last to retire at the fall of the year_]


  Insect-eating Bats.

The vast majority of the bats comprising this group feed exclusively on
insects. Some, however, have acquired the habit of fruit-eating, like
the true fruit-bats; and a few have developed quite ogre-like habits,
for they drink blood--indeed, they subsist upon nothing else. This they
obtain from animals larger than themselves.

Many of the bats of this group have developed curious leaf-like
expansions of skin around the nose and mouth, which are supposed to be
endowed with a very delicate sense of touch. In some, as in the
Flower-nosed Bat, the nose-leaf is excessively developed, forming a
large rosette. The upper border of this rosette is furnished with three
stalked balls, the function of which it is surmised is probably
ornamental--from the bat's point of view. To our more æsthetic taste the
whole effect is hideous.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

LEAF-NOSED BAT

_The leaf-nosed are the most highly organised of all the bats. The
remarkable leaf-like folds of skin around the nose or chin, as the case
may be, serve as delicate organs of perception. There are numerous
species of leaf-nosed bats_]

Limited as is our space, we cannot pass over the Sucker-footed Bats.
These are met with, strangely enough, in countries so far apart as
Brazil and Madagascar. The suckers from which they derive their name, in
the Brazilian species, are small circular, hollow disks, attached to the
thumb and the sole of the foot, recalling the suckers of the cuttle-fish
and brown water-beetle. By their means the animal is enabled to climb
over smooth vertical surfaces.

A white bat is a rarity in the bat world. We cannot therefore afford to
pass without mention the fact that Central and South America possess two
species of White Bats. This colour is probably developed for
protection's sake, the bats being found nestling between the silvery
leaves of a cocoanut-palm. Brilliant coloration, on the other hand, is
by no means so rare. Welwitsch's Bat, for instance--a West African
species--is remarkable for its gorgeous coloration, the colours being
orange and black. An Indian species, known as the Pointed Bat, is said
to be so brilliantly coloured as to resemble a gorgeous butterfly rather
than a bat.

Ugliness is more common than beauty amongst the bats, and perhaps the
ugliest of all the tribe is the Naked Bat of the Malayan region. It is
absolutely repulsive. The skin is naked, save for a collar of hair round
the neck; whilst on the throat it gives rise to an enormous
throat-pouch, which discharges an oily fluid of a peculiarly nauseating
smell. On either side of the body is a deep pouch, in which the young
are carried--a very necessary provision, for they would be quite unable
to cling to the body of the parent, as do the young of fur-bearing bats,
on account of the naked skin.

Of the great group of the Vampire-bats we can only make mention of the
blood-sucking species. These are natives of South America. It is to Dr.
Darwin that we owe our first absolutely reliable information about these
little animals. Before the account in his Journal, it was uncertain to
which of the vampires belonged the unenviable distinction of being the
blood-sucker. During the stay of the great naturalist in Chili one was
actually caught by one of his servants, as evening was drawing on,
biting the withers of a horse. In the morning the spot where the bite
had been inflicted was plainly visible, from its swollen condition.
These two species, it has been stated, "are the only bats which subsist
entirely on a diet of blood, yet it is possible that . . . some of the
Javelin-bats or their allies may on occasion vary their ordinary food
with it."


  The Insectivora, or Flightless Insect-eaters.

Some members of this group have departed from the traditional insect
diet. Thus the cobego feeds upon leaves, a curious aquatic shrew--the
Potamogale of West Africa--upon fish, and the moles upon worms.

The group has a very wide geographical distribution, but there are
nevertheless large portions of the globe in which they are conspicuous
by their absence. They are never found in Australia or South America.
Madagascar, Africa, and the West India Islands produce the most
remarkable forms.

[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._]    [_Croydon_

COBEGO

_Back view of the cobego, with the limbs extended, showing the great
size of the flying-membranes, or parachute_]


  The Cobego.

[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._]    [_Croydon_

COBEGO

_Vertical (front) view of the cobego, with newly born and naked young
attached. Note the extension of the membrane between the toes of the
fore feet of the adult_]

This is a peculiarly interesting animal, which lives in the forests of
Sumatra, Borneo, the Malay Peninsula, and the Philippine Islands. It
dwells among the trees, moving from one to another by taking flying
leaps through the air, covering as much as seventy yards at a jump.
Prodigious leaps like this would be quite impossible but for the fact
that the animal, which is almost as large as a cat, is provided with a
sort of parachute, formed by a broad web of skin stretched between the
body on either side and the fore and hind limbs, and between the hind
limbs and the tail.

[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._]    [_Croydon_

COBEGO ASLEEP

_All four limbs are used in suspending itself when asleep, as in the
sloths. In this position the cobego closely resembles, and is mistaken
by its enemies for, the fruits of one of the native trees. It is a
nocturnal animal_]


  Shrews, Hedgehogs, and Tenrecs.

The variation in form presented by the members of this group is
considerable. The most noteworthy examples of this variation are
furnished by the pretty little squirrel-like Tree-shrews of India and
Borneo and neighbouring lands, the mouse-like Jumping-shrews of Africa,
the Hedgehogs, the _Tenrecs_, the elegant little Mouse-like Shrews of
almost world-wide distribution, and the Water-shrews. Of these,
hedgehogs and tenrecs have undergone the greatest transformation. By a
curious modification of their original hairy covering they have
developed a formidable armour of sharp spines. When alarmed, the former
roll themselves up into a ball by the contraction of powerful muscles,
and so present an almost impregnable armour to an enemy. Stoats and
foxes, however, appear at least occasionally to succeed in overcoming
this defense and making a meal of the vanquished.

[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._]    [_North Finchley_

THREE BABY HEDGEHOGS

_Young hedgehogs are born blind and naked. The spines on their first
appearance are quite soft; they soon harden, and at the same time the
power to roll the body up into a ball is acquired_]

Tenrecs are found in Madagascar. The Common Tenrec is the largest of all
insect-eaters, and one of the most prolific, as many as twenty-one
having been produced at birth. Of all living mammals it is the one most
nearly allied to the Marsupials.


  The Moles.

The Common Mole shows a most perfect adaptation to its underground mode
of life. The general form of the animal is long, cylindrical, and
pointed in front, whilst the legs are exceedingly short, the foot only
in the fore limb projecting from the body. This foot is very broad and
spade-like and immensely powerful, its use being to force a way--often
with incredible speed--through the soft, yielding soil, and not to
support the body, as in running or walking. The hind feet are weak, but
resemble those of its allies the shrews, for instance. The eyes have
become reduced to mere vestiges, very difficult to find. The fur has
become so altered in structure that it will lie equally smooth whether
brushed towards head or tail, so that it should not be damaged when the
animal travels backwards in its burrow. External ears have been
dispensed with.

Worms form the staple diet of the mole, but besides underground insects
of all kinds are greedily devoured. This animal is one of the most
voracious feeders, falling ravenously upon its prey. It has been said
with truth that so great is the ferocity displayed by the mole that if
it could be magnified to the size of the lion it would be one of the
most terrible of living creatures. That a constant supply of food is
necessary to satiate its enormous appetite is shown by the fact that a
mole will succumb to an abstinence of from ten to twelve hours. Moles
fight among themselves furiously; and if two are confined together, the
weaker will be attacked and devoured. They take readily to the water,
and instances of moles observed in the act of crossing streams are
numerous.

It is a curious fact, but the mole is unknown in Ireland; yet it ranges
from England in the west through Asia to Japan.

Careful observation seems to have shown that with the common mole males
are more numerous than females. Whether this is true of other species
remains to be seen. The moles of North America form a group distinct
from those of the Old World, though closely allied thereto. The
Web-footed and the Star-nosed Moles are the most interesting of the
American forms.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

COMMON MOLE

_Note that this mole is changing its coat_]

[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._]    [_Croydon_

COMMON MOLE

_The skeleton is here revealed by the Röntgen rays_]

Speaking of the prodigious speed with which these animals burrow their
way through the ground, Dr. Hart Merriam remarks that in a single night,
after rain, they have been known to make a gallery several yards in
length, and that he had himself traced a fresh tunnel for nearly a
hundred yards. As he says, we can only appreciate the magnitude of this
labour by comparison, and "computation shows that, in order to perform
equivalent work, a man would have to excavate in a single night a tunnel
thirty-seven miles long, and of sufficient size to easily admit of the
passage of his body."

The star-nosed mole is peculiar in that its nose is surrounded by a ring
of finger-like processes, forming a kind of rosette, which probably acts
as a highly sensitive organ of touch; furthermore, it differs from other
moles in the great length of its tail, which is nearly as long as its
body. Like the mole, this species makes its way through the ground with
great speed.

Beneficial as moles undoubtedly are in destroying worms and obnoxious
insects, yet they are regarded as a pest both by the farmer and
gardener. That there is some justification for this dislike must be
admitted; for the farmer suffers in that, in the search for food, crops
are damaged by cutting through the roots of plants--the gardener not
only for the same reason, but also because the ridges and hillocks which
they make in their course disfigure the paths and beds of a well-kept
garden.

The nearest allies of the moles are the curious aquatic Desmans of
Russia, and the Shrews, some of which are quite mole-like in form, owing
to their having adopted a similar mode of life.

The Burrowing Shrews are not the only forms in the great group which
have assumed a mole-like shape, for allied to the hedgehog-like Tenrecs
is a remarkable animal known as the Golden Mole. The mole-like shape of
the body of this animal is another instance of adaptation to a similar
mode of life. The fore limb of the golden mole is provided with huge
claws, which are used for digging purposes; the hand is not broadened
out spade-like, as in the common mole, the claws rendering this
unnecessary.

[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons_

GOLDEN MOLE

_This is found only in South Africa. The name is derived from the
wonderful metallic lustre of the fur: the brilliancy of the hues is
intensified by immersion in spirit_]




  CHAPTER XI.

  _THE ELEPHANT, TAPIR, HYRAX, AND RHINOCEROS._


  THE ELEPHANT.

  BY F. C. SELOUS.


At once the mightiest and most majestic of all terrestrial mammals, the
elephant appeals to the imagination more forcibly than any other living
animal, not only on account of its great sagacity and the strangeness
and singularity of its outward appearance, but also because it is such
an obvious link between the world of to-day and the dim and distant past
of Pleiocene and Miocene times.

There are two existing species of elephant, the African and the Asiatic,
the latter, from the structure of its molar teeth and the shape of its
skull, appearing to be very nearly related to the Mammoth, which lived
upon the earth in comparatively recent times--geologically speaking--and
was undoubtedly contemporary with man in Europe during the Stone Age.

[Illustration: _Photo by M. E. F. Baird, Esq._

A FINE TUSKER

_The male Indian elephant has smaller tusks than the African species_]

There are very considerable differences both in the external appearance
and also in the habits of the two existing forms of elephant. In the
African species the forehead is more convex and the eye relatively
larger than in its Asiatic cousin; and whilst the ears of the latter are
only of moderate size, those of the former are so large that they at
once arrest the attention, and are one of that animal's most remarkable
external characteristics. Both sexes of the African species, with few
exceptions, carry well-developed tusks, but in the Asiatic form the
tusks of the females are so small as scarcely to protrude beyond the
jaws. In Asia, too, tuskless bull elephants are common, whilst males of
the African species without tusks are extremely rare. The latter species
has but three nails on the hind foot, the Asiatic elephant four. In the
African species the middle of the back is hollowed, the shoulder being
the highest point, whilst in the Asiatic elephant the back is arched,
and the top of the shoulder lower than the highest part of the back. The
extremity of the proboscis is also different in the two species, the
African elephant being furnished with two nearly equal-sized
prolongations, the one on the front, the other on the hinder margin,
with which small objects can be grasped as with the finger and thumb of
the human hand, whilst in the Asiatic species the finger-like process on
the upper margin of the end of the trunk is considerably longer than
that on the under-side. In external appearance the skin of the African
elephant is darker in colour and rougher in texture than that of the
Asiatic form. The molar teeth of the former animal are, too, of much
coarser construction, with fewer and larger plates and thicker enamel
than in the latter, which would naturally lead one to suppose that the
African elephant is accustomed to eat coarser, harder food than the
Asiatic species. This supposition is borne out by fact; for whilst the
Asiatic elephant feeds mainly upon grass, the leaves and fruit of the
wild plantain, and the young shoots of the bamboo, together with the
leaves, twigs, and bark of certain trees, the African species never eats
grass, and, although very fond of certain kinds of soft and succulent
food, such as wild fruits and the inner bark of certain trees, is
constantly engaged in chewing up the roots and branches of trees as
thick as a man's wrist for the sake of the sap and bark, the woody
portions being rejected after having been reduced to pulp. The Asiatic
elephant appears to be far less tolerant of exposure to the heat of the
sun than the African; and whilst the latter may often be found standing
at rest or sleeping throughout the hottest hours of the day in long
grass or scrubby bush of a height not sufficient to afford any
protection from the sun to the whole of the upper portion of the head
and body, the former, when in a wild state, is said to always seek the
shade of the densest forests it can find during hot weather.

[Illustration: _Photo by Fratelli Alinari_]    [_Florence_

A YOUNG INDIAN ELEPHANT

_This animal has been trained to "salute" by raising its trunk and foot.
It has lost the end of its tail_]

The Asiatic elephant often lies down when resting and sleeping. This is
in marked contrast to the African species, which, if it ever does lie
down at all, except to roll in mud or rub itself against an ant-heap,
can only do so very rarely, since in all my experience, though I have
seen some thousands of African elephants standing sleeping during the
heat of the day, I have never yet seen one of these animals lying down,
nor found the impress in the ground where one had been so lying.

When excited and charging, both species of elephant raise their heads
and cock their ears, which in the African animal stand out at such a
time like two sails, and, being each upwards of 3½ feet in breadth,
cover, together with the animal's head, an expanse of fully 10 feet. The
Asiatic elephant is said to remain mute whilst charging, and to hold its
trunk tightly curled up between its tusks. The African elephant, on the
other hand, usually accompanies a charge with a constant succession of
short, sharp trumpeting screams. Sometimes, though rarely, however,
animals of this species remain mute whilst charging, but they never, I
believe, coil their trunks up under their throats. Often an African
elephant will swing round for a charge with a loud scream and trunk held
high in the air; but in my experience, when settling down to a chase, it
drops its trunk and holds it pointing straight down in front of its
chest.

[Illustration: _Photo by M. E. F. Baird, Esq._

THE CHIEF OF CHIENGMAI'S CARRIAGE

_This victoria was drawn by a young Indian elephant_]

In the southern portions of the African Continent the average standing
height at the shoulder of full-grown bull elephants ranges from 10 feet
to 10 feet 6 inches, though individuals have doubtless been met with in
those districts which have much exceeded these dimensions. In North
Central Africa the average standing height appears to be some inches
higher, approaching 11 feet, and in those districts it is quite possible
that individuals exist which exceed 12 feet in height. African cow
elephants stand from 8 feet to 8 feet 6 inches at the shoulder. The
Asiatic species is considerably smaller than the African, the average
height of full-grown males not exceeding 9 feet, though certain
individuals now and then attain to a much greater size, as is indicated
by the fact that there is a mounted skeleton of an Indian elephant in
the Museum at Calcutta which stands 11 feet 3 inches at the shoulder. In
the size of its tusks the African elephant far surpasses the Asiatic
species. In India a pair of tusks measuring 5 feet in length and
weighing 70 lbs. the pair would, I think, be considered large, though an
elephant was killed by Sir Victor Brooke in the Garo Hills with a single
tusk measuring 8 feet in length, 17 inches in circumference, and
weighing 90 lbs., and a few tusks even exceeding these dimensions have
been recorded. In Southern Africa the tusks of full-grown bull elephants
usually weigh from 80 to 120 lbs. the pair, and measure about 6 feet in
length, with a circumference of from 16 to 18 inches; but these weights
and measurements have often been much exceeded, and in my own experience
I have known of two pairs of elephants' tusks having been obtained south
of the Zambesi, each of which weighed slightly over 300 lbs., each tusk
measuring upwards of 9 feet in length, whilst a single tusk brought from
the neighbourhood of Lake Ngami in 1873 weighed 174 lbs. The average
weight of cow-elephant tusks in Southern Africa is from 20 to 30 lbs.
the pair, but I have seen the tusk of a cow elephant killed in
Matabililand which weighed 39 lbs. and measured over 6 feet in length,
whilst its fellow almost equaled it in size and weight. In North Central
Africa, according to Sir Samuel Baker, the tusks of full-grown elephants
average about 140 lbs. the pair, and tusks weighing upwards of 100 lbs.
each are not at all uncommon, whilst many of a much greater size have
been obtained.

[Illustration: _Photo by M. E. F. Baird, Esq._

TIMBER-ELEPHANTS

_This photograph was taken at Lakou, in Upper Siam. Notice the large
teak log in the foreground_]

Until quite recently a tusk in the possession of Sir E. G. Loder, which
weighs 184 lbs. and measures 9 feet 5 inches in length, with a
circumference of 22½ inches, was supposed to be the largest in
existence; but in 1899 two tusks were obtained near Kilimanjaro, in East
Central Africa, both of which much exceed this weight. These enormous
tusks were at first stated to be a pair taken from a single elephant;
but though nearly equal in weight they are said to be differently
shaped, and as their history is not yet fully known it is possible,
though not probable, that they originally belonged to two different
elephants. The larger of these two tusks has recently been purchased for
the collection of the British Museum (Natural History), where it may now
be seen. It weighs 228 lbs., measures 10 feet 2½ inches on the outside
curve, and 24¼ in girth at the thickest part. The tusks of cow elephants
are also considerably larger and heavier on the average in East Central
and North Central Africa than in the southern portions of the continent.

[Illustration: _Photo by M. E. F. Baird, Esq._

FEMALE INDIAN ELEPHANT DRAGGING TEAK

_The teak logs are floated down the Burmese rivers and dragged out by
elephants_]

At the present time the Asiatic elephant is found in a wild state in
most of the forest-covered tracts of India, Ceylon, Assam, Burma, Siam,
Cochin-China, Sumatra, and Borneo; whilst the African species, although
it has been hunted out of large tracts of country in South and
Southwestern Africa, still inhabits the greater part of the continent
south of the Sahara, and in many districts of Central Africa appears to
be extraordinarily abundant. In the Cape Colony two herds still exist
under the protection of the Government.

As might be expected from the greater length of its legs, and consequent
longer stride, the African elephant is admitted by those who have had
experience of both species to be a more active animal than its Asiatic
cousin. Speaking of the walking and running powers of the Indian
elephant, that great authority Mr. Sanderson says that "the only pace of
the elephant is the walk, capable of being increased to a fast shuffle
of about fifteen miles an hour for very short distances. It can neither
trot, canter, nor gallop. It does not move with the legs on the same
side, but nearly so. A very good runner might keep out of an elephant's
way on a smooth piece of turf, but on the ground in which they are
generally met with any attempt to escape by flight, unless supplemented
by concealment, would be unavailing." This description exactly coincides
with my own experience of the African elephant, except that I think
that animals of the latter species, especially cows and young bulls,
are capable of getting up a pace of at least twenty miles an hour, and
keeping it up for from 100 to 200 yards, when charging.

[Illustration: _Photo by M. E. F. Baird, Esq._

INDIAN ELEPHANTS BATHING

_These animals love a bath, and will walk on the bottom of a deep river
with only their trunks raised above the water_]

In disposition both African and Asiatic elephants are as a rule timid
animals, and, excepting in the case of males of the latter species when
suffering from sexual excitement, are always inclined to shun danger. I
have never heard of male elephants of the African species becoming
savage and aggressive at any season of the year; indeed, old bulls
always appeared to me to be less inclined to charge than cows or young
bulls. The eyesight of the elephant--of the African species at least--is
bad, and his hearing not particularly acute; but his olfactory nerves
are probably more highly developed than in any other animal, and, aided
by this exquisite sense of smell, he will avoid a human being if
possible. But if elephants are attacked and wounded, they become savage
and dangerous animals; and the charge of an African elephant, coming on
with the great ears outspread, to the accompaniment of a quick
succession of short, sharp trumpeting screams, besides being very sudden
and rapid, is very disconcerting to the nerves of a man unaccustomed to
such experiences. I remember the case of a young Englishman who was
killed in Matabililand many years ago by the first elephant he had ever
seen. This animal--an old bull--had retired, after having been wounded,
into a small but dense patch of thorn-bush, into which its pursuer
thought it unadvisable to follow on horseback. He therefore left his
horse, and advanced on foot towards the cluster of trees amongst which
the elephant was concealed. The latter, having either seen or smelt the
approaching enemy, at once charged out, screaming loudly; and the young
hunter, instead of standing his ground and firing at the advancing
monster, lost his presence of mind, and, turning, ran for his horse; but
before he reached it he was overtaken and killed. It seemed to the
friend who found his body (he was close at hand shooting another
elephant at the time, and pieced the story together from the tracks of
man, horse, and elephant) that the victim had first been struck in the
back of the head by one of his pursuer's tusks--at any rate his skull
had been smashed to pieces and emptied of its brains. Then the elephant
had rushed upon him where he fell, and, after first having driven a tusk
right through his chest and deep into the ground, had stamped him into a
bloody pulp with his huge feet. A waggon was brought the same night, and
the mangled body carried to the hunter's camp on the banks of the
Ramokwebani, where it was buried.

The strength of the elephant is proverbial; and in India and Burma,
where this animal has for ages past been trained in the service of man,
this power is habitually made use of in moving and stacking large baulks
of timber, or in dragging heavy guns through muddy ground or up steep
ascents. In Africa the traveler is often astonished at the size of trees
which have been uprooted and overturned by elephants. These trees,
however, have no tap-root, and have not therefore a very firm hold in
the ground, especially during the rainy season, when the ground is soft.
At this time of year large trees are butted down by elephants, which
push against their stems with the thick part of their trunks, and get
them on the swing, until the roots become loosened and the trees are at
last overturned. Small trees of 2 or 3 inches in diameter, as well as
branches, they break off with their trunks. In 1878 a tuskless bull
elephant--I met the same animal again in 1885, and he is the only
African bull elephant without tusks I have ever seen--killed a native
hunter in Mashonaland. This man, a big powerful Zulu and a great friend
of my own, was torn into three pieces. I imagine that, after having
caught him, the elephant held the unfortunate man down with his foot or
knee, and then, twisting his trunk round his body, tore him
asunder--surely a terrible exhibition of strength.

The elephant is a very slow-going and long-lived animal, not arriving at
maturity until upwards of thirty years of age; and since cases are on
record of elephants having lived for upwards of 130 years in captivity
in India, it is probable that in a wild state these animals, both in
Asia and Africa, often attain to an age of 150 years. The female
elephant produces, as a rule, but one calf at birth, the period of
gestation lasting from eighteen to nearly twenty-two months. The mammæ
of the cow elephant are placed between the fore legs, and the new-born
calf sucks with its mouth, holding its trunk turned back over its head.
I have seen elephant calves so engaged.

[Illustration: _Photo by J. W. McLellan_]    [_Highbury_

AFRICAN ELEPHANT

_The difference in profile between this and the Indian species is
noticeable. The forehead is receding and the ears much larger in the
African species_]

Although there is no reason to doubt that the African elephant is as
intelligent as the Asiatic species, its domestication has never been
attempted by the Negro or Bantu races of Africa. It is believed,
however, that the African elephant was in ancient times domesticated by
the Carthaginians, and used by them in their wars with the Romans. The
opinion, too, is generally held that the elephants with which Hannibal
crossed the Alps were of the African species, as well as those which,
after the conquest of Carthage, were used in the Roman amphitheatres and
military pageants. On the other hand, it is well to remember that the
late Mr. W. Cotton Oswell, who had had great experience both with
African and Asiatic elephants, wrote as follows on this subject: "I
believe some people suppose the Carthaginians tamed and used the African
elephant they could hardly have had mahouts Indian fashion, for there is
no marked depression in the nape of the neck for a seat, and the hemming
of the ears when erected would have half smothered them. My knowledge
does not allow me to raise any argument on this point; but might not
the same market have been open to the dwellers at Carthage as was
afterwards to Mithridates, who, I suppose, drew his supply from India? I
know in the representations of elephants on the medals of Faustina and
of Septimus Severus the ears are African, though the bodies and heads
are Indian; but these were struck nearly 400 years after Carthaginian
times, when the whole known world had been ransacked by the Romans for
beasts for their public shows; and I still think it possible that the
Carthaginians--the great traders and colonisers of old--may have
obtained elephants through some of their colonies from India."

An interesting example of the intelligence of these animals can be seen
any day at the public Zoological Gardens. A large African elephant
restores to his would-be entertainers all the biscuits, whole or broken,
which strike the bars and fall alike out of his reach and theirs in the
space between the barrier and his cage. He points his trunk at the
biscuits, and blows them hard along the floor to the feet of the persons
who have thrown them. He clearly knows what he is doing, because, if the
biscuits do not travel far enough, he gives them a harder blow.

[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._]    [_North Finchley_

MALE AFRICAN ELEPHANT DRINKING

_Note the great size of the tusks and base of the trunk_]


  TAPIRS AND HYRAX.

  BY W. P. PYCRAFT, A.L.S., F.Z.S.

Tapirs are odd-looking creatures, and, strange as it may seem, are
nevertheless related on the one hand to the rhinoceroses, and on the
other to the horses. They are furthermore extremely interesting animals,
because they have undergone less modification of form than any other
members of the group to which they belong. This we know because fossil
tapirs, belonging to a very remote period of the world's history, are
practically indistinguishable from those now living.

The general form of the body may perhaps be described as pig-like; the
head, too, suggests that animal. But the pig's snout is here produced
into a short proboscis, or trunk. The feet are quite unlike those of the
pig, and resemble those of the rhinoceros. The fore feet have each four
and the hind feet three toes; these are all encased in large horse-like
hoofs. The tail is reduced to a mere stump.

Tapirs are shy and inoffensive animals, living in the seclusion of dense
forests in the neighbourhood of water, in which element they are quite
at home; indeed, it is said that they will frequently dive and walk
along the bed of the river. They are also fond of wallowing in mud,
partly, it is believed, that they may encase themselves with it as a
protection against the annoyance of flies. They feed on shoots of trees,
bushes, leaves, and fallen fruits, foraging during the evening, and
possibly far into the night.

[Illustration: _Photo by York & Son_]    [_Notting Hill_

MALAYAN TAPIR

_The largest of all the tapirs. Is easily distinguished from the
American tapirs by the patch of white on the middle of its body_]

Tapirs are hunted by the natives for the sake of their thick hides,
which are cut into thongs for reins and bridles. The flesh also is
esteemed by some. There are three methods of capture. In South America
the lasso is used with occasional success. But when not foiled by
undergrowth, the hunter often loses his victim by reason of the violence
and force of its rush, which snaps the thong. The Gauchos intercept it
with dogs on its way to the water, when it will fight furiously, and
many dogs may be killed before its dispatch is accomplished. Others
imitate its peculiar, shrill call, and shoot it on its approach in
answer thereto. Captives are easily tamed, and may be seen walking about
the streets in many South American towns. They wander into the forest by
day, returning in the evening to be fed, and are said to display great
affection. On account of their great strength, it has been suggested
that such captives should be used as beasts of burden.

Except the Malayan Tapir, which is black and white, tapirs are black or
dark brown in colour, and but scantily clothed with hair; but the young,
it is interesting to note, are spotted and striped with white or
fawn-colour on a dark ground, a coloration recalling that of the wild
pig.

There are five different species of tapir. Their geographical
distribution is remarkable, four species being South American, and one
belonging to the Malayan region. But far back in the world's history, as
we know from fossils, tapirs roamed over the warm and temperate regions
of Europe, and their remains have been found in China and the United
States. Thus the intervening gaps existing to-day have been made by the
extinction of these intermediate species.

By nature the tapir appears to be a harmless and inoffensive animal,
flying even before the smallest dog. Occasionally, however, it displays
great courage and ferocity, and this appears to be especially the case
with females deprived of their young. At such times they will charge
with great spirit, and knock down, trample on, and bite their victim
after the fashion of wild swine.

Man alone excepted, the most deadly foe of the American Tapir is the
jaguar, as is the tiger of the Malay species. The American tapir often
gets rid of the jaguar by rushing at full speed into the dense jungle,
thus sweeping its assailant from its back, the jaguar's claws finding
but an insecure hold on its victim's thick hide. Tapirs are often found
bearing scars all over the back, witnessing the terrible nature of the
wounds received at such times.

That the tapir is a comparatively unknown animal is partly accounted for
by the fact that it is but little sought after by the big-game
hunter--who finds more excitement in pursuit of its larger relative the
rhinoceros--and partly, perhaps, owing to its inhabiting regions
comparatively little visited by Europeans. Nevertheless, the tapir is an
animal of quite peculiar interest, having undergone but little change
during long ages, whilst its ally the horse has effected in the same
time a complete transformation, not only in its general shape, but more
especially in its teeth and feet. The gradual steps by which this
transformation has been brought about we can trace through certain
fossil forms, of which we can say little here.

Amongst these fossils occur remains of an animal bearing a very strong
resemblance to the living tapir, but which, strangely enough, is not
really so closely related thereto as to the horses. It does not,
however, stand in the direct line of descent of these latter, but must
be regarded as representing a collateral branch thereof. The occurrence
of this distinct tapir-like animal is of great scientific interest.

The short, stout legs and spreading toes of the living tapirs,
rhinoceroses, and ancestral horse are admirably adapted for plodding
deliberately over soft and yielding ground, such as is afforded by
reed-beds and banks of rivers, or the shady depths of forests. Speed in
such surroundings is not necessary, food in plenty being always at hand,
and escape from enemies being sought by concealment in thick herbage
rather than flight. With a migration to drier and higher plains, the
spreading foot has undergone a change. The short legs and numerous toes
have given place to long ones, and of the several toes growth has taken
place in one only--the third; whilst the others have slowly dwindled,
till eventually only traces of the second and fourth remain, as in the
modern horse. Thus has a firmer support over hard, unyielding ground
been brought about, and great speed gained. The animals with this type
of foot (in which the third is the largest toe) are known as the
Odd-toed Hoofed Animals. The pigs, sheep, deer, and oxen have gained an
equally efficient foot, yet retaining four toes. Of these, the third and
fourth are equal in size, and serve as a support to the body, whilst the
second and fifth have now become functionless, and do not reach the
ground. This type of foot characterises that group of the hoofed animals
known as the Even-toed.

[Illustration: _Photo by G. W. Wilson & Co., Ltd._

COMMON AMERICAN TAPIR

_This tapir inhabits tropical America. It is a nocturnal animal,
frequenting the depths of shady forests in the neighbourhood of water,
to which it frequently resorts for the purpose of bathing, or as a
refuge from pursuit_]


  The Hyrax.

This is one of the most remarkable of living mammals, and one of the
greatest puzzles to zoologists, having no near living relatives. Though
bearing some resemblance to an earless rabbit, it really belongs to the
hoofed animals, and amongst them comes perhaps somewhat nearer the
rhinoceros than to any other animal. It is the Coney of the Bible. It
inhabits the rocky districts of Syria and parts of Africa. It is a
vegetable-feeder, and very wary. About a dozen species are known.


  THE RHINOCEROS.

  BY F. C. SELOUS.

Of the five existing species of Rhinoceros, three are found in Asia,
whilst two are inhabitants of Africa.

Of the three Asiatic species, two, the Indian and the Javan, are
one-horned, and have a single pair of broad incisor teeth in the upper
jaw, and a pair of sharp-edged and pointed tusks in the lower, the nasal
bones being long and narrow, and terminating in a point. In both these
species the skin is hairless (except for tufts or fringes at the
extremity of the tail and on the edges of the ears), and is arranged in
shield-like folds over the body. The arrangement of these folds,
however, differs somewhat in the two species, and the large round
tubercles with which the skin of the great Indian rhinoceros is
profusely studded are wanting in the Javan species.

[Illustration: _Photo by J. W. McLellan_]    [_Highbury_

GREAT INDIAN RHINOCEROS

_The largest land mammal of the East after the elephant_]

The Indian Rhinoceros inhabits the Terai at the foot of the Himalaya
from Bhutan to Nepal, and is said to be very abundant in Assam and the
Bhutan Dooars. It frequents swampy ground, and lives amongst jungles and
dense growths of reeds and grass, which attain a height sometimes of 20
feet, and cover vast areas of ground in the valley of the Brahmaputra
and other rivers.

Owing to the nature of the country in which it lives, the Indian
rhinoceros cannot often be hunted with much prospect of success, except
with the aid of elephants, which sagacious animals are not only employed
to carry the hunters, but are also used to beat the great grass jungles
in which the rhinoceroses lie hidden, and drive them towards the guns.

Despite its great size and strength, the Indian rhinoceros seems to be
regarded as, in general, a timid and inoffensive animal, and even when
wounded it seldom charges home. Elephants, however, appear to be as a
rule nervous when in the near proximity of rhinoceroses, perhaps
objecting to the smell of those animals. When the Indian rhinoceros does
make good its charge against either man or elephant, it cuts and rips
its enemy with its teeth, and makes little use of its horn as an
offensive weapon.

The Indian rhinoceros is said to live principally, if not entirely, on
grass and reeds. As a rule it is a solitary animal, but sometimes
several are found living in a comparatively small extent of
grass-covered plain.

Large males of this species will stand from 5 feet 9 inches to 6 feet at
the shoulder, and they are enormously bulky. Both sexes carry
well-developed horns, which, however, do not usually attain a length of
upwards of 12 inches. There is a specimen in the British Museum
measuring 19 inches, and it is believed that in very exceptional
instances a length of 2 feet has been attained.

[Illustration: _Photo by York & Son_]    [_Notting Hill_

GREAT INDIAN RHINOCEROS

_This species inhabits the grass jungles of Northeastern India_]

The Javan Rhinoceros, though it has been called the Lesser Indian
Rhinoceros, is said by a late authority--Mr. C. E. M. Russell--to stand
about the same height at the shoulder as the Indian species. It is
found in the Sunderbunds of Eastern Bengal, and has been met with in
the Sikhim Terai and in Assam, ranging eastwards through Burma and the
Malay Peninsula to Sumatra, Java, and Borneo.

But little appears to be known of the habits of this species of
rhinoceros. Although it is found in the swampy grass-covered plains of
the Sunderbunds, its more usual habitat seems to be hilly forest-covered
country, and both in Burma and Java it ascends to a height of several
thousand feet above sea-level. It feeds principally upon leaves and the
young shoots of trees and bushes. In disposition it is timid and
inoffensive. Only the male carries a horn, which, being very short, is a
very poor trophy for a sportsman.

The third Asiatic species of rhinoceros, known as the Sumatran, is the
smallest of all living rhinoceroses. This species carries two horns, and
its skin, which is very rough, is usually thinly covered with hair of a
dark brown colour and of considerable length. The folds in the skin of
the Sumatran rhinoceros are not nearly so well developed as in its
single-horned relatives, and the one behind the shoulders is alone
continued over the back. Although furnished with tusks in the lower jaw,
the small pair of incisor teeth, which in the other two Asiatic
rhinoceroses are always present in front of these tusks, are wanting in
the Sumatran species.

[Illustration: _Photo by W. P. Dando_

HAIRY-EARED SUMATRAN RHINOCEROS

_This species is found in Eastern Bengal and in the Malay Peninsula and
adjacent large islands_]

The Sumatran rhinoceros is rare in Assam, but is found in Burma and the
Malay Peninsula, as well as in Siam, Sumatra, and Borneo. The two horns
of this species are placed at some distance apart. Although they are as
a rule very short, the front horn occasionally grows to a considerable
length, sweeping backwards in a graceful curve.

In height adult males of the Sumatran species stand on the average from
4 feet to 4½ feet at the shoulder, and females sometimes not more
than 3 feet 8 inches.

Like the Javan rhinoceros, the Sumatran species is by preference an
inhabitant of hilly, forest-covered country, and browses on the leaves
and shoots of trees and bushes. It is a timid and inoffensive animal,
soon becoming tame in captivity. Its flesh is said to be much
appreciated by the Dyaks of Borneo; and as its horns are of value for
export to China, where they are used for medicinal purposes, it has of
late years very much decreased in numbers in the province of Sarawak,
but is more plentiful in Central and North Borneo. Living as it does in
dense jungle, it is an animal which is seldom seen by European
sportsmen, and its habits in a wild state have never been yet very
closely studied.

Turning to the two species of rhinoceros which inhabit the continent of
Africa, both are double-horned, and neither furnished with incisor
teeth, the nasal bones being thick, rounded, and truncated in front.
Both, too, are smooth-skinned and entirely hairless, except on the edge
of the ears and extremity of the tail, which are fringed or tufted.

Of the two African species, the White or Square-mouthed Rhinoceros is
the larger and the rarer. Until quite recently the range of this huge
ungainly-looking animal, the biggest of all terrestrial mammals after
the elephant, was supposed to be entirely confined to the southern
portions of the African Continent; for although from time to time horns
had found their way to Zanzibar which seemed referable to the
square-mouthed rhinoceros, the fact of the existence of the white
rhinoceros in any part of Africa north of the Zambesi remained in doubt
until a female was shot in the year 1900, in the neighbourhood of Lado,
on the Upper Nile, by Captain A. St. H. Gibbons, who brought its skin,
skull, and horns to England. The fact, however, that the white
rhinoceros has never been encountered by any other traveler in Central
Africa seems to show that the animal is either very rare in those
districts, or that it has an exceedingly limited range.

In the early years of the nineteenth century the square-mouthed or white
rhinoceros was found in large numbers over the whole of South Africa
from the Orange River to the Zambesi, except in the waterless portions
of the Kalahari Desert, or those parts of the country which are covered
with rugged stony hills or dense jungle.

Speaking of his journey in 1837 through the western part of what is now
the Transvaal Colony, Captain (afterwards Sir) Cornwallis Harris wrote:
"On our way from the waggons to a hill not half a mile distant, we
counted no less than twenty-two of the white species of rhinoceros, and
were compelled in self-defense to slaughter four. On one occasion I was
besieged in a bush by three at once, and had no little difficulty in
beating off the assailants." Even so lately as thirty years ago the
white rhinoceros was still to be met with in fair numbers in Ovampoland
and other districts of Western South Africa, whilst it was quite
plentiful in all the uninhabited parts of Eastern South Africa from
Zululand to the Zambesi. In 1872 and 1873, whilst elephant-hunting in
the uninhabited parts of Matabililand, I encountered white rhinoceroses
almost daily, and often saw several in one day. At the present time,
however, unless it should prove to be numerous in some as yet unexplored
districts of North Central Africa, this strange and interesting animal
must be counted one of the rarest of existing mammals, and in Southern
Africa I fear it must soon become extinct. A few still exist amongst the
wild loquat groves of Northern Mashonaland, and there are also a few
surviving in Zululand; but I fear that even with the most rigid
protection they are too few in number to restock the country. They have
a better chance, I think, of increasing in numbers in Zululand than in
Mashonaland, in which latter country it is at present impossible to
afford them any protection either from natives or Europeans.

[Illustration: _Photo by J. W. McLellan_]    [_Highbury_

RHINOCEROS BATHING

_All the Asiatic species of rhinoceros are fond of bathing and wallowing
in mud_]

A full-grown bull white rhinoceros stands from 6 feet 6 inches to 6 feet
9 inches at the shoulder, and is very massively built, with short, stout
legs. The head is very much elongated, and the mouth square, like that
of an ox. When white rhinoceroses were still plentiful, very
considerable differences were observable in the length and shape of
their horns. The anterior horns of full-grown bulls might measure from
18 inches to 40 inches in length; those of cows from 24 inches to 60
inches. The longest horn known--that of a cow--which was brought from
South Africa by the well-known hunter the late Roualeyn Gordon Cumming,
measures 62½ inches over the curve. As a rule, the front horn of the
white rhinoceros curved slightly backwards, but was often straight or
bent slightly forwards, and sometimes curved strongly backwards. The
posterior horn varied from a few inches to 2 feet in length.

The white rhinoceros lived in families, usually a bull, cow, and calf
being found together; but there might be two or even three calves of
different ages, and of which the youngest alone would be suckling,
living with the father and mother. In the early South African spring
(September and October), when the young green herbage was just sprouting
after the first rains, two or three families of white rhinoceroses might
be seen feeding in close proximity, presenting the appearance of a herd;
but I fancy the several families of these animals had only been brought
together for the sake of the young green grass. In Southern Africa the
white rhinoceros lived entirely on grass, and I have never seen any
evidence of their having eaten anything else. When either walking,
trotting, or galloping, the white rhinoceros always carried its nose
close to the ground. A calf always preceded its mother, and she appeared
to guide it by holding the point of her horn on the little creature's
rump; and in all changes of pace, no matter how sudden, this position
was always maintained. The white rhinoceros was easily killed by a shot
through the heart or through both lungs, but would travel very long
distances, and probably, as a rule, ultimately recover from wounds in
other parts of the body. They could travel at a great rate and for a
considerable distance with a broken fore leg or shoulder, but if a hind
leg were broken they were rendered almost immediately helpless. In
disposition they were sluggish and inoffensive animals, lying asleep in
the shade of trees or bushes during the heat of the day, and coming to
the water to drink at night or often before sundown in parts of the
country where they had not been much molested. When disturbed, white
rhinoceroses would go off at a swift trot, but if chased on horseback
would break into a gallop, which they were capable of maintaining for a
considerable distance, and at a wonderful pace for so large and heavy an
animal. The meat of the white rhinoceros was most excellent, the part in
greatest favour amongst hunters being the hump on the back of the neck
in front of the shoulder, which was cut off whole and roasted in the
skin in a hole dug in the ground.

The colour of the so-called white rhinoceros is dark gray. The second
species of African rhinoceros, which is also dark gray in colour, is
known as the Black or Prehensile-lipped Rhinoceros.

[Illustration: _Photo by C. B. Hausburg, Esq._

BLACK AFRICAN RHINOCEROSES

_A splendid snapshot of two black African rhinoceroses taken on the open
veldt. They were afterwards shot by the party_]

Less than a hundred years ago the range of this fast-disappearing
species extended from the northwestern districts of the Cape Colony to
Abyssinia, and at that time it must have been plentiful over almost the
whole of the intervening country. It never seems to have penetrated into
the equatorial forest regions of West Central Africa, where the climate
is probably too damp to suit its requirements; for both species of
African rhinoceros appear to like a dry climate, and not to object to
very arid surroundings. At the same time they never wander many miles
from a river or pool, and drink regularly every night, and in hot
weather probably very often a second time in the early morning.

[Illustration: _Photo by C. B. Hausburg, Esq._

ONE OF THE SAME RHINOCEROSES DEAD

_This picture gives some idea of the size of the commonest surviving
species_]

In Southern Africa the black rhinoceros appears to attain to a larger
size than in the countries farther north. To the south of the Zambesi
large bulls of this species will stand 5 feet 8 inches at the shoulder;
whilst the height of an adult bull, as taken by Mr. F. Jackson at
Naivasha in East Africa, was 5 feet 5 inches; and Mr. A. H. Neumann
gives the standing height of another adult bull shot by himself still
farther north, near Lake Rudolph, as only 4 feet 9 inches.

It is now generally recognised that there is but one species of
prehensile-lipped rhinoceros in Africa, though the horns, and especially
the hinder one, differ in length and shape to such an extent that it was
long thought that there were at least two distinct species, those with
both horns of equal or nearly equal length having been distinguished
from the more common form, with a comparatively short second horn, as
the Keitloa, this being the name in the Sechuana dialect for a
prehensile-lipped rhinoceros with horns of equal length. Speaking on
this subject, Mr. A. H. Neumann, who has had great experience with the
black rhinoceros in East Africa, writes: "Length of horn is a purely
fortuitous individual trait; and the extremely long horns (mostly of
females) which have occasionally been obtained from traders on the east
coast, and brought home, are merely exceptionally fine specimens,
selected from among large numbers brought to the coast (the bulk of
which, I am told, go to China to be ground up into medicine), and do not
belong to any distinct species, nor come from any particular region. In
proof of this contention I may mention that I have a 40-inch horn, the
owner of which I myself shot at the northern base of the Jambeni Range
(near Kenia), in a neighbourhood where I hunted a great deal and saw
great numbers of rhinos, and shot a good many. The vast majority have
quite short horns--under a foot--and anything over 18 inches is
uncommon, while a length of 30 inches or upwards is extremely rare." The
black rhinoceros, I believe, never eats grass, but browses on the young
shoots of trees and bushes, which are often quite leafless and seem
excessively dry. In this way it chews up and swallows great quantities
of dry-looking twigs, much of which passes through its stomach
undigested.

[Illustration: _Photo by Norman B. Smith, Esq._

BLACK AFRICAN RHINOCEROS

_This photograph, taken by a sportsman in Africa, shows a charging
rhinoceros just before it was shot_]

There has been a good deal of controversy as to the character and
disposition of the black rhinoceros, some hunters and travelers
regarding it as most dangerous and aggressive, whilst others are
inclined to take an almost opposite view. That some black rhinoceroses
are certainly aggressive and therefore dangerous animals, the
experiences of C. J. Anderson and W. Cotton Oswell in South Africa many
years ago, and of many travelers and hunters in East Africa during the
last few years, certainly prove beyond a doubt; and as one never knows
that any particular rhinoceros, when encountered, may not prove to be a
vicious brute, a certain amount of caution should be employed in
approaching one of these animals. In my own experience I always found
that black rhinoceroses ran off at once on getting the wind of a human
being; whilst, on the other hand, if they only heard one approaching,
they would come towards the noise, and I have often known them to trot
up to within twenty yards of where I was standing, snorting and puffing
loudly; but as these animals always turned round and went off eventually
without charging, I came to the conclusion that they were inquisitive
and very short-sighted rather than vicious. When fired into, a black
rhinoceros goes off at a gallop--his usual pace, when alarmed, being a
very fast trot--puffing and snorting loudly. He can gallop at a very
great pace, considering his size and weight; but a South African
shooting-pony can easily come up with him, or get away from him if
pursued. In death a black rhinoceros will often sink down on its knees,
and remain in that position, looking as if it were simply resting. When
dying, it often gives vent to a pitiful squeal, the sound seeming very
small and thin for so large a beast. The meat of the black rhinoceros is
not ill-flavoured, and, if fat, very palatable; but as a rule these
animals are very lean, and their flesh tough and coarse. The tongue,
however, if well cooked, is always good; and the liver if first roasted
under the ashes, and then, after being beaten up in a native wooden
mortar, cooked with rice and fat, makes a dish which is good enough for
a hungry man.

[Illustration: _Photo by York & Son_]    [_Notting Hill_

SUMATRAN RHINOCEROS

_This species of rhinoceros is the smallest of the three Oriental forms.
It has two horns_]

During the making of the Uganda Railway the engineers came upon
something like a preserve of this species of rhinoceros, especially in
the thick and waterless thorn jungle near the coast. The rhinoceros was
almost the only animal, except the lion, which was able to penetrate the
bush. As many as five of these animals were seen in one day when the
line was being made; they did no injury to the coolies, other than by
frightening them, and appeared to be stupid and by no means vigilant
animals, perhaps because no other creature attacked them. The lion never
meddles with a grown-up rhinoceros, though it might and probably does
kill a calf occasionally, when the latter is no larger than a full-grown
pig. The horns of some of these East African black rhinoceroses were of
unusual length and thinness.




  CHAPTER XII.

  _THE HORSE TRIBE._


  ZEBRAS AND WILD ASSES.

  BY F. C. SELOUS.


  Zebras.

The Zebras have many points in common with the asses, from which latter
group of animals they are principally distinguished by their beautifully
striped skins. Both asses and zebras carry short, erect manes, and in
both the upper portion of the tail is free from long hair. In both
groups there are naked callosities on the fore legs only, whilst the
head is larger in proportion to the size of the animal, and the ears
longer than in the horse. In Burchell's and Grevy's Zebras the hoof is
intermediate between that of the horse and the ass; for although
narrower than the hoof of the horse, it is broader and more rounded than
that of the ass. In the True Zebra, however, the hoof is thoroughly
asinine in character, and the ears very long.

[Illustration: _Photo by G. W. Wilson & Co., Ltd._

MOUNTAIN-ZEBRA

_The true or mountain zebra is now becoming scarcer than formerly. At
one time it was to be seen in great numbers on the mountains of Cape
Colony_]

The True or Mountain Zebra appears never to have had a very extended
range. It was once an inhabitant of all the mountainous regions of the
Cape Colony as well as of the great Drakensberg Range, and fifty years
ago was also found amongst the rugged hills of Great Namaqualand. The
mountain-zebra is the smallest of the group, standing only from 12 to
12½ hands at the shoulder. It is a most beautiful animal, the whole of
the head, body, and limbs, with the exception of the under-parts and the
insides of the thighs, being striped. The ground-colour of the body is
white, the stripes being black and the muzzle bright brown. Both hind
and fore legs are banded down to the hoofs. The stripes on the neck and
body are narrower and more numerous than in Burchell's zebra, and on the
hindquarters the median stripe, which runs down the centre of the back
from the mane to the tail, is connected with the uppermost of the
oblique longitudinal stripes by a series of short horizontal bars. The
ears in this species are much larger than in Burchell's zebra.

The true zebra seems never to have been an inhabitant of the plains,
like all its congeners, but to have confined its range entirely to
mountainous districts. Speaking on this point, Captain (afterwards Sir)
Cornwallis Harris wrote upwards of sixty years ago: "This beautiful and
wary animal never of its own free will descends into the plain, as
erroneously asserted by all naturalists, and it therefore never herds
with either of its congeners, the quagga and Burchell's zebra, whose
habitat is equally limited to the open and level lowlands. Seeking the
wildest and most sequestered spots, the haughty troops are exceedingly
difficult of approach, as well on account of their watchful habits and
extreme agility and fleetness of foot, as from the abrupt and
inaccessible nature of their highland abode."

An allied species, of which examples have been obtained by Mr. G. W.
Penrice, occurs in Benguela, Portuguese West Africa.

I once saw the carcase of a zebra stallion which had been sent by rail
to the Cape Town Museum by a farmer living in the neighbourhood of the
village of Worcester. This animal had come down from the mountains, and
joined a troop of donkeys running on the farm. Its intrusion was,
however, resented by a male donkey, which fought with and overpowered
it, and, having seized it with its teeth by the back of the neck, held
it fast until it was secured by the farmer and his men. The captured
animal, however, refused food, and soon died, when its carcase was sent
to the Cape Museum for preservation.

[Illustration: _Photo by W. P. Dando_

GREVY'S ZEBRA

_This spates of zebra come from the Galla country, and has narrower and
more numerous stripes than the mountain-zebra_]

Grevy's Zebra is the largest and perhaps the handsomest of all the
zebras. This fine animal is an inhabitant of Eastern Africa, its range
extending from the central portion of Somaliland southwards to the Tana
River. It appears to be plentiful in the country between Mount Kenia and
Lake Rudolph, but has not, I believe, been met with to the west of that
lake. Full-grown specimens of Grevy's zebra will stand from 14½ to 15
hands at the shoulder, with a girth of body immediately behind the
shoulders of nearly 5 feet. The arrangement of the stripes in this
species differs considerably both from that of the mountain-zebra of the
Cape Colony and also from Burchell's zebra. The body-stripes are very
narrow, numerous, and deep black in colour, and are separated by equally
narrow white bands. The longitudinal stripes on the haunches are also
shorter and finer than in any other species of zebra, and on the top of
the centre of the back from the neck to the tail. The belly and insides
of the thighs are white, and the legs banded right down to the hoofs as
in the mountain-zebra, and the ears are as large as in that species.

Grevy's zebra is, as a rule, an inhabitant of open or thinly wooded
country, and it appears to avoid anything in the nature of thick cover.
In Central Somaliland Major Swayne met with it on low plateaux some
2,500 feet above sea-level, the sides of which fell in broken ravines to
the river-valleys. This country is described as broken and hilly, and
here Grevy's zebras were met with in small droves of about half a dozen.
In the country between Mount Kenia and Lake Rudolph, Mr. A. H. Neumann
frequently met with herds of Grevy's and Burchell's zebras consorting
together. The contrast between the two species when thus seen side by
side was very marked, the former animals looking like horses among a
flock of ponies. Mr. Neumann never observed stallions of the two species
fighting together, but on the other hand he states that the stallions of
the larger species fight viciously amongst themselves for possession of
the mares. Grevy's zebras seem never to collect in large herds, more
than twenty, or at the outside thirty, being very seldom seen together.

[Illustration: _Photo by J. T. Newman_]    [_Berkhamsted_

THE HON. WALTER ROTHSCHILD'S TEAM OF ZEBRAS

_Mr. Rothschild was practically the first person to break in zebras to
harness. At one time these animals were thought to be quite untamable_]

Although this species is an inhabitant of arid plains and bare stony
hills where the herbage is short, it requires to drink daily, and is
never therefore found at any great distance from water.

The cry of Grevy's zebra is stated to be quite different from that of
Burchell's. Mr. Neumann describes it as a very hoarse kind of grunt,
varied by something approaching to a whistle, the grunts being long
drawn out, and divided by the shrill whistling sound, as if the latter
were made by drawing in the breath which had been expelled during the
sustained grunt.

Like all other species of the genus to which they belong, Grevy's
zebras, especially the mares when in foal, become very fat at certain
seasons of the year, and their flesh is much appreciated both by natives
and lions, the latter preying on them and their smaller congeners,
Burchell's zebras, in preference to any other animal, now that the
rinderpest has almost exterminated the great herds of buffalo which once
roamed in countless numbers all over East Central Africa.

[Illustration: _Photo by Percy Ashenden_

BURCHELL'S ZEBRA AT HOME

_This excellent photograph was taken in South Africa, and shows these
animals in their native state_]

Burchell's Zebra once inhabited the whole of Southwestern, Southeastern,
Central, and Eastern Africa from the Orange River to Lake Rudolph; and
though it has long ceased to exist in the more southerly portions of its
range, it is still the most numerous and the best known of all the
species of zebra.

The typical form of this species was first met with early last century
by Dr. Burchell in Southern Bechuanaland. In this form the legs are
white below the knees and hocks, and the body-stripes do not join the
median stripe of the belly. In examples met with farther north the legs
are striped down to the hoofs and the body-stripes join the
belly-stripe. South of the Zambesi all forms of Burchell's zebra seem to
have faint markings, known as shadow-stripes, on the pale yellow
ground-colour of the spaces between the broad black stripes. North of
the Zambesi varieties are met with in which these shadow-stripes are
wanting. As, however, the differences between all the various
sub-species of Burchell's zebra are superficial and not structural, and
as, moreover, the habits of these animals seem to be the same in every
part of their widely extended range, I shall henceforth speak of them as
one species.

Burchell's zebra is without the small horizontal bars on the
hindquarters, which in the mountain-zebra connect the dorsal stripe with
the uppermost of the broad longitudinal bands running across the flanks.
Its ears, too, are smaller than in the latter species, and its mane
fuller. In size Burchell's zebra is intermediate between the
mountain-zebra and Grevy's zebra, standing from thirteen to thirteen and
a half hands at the shoulder.

[Illustration: _By permission of Mr. William Cross_

BURCHELL'S ZEBRA, CHAPMAN'S VARIETY]

Where they have not been shot down, Burchell's zebras often live in
large herds of from fifty to over a hundred together. I have met with
them almost at the level of the sea, as in the Pungwe district of
South-east Africa, and all over the high plateaux of the interior up to
a height of 5,000 feet above sea-level. They are partial to sparsely
forested country intersected by open glades, but also frequent open
plains entirely devoid of trees or bush, having been once numerous on
the open downs of the Western Transvaal and Orange River Colony. They
never live in dense jungle, but I have met with them frequently amongst
broken rugged hills. Burchell's zebras are both fleet and enduring, but
I have often galloped right amongst a herd of them when mounted on a
fast horse, and in good ground. In broken, hilly, and stony ground,
however, no horse can live with a Burchell's zebra. The hoofs of this
species seem made for running in rocky ground, being deeply hollowed and
as hard as iron.

I have always found the presence of Burchell's zebras a sure indication
that water was not far distant, and it is my experience that these
animals require to drink daily, and never wander more than a few miles
away from the pool or river they frequent.

[Illustration: MARE AND FOAL OF BURCHELL'S ZEBRA

_These animals breed regularly in captivity_]

This species of zebra may often be seen in Southern Africa in company
with other animals, such as buffaloes, blue wildebeests, elands,
gemsbucks, roan and sassaby antelopes, and ostriches, and I have upon
several occasions seen them come up to domestic cattle and horses. They
are naturally not very wary, and in parts of the country where they have
not been much molested are often very inquisitive, and will come
trotting quite close up to a caravan, provided they do not get the scent
of human beings. Foals of this species are easily caught, and become at
once very tame and confiding; nor do I believe that adult Burchell's
zebras are such vicious animals as is generally supposed, since I have
seen several which were very quiet and well broken, whilst even the
half-broken animals, which were at one time used on one of the
coach-lines in the Transvaal, did not appear very vicious.

As with Grevy's zebra, the flesh of the species under consideration is
much appreciated both by natives and lions. I have often seen the fat on
the quarters of the mares quite an inch thick. It is of a dark yellow
colour, and too rich to suit the stomach of a European. The meat is
rather sweet in taste, but if fried with bacon not at all unpalatable.

[Illustration: _Photo by Norman B. Smith, Esq._

BURCHELL'S ZEBRA

_This species is occasionally domesticated and driven in South Africa,
as it is not injured by the tsetse fly_]

Professor Ewart has lately carried out a very interesting series of
experiments on the hybridising of zebras and horses. The results were
very satisfactory. The zebra cross proved to be very hardy creatures,
capable of wintering in the open on the hills of Scotland. The
scientific data obtained were of singular value, as showing the effect
of crossbreeding on subsequent generations of foals of the same mother.
It has long been believed that the influence of the first sire was seen
in foals of which other animals were subsequently the fathers. Thus, if
a white mare threw a foal to a black stallion, it was considered that
her subsequent progeny would occasionally be black, and instances were
freely quoted to support this theory. The scientific name of "telegony"
was given to this supposed influence of previous sires on future
offspring. Professor Ewart's experiments, in which pony mares were first
mated with a zebra and afterwards with horses, show that this theory of
telegony is erroneous. The foals sired afterwards by ponies and horses
showed no trace whatever of zebra stripes, but were normal pony foals,
and not altered either in shape or disposition.

[Illustration: _Photo by Percy Ashenden_

ZEBRAS ON TABLE MOUNTAIN

_Another South African photograph. Notice Cape Town in the far
distance_]

The Quagga, which became extinct about thirty years ago, never had a
very extended range, but in the early part of the last century it
existed in great numbers on all the upland plains of the Cape Colony to
the west of the Kei River, and in the open treeless country lying
between the Orange and Vaal Rivers. North of the Vaal it appears to have
been unknown.

The quagga seems to have been nearly allied to Burchell's
zebra--especially to the most southerly form of that species--but was
much darker in general colour, being of a dark rufous brown on the neck
and upper-parts of the body, becoming lighter on the sides, and fading
off to white beneath and behind. Instead of being striped, too, over the
whole body, it was only strongly banded on the head and neck, the dark
brown stripes becoming fainter on the shoulders and dying away in spots
and blotches. On the other hand, in size and build, in the appearance of
its mane, ears, and tail, and in general habits, it seems to have nearly
resembled its handsomer relative. The barking neigh "qu[=a]-h[=a]-h[=a],
qu[=a]-h[=a]-h[=a]" seems, too, to have been the same in both species. The word
"quagga" is pronounced in South Africa "qu[=a]-h[=a]," and is of Hottentot
origin, being an imitation of the animal's neighing call. To-day
Burchell's zebras are invariably called Qu[=a]-h[=a]s by both Boers and
British colonists.

[Illustration: _Photo by York & Son_

QUAGGA

_This is, we believe, the only known photograph from life of this very
rare animal. There will probably never be another, for the quagga is
generally supposed to be extinct_]


  Wild Asses

The true asses are without stripes on the head, neck, and body, with the
exception of a dark streak down the back from the mane to the tail,
which is present in all members of the group, and in some cases a dark
band across the shoulders and irregular markings on the legs.

In Africa the wild ass is only found in the desert regions of the
north-eastern portion of that continent, being an inhabitant of
Abyssinia, Somaliland, Gallaland, the Soudan, and the arid districts
bordering the Red Sea. The form of wild ass found in Somaliland differs
in some respects from its near relative of the Nubian Desert, in that it
is of a paler colour, has the dorsal stripe but faintly marked, and is
without a cross stripe over the shoulders, whilst on the other hand it
has numerous markings both on the front and hind legs. Naturalists are,
however, agreed that, although there may be certain small differences in
the colour and markings of the wild asses found in different localities
of Northern Africa, such variations are of no specific value, and only
one species is recognised.

The African Wild Ass is a fine animal, standing between 13 and 14 hands
at the shoulder. It lives in small herds or families of four or five
individuals, and is not found in mountainous districts, but frequents
low stony hills and arid desert-wastes. It is as a general rule an alert
animal and difficult to approach, and so fleet and enduring that,
excepting in the case of foals and mares heavy in young, it cannot be
overtaken even by a well-mounted horseman. Notwithstanding the scanty
nature of the herbage in the districts they frequent, these desert-bred
asses are always in good condition. They travel long distances to water
at night, but appear to require to drink regularly. Their flesh is eaten
by the natives of the Soudan. The bray of the African wild ass is said
to be indistinguishable from that of the domesticated animal, which
latter is undoubtedly descended from the wild African breed.

In Asia three varieties of the wild ass are found, which were formerly
believed to represent three distinct species; but since the points of
difference between these varying forms do not appear to be of specific
value, all the local races of the Asiatic wild ass are now considered to
belong to one species.

These wild asses have a wide range, and are met with in the deserts of
Asia from Syria to Persia and Western India, and northwards throughout
the more arid portions of Central Asia.

In Tibet and Mongolia the wild ass inhabits the high mountain-plateaux,
and lives at elevations of 14,000 feet and upwards above the sea. This
local race, know as the Kiang, approaches in size to the African wild
ass, standing 13 hands at the shoulder. It is dark reddish brown in
colour, with a very narrow dorsal stripe. The Onager of Western India
and Baluchistan is a smaller and lighter-coloured animal, with a broader
stripe down the back. In parts of its range it is found at sea-level. In
Persia and Syria a third local race of wild ass is found, which,
however, differs from the two forms already enumerated in no essential
particular.

Like their African congeners, the wild asses of Asia are inhabitants of
the waste places of the earth, frequenting desert plains and wind-swept
steppes. They are said to be so fleet and enduring that, except in the
case of a mare heavy with foal, they cannot be overtaken by a single
horseman.

[Illustration: _Photo by J. W. McLellan_

BALUCHI WILD ASS

_This is one of the three leading varieties of the Asiatic wild ass. It
is found in Western India and Baluchistan_]

The wild asses of the desert plains of India and Persia are said to be
very wary and difficult to approach, but the kiang of Tibet is always
spoken of as a much more confiding animal, its curiosity being so great
that it will frequently approach to within a short distance of any
unfamiliar object, such as a sportsman engaged in stalking other game.

[Illustration: _Photo by the Duchess of Bedford, Woburn Abbey._

CHAPMAN'S ZEBRAS

These zebras have for some years been running loose in the park at
Woburn Abbey.]

Asiatic wild asses usually live in small families of four or five, but
sometimes congregate in herds. Their food consists of various grasses in
the low-lying portions of their range, but of woody plants on the high
mountain-plateaux, where little else is to be obtained. Of wild asses in
general the late Sir Samuel Baker once said: "Those who have seen
donkeys only in their civilised state can have no conception of the wild
or original animal; it is the perfection of activity and courage."

[Illustration: MALE KIANG

_The kiang comes from the Tibetan highlands. It is the largest and most
horse-like of the wild asses of Asia_]


  DOMESTICATED HORSE, ASSES, AND MULES

  BY W. P. PYCRAFT, A.L.S., F.Z.S.


  The Domesticated Horse

Like the wild camels, genuine wild horses are very generally believed to
be extinct. The vast herds which occur to-day in a wild state in Europe,
America, and Australia are to be regarded, say those who believe in the
extinction theory, as descended from domesticated animals which have run
wild. So far as the American and Australian horses are concerned, this
is no doubt true; but of the European stocks it is by no means so
certain. For Dr. Nehring--and he speaks with authority--assures us that
the wild horses known as Tarpans, which occur on the steppes north of
the Sea of Azoff, between the river Dnieper and the Caspian, are
veritable wild horses, the last remaining members of enormous herds
which occurred in Europe before the dawn of civilisation. These horses
formed no small part of the food of the savage races of men then
inhabiting this continent. This we know because of the quantities of
their remains found in the caves of the south of France, for instance,
associated with the remains of the men who hunted them. Further
evidence of this we have in the shape of crude engravings on pieces of
bone and deer horns, carved by the more artistic spirits amongst these
early hunters. From these drawings we gather that the horse they hunted
was small in size and heavy in build, with a large head and rough,
shaggy mane and tail--a horse, in fact, almost identical with the
above-mentioned tarpan. But long before historic records begin these
horses must have been domesticated; man discovered that they could be
even more useful alive than dead, and from that time forth the horse
became his inseparable companion. "Cæsar found the Ancient Britons and
Germans using war-chariots drawn by horses."

But the stock of domestic horses drawn from this tarpan breed appears to
have died out almost entirely, the majority of horses now existing being
probably descendants of the native wild horses of Asia, the product of a
still earlier domestication. In Egypt the horse, as a domestic animal,
seems to have been preceded by the ass; but about 1900 B.C. it begins to
appear in the rôle of a war-horse, to draw chariots. Its use, indeed,
until the Middle Ages was almost universally as a war-horse.

From the time of its domestication till to-day the history of the horse
has been one of progress. The care and forethought of the breeder have
produced many varieties, resulting in such extremes as the London
Dray-horse, the Racer, and the Shetland Pony.

The coloration of our various breeds of horses is generally without any
definite marking, piebald and dappled being the nearest approach to a
pattern. Occasionally, however, horses are found with a dark stripe
along the back, and sometimes with dark stripes on the shoulders and
legs. Darwin, discovering a number of horses so marked belonging to
different breeds, came to the conclusion that probably all existing
races of horses were descended from a "single dun-coloured, more or less
striped primitive stock, to which [stock] our horses occasionally
revert."

[Illustration: _Photo by T. Fall_

YEARLING ARAB COLTS

_Note the colts examining the photographer's bag. They are very
inquisitive creatures, but easily frightened_]

"If we were not so habituated to the sight of the horse," says the late
Sir William Flower, "as hardly ever to consider its structure, we should
greatly marvel at being told of a mammal so strangely constructed that
it had but a single toe on each extremity, on the end of the nail of
which it walked or galloped. Such a conformation is without parallel in
the vertebrate series." By the aid of fossils we can trace out all the
stages through which this wonderful foot has passed in arriving at its
present state of perfection: we can see how it has become more and more
beautifully adapted to fulfil the requirement demanded--a firm support
to enable its owner to cover hard ground at great speed. The study of
the structure of this foot, and a comparison with the intermediate
forms, make it clear that this toe corresponds to the third finger or
toe of the human hand or foot--according as we compare the fore or hind
limbs--and that its development was at the expense of the remaining
toes, which gradually dwindled and disappeared, leaving in the living
one-toed horse only traces of the second and fourth toes in the shape of
a pair of splint-bones, one on either side of the excessively developed
third toe.

[Illustration: _Photo by T. Fall_

ARAB MARE

_Nothing would induce this horse to stand still in order to be
photographed; so as a last resource the rider put on her Arab costume.
This acted like magic, for under its spell the animal at once became
quiet_]

The horses, it must be remarked, may be distinguished from the asses by
the fact that the tail in the former is clothed with long hair
throughout; in the latter long hair springs only from the sides and end,
forming a tuft. Furthermore, the horses have a remarkable horny
excrescence, resembling a huge black and flattened wart, on each hind
leg just below the "hock," or heel-joint. This excrescence is commonly
known as the "chestnut." Its function is unknown. A similar pair of
"chestnuts" occurs on the inner side of the fore limb just above the
wrist, or "knee," as it is generally called. The "chestnuts" of the fore
limb occur also in the asses, but not those of the hind limb.

[Illustration: Photo by T. Fall

ARAB MARES AND FOALS]


  The Arab Horse

This magnificent and justly celebrated animal is chosen first for
consideration because it is probably a direct descendant of an original
wild breed--the Asiatic wild horse. How far back the domestication of
this breed began will probably never be exactly known. Till the third
century after Christ the Arabs were almost certainly camel-riders; but
by the sixth century of our era we find them in possession of a breed of
horses which they regarded with great reverence, and spoke of as an
heritage from their forefathers. They were probably introduced from the
Caucasus or Asia Minor. The Arab horse found its way into Europe,
perhaps accompanied by an allied breed--the Barb--with the Arab invasion
of Spain in the eighth and ninth centuries, leaving traces of its
sojourn in the Andalusian and the French Limousin. But the great value
of Arab blood was not appreciated till armour ceased to be used, the
excessive weight of this demanding a horse of heavy build.

The Arab does not appear to have been introduced into England till the
seventeenth century; but the result of that introduction, as we shall
see presently, has been fraught with tremendous consequences. In its
native land it appears to have been bred chiefly for the purposes of
warfare. The success with which the breeders' judicious selection has
been rewarded is plainly seen in the wonderful powers of endurance on
long marches; so that, at the end of a raid, the animal is still fresh
enough either for flight, if necessary, or for a final rush on a
retreating enemy. Besides, Arabs possess great courage, and are frugal
both in the matter of food and drink.

As a race-horse, one enthusiast assures us, the Arab is superior to
every other natural breed; he is beaten only by his own half-breed
offspring--the English Race-horse. But this seems to be rather an
overestimate.

The colour of the Arab varies; white is the most highly esteemed, but
bay and chestnut are common, black being rare. Strange as it may seem,
the white breed is never born white.

[Illustration: PERCHERON HORSE]

The great affection of the Arab for his horse is proverbial. The
following story is certainly worth repeating: "The whole stock of an
Arab of the desert consisted of a mare. The French Consul offered to
purchase her, in order to send her to his sovereign, Louis XIV. The Arab
would have rejected the proposal; but being miserably poor, with
scarcely a rag to cover him, his wife and children starving, he was
tempted greatly. At length he yielded. He brought the mare to the
consul's house, and stood leaning on her neck, and looking, now at the
gold, and now at the horse. The gold was good to look upon; it would
make him rich for life. Turning at last to his favourite, he said: 'To
whom is it I am going to yield thee up? To Europeans, who will tie thee
close, who will beat thee, who will make thee miserable. Return with me,
my beauty, my jewel, and rejoice the hearts of my children.' At the last
of these words he sprang upon her back, and was in a few moments out of
sight."

[Illustration: _Photo by T. Fall_

HACKNEY AND FOAL

_A specimen of the English carriage-horse_]


  The Barb

This is an African breed, which, like the generality of African horses,
is distinguished from those of Asia by its long limbs and small girth
at the loins, thus resembling the foals of other breeds. It displays
great powers of enduring hunger and thirst; and is fleet, with a high
and graceful action. The barb takes its name from its native
land--Barbary. It is a larger breed than the Arab.

[Illustration: _Photo by C. Reid_

LADAS

_A perfect English thoroughbred. With this racer Lord Rosebery won the
Derby in 1894_]


  Levant and Persian Horses

These are very closely allied to the Arab, but generally of larger size;
and in Southern Persia, at least, less delicately framed. The Turkoman
horses are related to those of Northern Persia.


  The English Race-horse

This animal is the product of very careful selection and gradual
improvement of an original native breed, extending over several
centuries. Long since, so long ago as the reign of James I., it had
reached a high degree of excellence.

Upon this native stock there has been built up, by the infusion of Arab
blood, the swiftest horse which the world has ever known--the British
Thoroughbred. "Of this breed, it may be stated," says Mr. Allison, "that
every such animal in the stud-book of the present day, in this country
or any other, descends . . . from one of three original Eastern
sires--the Darley Arabian, the Byerley Turk, or the Godolphin Arabian."
This is an extremely interesting fact, and constitutes a lasting
monument to the enterprise and acumen of the British horse-breeder.

The Byerley Turk hailed from the Levant, and was introduced by Captain
Byerley about 1689. From the Byerley Turk came Herod, the most
celebrated of his descendants, who has given rise to the Herod line,
which to-day is but feebly represented.

The Godolphin Arabian, or the Godolphin Barb, was born about 1724. From
his grandson Matchem is derived the Matchem line, which is also to-day
bordering on extinction.

[Illustration: _Photo by C. Reid_

FLORIZEL II

_One of King Edward's racing-stud_]

The Darley Arabian carries us back to the reign of Queen Anne. Flying
Childers and Bartlett's Childers are directly descended from him; and
from the latter is descended Eclipse, the fastest horse which the turf
has ever known. It is interesting to note that the descendants in the
Eclipse line enormously outnumber those of the other two lines which we
have considered. Of his descendants, one of the most illustrious is
Stockwell, who has been described as the most extraordinary sire of all
time, whose blood is coming more than ever to the front.

[Illustration: Photo by T. Fall

SHETLAND PONY AND FOAL]


  The Trotting-horse

This is an American breed. The trotting-horse is a combination of barb
and Arab on an English stock. Most of the trotting- and pacing-horses of
America may be traced to an English thoroughbred--Messenger--who was
imported into America in 1780. This horse became the founder of the
greatest trotting family in the world. The speed attained by some of the
fastest trotters is wonderful, a mile being covered in some three or
four seconds over two minutes.

[Illustration: _Photo by T. Fall_

CHAMPION SHIRE STALLION

_A celebrated cart horse_]

Russia is the only European country with a distinct breed of
trotter--the Orloff. This breed was made by crossing Arab and English
horses with the native races. The Orloff has not the speed of the
American horse, but has greater powers of endurance. The trotting-season
in Russia is winter, the races taking place on the ice.

[Illustration: SHIRE MARE AND FOAL]

[Illustration: _Photo by T. Fall_

WELSH PONY

_This photograph shows the Duchess of Newcastle with one of her white
Welsh ponies_]

The Pacer is not a distinct breed, but so called on account of its
curious method of trotting. In trotting the left fore and right hind leg
strike the ground at the same moment; in pacing the fore and hind leg of
the _same side_ move in unison. Some wild animals--as the giraffe--are
pacers. "Many American horses," says Mr. Winans, "are able to move with
either action, a set of lighter shoes often sufficing to convert a
trotter into a pacer." Pacing is a swifter mode of motion than trotting.

[Illustration: _Photo by C. Reid_

POLO-PONY

_Various breeds of ponies are used in this game, but the most esteemed
at the present day are the English-bred New Forest, Dartmoor, or Exmoor,
or Welsh ponies_]

The pacing record time stands at one mile in 1 minute 59½ seconds, as
against the trotting record of one mile in 2 minutes 3¾ seconds.


  The Hunter

This also is not a distinct breed, as some suppose. Any good
riding-horse may be used as a hunter. "Hunters" have been made by
infusing the blood of the race-horse with native breeds. The chief
requirements are a muscular neck and chest, with a rather short body,
and shorter and stouter legs than the race-horse.

From the half-bred hunter we pass by insensible gradation to the
ordinary saddle- and carriage-horses. The ideal carriage-horse, however,
is more of a distinct breed than the hunter, and known as the Cleveland
Bay. It has been produced by mingling the blood of the thoroughbred with
that of a horse of stouter make than that of the hunter type.

The record broad jump for the hunter, we might mention in passing, is
variously stated to be from 33 to 37 feet!


  The Shetland Pony

This is a native of the Shetland Islands, and remarkable for its small
size, docility, and hardihood. It is allowed to run nearly wild, and
made to forage almost entirely for itself. In the winter it grows a coat
of great length, which, soon becoming matted, forms a most effective
protection against cold and wet. The Dartmoor, Exmoor, and New Forest
are likewise small breeds, but lack the symmetry and beauty of the
Shetland.

[Illustration: _Photo by T. Fall_

DONKEY

_A Typical Coster's Donkey_]


  Cart-horses

Under this head are included all the large, heavily built
draught-horses. These are of European origin, and without intermixture
of foreign--Asiatic or African--blood. In England the most important
breeds are the Black or Shire Horse, the Clydesdale, and the Suffolk
Punch. These are wonderful instances of the results of selective
breeding towards a definite end--large size, accompanied by great
physical strength and powers of endurance. To accomplish this, speed has
had to be sacrificed.

[Illustration: _Photo by W. Reid_

EGYPTIAN DONKEYS

_The ass has long been known to the Egyptians, having been in use by
them before the introduction of the horse_]


  ASSES AND MULES

  Asses

The Domestic Ass, so common to-day in these islands, is of African
origin, and has, moreover, departed but little in either form or colour
from the wild race. This is probably due to the fact that the ass has
not been subjected in this country to that process of rigorous and
careful selection that the horse has undergone.

We have no record of its first introduction to England, but it was
certainly known in the reign of Ethelred, though it was a rare animal.
Later it appears to have died out, and to have been reintroduced in the
reign of Elizabeth; but it has never become popular. This is
unfortunate; its sterling qualities have never been really appreciated
there. Spain, Italy, and Malta have all succeeded in raising some fine
breeds. The United States has, however, produced the finest of all in
animals standing some 15 or 16 hands (5 feet or 5 feet 4 inches) high.


M  ules

The term Mule, strictly speaking, should be reserved for the offspring
of the male ass and the mare: the offspring of the opposite cross is
called the Hinny. Mules are valued on account of their great powers of
endurance and their sure-footedness. The finest and handsomest are bred
in Spain, the United States, and North-west India.

[Illustration: _Photo by C. Reid_]    [_Wishaw, N.B._

MULES]

It is interesting to note that mules exhibit a strong tendency to revert
to the dun-coloured and striped coloration believed to belong to the
primitive horses. The spinal and shoulder stripes which sometimes appear
in horses, and more frequently in asses, occur yet more frequently in
mules. The legs of the mules appear particularly liable to revert to
this striped coloration in the United States, it is said nine out of ten
being so marked.

[Illustration: _Photo by Charles Reid_]    [_Wishaw, N.B._

HIGHLAND CATTLE

These magnificent cattle are bred in large numbers in the Scottish
Highlands, whence they are brought to the richer pastures of England to
fatten for the market]




  CHAPTER XIII

  _THE HOLLOW HORNED RUMINANTS: OXEN, BISON BUFFALOES, AND MUSK-OX_


Cattle, Deer, Camels, Pigs, Horses, Tapirs, Rhinoceroses, and Elephants
differ greatly in structure from the orders already described. They are
classed as the Ungulates, or Hoofed Mammals. In most of these, such as
the Horse, Deer, and Oxen, the toes are contained within a solid hoof;
in others, such as the Rhinoceros, they are protected by broad nails.
Great differences exist in the feet of the various groups of Ungulates,
caused by the degree in which the digits, or "toes," remain in use or
not. Except in the Elephant, where there are five, the greatest number
of "working" digits found in existing forms is four. In the Horse and
its surviving allies the digits are reduced to one; in the Giraffes, to
two.

The general process, as it can be learnt from the remains of the
horse-like animals of the past, seems to have been as follows. One or
more of the toes were developed in length and strength at the expense of
the others, until, in the case of the Horse, only one toe remained,
which was enclosed in a large and solid hoof, little splints on either
side of the cannon-bone being left to hint where the second and fourth
toes had once been. In the Oxen and Deer the third and fourth toes
developed equally, at the expense of the others, and each gained a case
or covering, which makes the two parts of the "cloven hoof" of these
groups.

The first group of the order of Ungulates is represented by the
Hollow-horned Ruminants. These have horns set on a core of bone, the
horns themselves being hollow throughout. They "chew the cud," after
receiving the food eaten into the first of four divisions in the
stomach, whence it is brought up into the mouth, and then swallowed
again for digestion. The Oxen, Sheep, and Goats have no popular name by
which they are collectively distinguished, but their characteristics are
sufficiently well known. The horns are never shed annually, as is the
case with the Deer; and the hoofs are cloven. They have no incisor teeth
in the upper jaw, a characteristic also shared by the Giraffes, the
Prongbuck (or American antelope), and the Deer. The lower jaw has its
full complement of incisor teeth.

The Oxen and the allied Bison, Yak, and Buffaloes are the bulkiest and
most important to man of all ruminants. Some are found in nearly all
inhabited parts of the Old World, and there is one North American
species, now practically exterminated as a wild animal.

[Illustration: _Photo by E. Lander_

ENGLISH PARK-CATTLE

_This photograph represents two animals of different types. The bull is
pure-bred; the cow is a cross-bred_]

[Illustration: _Photo by W. P. Dando_

ENGLISH PARK BULL

_The similarity in shape to the best-bred modern shorthorns is obvious_]


  BRITISH PARK-CATTLE, AND THE AUROCHS

The so-called "Wild Cattle" found in the parks of Chillingham and
Chartley, as well as in Lord Leigh's park at Lyme, and in that of the
Duke of Hamilton at Cadzow Castle, Scotland, are probably not the
descendants of an indigenous wild race. It is not without reluctance
that the belief in their wild descent has been abandoned. But the
evidence seems fairly conclusive as to the antiquity of these white
cattle, regarded as a primitive breed, and of the unlikelihood of their
being survivors of a truly wild stock. They are almost identical in many
points with the best breeds of modern cattle, and probably represent the
finest type possessed by the ancient inhabitants of these islands. But
they are far smaller than the original Wild Ox, or Aurochs, the ancestor
of our domestic breeds. The skulls of these large wild oxen, which still
survived in the Black Forest in Cæsar's time, have been dug up in many
parts of England, especially in the Thames Valley, and may be seen at
the Natural History Museum. The remains of the extinct wild ox, the _Bos
urus_ of the Romans, show that, if not so large as an elephant, as Cæsar
heard, its size was gigantic, reckoned by any modern cattle standard
whatever. It probably stood 6 feet high at the shoulder, and there is
every reason to believe that it was the progenitor of the modern race of
domestic cattle in Europe. It seems certain that the Chartley Park herd
did once run wild in Needwood Forest; but so do the Italian buffaloes in
the Maremma, and the Spanish bulls on the plains of Andalusia. Those at
Chartley have been kept in the park, which is very wild and remote, so
long that they have gradually lost many of the attributes of
domestication. This is even more marked in the case of Lord Tankervill's
white cattle at Chillingham. An observant visitor to Chillingham lately
noted that the bulls fight for the possession of the cows, and that one
is occasionally killed in these combats. The cows still "stampede" with
their calves when alarmed, and hide them for a week or ten days after
they are born. The horns of the Chillingham cattle turn up; those of the
bulls of the Chartley herd are straight or slightly inclined downwards.
Cross-breds between the Chartley cattle and some other herds of reputed
ancient descent may generally be seen at the London Zoological Gardens.
They remain remarkably true to type.

[Illustration: _Photo by W. P. Dando_

CALF OF ENGLISH PARK-CATTLE

_Though the stock is very old and inbred, the white park-cattle are
still fairly prolific_]

Formerly there were several other herds of ancient white cattle. One was
at Gisburne, in Yorkshire; another at Chatelherault Park, in
Lanarkshire; and records of herds at Bishop Auckland in Durham, Barnard
Castle, Blair Athol, Burton Constable, Naworth Castle, and other ancient
peaks are preserved. Probably all were of a breed highly prized in
ancient days, which was allowed the run of the forests adjacent to the
homes of their owners; then, as the forests were cleared, they were
gradually taken up and enclosed in parks. Another theory is, that they
were the white cattle of North-western Italy, imported by the first
settlements of Italian monks after the conversion of the Saxons.

[Illustration: _Photo by J. T. Newman_

JERSEY COW

_Though small in size, the Jersey cows produce more butter than any
English breed_]


  SOME DOMESTICATED CATTLE

The various species of European domestic cattle have in most cases been
brought to a degree of excellence even higher than that which might be
expected from the long period of time in which their improvement has
been an object of solicitude to man. Of the foreign races, the dark red
cattle of the Spanish Peninsula--animals which have been exported to the
Canary Islands and Madeira with great success--are justly famous. The
white oxen of North-east Italy have been famous since the days of the
Romans. The tall long-horned cattle of Hungary are excellent alike as
beasts of draught and for beef. The black-and-white Dutch cows are, and
have been, the mainstay of the dairy industry of Holland, and later of
Denmark; while the small Brittany cows are perhaps the best
butter-producers on the continent of Europe. But England and the Channel
Islands may justly claim to rear the finest cattle of the temperate
parts of the world. The diminutive Jersey cows, now reared in all parts
of the kingdom, surpass all the animals of Europe or America in the
richness of their milk, while stock from the pedigree herds of various
English breeds is eagerly sought by foreign and continental buyers on
both sides of the Atlantic, and in New Zealand and Australia. These
foreign strains need constant replenishing from the English herds, and
the result is a golden harvest to the breeders in these islands.

[Illustration: _Photo by W. P. Dando_

SPANISH CATTLE

_These belong to the long-horned race of Southern and Eastern Europe. In
the bulls the horns are shorter, and often turn downwards_]

The Shorthorn was the first breed to be brought to perfection. Two main
stocks--one for producing beef, the other for the dairy--are recognised;
they are the "all-round breed" most in favour, and it is said that the
improvement in this race alone has raised the value of average Irish
store cattle $10 per head during the last twenty years. The shorthorns
are level-backed, large animals, maturing very quickly. The commonest
colours are roan, white, red, and red-and-white. Hereford Cattle are
red, with white faces and long, upturned horns; they fatten quickly on
good grass, and are in most demand for summer beef. Highland Cattle have
long horns, rough, shaggy coats, and bodies of moderate size and great
symmetry; they are grazed on the mountains of the West Highlands mainly,
and fattened in the south. The beef is of the finest quality. Sussex
Cattle are an "all red" variety, large, and formerly much used for
draught and farm work. The Devons are another red variety, very like the
Sussex, yielding excellent and rich milk, and, when fattened, being
little inferior to any breed as beef. The long-horned black Welsh Cattle
grow to a great size, as do the polled Angus breed of Scotland. The
polled or hornless cattle include the red Suffolks, a most valuable
breed, hardy, and wonderful producers of milk. The cows often give milk
every day of the year. The Longhorn breed is almost disappearing, as the
horns are a disadvantage both in the fields and when the animals are
carried on board ship or in the train. The Humped Cattle of India and
East Africa belong to a race different from European cattle, of which
the parent stock is not known. They have a hump upon the withers,
drooping ears (a sign of ancient domestication), and a very large
dewlap. The coat is always exquisitely fine. They are of all sizes, from
the tall Brahminee bull to dwarf breeds not larger than a Newfoundland
dog. The commonest colours are cream, grey, mouse-colour, and white.
They do not low, but grunt, and are by no means so fond of shade and
water as European cattle.


  WILD OXEN

This group consists of the Gaur of India; the Gayal of Assam, which is
possibly a domesticated form of the gaur, but rather smaller in size,
with skull and horns different in character; and the Banting, a lighter
and more slender wild ox, of which different varieties are found in
Burma, in Java (where it is kept in a half-domesticated condition), and
in Manipur.

[Illustration: _Photo by G. W. Wilson & Co., Ltd._

YOUNG GAUR

_The largest and handsomest of the wild oxen_]


  The Gaur

The Gaur, the so-called Indian Bison, is probably the largest of all the
wild bovine animals. It is found at the foot of the North-eastern
Himalaya, in the Central Provinces of India, the forests of Madras and
Mysore, and in parts of Burma and the Malay Peninsula, but not in
Ceylon. Its range eastward is not accurately known. In habits the gaur
is mainly a forest animal, retiring always at daybreak into the depths
of the jungle. It sometimes attains a height of over 6 feet at the
shoulder, and a length of 9 feet 6 inches from the nose to the tail. The
colour of the full-grown gaur is dark brown, turning to black; the legs
from above the knees and hocks to the hoofs are white, the hair being
short and fine. Its horns are upturned, and tipped with black, with
white hair covering the junction on the top of the skull. The cows are
much smaller than the bulls, standing about 5 feet high at the shoulder.
This species feeds both on grass and on the young shoots of trees and of
bamboos. The calves are dropped in August and September. The pure-bred
animal does not appear capable of domestication.

Hunting gaur by tracking in the jungle has long been a favourite sport
of Anglo-Indians. General Douglas Hamilton says: "I have killed bulls
measuring 6 feet at the shoulder, and the average height of the male is
from 5 feet 8 inches to 5 feet 10 inches. An old bull gaur is a
magnificent animal. The normal colour is a brownish black, sometimes in
very old specimens almost quite black. The white stockings reach from
the hoof to above the knee, and are very conspicuous. When on the
Anamalies, I had a grand fight with a big bull. I was out early, and
came on the spoor of bison, and soon saw two, one a very large bull. To
my disgust he lay down, and was completely covered by creepers and
bushes. After a bit I attempted to move to get a better view; but there
to my left was a cow bison staring at me. She at once gave the alarm,
and I waited for the large bull to rise. This he did so quickly, and
disappeared so suddenly, that I only got a snapshot. As I stopped to
load, I saw a young calf squatting at the foot of a tree like a hare,
intently watching me. I put the rifle down, crept up behind the tree,
and suddenly threw myself on the little calf, and managed to get hold of
its hind legs, but it got from under me. I managed, however, to tie its
fore legs securely by means of some slender stems from the creepers. All
this time it continued to bellow and to make a great row, and I fully
expected to see the mother come charging down. I went back to the
bungalow, and got some men to bring my little captive home. After
breakfast I started again, and got on the track of the bison. . . . I
saw some branches move, and on looking carefully perceived a large bull
bison; but he was among the thick bushes, and I could not see his
outline. I guessed as nearly as possible the position of the shoulder,
and fired the big rifle at him. He gave a bound forward, and then
stopped long enough for me to give him a shot with the other
barrel. . . . The next moment I saw the bull standing on the high ground
above us. I fired again, and hit him well behind the shoulder. He dashed
off, but only went fifty yards, and then stopped. I walked up, thinking
to finish him, when he made a fearful rush at me. My man put the double
rifle into my hands and then bolted, and I thought it prudent to retire
and await my opportunity. But he only moved a few paces forward, and
then stopped. Then began a regular siege of his position." The result of
the siege was that the bison received four more bullets, charged and
routed the hunter twice, and then walked off. It was shot twice more,
charged again, and was finally killed by General Hamilton with his
hunting-knife tied to a bamboo spear-pole.

Considering the size and tenacity of life of the gaur, it is rather
wonderful that more accidents do not occur in the pursuit of this
animal; but as it lives mainly in thick jungle, where large trees grow,
the sportsman has more chance of getting out of sight of a wounded
animal than when attacked by the Indian buffalo, which generally haunts
jungles of high grass.

[Illustration: _Photo by York & Son_

COW GAYAL

_This animal is not at all dissimilar to the gaur. Its chief points of
difference are in the horns and in the colour of its skin_]


  The Gayal

The doubt whether this animal is found in a wild state has recently been
considerably increased. It is well known in a semi-domesticated
condition, in which it is kept by the tribes in and around the Assam
Valley, where the wild gaur is also found. These herds roam during the
day freely in the jungle, and return to be fed at the villages. It has
been stated that wild gayal are enticed to join the tame herds by
feeding them with balls of meal and salt; but these "wild" specimens may
be only those which have belonged to or have descended from the
domesticated herd. Gayal have been kept in England not only in the
Zoological Gardens but in some parks, and crossed with English cattle.
The offspring furnished excellent beef, but were rather wild and
intractable. The horns of the gayal are thicker and flatter than those
of the gaur, and placed lower on the skull and farther apart. The
domesticated gayal stands lower than the gaur, but is a very massive
animal.

[Illustration: INDIAN HUMPED BULL

_The hump and dewlap mark the Oriental cattle. The ears are often more
drooping than in this specimen_]


  The Banting

The common wild ox of the Malay countries of Borneo, Java, Eastern
Burma, and northwards, in Manipur resembles the European oxen rather
more than does the gaur. In size the bulls sometimes reach 5 feet 9½
inches. The old bulls are black, the younger bulls chocolate red, and
the cows a bright reddish brown. The rump is marked with a large white
patch, and all have white stockings from above the knees and hocks down
to the hoofs. The tail is considerably longer than in the gaur, coming
well below the hocks. As might be expected from its distribution, the
size of this animal and the shape of the horns vary considerably in the
different districts which it inhabits. In Borneo the horns often curve
forwards; in Java they spread outwards. In the latter island large herds
of this species are kept in a state of domestication. When wild, banting
live in small herds, and in Burma feed from early morning until ten
o'clock, when they retire into the jungle for shelter. The Manipur race
is smaller than that of Burma (of which the males are not black), and
the bulls have not the white rump.


  THE YAK

The Yak is naturally an inhabitant of the very high plateaux and
mountains of Tibet, where the climate is cold and the air excessively
dry. Lower down on the Indian side of the Himalaya a smaller race is
found domesticated, which is the only one able to stand the climate of
India, or of Europe, where it is now kept in some parks as a curiosity.
The tamed yaks are usually much smaller than the wild; these sometimes
reach a weight of between 1,100 and 1,200 lbs. In form they are long and
low, very massive, and with hair almost entirely black; this falls off
along the sides into a long sweeping fringe. The tail is thickly
tasselled with fine hair, and is employed by Indian princes for
fly-flaps. The wild yak has large, massive black horns, curved upwards
and forwards in the male. In Ladak and Chinese Tibet the yaks inhabit a
desolate and barren country, in which their main food is a dry, coarse
grass, on which they nevertheless contrive to keep themselves in
condition, feeding in the mornings and evenings, and lying down by day
to rest among the rocks.

[Illustration: _Photo by W. P. Dando_]    [_Regent's Park_

DOMESTICATED YAK

_The wild bovine animal of the Central Asian plateau, tamed and
domesticated_]


  THE BISON

The Bison form a marked group, differing from others of the Ox Tribe.
They possess fourteen pairs of ribs, while the oxen have only thirteen
(the yak has fourteen); and have very heavy, massive heads, broader and
more convex foreheads than the oxen, longer spinal processes on the
vertebræ of the front part of the back, and larger muscles to hold the
ponderous head, causing a hump, which in the American bison is very
marked. There are two living species of bison, one of which is found in
Europe, the other in North America.

[Illustration: INDIAN HUMPED CATTLE

_These are often called Zebu in Europe, but the origin of the name is
unknown_]


  The European Bison

This is the most interesting survival of the primitive fauna of the Old
World. It is still found wild, though protected, in a large forest in
Lithuania, the property of the Czar of Russia, called the Forest of
Bielowitza. A few are also left of the purely wild stock in the
Caucasus. Those in Lithuania have been protected for several centuries,
and the herd is numbered from time to time. In 1857 there were 1,898 of
these bison left; in 1882 there were only 600; in 1889 the herd had sunk
to 380, but in 1892 it had risen to 491. The presence of the bison in
the Caucasus had been almost forgotten till Mr. Littledale and Prince
Demidoff gave accounts of hunting it there quite recently. The Zubr, as
it is called, only survives in some very inaccessible parts of the
mountains, preserved by the Grand Duke Sergius Michaelovitch, in the
Kouban district. There it exists as a really wild animal. The dimensions
of one recently shot were 10 feet from the muzzle to the end of the last
vertebra of the tail. The Grand Duke has to obtain special permission
from the Czar to shoot one whenever he goes to the Caucasus.

This bison seems to have been an inhabitant of most of the forests of
Europe and Northern Asia; its remains show that it existed in Britain,
and it was plentiful in the Black Forest in the time of Cæsar. It is the
largest of all European quadrupeds, measuring as much as 10 feet 1 inch
from the nose to the root of the tail, and standing nearly 6 feet high
at the shoulder. Prince Demidoff states his belief that it is found on
the southern slopes of the Caucasus Range between the hills and the
Black Sea. The weight of this bison reaches 1,700 lbs. It is now rare to
see more than five or six together. Though the animal is so massive, its
horns are rather small and slender, and curve upwards. The mane--which,
like the rest of the coat, is of a uniform rich brown--is thick and
curly, but not developed like that of the American bison.

[Illustration: EUROPEAN BISON

_These wild animals of the Caucasus are very much scarcer than formerly,
and are in danger of becoming extinct_]


  The American Bison

The American bison is the western representative of the bison of
Europe. The almost complete disappearance of this species is one of the
warnings against reckless destruction of animal life. It was formerly
found in millions on the prairies, and its meat formed the staple food
of the Red Indians, who lived on the flesh and used the "robes" of those
killed in winter for great coats and bedding. When Audubon went up the
Upper Missouri, bison were in sight almost throughout the voyage; they
were even carried down on ice-flows on the river. The bulls were very
large, and were occasionally savage, especially when attacked and
wounded; but usually they were harmless animals. Every winter and spring
they made migrations along regular routes to fresh pastures. These lines
of travel were then black with bison. The females had their calves by
their sides, and all travelled in herds, feeding as they went. At the
present time the only remains of the bison are the paths they left on
the prairies, and their bones and skulls. The paths are still distinctly
seen, worn by the "treks" of the great beasts which have now perished.
The bones were collected in stacks and sold to make manure.

President Roosevelt, in an article contributed to "The Encyclopædia of
Sport," thus describes the destruction of the bison: "Pursuit by
sportsmen had nothing to do with the extermination of the bison. It was
killed by the hide-hunters, redskin, white, and half-breed. The
railways, as they were built, hastened its destruction, for they gave
means of transporting the heavy robes to market. But it would have been
killed out anyhow, even were there no railroads in existence. Once the
demand for the robes became known to the Indians, they were certain to
exterminate it. Originally the bison ranged from the Rocky Mountains to
the Alleghanies, and from Mexico to the Peace River. But its centre of
abundance was the vast extent of grass land stretching from the
Saskatchewan to the Rio Grande. All the earlier explorers who crossed
these great plains, from Lewis and Clarke onwards, spoke of the
astonishing multitudes of the bison, which formed the sole food of the
Horse Indians. The herds were pressed steadily back, but the slaughter
did not begin till after the Civil War; then the commercial value of the
robes became fully recognised, and the transcontinental railways
rendered the herds more accessible. The slaughter was almost incredible,
for the bison were slain literally by millions every year. They were
first exterminated in Canada and the southern plains. It was not till
1883 that the last herd was killed off from the great north-western
prairies."

The height of a fine bull American bison at the shoulder is 6 feet. The
horns are short, blunt, and curved, and set farther back on the forehead
than in the European species. The hindquarters are low and weak, and the
mane develops in winter into a thick robe, covering the neck, shoulders,
and chest. An adult bull bison was found to weigh 1,727 lbs. The
woodland bison of Athabasca, now nearly exterminated, are larger than
the prairie-bison, and have finer coats. In 1897 there were said to be
between 280 and 300 head remaining in two herds.

[Illustration: _By permission of the New York Zoological Society_

AMERICAN BULL BISON

_The American bison (locally called "buffalo") is lower behind than its
European brother; but the withers, as will be seen from the photograph,
are stronger and more massive, and its mane considerably longer_]


  THE BUFFALOES

The Buffaloes are so far distinct from other wild cattle that they will
not interbreed with them; yet one species, the Indian Buffalo, has been
domesticated for a long, though unknown period, and is among the most
valuable of tame beasts of draught, as well as for dairy purposes. The
various buffaloes usually have little hair, especially when old, and
have flatter shoulders than the gaur, gayal, or bison. The pairs of ribs
number thirteen.


  The African Buffalo

Great differences in size and colour exist in the African Buffaloes.
Whether they are separate species or not may be doubtful; but the small
yellow Congo Buffalo, with upturned short horns, is a vastly different
creature from the large black Cape Buffalo. There is also an Abyssinian
or brown race of African buffalo, and another in Senegambia smaller than
the former, and a reputed grey race near Lake Tchad. The Cape buffalo is
a heavy, thickset animal, all black in colour, with large massive horns
covering the skull, and nearly meeting in the middle line of the
forehead. In height it varies from 4 feet 10 inches to 5 feet at the
shoulder. This species ranges from South Africa to the Congo on the
west, and to the region of the Equator on the east of the continent.
Firearms, and lately rinderpest, have greatly reduced the number of
these creatures. They live and feed in herds, and, like the Indian
species, are fond of the neighbourhood of water, in which they bathe,
but are not so dependent on bathing and wallowing as the former.

[Illustration: CAPE BUFFALO

_Notice the striking difference depicted on this page between the two
species of buffalo--the Indian and the Cape_]

Fully as formidable as the Indian buffalo, and much like it in habits,
the African species is quite distinct. It has different horns, broad at
the base and curled and tapering at the ends. Among the extreme
measurements of the Indian buffalo's horns recorded is one of 12 feet 2
inches from tip to tip along the curve. Those of the African buffalo are
seldom more than 6 feet, measured in the same way. By far the greatest
number of hunting accidents in Africa are caused by the buffalo. Sir
Samuel Baker shot a buffalo bull one evening near the White Nile. His
men actually danced upon the body, when the animal rose to its feet, and
sent them flying into the river like so many frogs. It then disappeared
in the thick vegetation. On the following day, supposing that it must
have died during the night, thirty or forty men, armed with
double-barrelled guns, went to look for it. The result was thus recorded
by Sir Samuel Baker: "They had not been ashore for many minutes when I
first heard a shot and then a regular volley. My people returned with
the head of the buffalo and a large quantity of meat, but they also
carried the body of my best man, who, when leading the way through the
high reeds, following the traces of blood, actually stumbled upon the
buffalo lying in the swamp, and the light guns failed to stop its
charge. The crooked horn had caught him behind the ear, and,
penetrating completely through the neck, had torn out the throat as
though it had been cut. The savage beast had then knelt upon the body,
and stamped it into the muddy ground, until it fell beneath the fire of
thirty men."

The head and body of a male Cape buffalo are 9 feet long. It is stated
that the parasite conveyed by the tsetse fly remains in the blood of the
buffalo (which is not affected by it), and that this forms a reserve
whence the fly, after sucking the blood of the buffalo, poisons other
animals.


  The Congo Buffalo

This is a very small race, the height at the shoulder being about 3 feet
6 inches. The shape of the horns varies, but they are wrinkled at the
bases and flattened, and turn upwards, ending in thin, sharp tips. The
hair is bright reddish yellow. It is entirely a West African species.
Sir Samuel Baker records an instance in which his brother was nearly
killed by a small West African buffalo, probably one of the species in
question. It is said to be less gregarious than the Cape buffalo, and
usually found in pairs.


  The Indian or Water-buffalo

Very great interest attaches to this animal, if only from the fact that
it is evidently a species domesticated directly from the wild stock. It
therefore deserves consideration both as a wild and as a domesticated
animal. It is found wild in the swampy jungles at the foot of the
Himalaya, in the Ganges Delta, and in the jungles of the Central
Provinces; also, it is believed, in the jungles of West Assam. Like the
African species, it is an animal of great size and strength, with short
brown hair, white fetlocks, and immense long, narrow, flattened horns.
It is almost aquatic by preference, passing many hours of each day
wallowing in the water, or standing in any deep pool with only the tips
of its nostrils and its horns out of the water. By general consent it is
the most dangerous of Indian animals after the tiger. A buffalo bull
when wounded will hunt for its enemy by scent as persistently as a dog
hunting for a rabbit. A writer in _Country Life_ lately gave an account
of a duel between himself, armed with a small and light rifle, and a
buffalo bull, in which the latter hunted him for more than an hour, each
time being driven off by a shot from the light rifle, and each time
returning to the search, until it was killed. Sir Samuel Baker, when he
first went to Ceylon, found the buffaloes practically in possession of
the meadows round a lake in the neighbourhood of his quarters, and waged
a war of extermination against the bulls, which were very dangerous.

[Illustration: AMERICAN BISON

_Notice the difference in the fore and hind quarters of this animal and
the European representative of the same group._ (_See page 216._)]

The buffaloes of Ceylon are the same as those of India, but the horns
are inferior in size. "The charge of a buffalo is a serious matter,"
says Sir Samuel Baker. "Many animals charge when infuriated, but they
can generally be turned aside by the stunning blow of a rifle-shot, even
if they be not mortally wounded. But a buffalo is a devil incarnate when
it has once decided on the offensive; nothing will turn it. It must be
actually stopped by death, sudden and instantaneous, as nothing else
will stop it. If not killed, it will assuredly destroy its adversary.
There is no creature in existence so determined to stamp the life out of
its opponents, and the intensity of its fury is unsurpassed when a
wounded bull rushes forward upon its last desperate charge. Should it
succeed in overthrowing its antagonist, it will not only gore the body
with its horns, but will kneel upon the lifeless form, and stamp it with
its hoofs till the mutilated remains are beyond recognition."

[Illustration: DOMESTICATED INDIAN BUFFALO

_This animal is found as a wild and domesticated species in India. It is
valuable as a beast of draught and for the dairy_]

The true Indian buffalo is usually shot from the back of an elephant.
Hunting it on foot is dangerous in the extreme, for the buffalo can
crash through obstacles which would prevent any man from making his way
through them when escaping. When domesticated, the Indian buffalo loses
most traces of its savageness; it is habitually managed by the children,
who take the herds out to graze in the jungle, and drive them back,
often riding on one of the bulls, at night. They dislike Europeans, and
often show this by attacking them; but otherwise they are quite tame,
and are docile when in harness or carrying burdens. The buffalo's milk
is very rich, and makes a much larger percentage of butter than ordinary
cow's milk. So useful is this mud- and water-loving animal in all swampy
districts, that wherever rice is cultivated it is almost indispensable.
The result is that the Indian buffalo has been transported, probably in
comparatively modern times, to many distant quarters of the globe. When
this was done is not known; but it is probable, for instance, that it
was not known in Egypt in the days of the Pharaohs, for its form never
appears in the paintings and sculptures. Now it is seen very far up the
Nile, and plays an important part in Egyptian agriculture; it is also
the general beast of burden and for the dairy in the Pontine Marshes of
Italy. In Spain it was probably introduced by the Arabs, and is used to
cultivate the marshy plains near the mouths of the rivers of Andalusia;
it is also in use in the marshes of Hungary, in the Crimea, and across
Western Asia to Afghanistan. We have thus the curious fact that a wild
animal once confined to the jungles of the Indian Peninsula is now
domesticated on two other continents. It has not been introduced into
America yet, though it would be useful in the Mississippi swamps; but
the Chinese have taken it to the Far East, and established it as their
favourite beast of burden.

[Illustration: A PAIR OF ANOAS

_The anoa is the smallest and most antelope-like member of the Ox
Tribe_]


  The Tamarau and Anoa

In the island of Mindoro, in the Philippines, a small black buffalo,
with upright, slightly incurved horns, is found in the dense forests.
The height at the shoulder is about 3 feet 6 inches; a few irregular
marks of white are found on the fore legs, face, and occasionally the
throat. It is called the Tamarau by the natives, most of whom fear to
attack it. Its habits are said to be much the same as those of the other
buffaloes; but it is reputed to fight with the Indian buffaloes which
have escaped and become semi-wild in the forests.

In Celebes a still smaller wild forest-buffalo is found, called the
Anoa. It is only 3 feet 3 inches high at the shoulder, and has upright,
almost straight horns. The general colour is brownish, tinged with
yellow, that of the adults being very dark brown or black. Scarcely
anything is known of its habits.


  THE MUSK-OX

The Musk-ox was formerly found in immense numbers on the barren lands
and other regions bordering on the Arctic ice. The hair of this animal
reaches almost to the ground, and the horns are large and massive. At
present it is only common in the corner of North America north and east
of a line drawn from Fort Churchill, on Hudson Bay, to the mouth of the
Mackenzie, and on the adjacent islands of the Arctic Sea. In former
Arctic expeditions the flesh of the musk-oxen was a great and reliable
source of food. Now some parts of the herds seem to have retired inland,
and in the winter to become mainly forest-dwellers; but large numbers
seem to endure the coldest parts of the Arctic winter in the open
country of the Far North, in the snows of Grinnell Land and of Northern
Greenland. The remains of musk-oxen have been found in the river gravels
of the Thames Valley, with those of the reindeer and other northern
species. The musk-ox gallops at a great rate of speed when disturbed in
the open, and makes as little of a steep mountain-side as does the wild
sheep. When fat, the flesh is very tolerable food; but if the animals
grow thin, the taste of musk is very unpleasant. The colour of the coat
is dark brown; it is now in great demand for sledge-rugs in Canada. This
remarkable animal appears to be a form standing apart both from the oxen
and the sheep.

[Illustration: YOUNG BULL MUSK-OX

_The musk-ox is nearly allied to the sheep. It is about the size of
Highland cattle, and inhabits Arctic America and Northern Greenland_]

It will be seen from the above accounts of the whole wild bovine race
that they all exhibit in a high degree many of the traits which are seen
in domesticated animals of the same tribe. The chief differences made by
man's selection and breeding affect the form of the body and the
development of the udder, otherwise there is no great modification,
except the production of the drooping ear in some of the Indian species
of domesticated oxen. No wild cattle have the level, flat back and
rectangular body which mark all the best shorthorns and other breeds
intended for beef. In the Asiatic and Galla humped breeds, the races
which first domesticated the original wild species seem to have used the
long processes of the vertebræ which cause the back of many wild cattle
to form a hump as the basis of a valuable feature, the hump becoming as
it were another joint of meat. The development of the udder has for
untold centuries been the object of the breeders of cows; consequently
we find that in the domesticated races this has become abnormally large.
There is at present a very general tendency to get rid of the horns
among all breeds of high quality, as these appendages cause much loss by
wounds inflicted by cattle upon each other; but even in this respect
sentiment rather tends to preserve the horns as an ornament in some of
the best milking breeds, such as the Jerseys.




  CHAPTER XIV

  _THE SHEEP AND GOATS_


  THE SHEEP


The sheep are represented at the present time by several wild species,
one of which is found in Northern India east of the Indus, in the
Punjab, and in Sind; one in North America; and another in North Africa.
The rest inhabit the high ground of Europe and Asia as far south as the
Himalaya. These mountains, with the adjacent plateaux of the Pamirs and
the great ranges of Central Asia, form the main home of the group. Wild
sheep are of various types, some so much like the goats that it is
difficult to draw a hard-and-fast line between them; while others,
especially the Curly-horned Argalis, Bighorns, Oorial, and Kamchatka
Wild Sheep, are unmistakably ovine in type. The wild original of the
domesticated breeds of sheep is unknown; but the extreme differences
between various breeds of tame sheep--as, for instance, between the
smooth-coated, drooping-eared breed of Nubia and the curly-horned,
woolly sheep of Dorsetshire--must not be allowed to divert the attention
from the considerable likeness of habit which still remains between
other breeds and the wild species. Domesticated sheep which live on
hills and mountains are still inclined to seek the highest ground at
night. The rams fight as the wild rams do, and many of them display
activity and powers of climbing and of finding a living on barren ground
scarcely less remarkable than in the wild races. The apparent absence of
wool in the latter does not indicate so great a difference as might be
thought. The domesticated sheep have been bred by artificial selection
for unnumbered ages in order to produce wool. It is said that in some of
the wild breeds there is an under-fur which will "felt" like wool. Most
of the species are short-tailed animals, but this is not the case with
the Barbary wild sheep.

Wild sheep are mainly mountain-living animals or frequenters of high
ground. They generally, although not always, frequent less rugged
country than that affected by the wild goats, and some are found at
quite low levels. The altitude at which other wild sheep are found is,
however, very great; on the Pamirs it reaches 20,000 feet. Here the
country is quite open.

[Illustration: _Photo by G. W. Wilson & Co., Ltd._

YOUNG BARBARY SHEEP

_Note the length of the tail as compared with other wild sheep_]


  The European Moufflon

The only wild sheep of Europe is the Moufflon, found in the mountains of
Corsica and Sardinia. Its height at the shoulder is about 27 inches. In
the rams the horns are strong, and curved into a spiral, forming almost
a complete circle. The hair is close, and in winter has a woolly
under-fur. In summer and autumn the coat is a bright red-brown on the
neck, shoulders, and legs'; the rump and under-parts are whitish, and
the back and flanks marked with a white saddle. In winter the brown
becomes darker and the white saddle broader. A rather larger moufflon is
found on Mount Elburz in Persia, in Armenia, and in the Taurus
Mountains. A smaller variety exists in Cyprus, where it has been
preserved since the British occupation. The moufflon is a typical wild
sheep. In Sardinia and Corsica are dense scrubby forests of tall
heather, some 5 feet high. This _maquia_ is practically impenetrable to
hunters. When alarmed, the moufflon dash into it, and are safe. The
_maquia_ has preserved two very interesting survivals of antiquity--the
moufflon, and the Corsican or Sardinian bandit. The Corsican bandit,
like the moufflon of the same island, is nearly extinct. In Sardinia
both flourish. Many sportsmen have had their first taste of big-game
shooting in the difficult pursuit of the moufflon on the Sardinian
mountains. Some declare that the sport is so fascinating that they have
seldom found much to equal it since. Mr. S. H. Whitbread, whose notes in
"The Encyclopædia of Sport" are very full on this subject, deems that
the best season to stalk moufflon is in October or November. The animals
are then less disturbed by shepherds and dogs, and the moufflon are on
the move and more easily seen during the day than in summer, when they
feed at night and rest or sleep by day.

There is a small herd of moufflon running wild in one of the English
parks. They have a specially built "mountain-top" of stone to make a
home of, but are free to feed where they like in the park. They produce
lambs yearly. It is an interesting sight to see the quick rush of the
little flock, when frightened, to their sheltering-place, led by an old
white saddled ram.


  The Argalis

The Argalis are the largest of all living wild sheep. Some measure from
3 feet 9 inches to 4 feet at the shoulder. The horns are broad,
corrugated, and curling in the male, and in the female short, erect, and
curving backwards. The male Tibetan Argali has a ruff on the throat. The
usual colour is a stony grey, mingled with white in the summer in the
case of the old males. The name is applied collectively to several wild
sheep found in Northern and Central Asia. Whether these are only
varieties or separate species it is difficult to say; but the following
are some of the most marked forms.

[Illustration: _Photo by W. P. Dando_

SIBERIAN ARGALI

_One of the large wild sheep of Central Asia_]

The Siberain Argali is the characteristic wild sheep of the rocky hills
and mountains of Southern Siberia, the Altai Mountains, and Northern
Mongolia. The horns curve so as to form more than a complete circle; the
upper parts are tinged with grey, and the lower are white.

[Illustration: BARBARY SHEEP

_These fine wild sheep are found in the Atlas and Aures Mountains of
North Africa_]

The Tibetan Argali is a little smaller in size, and has slightly smaller
horns. The rams have also a large white ruff on the throat. These sheep
descend in winter to the lower valleys of the Tibetan plateau, returning
to the higher ground in spring. The lambs are born in May or June.

Littledale's Sheep is a smaller animal, found on the Sair Mountains in
the Great Altai, on the northwestern border of Mongolia. It is darker in
colour than the argali or Marco Polo's sheep, and has dark under-parts.

Writing of the argali of Southern Siberia, the naturalist Brehm says
that when the Tartars want mutton an argali hunt is organised. The
Tartar hunters advance on their horses at intervals of 200 or 300 yards,
and when the sheep are started generally manage, by riding, shooting,
coursing them with dogs, and shouting, to bewilder, shoot, or capture
several.

On the high plateau of the Pamirs and the adjacent districts Marco
Polo's Sheep is found. The rams are only slightly less in size than the
Siberian argali; the hair is longer than in that species, and the horns
are thinner and more slender and extend farther in an outward direction.
An adult ram may weigh 300 lbs. The first description of this sheep was
given by the old traveller whose name it now bears. He said that on the
Pamir plateau wild animals are met with in large numbers, particularly a
sheep of great size, having horns three, four, and even six palms in
length. The shepherds (? hunters) form ladles and vessels from them. In
the Pamirs, Marco Polo's sheep is seldom found at less than 11,000 or
12,000 feet above the sea. In the Thian-shan Mountains it is said to
descend to 2,000 or 3,000 feet. They prefer the hilly, grassy plains,
and only seek the hills for safety. On the Pamirs they are said to be
very numerous in places, one hunter stating that he saw in one day not
less than 600 head.

[Illustration: BARBARY SHEEP

_This shows a fine ram, with a mane reaching almost to its hoofs_]


  The Bighorn Sheep of America and Kamchatka

North America has its parallel to the argalis in the famous Bighorn. It
is now very rare even in Northern Canada, and becoming scarce in the
United States, though a few are found here and there at various points
on the Rocky Mountains as far south as Mexico. In habits it is much the
same as other wild sheep--that is to say, it haunts the rock-hills and
"bad lands" near the mountains, feeding on the scanty herbage of the
high ground, and not descending unless driven down by snow.

The bighorn sheep are very partial to salt. Mr. Turner Turner, who
hunted them in East Kooteney, says: "Wild sheep make periodical
excursions to the mountain-tops to gorge themselves with salty clay.
They may remain from an hour to two days, and when killed their stomachs
will be found full of nothing but the clay formed from denuded
limestone, which they lick and gnaw until sometimes deep tunnels are
formed in the cliffs, large enough to hide six or seven sheep. The
hunter, standing over one of these warrens, may bolt them within two
yards of him. In the dead of winter sheep often come to the woods to
feed on fir-trees. At such times they may be seen mixed with
black-and-white-tailed deer, low on a river-bank. I have known them come
within forty yards of an inhabited hut."

While on the subject of the fondness of sheep and deer for salt, we may
mention an anecdote told by Mr. H. C. Nelson in _Country Life_. He was
sleeping with two other friends in a hut in the mountains where some
miners had lived for a time. These men, when they washed up their pots
and pans, threw the slops away at a certain place close by the hut. As
all water used for cooking meat has salt put into it, a little salt
remained on the surface. This the wild deer had found out, and were in
the habit of coming to lick it at night. Mr. Nelson had a shot at one
some twenty yards from the hut.

The bighorn sheep stands from 3 feet 2 inches to 3 feet 6 inches at the
shoulder. The horns are of the general type of the argalis, but
smoother. Another bighorn is found in Kamchatka. There is also a
beautiful white race of bighorn inhabiting Alaska. The typical Rocky
Mountain race is browner than the Asiatic argalis, and in winter is dark
even beneath the front parts of the body. It is not found on the high
peaks of the great ranges, but on difficult though lower ground on the
minor hills.


  The Oorial

The vast range of the Himalaya affords feeding-ground to other species
of wild sheep and wild goat, so different in the shape of the horns that
the variations of the ovine race under domestication need not be matter
for wonder when so much variety is seen in nature.

[Illustration: _Photo by J. T. Newman_]    [_Berkhamsted_

PUNJAB SHEEP

This is an example of one of the breeds which carry no wool whatever]

The Oorial, or Sha, is found in North-west India, on the Trans-Indus
Mountains, and in Ladak, Northern Tibet, Afghanistan, Baluchistan,
Turkestan, and Southern Persia. The horns make a half-curve backwards,
and are flattened. The angle with the horizontal line across the ears is
about half a right angle. The coat is of a reddish-brown colour, with
white on the belly, legs, and throat. This species has a very wide
geographical distribution, and is the only wild sheep found in India
proper.


  The Barbary Sheep, Aoudad, or Arui

This is a large wild sheep of the North African highlands. The old rams
have a very fine appearance, with a long flowing beard or mane, and
large horns. These wild sheep, though somewhat goat-like in appearance,
are typical of their race in general habits. They live in the Atlas
Range, and in the splendid heights of the Aures Mountains, which lie at
the back of Algeria and fringe the great Sahara Desert. In the isolated
and burning rocks which jut up in the desert itself into single
mountains they are also found, living on ground which seems absolutely
destitute of water, grass, or vegetation. They live singly or in small
families; but the rams keep mainly alone. Sometimes they lie in shallow
caves during the heat of the day. These caves smell like a sheep-fold.
More generally the sheep repose on some shelf of rock, where they
exactly match the colour of the stone, and are invisible. The ground is
among the most difficult in which any hunting is attempted, except
perhaps in chamois stalking; but the pursuit seems to fascinate
sportsmen. Mr. A. E. Pease recently gave some charming descriptions of
the silence, the rugged rocks, and the astonishing views over the great
orange Sahara Desert seen from the tops of these haunts of the Barbary
sheep--mountains on the summits of which his Arab guides would prostrate
themselves in evening prayer as the sun sank over the desert, and then,
rising, once more resume the chase. The young lambs of the Barbary
sheep are charming little creatures, more like reddish kids. They can
follow the mother over the steepest ground at a great pace. When caught,
as they sometimes are by the Arabs, they soon become tame. The tail is
longer than in other wild sheep, and in the males a large mane covers
the chest.

[Illustration: _Photo by W. P. Dando_]    [_Regent's Park_

FOUR-HORNED SHEEP

_There are several breeds of these sheep, some from China, some from
Iceland, and others from South Africa_]


  The Burhal, or Blue Sheep

This species possibly indicates the transition-point from the sheep to
the goats. It was pointed out by Mr. Brian Hodgson that it had certain
features more like the goats than the sheep, and later other writers
laid stress on structural differences of the same kind, both in skull
and horns. It has not the disagreeable odour of the goats; but the black
markings which separate the white of the belly from the brown of the
flanks, and run down the front of the legs, are like those seen on some
goats. The horns rise in a curve outwards and downwards. The largest are
only some 30 inches long.

[Illustration: _Photo by J. W. McLellan_

BURHAL WILD SHEEP

_Sometimes called the Blue Sheep. They have a wide range both on the
Himalaya and north of those mountains_]

Burhal are perhaps the commonest of all Asiatic wild sheep. They inhabit
the whole length of the higher Himalayan Range, and are found over and
round the Central Asian plateau as far north as Yarkand. The horns make
two half-moons at right angles to the skull. Unlike some of the other
wild sheep, burhal often climb the very highest ground of all. Much of
the best burhal ground is above 17,000 feet high, and, as Mr. Whitbread
remarks, this alone makes the chase of such an animal difficult. As in
the moufflon, the mutton is excellent. There is no difficulty whatever
in taming these wild Himalayan sheep; those in the Zoological Gardens
are practically domesticated.


  Domesticated Sheep

Under domestication sheep exhibit a wide variety of coat, shape, and
size, very striking to the eye, and very important in regard to the
produce of wool or mutton. The introduction of a particular breed, with
long wool or short wool as the case may be, has often saved or altered
for a time the economic condition of a colony or province. It was the
introduction of the sheep which gave Australia first rank among the rich
colonies of the world; and the discovery that the Cheviot breed would
thrive on the Scotch hills made millions of acres remunerative which
might otherwise have been very unproductive. But the only important
change in the structure of the sheep in domestication is the lengthening
of the tail. The carcase may be fat mutton or thin mutton, the wool long
or short, fine or coarse; but the sheep itself remains true to type, and
of much the same docile habits, under all the changes of the breeders.

[Illustration: _Photo by J. T. Newman_]    [_Berkhamsted_

SOUTH DOWN SHEEP

_The finest breed of down-sheep_]

We may first say a word or two as to foreign breeds of sheep, especially
those of the East. Some of these resemble the wild breeds in having
smooth coats and almost no wool. The Somali Sheep, for instance, yield
no wool useful for felting or spinning. They have drooping ears and
black heads. Some of the finest natural wool is developed by a white
sheep in Tibet. The fur is usually sold as Tibetan lamb. The wool is
exactly like white floss-silk. When cured by the Chinese, the leather is
like white kid, with this flossy wool attached.

[Illustration: _Photo by W. Reid_]    [_Wishaw, N.B._

MERINO RAMS

_The best wool-producing sheep. Imported from Spain to Australia_]

In India and Persia the sheep is sometimes used as a beast of burden.
Mr. Lockwood Kipling, in his "Beast and Man in India," says: "Borax,
asafoetida, and other commodities are brought into India on the backs of
sheep in bags. The flocks are driven in large numbers from Tibet into
British territory. One of the sensations of journeying in the hills of
the 'interior,' as the farther recesses of the mountains are called by
Anglo-Indians, is to come suddenly on such a drove, as it winds, with
the multitudinous click of little feet, round the shoulder of some
Himalayan spur. The coarse hair bags scrape the cliffside from which the
narrow path is built out or hollowed, and allow but scant room for your
pony, startled by the hurry and the quick-breathing rush of the
creatures as they crowd and scuffle past. Only the picturesque shepherds
return from these journeys. The carriers of the caravan (_i.e._ the
sheep), feeding as they go, gather flesh in spite of their burdens, and
provide most excellent mutton. . . . In the towns of the plains rams are
kept as fighting animals. A Mohammedan swell going out for a stroll with
his fighting-ram makes a picture of foppery not easily surpassed by the
sporting 'fancy' of the West. The ram is neatly clipped, with a
judicious reservation of the salient tufts, tipped with saffron and
mauve dye, and besides a large collar of blue beads it wears a necklace
of hawk-bells."

[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._]    [_North Finchley_

FAT-TAILED SHEEP

_The fat tail of this sheep was considered by Charles Darwin as due to
degeneration_]

The Fat-tailed Sheep of Persia and Tartary exhibits a curious provision
of nature. When food is plentiful, a quantity of fat accumulates on the
tail and croup. As the pasture dries up and the animal finds little
food, this store of fat is gradually absorbed. Another fat-tailed sheep
is found from Syria and Egypt to the Cape. This has a long tail reaching
to the ground. In the Egyptian breed the tail is broad throughout; in
the Syrian it narrows to a point. The ordinary weight of the Syrian
sheep's tail is 15 lbs.; but in some well fattened examples it reaches
70 or 80 lbs. Ludolph saw in Egypt a sheep's tail of 80 lbs. weight.
This overgrown tail is a great encumbrance to the animal. In order to
lighten the burden, the shepherds fasten under it a small board,
sometimes with wheels attached, to make it easy to draw over the ground.

In Greece, Wallachia, and Western Asia a fine breed of sheep, quite
different from the English forms, is seen. It is called the Wallachian
Sheep. When the Zoological Gardens were first founded here, some of
these sheep were introduced and crossed with English breeds. The horns
are tall spirals, as in the great kudu antelope. The body is large, and
the fleece long and straight, and more like that of the long-haired
goats than curly wool.

[Illustration: _Photo by J. T. Newman_]    [_Berkhamsted_

BLACK-FACED MOUNTAIN-SHEEP

_The sheep of the high mountains and heather-moors_]

There are now few countries in the world to which sheep have not been
introduced. They were probably among the earliest animals to be
domesticated. Certainly they are the first to be mentioned; for we learn
that "Abel was a keeper of sheep," while Cain tilled the earth. The feud
between the keeper of flocks and the grower of crops typified in this
ancient quarrel still goes on wherever the wild mountain breeds of sheep
are kept, for there is of necessity always danger that the wandering
sheep may raid the plots of corn. In Spain a curious and ancient set of
laws regulates the passage of the flocks to and from the mountain
pastures through the corn-lands.

[Illustration: _Photo by J. T. Newman_]    [_Berkhamsted_

LEICESTER EWE

_A heavy, long-woolled breed_]

It is said that the name of the famous breed of Spanish sheep known as
Merinos recalls their foreign origin from across the sea, and that they
were originally imported into Spain from England. Whether that be so or
not, it is certain that no one could recognise them now. The finest
merino sheep, especially those bred in Australia, into which country
they were imported some forty years ago, look as if covered with a
dense growth of moss. The close wool grows not only on their backs,
sides, and bellies, but on legs, forehead, and nose. There are believed
to be ten millions of merino sheep in Spain, most of which are
migratory. They are called "transhumantes," and are taken from the
plains to the mountains and from the mountains to the plains yearly.
These "transhumantes" are divided into flocks, each under a head
shepherd, or "majoral." The flocks follow the shepherds, who lead the
way, and direct the length and speed of the journey. A few wethers,
trained to the business, follow the shepherds, and the rest come in due
order. Powerful dogs accompany them as guards. This system of sheep
migration is controlled by a tribunal termed the Mesta. It can be traced
back to the middle of the fourteenth century. By it persons are
prohibited from travelling along the course of the route pursued by the
flocks so long as they are on the road. It also maintains the right for
the flocks to graze on all the open or common land that lies in the way.
Moreover, it claims a path ninety yards wide through all enclosed and
cultivated country. The length of the journey is over 400 miles, which
is accomplished in six or seven weeks. The system works greatly to the
injury of local cultivators and stationary flocks, whose fields are
injured by the migratory sheep.

[Illustration: _Photo by W. Reid_]    [_Wishaw, N.B._

CROSS-BRED SHEEP

_The class of sheep kept mainly on cultivated land in the North
Midlands_]


  English Breeds of Sheep

In England are reared the finest and most valuable sheep. This is
evident from the prices paid for them by foreigners and breeders in our
colonies. Except for merinos, no one comes to any other country but this
when about to seek new blood for their flocks or to stock new lands.
Recently 1,000 guineas were paid by a firm in Argentina for a single
Lincoln ram.

Differences, well marked and of great importance, exist between our
different breeds. Each suits its own district, and each is carefully
improved and kept pure by herd-books, in which all pedigree animals are
entered.

The "general utility sheep" in England is the South Down; in Scotland,
the Border Leicester. The former is a small, fine sheep, with close
wool, and yielding excellent mutton. It provides the meat sold in our
best shops, and has largely stocked New Zealand. The original breed of
England was possibly the Cotswold; it is a tall, long-woolled,
white-fleeced sheep. Later a large heavy sheep, with long wool and a
massive body, was bred in the Midlands, and called the Leicester
Long-wool. This sheep gives a great cut of wool, and much coarse mutton.
The Cheviot Sheep, originally bred on the hills of that name, is now one
of the mainstays of the Scotch mountain farmer. The Cheviots eat the
grass on the high hillsides, while the Black-faced Highland Sheep live
on the heather higher up. The Suffolk, Oxford, Hampshire, and other
"Down" sheep are larger breeds than the South Down. The Romney Marsh
Sheep a heavy long-woolled breed. The Exmoors are small heather-sheep
like those of Wales, and the Soa and St. Kilda Sheep, which are often
four-horned, the smallest of all.

[Illustration: _Photo by J. T. Newman_]    [_Berkhamsted_

LONK RAM

_This is a photograph of the largest sheep on record_]

The maintenance of flocks is now almost an essential part of English
agriculture on all chalk lands, which comprise a very large percentage
of the southern counties. On the chalk downs the flocks are the great
fertilisers of the soil. Every night the sheep are folded on the fields
which are destined to produce corn in the following year. The manure so
left on the soil ensures a good crop, with no expense for carting the
fertiliser from the farmyard, as is the case with manure made by oxen
kept in straw-yards.

[Illustration: _Photo by J. T. Newman_]    [_Berkhamsted_

WELSH EWES

_A small breed of hill-sheep_]

On the South Downs, Oxfordshire Downs or Chiltern Hills, Salisbury
Plain, and the Berkshire Downs the farms have been mainly carried on by
the aid of the flocks. Where these are no longer kept the land reverts
to grass, and the growing of corn ceases. On the coarse, new-sown
grasses cattle take the place of sheep, and an inferior style of
farming, like the ranches of South America, replaces the careful and
highly skilled agriculture of Old England. In the far north of Scotland
cross-bred sheep are now reared and fed in winter on turnips, which will
grow luxuriantly where the climate is too bleak and wet for wheat.

Formerly cattle were the main source of wealth to the owners of Highland
estates. The sheep was only introduced after the Highlands were subdued
subsequently to the rebellion in 1745. It was found that the
rough-coated heather-sheep throve on the wet and elevated hills. This
led to their substitution for cattle, as wool was then dear. Sheep are
now in their turn giving way to grouse and deer over much of the
Central Highlands, as the price of wool has fallen.

[Illustration: _Photo by E. Lander_]    [_Ealing_

FEMALE ANGORA GOAT

_The breed from which mohair is obtained_]


  THE GOATS

Though the dividing-line between the Sheep and Goats is very indistinct,
some differences are of general application. The goats are distinguished
by the unpleasant "hircine" odour of the males, and by beards on the
chins of the same sex, by the absence of glands in the hind feet, which
sheep possess, and by certain variations in the formation of the skull.
The difference between the temperament of the sheep and goats is very
curious and persistent, showing itself in a marked way, which affects
their use in domestication to such a degree that the keeping of one or
the other often marks the owners as possessors of different degrees of
civilisation. Goats are restless, curious, adventurous, and so active
that they cannot be kept in enclosed fields. For this reason they are
not bred in any numbers in lands where agriculture is practised on
modern principles; they are too enterprising and too destructive.
Consequently the goat is usually only seen in large flocks on mountain
pastures and rocky, uncultivated ground, where the flocks are taken out
to feed by the children.

[Illustration: _Photo by E. Lander_]    [_Ealing_

ANGORA RAM

_These goats were originally obtained from Turkey in Asia, and exported
to South Africa_]

On the high alps, in Greece, on the Apennines, and in Palestine the goat
is a valuable domestic animal. The milk, butter, and cheese, and also
the flesh of the kids, are in great esteem. But wherever the land is
enclosed, and high cultivation attempted, the goat is banished, and the
more docile and controllable sheep takes its place. In Syria the goat is
perhaps more docile and better understood as a dairy animal than
elsewhere in the East. The flocks are driven into Damascus in the
morning; and instead of a milk-cart calling, the flock itself goes round
the city, and particular goats are milked before the doors of regular
customers.

The European Goat is a very useful animal for providing milk to poor
families in large towns. The following account of its present uses was
recently published: "The sheep, while preserving its hardy habits in
some districts, as on Exmoor, in Wales, and the Highlands, adapts itself
to richer food, and acquires the habits as well as the digestion of
domestication. The goat remains, as in old days, the enemy of trees,
inquisitive, omnivorous, pugnacious. It is unsuited for the settled life
of the English farm. Rich pasture makes it ill, and a good clay soil, on
which cattle grow fat, kills it. But it is far from being disqualified
for the service of some forms of modern civilisation by the survival of
primitive habits. Though it cannot live comfortably in the smiling
pastures of the low country, it is perfectly willing to exchange the
rocks of the mountain for a stable-yard in town. Its love for stony
places is amply satisfied by the granite pavement of a 'mews,' and it
has been ascertained that goats fed in stalls and allowed to wander in
paved courts and yards live longer and enjoy better health than those
tethered even on light pastures. In parts of New York the city goats are
said to flourish on the paste-daubed paper of the advertisements, which
they nibble from the hoardings. It is beyond doubt that these hardy
creatures are exactly suited for living in large towns; an environment
of bricks and mortar and paving-stones suits them. Their spirits rise in
proportion to what we should deem the depressing nature of their
surroundings. They love to be tethered on a common, with scanty grass
and a stock of furze-bushes to nibble. A deserted brick-field, with
plenty of broken drain-tiles, rubbish-heaps, and weeds, pleases them
still better. Almost any kind of food seems to suit them. Not even the
pig has so varied a diet as the goat; it consumes and converts into milk
not only great quantities of garden stuff which would otherwise be
wasted, but also, thanks to its love for eating twigs and shoots, it
enjoys the prunings and loppings of bushes and trees. In the Mont d'Or
district of France the goats are fed on oatmeal porridge. With this
diet, and plenty of salt, the animals are scarcely ever ill, and never
suffer from tuberculosis; they will often give ten times their own
weight of milk in a year."

[Illustration: _Photo by E. Lander_]    [_Ealing_

BRITISH GOAT

_A much-neglected breed in this country. Note the shape of this animal_]

The Kashmir shawls are made of the finest goats' hair. Most of this very
soft hair is obtained from the under-fur of goats kept in Tibet, and by
the Kirghiz in Central Asia. Only a small quantity, averaging 3 ozs., is
produced yearly by each animal. The wool is purchased by middlemen, and
taken to Kashmir for manufacture.

In India the goat reaches perhaps the highest point of domestication.
The flocks are in charge of herd-boys, but the animals are so docile
that they are regarded with no hostility by the cultivators of corn and
cereals. Tame goats are also kept throughout Africa. The valuable Angora
breed, from which "mohair" is obtained, is now domesticated in South
Africa and in Australia. In the former country it is a great commercial
success. The animals were obtained with great difficulty, as the Turkish
owners did not wish to sell their best-bred goats; but when once
established at the Cape, it was found that they proved better producers
of mohair than when in their native province of Angora. The "clip" from
their descendants steadily improves.

[Illustration: _By permission of P. Thomas, Esq._

FEMALE TOGGENBURG GOAT

_These goats are milk-goats_ par excellence; _they remain in profit for
at least ten months in the year. Each goat produces on an average from
110 to 120 gallons of milk during the year_]


  WILD GOATS

  The Tur

In the Caucasus, both east and west, in the Pyrenees, and on the South
Spanish sierras three fine wild goats, with some features not unlike the
burhal sheep, are found. They are called Tur by the Caucasian
mountaineers. The species found in the East Caucasus differs from that
of the west of the range, and both from that of Spain. The East
Caucasian Tur is a massive, heavy animal, all brown in colour (except on
the fronts of the legs, which are blackish), and with horns springing
from each side of the skull like half-circles. The males are 38 inches
high at the shoulder. The short beard and tail are blackish, and there
is no white on the coat. The West Caucasian Tur is much lighter in
colour than that of the East Caucasus, and the horns point backwards,
more like those of the ibex, though set on the skull at a different
angle. The Spanish Tur has the belly and inner sides of the legs white,
and a blackish line along the flank, dividing the white from the brown;
also a blackish chest, and some grey on the flank.

In the Caucasus the tur are found on the high crags above the snow-line
in summer, whence they descend at night to feed on patches of upland
grass; but the main home of the tur by day is above the snow-line. The
Spanish species modifies its habits according to the ground on which it
lives. Mr. E. N. Buxton found it in dense scrub, while on the Andalusian
sierras it frequents bare peaks 10,000 feet high. In Spain tur are
sometimes seen in flocks of from 100 to 150 each.

[Illustration: _By permission of P. Thomas, Esq._

STUD TOGGENBURG GOAT

_This breed originally came from Switzerland, but is now well known in
England. The animals are fine in bone, have a long, thin neck, with two
tassel-like appendages_]


  The Persian Wild Goat

The original of our domesticated goat is thought by some to be the
Pasang, or Persian Wild Goat. It is a fine animal, with large
scimitar-shaped horns, curving backwards, flattened laterally, and with
knobs on the front edge at irregular intervals. It is more slender in
build than the tur, light brown in general colour, marked with a black
line along the nape and back, black tail, white belly, blackish
shoulder-stripe, and a black line dividing the hinder part of the flank
from the white belly. Formerly found in the islands of South-eastern
Europe, it now inhabits parts of the Caucasus, the Armenian Highlands,
Mount Ararat, and the Persian mountains as far east as Baluchistan. A
smaller race is found in Sind. It lives in herds, sometimes of
considerable size, and frequents not only the high ground, but the
mountain forests and scrub, where such cover exists. The domesticated
goat of Sweden is said to be certainly a descendant of this species.

[Illustration: _By permission of P. Thomas, Esq._

SCHWARTZALS GOAT

_A large, long-haired breed, which derives its name from its peculiar
colour, the fore part of the body being black and the hinder part white.
These goats are good milkers_]


  The Ibex

Of the Ibex, perhaps the best known of all the wild goats, several
species, differing somewhat in size and in the form of their horns, are
found in various parts of the Old World. Of these, the Arabian Ibex
inhabits the mountains of Southern Arabia, Palestine, and Sinai, Upper
Egypt, and perhaps Morocco. The _Abyssinian Ibex_ is found in the high
mountains of the country from which it takes its name. The Alpine Ibex
is now extinct in the Swiss Alps and Tyrol, but survives on the
Piedmontese side of Monte Rosa. The Asiatic Ibex is the finest of the
group; its horns have been found to measure 54¾ inches along the curve.
This ibex inhabits the mountain-ranges of Central Asia, from the Altai
to the Himalaya, and the Himalaya as far as the source of the Ganges.

The King of Italy is the great preserver of the Alpine Ibex, and has
succeeded where the nobles of the Tyrol have failed. The animals are
shot by driving them, the drivers being expert mountaineers. The way in
which the ibex come down the passes and over the precipices is simply
astonishing. One writer lately saw them springing down perpendicular
heights of 40 feet, or descending "chimneys" in the mountain-face by
simply cannoning off with their feet from side to side. Young ibex can
be tamed with ease, the only drawback to their maintenance being the
impossibility of confining them. They will spring on to the roof of a
house, and spend the day there by preference, though allowed the run of
all the premises. The kids are generally two in number; they are born in
June.

The ibex was long one of the chief objects of the Alpine hunter. The
Emperor Maximilian had a preserve of them in the Tyrol mountains near
the Aachen Sea; these he shot with a cross-bow when they were driven
down the mountains. Sometimes they were forced across the lake. A
picture in his private hunting-book shows the Emperor assisting to catch
one in a net from a boat. He notes that he once shot an ibex at a
distance of 200 yards with a cross-bow, after one of his companions had
missed it with a gun, or "fire-tube." When away on an expedition in
Holland, he wrote a letter to the wife of one of the most noted
ibex-poachers on his domain, promising her a silk dress if she could
induce her husband to let the animals alone. In the Himalaya the chief
foes of the ibex are the snow-leopard and wild dog.

[Illustration: MALE ALPINE IBEX

_The finest wild goat of Europe, formerly common on the Swiss Alps, now
only on a limited area on the Italian side_]


  The Markhor

The very fine Himalayan goat of this name differs from all other wild
species. The horns are spiral, like those of the kudu antelope and
Wallachian sheep. It may well be called the king of the wild goats. A
buck stands as much as 41 inches at the shoulder, and the maximum
measurement of the horns is 63 inches, or over 5 feet! It has a long
beard and mane, and stands very upright on its feet. Besides the
Himalaya, it haunts the mountains on the Afghan frontier. The markhor
keep along the line between the forest and snow, some of the most
difficult ground in the hills. The horns are a much-prized trophy.

[Illustration: _Photo by S. G. Payne, Aylesbury, by permission of the
Hon. Walter Rothschild_

YOUNG MALE ALPINE IBEX

_The photograph shows the corrugated horns of the male_]


  The Tahr

The Tahr of the Himalaya is a very different-looking animal to the true
goats, from which, among other characters, it is distinguished by the
form and small size of the horns. The horns, which are black, spring in
a high backward arch, but the creature has no beard. A buck stands
sometimes as much as 38 inches high at the shoulder. It has a long,
rough coat, mainly dark stone colour in tint.

Tahr live in the forest districts of the Middle Himalaya, where they are
found on very high and difficult ground. General Donald Macintyre shot
one standing on the brink of an almost sheer precipice. Down this it
fell, and the distance in sheer depth was such that it was difficult to
see the body even with glasses. The tahr is fairly common all along the
higher Himalayan Range. Its bones are believed to be a sovereign cure
for rheumatism, and are exported to India for that object. A smaller
kind is found in the mountains of Eastern Arabia, where very few, even
sportsmen, have yet attempted to shoot them.

[Illustration: _By permission of P. Thomas, Esq._

NUBIAN GOAT

_These goats come from Nubia and Upper Egypt. They are generally
hornless and short-haired; the colour varies, being sometimes black, and
sometimes tan and spotted._]


  The Nilgiri Tahr, or Nilgiri Ibex

Though not an ibex, the sportsmen of India early gave this name to the
tahr of the Nilgiri and Anamalai Hills. The Himalayan species is covered
with long, shaggy hair; the South Indian has short, smooth brown hair.

"The ibex," says Hawkeye, the Indian sportsman, of this animal, "is
massively formed, with short legs, remarkably strong fetlocks, and a
heavy carcase, short and well ribbed up, combining strength and agility
wonderful to behold. Its habits are gregarious, and the does are seldom
met with separate from the flock or herd, though males often are. The
latter assume, as they grow old, a distinctive appearance. The hair on
the back becomes lighter, almost white in some cases, causing a kind of
saddle to appear; and from that time they become known to the shikaries
as the saddle-backs of the herd, an object of ambition to the eyes of
the true sportsman. It is a pleasant sight to watch a herd of ibex
feeding undisturbed, the kids frisking here and there on pinnacles or
ledges of rock and beetling cliffs where there seems scarcely safe hold
for anything much larger than a grasshopper, the old mother looking
calmly on. Then again, see the caution observed in taking up their
resting or abiding-places for the day, where they may be warmed by the
sun, listening to the war of many waters, chewing the cud of
contentment, and giving themselves up to the full enjoyment of their
nomadic life and its romantic haunts. Usually, before reposing, one of
their number, generally an old doe, may be observed gazing intently
below, apparently scanning every spot in the range of her vision,
sometimes for half an hour or more, before she is satisfied that all is
well, but, strange to say, seldom or never looking up to the rocks
above. Then, being satisfied on the one side, she follows the same
process on the other, and eventually lies down calmly, contented with
the precautions she has taken. Should the sentinel be joined by another,
or her kid come and lie by her, they always lie back to back, in such a
manner as to keep a good look-out to either side. A solitary male goes
through all this by himself, and wonderfully careful he is; but when
with the herd he reposes in security, leaving it to the female to take
precautions for their joint safety."

[Illustration: _Photo by Fratelli Alinari_]    [_Florence_

ITALIAN GOAT

_From the earliest Roman days these goats have been the main form of
livestock kept by the mountaineers of the Apennines_]


  Rocky Mountain Goat

America possesses only one species of wild goat, the place of this genus
being taken in the southern part of the continent by the camel-like
guanacos. The Rocky Mountain Goat, the North American representative of
the group, is a somewhat anomalous creature. It has very few of the
characteristics of the European and Asiatic species. In place of being
active in body and vivacious in temperament, it is a quiet, lethargic
creature, able, it is true, to scale the high mountains of the
North-west and to live among the snows, but with none of the energetic
habits of the ibex or the tahr. In form it is heavy and badly built. It
is heavy in front and weak behind, like a bison. The eye is small, the
head large, and the shoulders humped. It feeds usually on very high
ground; but hunters who take the trouble to ascend to these altitudes
find little difficulty in killing as many wild goats as they wish. These
goats are most numerous in the ranges of British Columbia, where they
are found in small flocks of from three or four to twenty. Several may
be killed before the herd is thoroughly alarmed, possibly because at the
high altitudes at which they are found man has seldom disturbed them.
None of the domesticated sheep or goats of the New World are indigenous
to the continent of America. It is a curious fact, well worth studying
from the point of view of the history of man, that, with the exception
of the llama, the dog, and perhaps the guinea-pig, every domesticated
animal in use from Cape Horn to the Arctic Ocean has been imported. The
last of these importations is the reindeer, which, though the native
species abounds in the Canadian woods, was obtained from Lapland and
Eastern Asia.

[Illustration: _Photo by Miss E. J. Beck_

ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT

_This is one of the few animals which are white at all seasons of the
year. The horns and hoofs are jet-black, forming a striking contrast to
the beautiful coat_]

The history of this effort at acclimatisation is curious, and maybe
quoted in this connection. When the first rush to Klondike was made, the
miners were imprisoned and inaccessible during the late winter. The
coming of spring was the earliest period at which communication could be
expected to be restored, and even then the problem of feeding the
transport animals was a difficult one. The United States Government
decided to try to open up a road from Alaska by means of sledges drawn
by reindeer, and the Canadian Government devised a similar scheme.
Agents were sent to Lapland and to the tribes on the western side of
Bering Sea, and deer, drivers, and harness obtained from both. The deer
were not used for the Klondike relief expeditions by the Americans; but
the animals and their drivers were kept in Alaska, native reindeer were
caught, and the latest news of the experiment is that the deer were
found very useful for carrying the mails in winter.

[Illustration: _Photo by Miss E. J. Beck_

HIMALAYAN TAHR AND YOUNG

_The typical representative of the short-horned wild goats_]




  CHAPTER XV

  _THE ANTELOPES_

  BY F. C. SELOUS


The True Antelopes (including the Gazelles) are strictly confined to the
Old World, the Prongbuck of North America differing so much from all
other living ruminants, in its horn growth and other particulars, that
it is considered to be the sole representative of a distinct family.


  The Hartebeests

With the exception of one species--the Bubal--which is found both in
North Africa and Arabia, the Hartebeests are entirely confined to the
African Continent. They are animals of large size, standing from 43 to
48 inches at the shoulder, and are characterised by their long, narrow
faces, high withers, and doubly curved horns, which are present in both
sexes. Nine different species of this group are known to exist.

[Illustration: _Photo by Miss E. J. Beck_

BUBALINE HARTEBEEST

_A small species, found in Syria as well as in North Africa_]

Although the ranges of these various species of hartebeest cover the
greater part of the African Continent, it is noteworthy that each
species keeps to its own ground, their several ranges but rarely
overlapping.

All the hartebeests have a strong family resemblance, and are very
similar in their habits. They are never found either in dense forests or
in swampy or mountainous country, but are inhabitants of the arid
deserts of Northern and South-western Africa, and of the open grassy
plains and thinly forested regions of the high plateaux of the interior
of that continent. They are extraordinarily fleet and enduring, and in
my own experience I have never heard of one of these animals, of
whatever species, having been overtaken or ridden to a standstill by a
man on horseback. They are very inquisitive, and where they have not
been molested will allow any unaccustomed object--such as a European in
clothes--to walk to within easy shot of them before running off. They
soon gain experience, however; and in countries where they have been
most persecuted hartebeests are the keenest-sighted and the most wary of
all African game. They are very fond of climbing to the top of the large
ant-heaps with which the plains of Africa are profusely studded, and
from this point of vantage surveying the surrounding country. They live,
I believe, entirely upon grass, and in the desert areas of their range
seem able to subsist for long periods without drinking water. Their meat
I have always thought very palatable. They are generally in fairly good
condition, though they seldom carry much fat. Their fat, after being
melted, becomes solid again immediately on cooling, and clogs on the
teeth whilst being eaten. But very few African species, except the
eland, ever become really fat; their life is too active, and the
food-supply too uncertain, for them to put on flesh like European deer.

[Illustration: _Photo by Percy Askenden_]    [_Cape Town_

BLESBOK

_A species formerly very numerous in South Africa, but now well-nigh
exterminated_]


  Bontebok and Blesbok Group

Nearly allied to the hartebeests are certain other antelopes of which it
will be sufficient to mention but two species--_viz._ the Bontebok and
the Blesbok. These two antelopes, though doubtless distinct, since their
points of difference are constant and unvarying, are nevertheless so
much alike, and evidently so closely allied, that I look upon the former
as a highly coloured and specialised race of the latter. The blesbok
once had a far wider range than the bontebok, and ran in countless herds
on the plains of the northern districts of the Cape Colony, the Orange
River Colony, the Transvaal, Griqualand West, and British Bechuanaland,
whilst the latter animal has always been confined to the sandy wastes in
the neighbourhood of Cape Agulhas, the extreme southern point of Africa.

I think it, however, not improbable that ages ago the blesbok ranged
right through Cape Colony to the sea-shore, and that subsequently the
gradual desiccation of the south-western portions of the country--which
is still continuing--or several years of continuous drought, caused the
withdrawal of the species northwards from the waterless parts of the
country. Those, however, which had reached the neighbourhood of Cape
Agulhas, where there is plenty of water, would have remained behind and
formed an isolated race, which, being influenced by local conditions,
would naturally in course of time have become differentiated from the
parent stock. Be this as it may, the bontebok of to-day is nothing but a
glorified blesbok, being slightly larger and more richly coloured than
the latter animal. Its horns, too, are always black, whilst those of the
blesbok are of a greenish hue. When they are in good condition, the
coats of both these species of antelope, as well as of the Sassaby,
another member of this group, show a beautiful satiny sheen, which plays
over their purple-brown hides like shadows on sunlit water.

The few bonteboks which still survive are now all preserved on large
enclosed farms; but their numbers are very small--less than 300, it is
believed. The farmers of Dutch descent now do their best to preserve
rare species on their land.

[Illustration: A COW BRINDLED GNU

_This gnu, which is still found in great numbers in East Central Africa,
indulges in the same curious antics as the white-tailed species_]


  The Gnus

These remarkable animals were once distributed throughout the greater
part of Africa from the Cape to Abyssinia, and their range is even now
very extensive, though what was once the most numerous and the most
eccentric-looking species of the group has almost ceased to exist.

The gnus are of large size, and at first sight appear to have the head
of a buffalo, the tail of a horse, and the limbs and hoofs of an
antelope. Their heads are very massive, with broad muzzles and widely
separated, hairy nostrils; their necks are maned, tails long and bushy,
and both sexes carry horns. They are known as "wilde beeste," or "wild
cattle," to the Dutch colonists of South Africa.

[Illustration: _Photo by Miss E. J. Beck_

RED-FLANKED DUIKER

_The duikers are for the most part diminutive and graceful antelopes,
with simple, spike-like horns_]

The White-tailed Gnu, or Black Wildebeest, as it is more commonly
called, was once found in great numbers on the karroos of Northern Cape
Colony, and throughout the vast plains of the Orange River Colony,
Transvaal, Griqualand West, and British Bechuanaland. Its range, in
fact, was coequal with that of the blesbok. Even as lately as in 1875
and 1876 I personally saw very considerable herds of these quaint
animals in the Orange River Colony and the Western Transvaal. When the
present war broke out in 1899, there were only two herds of black
wildebeest left alive. These animals numbered some 500 head altogether,
and were protected by Dutch farmers. There are probably very few of them
left to-day, and it is scarcely possible that this most interesting
animal will long escape complete extinction.

[Illustration: _Photo by J. W. McLellan_]    [_Highbury_

WHITE-TAILED GNU AND CALF

_This "Wildebeest" is believed to be practically exterminated as a wild
animal_]

Black wildebeests, before they had been much persecuted, were so
inquisitive that, in the words of Gordon Cumming, they would "caper and
gambol" round a hunter's waggon or any other unusual object, and
sometimes approach to within a couple of hundred yards, when, whisking
their long white tails, they would gallop off with loud snorts. They
were always, however, very keen-sighted, and soon became extremely wary
and almost impossible to approach on foot in the open plains they
frequented, whilst their powers of endurance and fleetness of foot were
such that they could only be overtaken by a well-mounted hunter. In
spite of these advantages, however, the value of their skins, and the
ever-increasing number of hunters, armed with long-range rifles,
practically brought about the extermination of this species of gnu in a
few decades.

The Brindled Gnu is a larger animal than the last-named species,
standing 4½ feet and upwards at the shoulder. This animal once ranged
from the Vaal River northwards, throughout Eastern and Central Africa,
to the north of Kilimanjaro, where its range overlaps that of a closely
allied form, the White-bearded Gnu, which is only found in certain
districts of Eastern Africa. In general habits these two varieties seem
to be identical.

In the interior of Southern Africa, both north and south of the Zambesi,
I have met with very large numbers of Blue Wildebeests. They usually run
in herds of from ten to twenty individuals, but towards the end of the
dry season collect in droves of 200 or 300. They are often found in
company with zebras and sassaby antelopes. Their flesh resembles coarse
beef, and, to my thinking, is not ill-flavoured.


  The Smaller Bucks

In addition to the great number of antelopes of large size which inhabit
the African Continent, there are also very many small species, the life
history and habits of some of which are as yet but imperfectly known,
since they are denizens of dense forests, and feed principally at night.

All these small African antelopes are divided into two sub-families. The
first comprises the African Duikers and the Indian Four-horned Antelope,
and the second the Dik-diks, Oribis, Klipspringer, and certain other
small bush-antelopes.

The African duikers are distributed throughout Africa south of the
Sahara, and are represented by some twenty different species, the
largest of which approaches a small donkey in size, whilst the smallest
is not much larger than a hare.

The majority of these dainty little antelopes are inhabitants of the
dense tangled forests of the coast-belts of Africa, and are therefore
but seldom seen by travellers and sportsmen. One species of the group
however, the Common Duiker of South Africa, is a very well-known animal.
This little antelope inhabits much more open country than most of its
congeners, and has an enormous range, extending from Cape Agulhas to
Somaliland, whilst two very nearly allied forms are found in Senegal
and Abyssinia respectively.

In most species of duikers both sexes are horned, but in the case of the
common duiker it is very exceptional to find a female with horns, and in
all my experience I have only known of three such cases.

The Four-horned Antelope is the Indian representative of the African
duikers, and is found along the foot of the Himalaya from the Punjab to
Nepal, and in suitable localities throughout the peninsula of India. It
frequents wooded hills, but avoids dense jungle. Like its nearest
allies, the duikers, it is solitary in its habits, more than two of
these antelopes seldom being seen together. The growth of four horns on
the skull of this antelope and on certain breeds of domesticated sheep
is a curious fact which has not roused as much comment as it deserves.


  The Klipspringer

Turning to the second sub-family, we may select the Klipspringer as the
most characteristic species to describe. This beautiful little animal,
which is often called the African Chamois, is found in suitable
localities from the Cape to Abyssinia. In the southern and northern
portions of its range the klipspringer is an inhabitant only of rugged
mountain-ranges, and ascends to a height of 9,000 or 10,000 feet above
sea-level. In the more central regions of its habitat, however, although
it always lives amongst rocks, and thoroughly justifies its name of
"rock-jumper," it is often found in regions where there are no high
mountain-ranges. It used to be very common in Matabililand, both in the
Matopo Hills and on the isolated granite kopjes which are so numerous in
that country, and usually are not more than 200 or 300 feet in height.
In Mashonaland I have found it living amongst granite rocks in the beds
of the larger rivers, and actually on the same level as the surrounding
country; whereas on Wedza, a great mountain-mass of slate and ironstone,
which rises to a height of about 2,000 feet above the surrounding
country, and to the top of which I once climbed, I did not see any
klipspringers. The hoofs of this little animal are curiously different
from those of any other African antelope, being remarkably short and
small, with very deep hollows. This adaptation to its requirements
enables the klipspringer to obtain a foothold on any small projecting
piece of rock and to climb in a series of little jumps up the faces of
cliffs which seem almost perpendicular.

[Illustration: _Photo by Miss E. J. Beck_

KLIPSPRINGER

_The "cliff-jumper" is as active in its habits as a chamois, and is
found in most of the mountain-ranges of Africa_]

In height the klipspringer stands about 1 foot 9 inches at the shoulder.
The males alone carry horns, which are straight and ringed at the base,
and vary from 3 to 5 inches in length. The coat is of a greeny
yellow-brown colour, with the hairs hollow and brittle. These little
animals are usually met with singly, or in twos and threes together.
When caught young, they become wonderfully tame, and make the most
charming pets, being very playful and fond of jumping, with surprising
ease and grace, from the floor of a room on to any elevated position,
such as a table, mantelpiece, or window-sill.

[Illustration: _Photo by G. W. Wilson & Co., Ltd._

SING-SING WATERBUCK

_The sing-sing and its relatives differ from the true waterbuck by the
absence of the white elliptical ring on the rump_]


  The Waterbucks

The largest animals in the first of three groups now to be considered
are the Waterbucks, antelopes of stout and sturdy build, standing from
45 to 50 inches at the shoulder, and covered with long, coarse hair,
especially on the neck, in both sexes. The males alone carry horns,
which vary from 20 to 36 inches in length, and are strongly ringed in
front for three-fourths of their length. They are sublyrate in shape,
being first inclined backwards and then forwards at the tips. There are
three well-marked species of waterbuck--_viz._ the Common Waterbuck of
South Africa, whose range extends from the Limpopo northwards, through
Nyasaland to German and British East Africa, and to the Shebeyli River,
in Somaliland; the Sing-sing of Senegal and Gambia; and the Defassa
Waterbuck of Western Abyssinia and the Nile Valley, south to Uganda and
British and German East Africa. In habits all species of waterbuck are
very similar. They live generally, though not invariably, in herds of
from ten to twenty individuals, and in such small herds there is seldom
more than one full-grown male present. In the interior of South Africa
the waterbuck is often met with amongst steep stony hills and at a
distance of more than a mile from the nearest river. Speaking generally,
however, this antelope may be said to frequent the near neighbourhood of
water, but to prefer dry to swampy ground. When chased by dogs it always
makes for water, and will plunge fearlessly into broad, deep rivers,
regardless of crocodiles, to which ravenous reptiles it sometimes falls
a victim. In South Africa waterbuck vary much in colour even in the same
district, some being reddish brown, whilst others are of a very dark
grey. The flesh of the waterbuck is coarse, and sometimes rather
strongly tasted, and when in good condition the fat is very hard.

[Illustration: _Photo by W. F. Dando_

MOUNTAIN REEDBUCK

_One of a group of small antelopes still common in many parts of
Africa_]

The Reedbucks are similar in essential characters to the waterbucks, but
are of smaller size, and have more bushy tails, and naked spots on the
sides of the head beneath the ears.

[Illustration: _Photo by S. G. Payne, Aylesbury, by permission of the
Hon. Walter Rothschild_

MALE SAIGA ANTELOPES

_These antelopes inhabit the East Russian steppes. The thick woolly coat
turns nearly white in winter_]

Of this group the Common Reedbuck of South Africa is the best known.
This animal stands 3 feet at the withers, and is of a soft greyish
fawn-colour, with a large fluffy tail, which is always thrown up when
the animal runs, exposing the white under-surface. The males alone carry
horns, which curve backwards and then forwards, and attain a length of
from 12 to 16 inches. Reedbucks are met with singly or in twos and
threes, and never congregate in herds, though I have seen as many as
eight, belonging probably to three or four families, feeding in close
proximity to one another on young green grass.

Another member of the reedbuck group is the Rooi Rhebuck of South
Africa. This latter species, though a much smaller animal, is very
similar to the common reedbuck in colour, shape, and general appearance;
it is quite distinct in its habits and mode of life, as it lives in
small herds of from four or five to fifteen head, amongst rugged stony
hills, often far from water.


  The Blackbuck of India

This handsome species is found throughout India wherever there are open
cultivated plains. The male stands about 32 inches at the shoulder, and
when full grown is of a glossy black colour, with the exception of a
chestnut-coloured patch at the back of the neck, and some markings of
the same colour about the face. The belly and insides of the limbs are
pure white, the line between the black and white being very clearly
defined. The whole body and frame are very compact, strong, and
beautifully proportioned, and the head is carried high. The males alone
carry horns, which are spiral in shape, annulated almost to the tips,
and vary in length from 18 to 28 inches. Young bucks and does are
fawn-coloured instead of black. These antelopes are usually met with in
considerable herds on open plains in which cultivated tracts alternate
with waste land, and they often do much damage to the natives' crops.
When alarmed, they first execute a series of prodigious bounds into the
air before finally settling down to a steady run. They are surprisingly
fleet, and can seldom be overtaken by the fastest greyhounds, although
they can be caught and pulled down without difficulty by trained
cheetas, or, as they are often called, hunting-leopards.

The Palla, which is found in Southern and Eastern Africa from
Bechuanaland to Kordofan, is one of the most graceful of animals. It is
a forest-loving species, and is never found far from water. Both sexes
are of a general bright reddish brown, with white bellies. The males
alone carry horns, which are very graceful in shape, and vary from 14 to
upwards of 20 inches in length. The finest specimens of the palla are
met with in the extreme southerly and most northerly portions of its
range, the animals inhabiting the intermediate districts being smaller
and carrying shorter horns. Pallas are gregarious, living in herds of
from twenty to over one hundred. When alarmed, they bound over bushes or
any other obstacles with the utmost ease and grace, and appear to get
over the ground at a high rate of speed. They are, however, very
commonly run down and torn to pieces by wild dogs, which hunt in packs,
and are very destructive to African game.

[Illustration: _Photo by S. G. Payne, Aylesbury, by permission of the
Hon. Walter Rothschild_

MALE IMPALA, OR PALLA

_The beautifully curved horns of the male palla form some of the most
graceful of trophies_]

Of far less graceful appearance than the two preceding species is the
Saiga, which, though structurally closely allied to the gazelles, has
been placed by naturalists in a genus by itself.

This curious-looking animal, which is chiefly remarkable for its large
swollen-looking nose and light-coloured horns, is an inhabitant of the
steppes of the South-eastern Europe and Western Asia. In height it
stands about 30 inches at the withers, and is of a dull yellowish colour
in summer, turning to nearly white in winter. The males alone carry
horns, which are sometimes 13 or 14 inches long, and of a peculiar
colour which has been likened to pale amber.

At the present day the saiga is only found in Europe on the plains
between the Don and the Volga, but to the east of the Ural River its
range extends over the Kirghiz Steppes and the high plains of all
Western Siberia. Living in open country, and having the senses of
hearing, sight, and scent all highly developed, the saiga is a difficult
animal to approach, and can only be successfully stalked by an expert
hunter. In summer it is usually met with in small, scattered bands,
which, when driven southwards by snow and cold, are collected into
considerable herds in the more southerly portions of its range. In very
severe winters whole herds have been known to perish in snow-drifts, and
in such inclement seasons large numbers are also killed by the natives.
The flesh of the saiga is said to resemble mutton, and is held in much
esteem.

[Illustration: _Photo by Miss E. J. Beck_

ARABIAN GAZELLE

_Gazelles are some of the most slenderly built of all antelopes_]


  The Gazelles

We now come to the Gazelles, among which are comprised many of the best
known and most beautiful of the small or medium-sized antelopes. In the
true gazelles both sexes generally carry horns. Indeed, this rule is
universal in those of Africa and Arabia; and there are only four species
known--all Asiatic--in which the females are hornless: viz. the Tibetan
Gazelle, Prejevalski's Gazelle, the Mongolian Gazelle, and the Persian
Gazelle.

[Illustration: _By permission of Herr Carl Hagenbeck_]    [_Hamburg_

GOITRED GAZELLES FROM MESOPOTAMIA

_These animals are inhabitants of rocky and desert ground. They are
often kept tame by the wandering Arabs_]

The range of the various species belonging to this large group is very
extensive, comprising the whole of Northern and Eastern Africa, Arabia,
and Western and Central Asia, as well as Mongolia and India. The
gazelles are inhabitants of the open plains and arid desert regions of
the Old World, and, although sometimes met with in tracts of country
where there is a certain amount of scattered bush or open stunted
forest, are never found in any kind of jungle or thick cover.

On the sandy plains of North-western Africa are found the Red-fronted
Gazelle of Senegal and Gambia; the little-known Mhorr Gazelle of
South-western Morocco; and the Dama Gazelle, a species which has been
known to naturalists ever since the time of Buffon. A near ally of the
last-named animal is the Red-necked Gazelle of Dongola and Senaar. In
North-eastern Africa are found the large and handsome Soemmerring's
Gazelle; the Isabella Gazelle, of the coastlands of the Red Sea;
Heuglin's Gazelle; Pelzeln's Gazelle, of the maritime plains of Northern
Somaliland; and Speke's Gazelle, of the interior of the same country;
whilst farther south the group is represented by the large and beautiful
Grant's Gazelle, with its allies Peters's Gazelle and Thomson's Gazelle.
The well-known Dorcas Gazelle is an inhabitant of Morocco and Algeria,
ranging through Egypt into Palestine and Syria; the Marica Gazelle, the
Muscat Gazelle, and the Arabian Gazelle inhabit the deserts of Arabia;
the Edmi Gazelle is found in the mountain-ranges of Morocco, Algeria,
and Tunis; while Loder's Gazelle inhabits the sandy tracts of the
interior of Algeria and Tunis. In Asia, besides the four species of
gazelle already enumerated in which the females are hornless, one other
member of the group is met with. This is the Indian Gazelle, a species
very closely allied to the Arabian form.

[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._]    [_North Finchley_

SPEKE'S GAZELLE

_Found in the interior of Northern Somaliland_]

Of the whole genus Grant's Gazelle is the most beautiful. This handsome
animal, which was first discovered by the explorers Speke and Grant in
1860, is an inhabitant of Eastern Africa, from the neighbourhood of Lake
Rudolph southwards to Ugogo. In size the average height at the shoulder
of males of this species is about 34 inches. The coat is close and short
and of a general fawn colour, the rump and belly pure white, and the
face marked with a rufous band from the horns to the nose and with
streaks of white on each side. The upper surface of the tail is white,
with a black and tufted tip. The horns, which are very elegant in shape,
being first curved slightly forwards and then backwards, are much longer
and more powerful than in any other gazelle, and attain a length of 30
inches in the males and 17 inches in the females.

Grant's gazelles, though they undoubtedly find their most congenial home
in open country, have also been met with by recent travellers in
bush-sprinkled wastes and stony, rugged hills. They are, however, never
found in dense jungles or high mountains. They live in herds of from
half a dozen to twenty or thirty individuals, though in certain
localities as many as 200 have been seen together. They are fond of
consorting with other game, such as Burchell's and Grevy's zebras,
Coke's hartebeest, and the beisa oryx, and are often met with at long
distances from the nearest water. They are keen-sighted and wary, and
from the open character of the country in which they are usually
encountered are often difficult to stalk. When in good condition, the
meat of this gazelle is said to be excellent.

[Illustration: _Photo by W. P. Dando_

GAZELLES FROM EGYPT

_Seen in great numbers in the Bayuda Desert_]

The nearest ally of the true gazelles is undoubtedly the Springbuck of
South Africa. Owing to the protection which it has received of late
years, this graceful antelope is now a common animal in many parts of
South Africa, and in the north-western portions of the Cape Colony still
sometimes collects into prodigious herds, which travel through the
country in dense masses, destroying every vestige of grass on the line
of their advance, and causing considerable anxiety to farmers, whose
flocks of sheep and goats are sometimes swept away by the migrating
springbucks. In former years the migration of these antelopes in
countless thousands from the deserts of Namaqualand to the countries
farther south was a common occurrence, an unerring instinct guiding the
wandering herds to districts where rain had lately fallen and caused a
new growth of green grass. The animals composing these migrating herds
were called by the Dutch settlers of the Cape Colony "Trekbokken," or
"travelling-bucks."

Two other antelopes, the Dibatag and the Gerenuk, are included in the
present group; but both, whilst typically gazelline in certain respects,
differ so much in other ways from all members of that group that each
has been placed in a separate genus.

[Illustration: _Photo by W. P. Dando_]    [_Regent's Park_

RED-FRONTED GAZELLE

_Inhabits Dongola and Senaar_]

The Dibatag is a very remarkable-looking antelope, only found in certain
districts of Central Somaliland, where it was first discovered by Mr. T.
W. H. Clarke in 1890. This species shows the face-markings of the
gazelles, whilst the horns, which are only present in the males, much
resemble in shape those of a reedbuck. They are rather short, attaining
a length of only 11 or 12 inches, and their basal halves are strongly
ringed in front. The neck of this antelope is singularly long and thin,
and the tail, which is held curved forwards over the back when the
animal is in motion, is also much elongated, and only tufted at the tip.
The dibatag frequents sandy ground sparsely covered with low
thorn-bushes, and lives in small families, being usually met with in
twos or threes, whilst it is rare to find more than four or five
consorting together.

The Gerenuk, like the last-named animal, is an East African species, but
has a more extended range, being found all over Somaliland, and thence
southwards to the Tana Valley and the Kilimanjaro district of British
East Africa. The most remarkable external characteristic of this species
is the excessively long neck. The males alone carry horns, which attain
an average length of 12 or 13 inches, and, though somewhat gazelle-like
in shape, are more strongly crooked forwards at the points. The skull of
this species is more dense and solid in structure than in the true
gazelles, and the cheek-teeth are smaller in size.

[Illustration: _Photo by W. P. Dando_]    [_Regent's Park_

RED-FRONTED GAZELLE

_Another view of the specimen shown above_]

Coining now to the Sable Antelope group, we find an assemblage of
antelopes which are all of large size and handsome appearance, and in
all of which both the males and females are horned. With the single
exception of the Beatrix Oryx, which inhabits Arabia, all these
antelopes are denizens of Africa. One species of the group, the
Bluebuck, which appears to have been entirely confined to the
mountainous districts of the Cape Peninsula, became extinct during the
first decade of the last century. Little is known as to the life history
of this animal, but it was undoubtedly nearly allied to the larger and
more handsomely marked Roan Antelope. This latter animal once had a more
extensive range than any other antelope, as it was found in almost every
part of Africa south of the Sahara, with the exception of the Congo
forest region. It has now been exterminated in the more southerly
portions of the country, but from the Limpopo to the Upper Nile, and
thence to the Niger, it is still to be found wherever the surroundings
are suitable to its requirements.

[Illustration: _Photo by Percy Ashenden_]    [_Cape Town_

MALE SPRINGBUCK

_Once the most numerous species in South Africa, where it is still not
uncommon. Its migrations, or "treks," at certain seasons were one of the
sights of the veldt_]

A large bull roan antelope will stand 4 feet 9 inches at the withers.
The general colour of the body differs in individuals, even in the same
district, varying from a very light shade of brown to dark grey or
red-roan. The front and sides of the face are jet-black in the adult
male, and dark reddish brown in the female, with two long white tufts of
hair under the eyes. The muzzle and extremity of the lower jaw are
white. The hair on the under side of the neck is long and coarse, and a
stiff mane about 3 inches in length runs from behind the ears to the
withers. The ears are very long, and in the females and young males
tufted. The horns are curved backwards, and in the male are very stout
and strong, attaining a length of from 26 to 34 inches. In the female
the horns are shorter and slighter, and not so strongly ringed.

Roan antelope are usually met with in small herds of from six to a dozen
members, and never congregate in large numbers. I do not think I have
ever counted as many as thirty together. I have found them fairly common
in certain districts, but nowhere very plentiful. They frequent open
plains and thinly forested country, and are never found far away from
water. Bucks often become savage when wounded, and will sometimes charge
viciously if approached incautiously. They can use their horns with
great dexterity, and play havoc with a pack of dogs.

The Sable Antelope, though considerably smaller than the roan, is yet a
handsomer animal. In colour the adult male, when in high condition, is
jet-black all over with the exception of the white face-markings and the
snow-white of the belly and insides of the thighs. The mane is longer
and more bushy than in the roan antelope, and often hangs down on either
side over the withers. The horns, too, are much finer, and, sweeping
backwards in a bold curve, are commonly upwards of 42 inches long, and
have been known to reach 50 inches. The striking colour, large size, and
horns of this creature make it one of the most-prized trophies of the
sportsman. The skin, when prepared and laid down as a rug in halls or
dwelling-rooms, is far more handsome than that of any deer. The female
of this species is usually of a rich red-brown in colour instead of
black as in the male. South of the Zambesi, however, old cows become
almost absolutely black. North of the Zambesi both male and female sable
antelopes are dark red in colour rather than black. The horns in the
female are slighter and less curved than in the male, and are also
considerably shorter, as a rule not measuring over 30 inches in length.

[Illustration: _Photo by S. G. Payne, Aylesbury, by permission of the
Hon. Walter Rothschild_

SABLE ANTELOPE

_A near ally of the Roan Antelope, from which it is broadly
distinguished by its striking coloration--black and white_]

The range of the sable antelope extends from the northern districts of
the Transvaal to German East Africa. In the country between the Limpopo
and the Central Zambesi it used to be a very common animal, especially
in the northern districts of Mashonaland. It is partial to open forests
intersected by grassy, well-watered glades, and is never found on open
plains entirely devoid of bush. It is usually met with in herds of from
twelve to twenty individuals, but I have often seen as many as fifty,
and once counted between seventy and eighty together. However large a
herd of sable antelopes may be, it is very exceptional to find with it
more than one fully adult male, from which fact I should judge that
these animals are of a very jealous and pugnacious disposition. When
wounded and brought to bay by dogs, a sable antelope defends itself with
the utmost fury, using its long scimitar-shaped horns with most
wonderful quickness and dexterity. If badly wounded it will lie down,
otherwise it fights standing. Keeping its face to some of its foes, with
a sideways twist of its head it will transfix and throw into the air any
dog which attempts to attack it from behind. I have seen a wounded sable
antelope, when lying down, drive one of its horns clean through a large
dog deep into its own haunch, and I have had four valuable hounds killed
and four others grievously wounded by one of these animals in less than
a minute. I once knew a native hunter who was stabbed through the
kidneys and killed by a sable antelope cow.

[Illustration: _Photo by the Duchess of Bedford_

ROAN ANTELOPE

_In common with the Sable Antelope and the Oryx group, both sexes of
this species carry horns_]

The nearest allies of the sable and roan antelopes are the various
species of the genus Oryx. In this group are included the White Oryx,
which inhabits the desert regions of the interior of Northern Africa
from Dongola to Senegal; the Beatrix Oryx of Southern Arabia; the
Gemsbuck of South-western Africa; the Beisa, which is found in
North-east Africa from Suakim southwards to the river Tana; and the
Tufted Beisa, which is very nearly related to the last-named species,
whose place it takes south of the Tana River in certain districts of
British and German East Africa. In general appearance there is a strong
family resemblance between the different species of oryx. In all of them
both sexes carry horns, which are considerably longer, though somewhat
slighter, in the females than in the males. In the white oryx the horns
are curved backwards; but in the other four species they are straight,
or nearly so. In all the faces are conspicuously banded with black and
white, and the tails long, with large dark terminal brushes. The two
most desert-loving species, the white and the Beatrix oryx, are paler in
general body-colour than the other three, and the latter animal is
considerably smaller than any other member of the group, standing not
more than 35 inches at the withers. The gemsbuck is the largest and
undoubtedly the handsomest of the group, standing 4 feet at the
shoulders; the horns of the females are often upwards of 40 inches long,
and have been known to attain a length of 48 inches.

[Illustration: _Photo by Norman B. Smith, Esq._

MALE OF GRANT'S GAZELLE

_This fine East African species is one of the handsomest of its kind_]

In habits all species of oryx seem to be very similar. They are denizens
of the arid sun-scorched plains of Africa, which are not necessarily
devoid of all kind of vegetation, but are often covered with stunted
bush, and carry a plentiful crop of coarse grass after rain. Oryx
usually run in herds of from four or five to fifteen or twenty, though
the beisa, the most abundant of the group, has been met with in troops
numbering 400 or 500 head. All the oryx are shy and wary, and in the
open country they usually frequent are difficult to approach on foot. If
pursued on horseback, they run at a steady gallop, which they can
maintain for long distances, swinging their bushy black tails from side
to side, and holding their heads in such a way that their long straight
horns are only sloped slightly backwards. Fleet and enduring, however,
as oryx undoubtedly are, I am of opinion that in these respects the
gemsbuck of South Africa, at any rate, is inferior to all other large
antelopes living in the same country, with the single exception of the
eland. I have often, when mounted on a fast horse, galloped right up to
herds of gemsbuck, and on two occasions have run antelopes of this
species to an absolute standstill. Oryx of all species should be
approached with caution when badly wounded, as they are liable to make
short rushes, and can use their horns with great effect.

Nearly related to the antelopes of the Oryx group in many essential
characteristics, yet at once distinguishable by its spiral horns and
broad reindeer-like feet, the desert-haunting Addax has been placed in a
separate genus, of which it is the sole representative.

[Illustration: GROUP OF BEISA ORYX

_This most interesting photograph, taken by Lord Delamere, shows a group
of these fine antelopes on the East African plains_]

This remarkable animal stands about 38 inches in height at the withers,
and varies in general colour at different seasons of the year, from
brownish grey to a reddish hue. The forehead is covered with a thick
growth of bushy black hair, beneath which there is a patch of white
extending across the nose to under the eyes. The hindquarters, tail, and
legs are white. The horns are spiral, and are present in both sexes. In
the male they attain a length of about 28 inches in a straight line, and
about 36 inches following the spiral. In the female they are thinner and
less spirally curved. The addax is confined to the desert regions of
Northern Africa from Dongola to Senegal, and the broad, rounded hoofs,
so unlike those of any other antelope, would seem to show that it
inhabits countries where the soil is deep, soft sand.

[Illustration: _Photo by S. G. Payne, Aylesbury, by permission of the
Hon. Walter Rothschild_

WHITE ORYX

_Found in Northern Africa from Dongola to Senegal_]

Very little is known of the life history or habits of this antelope. It
is said to associate in pairs or small herds, and to be entirely
independent of water, though it travels great distances over the desert
in the track of thunder-storms for the sake of the young herbage which
grows so quickly wherever rain falls in those thirsty regions. It is
killed in considerable numbers by the Arabs for the sake of its flesh
and hide, and is either stalked or hunted on horseback, with the help of
greyhounds, by Europeans.

The last of the sub-families into which modern naturalists have divided
the antelopes of the world comprises some of the handsomest species of
the whole group, and includes the largest of all antelopes, the Eland,
as well as such small and beautifully marked creatures as the Harnessed
Bushbucks.

With one exception--the Nilgai--all the members of this sub-family are
denizens of the great African Continent.

The Nilgai, or Blue Bull, is an inhabitant of India, and is found
throughout the greater portion of the peninsula, from the base of the
Himalaya to the south of Mysore. It is an animal of large size, standing
about 4 feet 6 inches at the shoulder. In general colour the male is of
a dark iron-grey, the female tawny fawn. White spots on the cheeks and
just above the hoofs on the fore and hind feet are the outward signs of
its affinity to the African harnessed antelopes. The male alone carries
horns, which are nearly straight and very small for the size of the
animal, rarely exceeding 9 inches in length.

[Illustration: _Photo by W. P. Dando_]    [_Regent's Park_

BEISA ORYX

_The beisa is found in North-east Africa; by some it is believed to have
suggested the original idea of the unicorn_]

Passing now to the Harnessed Antelopes of Africa, our attention is first
claimed by the Bushbucks. Excluding the Inyala and the Broad-horned
Antelope, we find several forms of the smaller bushbucks recognised by
naturalists: _viz._ the Harnessed Antelope of the forest regions of
Western Africa; the Cape Bushbuck of South Africa; Cumming's Bushbuck of
Eastern Africa; and the Decula Bushbuck of Abyssinia. The various forms
of bushbuck vary in general colour from very dark brown to various
shades of grey-brown, yellow-brown, and rich red. In all species the
young are more or less striped and spotted; but whereas in some forms
the adult animals lose their stripes and spots almost entirely, in
others the adults are more richly marked than immature specimens. For my
part, I am inclined to believe that, if large series of bushbuck-skins
were collected from every district throughout Africa, it would be found
that all the varieties of this animal at present accepted as distinct
species would be found to grade into one another in such a way that only
one true species could be recognised.

The bushbucks vary in height at the shoulder from 28 inches to 33
inches, and only the males carry horns, which are nearly straight, with
a close spiral twist, and measure in adult animals from 10 inches to 18
inches in length.

Bushbucks are not found in open country, but live in forest or thick
bush near the bank of a river, stream, or lake, and are never met with
far from water. They are very partial to wooded ravines amongst broken,
mountainous country, provided such districts are well watered; and are
very solitary in their habits, both males and females being usually
found alone, though the latter are often accompanied by a kid or
half-grown animal. They are shy and retiring, and should be looked for
between daylight and sunrise, or late in the evening, as they are very
nocturnal in their habits, and lie concealed in long grass or thick bush
during the heat of the day. Their call resembles the bark of a dog, and
may often be heard at nights.

[Illustration: _Photo by S. G. Payne, Aylesbury, by permission of the
Hon. Walter Rothschild_

GERENUK

_A gazelle-like antelope with long neck and legs, inhabiting North-east
Africa_]

The Broad-horned Antelope is only found in the forests of the West
African coast range, from Liberia to Gaboon. The male of this species is
a very handsome animal, standing about 43 inches at the withers, and is
a bright chestnut-red in general colour, with a white spinal stripe
extending from the withers to the root of the tail, and fourteen or
fifteen white stripes on the shoulders, flanks, and hindquarters. The
ears are large and rounded, and the horns very massive, and about 30
inches in length, measured over the single spiral twist. There are two
or three large white spots on the cheeks, and a broad white arrow-shaped
mark across the nose below the eyes. The female is similar in coloration
to the male, but smaller and hornless.

[Illustration: _Photo by York & Son_]    [_Notting Hill_

FEMALE NILGAI

_The largest of the antelopes of India, and a distant cousin of the
Kudu_]

Little or nothing is known as to the habits of this very beautiful
antelope. Du Chaillu, who met with it in the interior of Gaboon between
1856 and 1859, says that it is "very shy, swift of foot, and exceedingly
graceful in its motions"; but he does not tell us whether it lives in
pairs like the bushbucks, or in small herds like some of its other near
allies.

The Inyala is another bush-loving antelope closely allied to the
bushbucks. In this species the general colour of the adult male is a
deep dark grey, that of the female and young male bright yellow-red, and
both sexes are beautifully striped with narrow white bands on the body
and haunches. In the male long dark hair hangs from the throat, chest,
and each side of the belly, and fringes the front of the thigh almost to
the hock, and the back of it up to the root of the tail. The ears are
large and rounded; and the horns, which are only present in the male,
attain a length of about 2 feet in a straight line, and 30 inches along
their spiral curve. The standing height at the shoulder of males of this
species is about 42 inches.

This most beautiful antelope has a very restricted range, being only
found in a narrow belt of coastland extending from St. Lucia Bay to the
Sabi River, in South-east Africa, and in a still smaller area in the
neighbourhood of the Upper Shiri River, in British Central Africa.

[Illustration: _Photo by York & Son_]    [_Notting Hill_

ADDAX

_Unfortunately, the specimen from which this photograph was taken had
lost its splendid spiral horns_]

Before the acquisition of firearms by the natives in South-east Africa,
the inyala was very plentiful in Northern Zululand and Amatongaland, and
was then to be met with in herds of from ten to twenty individuals;
whilst the males, which at certain seasons of the year separated from
the females, were in the habit of consorting together in bands of from
five to eight. Constant persecution by the natives in Amatongaland and
the countries farther north very much reduced the numbers of inyalas in
those districts a long time ago; but in Zululand, where this animal has
been strictly protected by the British authorities for the last twenty
years, it was still plentiful up to 1896, when the rinderpest swept over
the country, and committed such sad


  =Transcriber's Notes:=
  hyphenation, spelling and grammar have been preserved as in the original
  made numerous photo acknowledgment layouts consistent
  the book "breaks off" in mid-sentence, to be continued in the next volume
  Page 27, sign of humam dementia ==> sign of human dementia
  Page 27, "Unlike the lively squirrels ==> Unlike the lively squirrels
  Page 31, Its has been ==> It has been
  Page 72, a regal aminal ==> a regal animal
  Page 75, was one of then ==> was one of them
  Page 76, Oriental They are ==> Oriental. They are
  Page 79, very abnornal animal ==> very abnormal animal
  Page 89, stinted The black ==> stinted. The black
  Page 137, round it The pups ==> round it. The pups
  Page 140, on the watch These ==> on the watch. These
  Page 140, confusion They did ==> confusion. They did
  Page 162, also carries spines ==> also carries spines.
  Page 174, a mounted skelton ==> a mounted skeleton


[The end of _The People's Natural History: Vol. 1 Mammals_ by Charles J. Cornish]