pieparation for a splendid entertainment, he took hold of a corner of the linen, and turning to a faithful English mastiff which always accompanied him, said to the animal, in a kind of absence of mind, "Here, my poor old friend; you see how these haughty tyrants indulge themselves, and yet how we are treated!" The poor dog looked his master in the face, and gave tokens that he understood him, The master walked on, but the mastiff slackened his pace, and laying hold of the damask cloth with his teeth, at one hearty pull brought all the glass on the sideboard in shivers to the ground, thus depriving the insolent noble of his favorite exhibition of splendor.

DANCING ASS.

John Leo, in his "Descriptio Africa," printed in the year 1556, relates an account of an ass, which, if true, proves that this animal is not so stupid and indocile as he is commonly represented. He says, "When the Mahommedan worship is over, the common people of Cairo resort to the part of the suburbs called Bed-Elloch, to see the exhibition of stage players, and mountebanks who teach camels, asses, and dogs, to dance.

The dancing of the ass is diverting enough; for after he has frisked and capered about, his master tells him that the Soldan, meaning to build a great palace, intends to employ all the asses in carrying mortar, stones, and other materials; upon which the ass falls down with his heels upwards, closing his eyes, and extending his chest, as if he were dead. This done, the master begs some assistance of the company, to make up for the loss of the dead ass; and having got all he can, he gives them to know that truly his ass is not dead, but only being sensible of his master's necessity, played that trick to procure some provender. Then he commands the ass to rise, who still lies in the same posture, notwithstanding all the blows he can give him; till at last he proclaims, that by virtue of an edict by the Soldan, all the handsome ladies are bound to ride out the next day upon the comeliest asses they can find, in order to see a triumphal show, and to entertain their asses with oats and Nile water. These words are no sooner pronounced, than the ass starts up, prances, and leaps for joy. The master then declares that his ass has been pitched upon by the warden of his street, to carry his deformed and ugly wife; upon which the ass lowers his ears, and limps with one of his legs as if he were lame. Then the master, alleging that his ass admires handsome women, commands him to single out the prettiest lady in company; and accordingly he makes his choice by going round and touching one of the prettiest with his head, to the great amusement of the company."

CANINE TRAGEDIAN.

"I, myself," says Plutarch, "saw a dog at Rome, whose master had taught him many pretty tricks, and amongst others the following: He soaked a piece of bread in a certain drug, which was indeed somniferous, but which he would have

had us believe was a deadly potion. The dog, as soon as he had swallowed it, affected to quake, tremble, and stagger, as if quite stupified. At length it fell down, seemed to breathe its last, and became stretched out in all the stiffness of death, suffering any person to pull it about or turn it over without indicating the least symptom of life. The master was now lavish in his endeavors to restore the poor creature to life; and after a short time, when it understood by a secret hint that its time for recovery was come, it began by little and little to revive, as if awaked from a dead sleep, slowly lifted up its head, and opening its eyes, gazed with a wild vacant stare on all around. In a few minutes it got upon its feet, shook itself as it were free from its enthralment, and recognising its master, ran merrily up to him. The whole of this scene was performed so naturally, that all who were present (among whom was the Emperor Vespasian) were exceedingly delighted."

CHOICE RETALIATION.

A tame elephant, kept by a merchant at Bencoolen, was suffered to go at large. The animal used to walk about the streets in as quiet and familiar a manner as any of the inhabitants; and delighted much in visiting the shops, particularly those which sold herbs and fruit, where he was well received, except by a couple of brutal cob blers, who, without any cause, took offence at the generous creature, and once or twice attempted to wound his proboscis with their awls. The no ble animal, who knew it was beneath him to crush them, did not disdain to chastise them by other means. He filled his large trunk with a considerable quantity of water, not of the cleanest quality, and advancing to them as usual, covered them at once with a dirty flood. The fools were laughed at, and the punishment applauded.

LEARNED DOG.

The celebrated Leibnitz relates an account of a dog who was taught to speak, and could call in an intelligible manner for tea, coffee, chocolate, &c.

The dog was of a middling size, and the property of a peasant in Saxony. A little boy, the peasant's son, imagined that he perceived in the dog's voice an indistinct resemblance to certain words, and was therefore determined to teach him to speak distinctly. For this purpose he spared neither time nor pains with his pupil, who was about three years old when his learned education commenced; and at length he made such progress in language, as to be able to articu, late no less than thirty words. It appears, however, that he was somewhat of a truant, and did not very willingly exert his talents, being rather pressed into the service of literature, and it was necessary that the words should be first pronounced to him each time before he spoke. The French academicians who mention this anecdote, add, that unless they had received the testimony of so great a man as Leibnitz, they should scarcely have dared to relate the circumstance.

THE GOAT.

A gentleman who had taken an active share in the rebellion of 1515, after the battle of Preston, escaped into the West highlands, where a lady, a near relative, afforded him an asylum. A faithful servant conducted him to the mouth of a cave, and furnished him with an abundant store of provisions. The fugitive crept in at a low aperture, dragging his stores along. When he reached a wider and loftier expanse, he found some obstacle before him. He drew his dirk, but unwilling to strike, lest he might take the life of a companion in seclusion, he stooped down, and discovered a goat with her kid stretched on the ground. He soon perceived that the animal was in great pain, and, feeling her body and limbs, ascertained that her leg was fractured. He bound it up with his garter, and offered her a share of the bread beside him; but she stretched out her tongue, as if to apprize him that her mouth was parched with thirst. He gave her water, which she took readily, and then ate some bread. After midnight he ventured out of the cave: all was still. He plucked an armfull of grass and cut tender twigs, which the goat accepted with manifestations of joy and thankfulness. The prisoner derived much comfort in having a living creature in this dungeon, and he caressed and fed her tenderly. The man who was intrusted to bring him supplies fell sick; and when another attempted to penetrate into the cavern, the goat furiously opposed him, presenting her horns in all directions, till the fugitive, hearing a disturbance, came forward. This new attendant giving the watch word, removed every doubt of his good intentions, and the amazon of the recess obeyed her benefactor in permitting him to advance. The gentleman was convinced, that had a band of military attacked the cavern, his grateful patient would have died in his defence.

The devices of the goat to hide her young from the fox are very remarkable. She discerns her enemy at a great distance, conceals her treasure in a thicket, and boldly intercepts the formidable marauder. He seldom fails to approach the place where the kid is crouching, but the dam, with her horns, receives him at all points, and never yields till spent with fatigue and agitation. If a high crag, or stone, should be near when she descries the fox, she mounts upon it, taking her young one under her body. The fox goes round and round, to catch an opportunity for making a spring at the little trembler, and there have been instances of his seizing it; but the goat thrusts her horns into his flank with such force as to be often unable to withdraw them, and all three have frequently been found dead at the bottom of the precipice. It is a singular fact, that the goats know their progeny to several generations, and each tribe herds together on the hills, or reposes in the cot in separate parties.

CONCERTS OF ANIMALS.

The abbot of Baigne, a man of wit, and skill. ed in the construction of new musical instruments, was ordered by Louis XI. King of France, more

in jest than in earnest, to procure him a concert of swine's voices. The abbot said that the thing could doubtless be done, but that it would take a good deal of money. The king ordered that he should have whatever he required for the purpose. The abbot, says Bayle, then "wrought a thing as singular as ever was seen. For out of a great number of hogs of several ages which he got together, and placed under a tent, or pavillion, covered with velvet, before which he had a table of wood painted, with a certain number of keys, he made an organical instrument, and as he played upon the said keys with little spikes, which pricked the hogs, he made them cry in such order and consonance, he highly delighted the king and all his company."

WAGER QUEERLY LOST.

In the year 1765, one Carr, a waterman, having laid a wager that he and his dog would both leap from the centre arch of Westminster bridge, and land at Lambeth within a minute of each other; he jumped off first, and the dog immediately followed; but not being in the secret, and fearing his master should be drowned, he laid hold of him by the neck and dragged him on shore, to the no small diversion of the spectators

SINGULAR INTERPOSITION.

A lady had a tame bird which she was in the habit of letting out of its cage every day. One morning as it was picking crumbs of bread off the carpet, her cat, who had always before showed great kindness for the bird, seized it on a sudden, and jumped with it in her mouth upon a table. The lady was much alarmed for the fate of her favorite, but on turning about instantly discerned the cause. The door had been left open, and a strange cat had just come into the room! After turning it out, her own cat came down from her place of safety, and dropped the bird without having done it the smallest injury.

LONG LOST FOUND AGAIN.

A female elephant belonging to a gentleman at Calcutta, being ordered from the upper country to Chotygone, broke loose from her keeper, and was lost in the woods. The excuses which the keeper made were not admitted. It was supposed that he had sold the elephant; his wife and family therefore were sold for slaves, and he was himself condemned to work upon the roads. About twelve years after, this man was ordered into the country to assist in catching wild elephants. The keeper fancied he saw his long-lost elephant in a group that was before them. He was determined to go up to it; nor could the strongest representations of the danger dissuade him from his purpose. When he approached the creature, she knew him, and giving him three salutes, by waving her trunk in the air, knelt down and received him on her back. She afterwards assisted in securing the other elephants, and likewise brought with her three young ones.

which she had produced during her absence. The keeper recovered his character; and, as a recompense for his sufferings and intrepidity, had an annuity settled on him for life. This elephant was afterwards in the possession of Governor Hastings.

SECRET ESCORT.

A gentleman returning to town from Newingtown Green, where he had been on a visit to a friend, was stopped by a footpad armed with a thick bludgeon, who demanded his money, saying he was in great distress. The gentleman gave him a shilling; but this did not satisfy the fellow, who immediately attempted to strike him with his bludgeon; when, to the surprise of the gentleman, the villain's arm was suddenly arrested by a spaniel dog, who seized him fast. The fellow with some difficulty extricated himself from his enemy, and made his escape. The dog belonged to the gentleman's friend where he had dined, and had followed him unperceived; the faithful creature guarded him home, and then made the best of its way back to its master.

BEE CHARMER.

Mr. Wildman of Plymouth, who rendered himself famous in the West of England for his command over bees, being in London in 1766, visited Dr. Templeman, Secretary to the Society of Arts, in his bee dress. He went in a chair, with his head and face covered with bees, and a most venerable beard of them hanging from his chin. The gentlemen and ladies assembled were soon convinced that they had no occasion to be afraid of the bees, and therefore went up familiarly to Mr. Wildman, and conversed with him. After having remained some time, he gave orders to the bees to retire to their hive, and this they did instantly.

FILIAL DUTY.

Mr. Purdew, surgeon's mate on board the Lancaster, in 1757, relates, that while lying one evening awake, he saw a rat come into his birth, and after well surveying the place, retreat with ̧ the greatest caution and silence. Soon after it' returned, leading by the ear another rat, which it left at a small distance from the hole which they entered. A third rat joined this kind conductor; they then foraged about, and picked up all the small scraps of biscuit; these, they carried to the second rat, which seemed blind, and remained in the spot where they had left it, nibbling such fare as its dutiful providers, whom Mr. Purdew supposes were its offspring, brought to it from the more remote parts of the floor.

A SLY COUPLE.

A gentleman in the county of Stirling kept a greyhound and a pointer, and being fond of coursing, the pointer was accustomed to find the hares, and the greyhound to catch them, When the

season was over, it was found that the dogs were in the habit of going out by themselves, and killing hares for their own amusement. To prevent this, a large iron ring was fastened to the pointer's neck by a leather collar, and hung down so as to prevent the dog from running, or jumping over dikes, &c. The animals, however, continued to stroll out to the fields together; and one day the gentleman suspecting that all was not right, resolved to watch them, and to his surprise, found that the moment when they thought that they were unobserved, the greyhound took up the iron ring in his mouth, and carrying it, they set off to the hills, and began to search for bares as usual. They were followed, and it was observed, that whenever the pointer scented the hare, the ring was dropped, and the greyhound stood ready to pounce upon poor puss the moment the other drove her from her form, but that he uniformly returned to assist his companion after he had caught his prey.

THE DOG OF MONTARGIS.

The fame of an English dog has been deservedly transmitted to posterity by a monument in basso relievo, which still remains on the chimneypiece of the grand hall, at the Castle of Montargis in France. The sculpture, which represents a dog fighting with a champion, is explained by the following narrative :

Aubri de Mondidier, a gentleman of family and fortune, travelling alone through the Forest of Bondi, was murdered, and buried under a tree. His dog, an English blood-hound, would not quit his master's grave for several days; till at length, compelled by hunger, he proceeded to the house of an intimate friend of the unfortunate Aubri's at Paris, and by his melancholy howling seemed desirous of expressing the loss they had both sustained. He repeated his cries, ran to the door, looked back to see if any one followed him, returned to his master's friend, pulled him by the sleeve, and with dumb eloquence entreated him to go with him.

The singularity of all these actions of the dog, added to the circumstance of his coming there without his master, whose faithful companion he had always been, prompted the company to follow the animal, who conducted them to a tree, where he renewed his howl, scratching the earth with his feet, and significantly entreating them to search that particular spot. Accordingly, on digging, the body of the unhappy Aubri was found.

Some time after, the dog accidentally met the assassin, who is styled, by all the historians that relate this fact, the Chevalier Macaire; when instantly seizing him by the throat, he was with great difficulty compelled to quit his prey.

In short, whenever the dog saw the chevalier, he continued to pursue and attack him with equal fury, Such obstinate virulence in the animal, confined only to Macaire, appeared very extraordinary; especially to those who at once recollected the dog's remarkable attachment to his master, and several instances in which Macaire's

envy and hatred to Aubri de Mondidier had been conspicuous.

Additional circumstances created suspicion; and at length the affair reached the royal ear. The king (Louis VIII.) accordingly sent for the dog, who appeared extremely gentle till he perceived Macaire in the midst of several noblemen, when he ran fiercely towards him, growling at and attacking him as usual.

The king, struck with such a collection of circumstantial evidence against Macaire, determined to refer the decision to the chance of battle; in other words, he gave orders for a combat between the chevalier and the dog. The lists were appointed in the Isle of Notre Dame, then an unenclosed, uninhabited place, and Macaire was allowed for his weapon a great cudgel.

An empty cask was given to the dog as a place of retreat, to enable him to recover breath. Everything being prepared, the dog no sooner found himself at liberty, than he ran round his adversary, avoiding his blows, and menacing him on every side, till his strength was exhausted; then springing forward, he griped him by the throat, threw him on the ground, and obliged him to confess his guilt, in the presence of the king and the whole court. In consequence of this, the chevalier, after a few days, was convicted upon his own acknowledgment, and beheaded on a scaffold in the Isle of Notre Dame.

The above recital is translated from "Memoirs sur les Duels," and is cited by many critical writers, particularly Julius Scaliger, and Montfaucon, who has given an engraved representation of the combat between the dog and the chevalier.

WRENS LEARNING TO SING.

A wren built her nest in a box, so situated, that a family had an opportunity of observing the mother-bird instructing the young ones in the art of singing peculiar to the species. She fixed herself on one side of the opening in the box, directly before her young, and began by singing over her whole song very distinctly. One of the young then attempted to imitate her. After proceeding through a few notes, its voice broke, and it lost the tune.-The mother immediately recommenced where the young one had failed, and went very distinctly through with the remainder. The young bird made a second attempt, commencing where it had ceased before, and continuing the song as long as it was able; and when the note was again lost, the mother began anew where it stopped, and completed it. Then the young one resumed the tune and finished it. This done, the mother sang over the whole series of notes a second time with great precision; and a second of the young attempted to follow her. The wren pursued the same course with this as with the first; and so with the third and fourth. It sometimes happened that the young one would lose the tune three, four, or more times in the same attempt; in which case the mother uniformly began where they ceased, and sung the remaining notes; and when each had completed

the trial, she repeated the whole strain. Some. times two of the young commenced together. The mother observed the same conduct towards them, as when one sang alone. This was repeated day after day, and several times in a day

DOG AND GOOSE.

A Canadian goose, kept at East Barnet, in Hertfordshire, a few years ago, was observed to attach itself in the strongest and most affectionate manner to the house dog, but never presumed to go into the kennel except in rainy weather; whenever the dog barked, the goose would cackle, and run at the person she supposed the dog barked at, and try to bite him by the heels. Sometimes she would attempt to feed with the dog; but this the dog, who treated his faithful companion with indifference, would not suffer. This bird would not go to roost with the others at night, unless driven by main force; and when in the morning they were turned into the field, she would never stir from the yard gate, but sit there the whole day in sight of the dog. At length orders were given that she should no longer be molested; being thus left to herself, she ran about the yard with him all night, and what is particularly remarkable, whenever the dog went out of the yard and ran into the village, the goose always accompanied him, contriving to keep up with him by the assistance of her wings, and in this way of running and flying, followed him all over the parish. This extraordinary affection of the goose towards the dog, which continued till his death, two years after it was first observed, is supposed to have originated in his having saved her from a fox, in the very moment of dis

tress.

While the dog was ill, the goose never quitted him, day nor night, not even to feed; and it was apprehended that she would have been starved to death, had not a pan of corn been set every day close to the kennel. At this time, the goose generally sat in the kennel, and would not suffer any one to approach it, except the person who brought the dog's, or her own food. The end of this faithful bird was melancholy; for when the dog died, she would still keep possession of the kennel; and a new house dog being introduced, which in size and color resembled that lately lost, the poor goose was unhappily deceived, and going into the kennel as usual, the new inhabitant seized her by the throat and killed her.

A GOOD FINDER

One day, when Dumont, a tradesman of the Rue St. Denis, was walking in the Boulevard St. Antoine with a friend, he offered to lay a wager with the latter, that if he were to hide a six livre piece in the dust, his dog would discover and bring it to him. The wager was accepted, and the piece of money secreted, after being carefully marked.-When the two had proceeded some distance from the spot, M. Dumont called to his dog that he had lost something, and ordered him to seek it. Caniche immediately

turned back, and his master and his companion pursued their walk to the Rue St. Denis. Meanwhile a traveller, who happened to be just then returning in a small chaise from Vincennes, perceived the piece of money which his horses had kicked from its hiding place; he alighted, took it and drove to his inn, in the Rue Pont-aux up, Choux. Caniche had just reached the spot in search of the lost piece, when the stranger picked it up. He followed the chaise, went into the inn, and stuck close to the traveller. Having scented out the coin which he had been ordered to bring back in the pocket of the latter, he leaped up incessantly at and about him. The traveller supposing him to be some dog that had lost or been left behind by his master, regarded his different movements as marks of fondness; and as the animal was handsome, he determined to keep him. -He gave him a good supper, and on retiring to bed, took him with him to his chamber. No sooner had he pulled off his breeches, than they were seized by the dog; the owner, conceiving that he wanted to play with them, took them away again. The animal began to bark at the door, which the traveller opened, under the idea that the dog wanted to go out. Caniche snatched up the breeches and away he flew. The traveller posted after him with his night cap on, and literally sans culottes. Anxiety for the fate of a purse full of gold Napoleons, of forty francs each, which was in one of the pockets, gave redoubled velocity to his steps. Caniche ran full speed to his master's house, where the stranger arrived a moment afterwards, breathless and enraged. He accused the dog of robbing him. "Sir," said the master," my dog is a very faithful creature; and if he has run away with your breeches, it is because you have in them money which does not belong to you." The traveller became still more exasperated.

"Compose yourself,

sir," rejoined the other, smiling, "without doubt there is in your purse a six livre piece, with such and such marks, which you have picked up in the Boulevard St. Antoine, and which I threw down there with the firm conviction that my dog would bring it back again. This is the cause of the robbery which he has committed upon you." The stranger's rage now yielded to astonishment; he delivered the six livre piece to the owner, and could not forbear caressing the dog which had given him so much uneasiness, and such an unpleasant chase.

SENSE OF RIDICULE.

Persons who have the management of elephants, have often observed that they know very well when any one is ridiculing them, and that they very often revenge themselves when they have an opportunity. A painter wished to draw an elephant in the menagerie at Paris in an extraordinary attitude, which was with his trunk lifted up, and his mouth open. An attendant on the painter, to make the elephant preserve the position, threw fruits in his mouth, and often pretended to throw them without doing so. The animal became irritated, and as if knowing that ||

the painter was to blame rather than his servant, turned to him, and dashed a quantity of water from his trunk over the paper on which the painter was sketching his distorted portrait.

CALCULATING CROW.

A Scotch newspaper of the year 1816 states, that a carrion crow, perceiving a brood of fourteen chickens, under the care of the parent-hen, on a lawn, picked up one; but on a young lady opening the window and giving an alarm, the robber dropped his prey. In the course of the day, however, the plunderer returned, accompanied by thirteen other crows, when every one seized his bird, and carried off the whole brood at once.

EFFECT OF COLORS.

Mr. Forbes, the author of the "Oriental Memoirs," when at Dazagan in Concan, kept a chameleon for several weeks. The animal was singularly affected by anything black. The skirting board of the room was black, and the creature carefully avoided it; but if by chance he came near it, or if a black hat were placed in his way, he shrunk and became black as jet. It was evident by the care he took to avoid those objects which occasioned this change, that the effort was painful to him; the color seemed to operate like a poison. From some antipathy of the same sort, the buffalo and the bull are enraged by scarlet, which, according to the blind man's notion, acts upon them like the sound of a trumpet; and the viper is most provoked to bite when the viper-catcher presents it with a red rag. There are other animals to whom certain colors have the effect of fascination. Daffodils, or any bright yellow flowers, will decoy perch into a drawnet. Persons who wear black hats in summer, are ten times more annoyed by flies than those who wear white ones. Such facts are highly curious, and well deserving of investigation. We know as yet but little of the manner in which animals are affected by colors, and that little is only known popularly. When more observations of this kind have been made and classified, they may lead to some consequences of practical utility.

TAME SEA-GULL.

Many years ago a Mr. Scott, of Benholm, near Montrose, had accidentally caught a sea-gull, whose wings he cut, and put it into his garden. The bird remained in that situation for several years, and being kindly treated, became so familiar, as to come at a call to be fed at the kitchen door. It was known by the name of Willie. This bird became at last so tame, that no pains were taken to preserve it, and its wings having grown to full length, it flew away, joined the other gulls on the beach, and came back, from time to time, to pay a visit to the house. When its companions left the country at the usual season, Willie accompanied them, much to the regret of the