SAILORS' QUEER PETS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 76, 1 April 1899, Page 5 (Supplement)

SAILORS' QUEER PETS.

DROLL TARNS OP THE FOUR-FOOT-

ED FRIENDS THAT AMUSE JACK AT SEA.

I When at sea Jack delights in nothing more than in playing with the ship's pets, and, generally speaking, they get such an amount of attention that they I develop most extraordinary talents and peculiarities. Until lately the sailors of a British cruiser possessed a goat which was the admiration of everyone, from captain to stoker. 'Billy' could put many of the sailors to shame in the way of getting about in rough weather. But he had two bad habits—a passion for butting persons off their legs, in" pursuit of which pleasure he had no respect for the highest of admirals; and a simply terrible thirst for rum-grog. i What is most distressing about the latter fact is that no one seems to have attempted to curb 'Billy's' proclivities,, but rather to have encouraged them by giving him a portion of rum whenever it was dealt out. 'Billy,' however, was quite hardened to an ordinary portion of rum, and no one ever saw him the worse for drink on his usual allowance. Occasionally he got more than the right quantity, when matters became lively. He would bump .into everybody, officers not excepted, who happened to come in his uncertain way. Som.etimes he bumped into nothing at the head af the cabin stairs, when he generally landed all in a heap, more or less damaged, to be carried off and attended to in the mess cabin. On one occasion, having been reproached about his condition, and wishing to prove his sobriety, he MOUNTED THE BULWARKS with the intention of walking round. The bulwarks, having possibly been drinking, wobbled very badly, and the result was that 'Billy' got a cold bath, and had to be rescued from a watery grave. Even that narrow escape did not. however, cure him. He continued his drunken habits to the end, when, it is supposed, he died of alcoholic poisoning. Parrots and monkeys as sailors' pets arc very common, and the former are generally good talkers, but their language does not often make them suitable acquisitions for sensitive ladies or 'boarding schools for the daughters of gentlemen.' Indeed, their profanity is generally only exceeded by their callous disregard of grammar. A pig strikes one—metaphorically speaking, of course—as being a remarkable kind of a pet at sea. but such an animal was possessed by a ship's crew; and what is far more remarkable, this particular porker had a consuming passion forchewing tobacco. This was not, however, the creature's only talent. He could walk a considerable distance on his hind legs, jump through hoops, and run up and down ladders. All these tricks made him very popular, on board; but probably his chewing habit was responsible for the greater part of the sympathy that existed between' the crew and himself. .