The Empire of Love.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 1579, 4 March 1887, Page 5

The Empire of Love.

Some really wonderful stories are related by Rev. J. G. Wood, M.A., in Little Snow Flakes, the Christmas number for the young, published in connection with the Sunday Magazine. Mr Wood, recalling the memory of our lost friend Jumbo, mentions the strong affection which existed between I that elephant and his keeper. Poor Jumbo's last I act was to push Scott out of the way of danger just as the engine struck himself and killed him. Some time previously a panic set in among the elephants at the Midison Square Gardens, and a regular stampede of thirty five elephants was the result. Jumbo, however, was unmoved by the panic, and, seizing Scott in his trunk, held him between his forelegs until the danger had passed away. When on a journey Scott always slept in the same travelling car, and, no matter what the hour might be, Jumbo never would settle himself to rest until Scott had gone to bed. It ap;eirs that a short cut to the heart of lions, leopans and titers is to be found in lavender water, a fa.t Mr Wood discovered by accident. They inhale the perfume with delight, raising their noses high in the air over every sniff, and becoming almost frantic with joy. Mr Wood believes that all the members of the cat tribe can be completely tamed, if placed in good hands from the first. He has himself spent a considerable time in a cage with a pair of cbetahs, without even the presence of a keeper, and after a while, found them quite friendly. The late Mrs Lee, whose leopard "Sai" was so interesting an inmate of her household, trained the animal almost wholly by taking advantage of its love for the perfume of lavender water. Sai used to go about the house as freely as if he had been a cat. He often caused much sonsternation among strangers by suddenly entering the drawing-room, or making his appearance froin under a sofa. He was quite aware of the effect of his unexpected presence, and enjoyed it immensely. Sir Stamford Raffles had two specimens of the beautiful clouded tiger, which were as tame as Sai, and in like manner used to roam about the house at liberty. They might, like Sai, have run away i/ they had chosen, but they preferred the company of man to that of their owu kind. Mr Wood says that even the weasel makes a most charming pet. It is by love, not by force, that man can rightly exercise his dominion over the inferior animals.— Christian Leader.