I THE NATURALIST.

Otago Witness, Issue 2855, 2 December 1908, Page 76

I THE NATURALIST.

'& Penguins in Lovs. The penguin, c. notable diver among seafcSrds, wins his mate, jay right of conquest. SEbe male biwfe fighv Tor fhe possession of figs £em*les. .*•»»_ i, _ ■^trhssse curious ' birds have regular duel jraoundßjrsifiietf'etT'-relics of innumerable com Bsrts, in the shape of feathers, lie scattered about. In the centre -is the fighting arena, clear of all debris. •■{The penguin's feathers and blubber form *&.' efficient shield against their opponents' pfeaks, so the weS-pon used is tile short gigxpejf, the oniy"wiJigß the birds possess. y^The^tfight begins with the two combatsofts walking solemnly, 'round each other, waiting for an opportunity to grip. Once fhKf is-* done the flippers eofne into play. The fighter* shower blow after blow upon each other. There is no uecol'd as to how these fights end, but it is a safe supposition to say that they are seldom fatal. The force of the blow firom a penguin's flipper is «uch that three or four of them wili.jdr«w blood from the human hand; A Trne Animal- Story. It all happened on board the Braunfels, the floating menagerie, that lately brought a/ load of new aiyivals for the New- York 200. ' ' ' -On her decks-, with canvas stretched overhead as awnings, five tigers, eight leopards, two tapirs, weighing at least a- ton each, 24 cag%s packed with chattering monkeys, 12 boxes of snakes, some of the jeptiies as thick a/6 a man's arm, and 12 water buffaloes sunned themselves as. the great ship ploughed through the tropical, Inctian Ocean, Arabian. and Red Sea», and the Suez Canal. It was the jungles oi wildest Africa transferred to tie deck of a vessel, and fortunate indeed whould.ihavo been the boy who could have seen"" the giare of the big agate eyes, the hissing of tho enormous snakes, and thecoinicai-^rtics of th"e'6ifii&ns'. ilost of the animate; especially the man-eating specimens, were confined in strong wooden, boxes, from which a paw, armed with sharp olawe, would be thrust at intervals to oatoh one oi the brown-skinned sailors who manned the ship. One day in the Indian Ocean two boxes containing a. tiger and a leopard were carelessly placed on the deck too dose, and a furious fight was the result. The tiger ripped open the leopard's righi; foreleg to the bone, and the leg became- so swollen that the trainer told the captain and the chief officer that the- leopard would certainly die of blood-poisoning unless he was .given- immediate heroic surgical treatment. As a leopard is worth a thousand dollars to a zoological garden, it will be seen that his death would have been no small matter.

But the chief officer is a brave man, and he promptly said that he would doctor the injured beast. IJhen the question arose how the" thii*g i '«h<Aila n fee* 'dtone, and the ship's crew iw<s- searched 1 for men brave enough to hold the leopard's head and four legs, as any boy will readily understand that one blow from a leopard's paw would terribly injure, it it did not kill outrig-ht, the bti'ongest and bravest man. This la how the leopard's leg was treated and the beautiful spotted animal saved from an untimely death. A rope was wound about the beast's neck. A brown-skinned sailor, known as a Lascar, was given.' an end of the rope. The trainer seized the uninjur&d foreleg just «s the doctor- grabbed the other forepaw, .'(and* the captain and> the engineer gripped the two hind legs. Then the doctor aaid, "Now, men, if he attempts to bite anybody, pull the rope tight until it strangles him into submission, and as you value your lives, don't get rattled, and, above all things, don't let go his teg. It means death for some of as if not all of us if you do. Are you ready?" Then this brave Ljprman officer, soaking a sponge with the powerful and cleansing acid, applied it to the leopard's torn leg. In a twinkling the jungle beast was writhing with pjftn, and made furious efforts to rend the men, but each heeded the warning given him. and maintained their holds until the chief officer had thoroughly washed the torn member. Then tho leg was, soothed with ointments and a imen bandage applied, just as the feurg-eons do in a hospital.

Now, as boys and girls have read in books, ariimale are capable of showing gratitude for kindness done to them. Iho leopard knew that officei .^ohmehl had been kind to him, for after the ointment and tho bandage had been applied he licked the hand of the officer and in other ways showed how thankful he was. Well, the k-opard is as good as well now. Not all the animals which were put aboard at Calcutta lived to reach this port Tlie two tapirs, which were worth at least lOOOdol each, died. ; Both were buriod at sea. One was taken sielc and died shortly after the Braunfels wiled from Calcutta. A few day*, later tho 6econd tapir thrust its head through the bars of us cage, and tho rolling of tho chip choked the big and clumsy animal. A great boa constrictor, a anake that can swallow a rabbit at one gulp, and can squeeze the life out of a man, tiger, lion, or deer, aho u died on the way over. Another constrictor arrived in fine shape, but hungry, having eaten the last live rabbit on shipboard off the bank of Newfoundland. The ship also brought over a lot of cobras. A cobra is a short, thick snake, with a flat head, and is of ail indigo blue colour. The bite of the cobra is deadly, resulting in death in about 15 minutes. j None of tho buffaloes were on the ship | when she reached this port. They wire' brought over as food for the tigers and leopards. I It ia sad to relate that several hundred songbirds died on the voyage. | When the ship was sailing in the Indian Ocean and the Arabian and Red Seas, the bird 6, most of them a variety known ac the Indian thrush, sang t all through tie day. There were nightingales, too, and every boy and gir] knows how sweetly a nightingale can sing. An Indian thrush can cuig more sweetly than a canary, so never a crew heard so many or such Mveet bird music. i'oi: Saul ir- at the Red Sea end of the •Suez Sana]. It is noted, among other

tilings, for its extremes of temperature. "When the wind blows from the hot sands of Africa the decks of ships blister the feet. 'At other times, when the wind sweeps over the snow-covered plains from the north, heavy clothing must be worn. It happened that a cold wind struck the Braunfels at Port Said. In the morning not a song-bird greeted the rising sun. Little throats which had throbbed during the long trip through tropical seas were stilled. Not a solitary note was heard. Captain Wehlmany it is said, almost cried' when two LasoaT sailors informed'.Jxim that the birds were deadwiHe would not believe it until he saw the binds.— Reformed Church Messenger.