THE NATURALIST.

Otago Witness, Issue 2914, 19 January 1910, Page 84

THE NATURALIST.

Beasts and sleu. —A Remarkable Book About Wild Animals. — “ Beasts and Men” is the title of a remarkable book just published by Messn Longmans, Green, and Co., London, at the price of 12s 6d net. It g-ives an account of half a century’s experiences by Carl Hagen* hack, the famous dealer in wild animals, and the founder of the great Zoological Park at S'tellingen. Mr Hagenbeck inherited from his father his love of animalt and a taste for natural history. The huge undertaking which has its headquarters at Stellingen, near Hamburg, had once its day of small things. Some fishermen employed by his father caught one day in 1848 sis seals, the novelty of which caused Hagenbeck senior to exhibit them in tubs at Hamburg. So successful was this littti venture that the idea was developed, and soon a prosperous trade* in wild animat* was established. Hagen beck, thin accustomed to the hand tag of wild animal I from his earliest youth, displayed positive genius- in the business. Soon the forests, plains, and jungles of every part of tin world where* wild beasts were to be found, were ransacked for the novelties of tin animal kingdom. Hagenbeck is not onu the world’s greatest provider and trainer of animals, but his troupes, or those supplied bv him, have appeared all over tli^gjobe^

can showman, the same business arrangement coat ; nued’. Mr Hagen beck revolutionised the methods of treating and training- animals. His animals are treated with kindness and with knowledge of their habits and likes and dislikes. Fascinating as a narrative, the book is handsomely printed. There are 100 illustrations, including a photogravure portrait of the author. Tho hook is -translated from the German by H. iS. R. Elliot and A. G. Thacker, and Mr P. Chalmers Mitchell, secretary of the Zoological Society of London, provides an introduction. Some extracts are given. —Capturing Elophan ts. “Now it is generally arranged that all the huntsmen should be mounted on da decoloured ponies, with the exception of one, who rides a grey. The attention of the elephant, whose sight is not. good, is attracted by the colour. Upon the grey pony, therefore, the mighty creature usually directs hie attack. It is the business of the rider, at the first onset, to turn and flee. The elephant promptly gives chase; and the flying huntsman, ignoring the fact that the slightest slip means death, endeavours to keep just out of reach, though near enough to hold the animal’s attention concentrated upon him. If! the meantime his comrades follow the elephant from behind, and whoever reaches him first springs from his pony, and delivers a dexterous blow with his -sword on the left hind leg of the animal, which cute the Achilles tendon, aud lames him on one side. As the elephant hastily turns to avenge himself upon bis new enemy, it becomes the turn of the rider who was formerly being chased to stop, dismount, and with a similar blow on the right bind leg is lame the animal on the other Bide, so that ho is totally disabled. If the blows have been delivered with sufficient skill and force, the arteries of the hind legs have been cut, and the elephant bleeds slowly but almost painlessly to death. If there is a gun at hand, his sufferings are more quickly terminated. Once he is dead, hours of arduous labour commence. _ The tusks are broken off; the bide also is removed, to be used for shields or swordscabbards, or for harness for ploughs. The flesh is left for vultures and wild beasts, unless, indeed, there should happen to be in the vicinity a camp of the nomads. In that case the carcase is appropriated by them. They cut the meat into strips and dry it in the sun (like the South American cha.rqui); it is then put aside for use in the rainy season. “For the European, armed with weapons both accurate and deadly, big-game hunting is attended with little danger.” —Pooling Baboons. — “The first thing to be done was to stop up all the drinking-pools save-one with thorn bushes. The baboons were thus all compelled to use this one. They took to it the more readily in that the whole time we were there we had been careful not to interfere with or frighten them any way, so that they were quite unsuspicious of any trap. Wo encouraged them still further by scattering doura about the pool—a proceeding which was so much appreciated that the older animals would often keep away the young until they had devoured it. “When, by these treacherous means., thorough confidence had been established With the baboons, the time came for setting the traps which were to male® them still more our guests, -and eventually also emigrants. The trap is a fairly simple contrivance. The base is circular, about two and a-half yards in diameter, and is composed of tough rods twisted together. Round -the outer edge of this base, at intervals of about a foot, are fixed, stout stakes, leaning inwards so as to meet together at the top. The framework thus constructed is interlaced' with branches of trees, tied together with cord'; and the whole structure then makes a solid cage-, of considerable weight, and somewhat re.eembling a native’s hut in, appearance. When it has been completed it, has 1o be conveyed to its proper situation in the neighbourhood of the drinking-DOol. Here one side of it is left open, being propped up with a strong stick, and the baboons are gradually inveigled’ into it by leaving doura inside. When they have become thoroughly accustomed to the trap, the final stage in the proceedings commences. In the darkness of night a. long cord is attached to the pole which holds the trap open. It is carried along, buried loosely in thoßand, until the other end reaches a hiding place, whence a good view of the cage can be obtained. Then comes the tragedy. A blazing noonday sun drives the thirsty baboons chattering down to their drinkinghole. Some of tiis- biggest males, who have already secured a monopoly of the doura, enter tho trap, and commence their feast. The hunter awaits his opportunity; it soon comes; a tug on the cord, the trap closes with a bang, and three great baboons are fairly caugfit.” —Old Friends.— “The following- is a remarkable instance of the memory of carnivores for people who have won their confidence. Forty years ago or more I bought a pair of young tigers, cue of which caught a. bad cold, which produced in him an affection of the eyes from which ho became blind. For months I nursed him with the utmost care, going every day to his cage to make him as comfortable as possible, so that a very intimate relationship between us grew up. At length my devotion was rewarded, and ■he .completely recovered. Later on, he and his mate were sold to Professor Peters of the Berlin Zoological Gardens, and' the pair lived for many years; but to the day of his death -the tiger whom I cured retained a most faithful attachment to me. Often I did nob see him for long periods together, but, notwithstanding this, he would always fall into the most violent excitement on hearing my voice in th© distance ; and when I came up he would l purr like a cat, and was never satisfied till I had gone into the cage and spent some little with him. Often on these occasions have the public stood round in astonishment at tho spectacle of this strange meeting. In memory of this tiger I had a Water-,colour painted for me by the animal painter Lcutemann, which is still in my possession. “My animal friends are scattered'about in many parts of the world, carefully guarded behind bolts and bars. Their life is not so long as ours; old age and death come very quickly upon them; and hence most of ray friendships are things of tho past.” —New Methods.—

hare become obsolete, for thifi reason, if for no other: that it is impossible to achieve by ill-treatment one-hundredth part of what can be done by humane and intelligent methods. With the lower animals, as with the human beings, real insight into their character can only be obtained by treating them sympathetically. This essential fact, which is now understood by all successful animal trainers, ought in no way to surprise us, foi the brute intelligence differs from the human in degree only, not in kind. Animals soon perceive whether they are being treated sympathetically or otherwise, and quickly attach themselves to those who use them with kindness and consideration. Their memories, too, are usually very retentive, a fact highly important to the trainer’s art. 1 ‘‘lt is now universally recognised that each animal has its own peculiar characteristics, its own idiosyncrasies over and above the general psychological character which it shares with all other members of its species. This is a discovery I hadi to make for myself, and a most important one it is for the trainer, for, I say without fear of contradiction, that no trainer is tit for his vocation who is unable to read! the character of the individual animals which he has to train. And so it tame about that when I introduced the humane system of training, as I may call it, I not | only substituted for the whip and - the red- j hot iron a kindly method of educating the , creatures (based upon an intelligent system i of rewards and punishments), but I also instituted the practice of studying the charac- . tor of each individual animal before including it in a troupe.” Peter’s Tribute Fisli. I wonder how many readers of this column who have not visited the Sea of Galilee (otherwise Tiberias or Gome span e th) know the kind' of fish from which Peter is said to have taken the piece of money. Well-meaning artists have depicted the episode in coloured illustrations for Bibles and Bible history, and I recollect a silvery fish of what may be called the conventional pattern, with bright scales, forked tail, and pointed head —in fact, a kind of dace. Our fishermen at home associate the story with the dory or the haddock. They are uncertain- which of these two had the honour of being a living money-box, andi the fact that no fish in any way resembling either is found in the Sea of Galilee (or ever could hav-fe been found in it) has no weight with them, for the simple but sufficient reason that they are ignorant of it. What appeals to them is the black stain found on either side of the bead in these fishes, and which they re- j gard as the hereditary impression, loft by the fisherman’s dirty finger .and thumb. | From what I saw of some fishes of Galilee j the other clay, Peter may have been a ; dirty fellow indeed. But the fish! Well, j it is not silvery, it has no bright scales, I and no forked tail. Its head is flat and ; sinister, and decorated with eight boards, j For the famous tribute fish is just what the Americans call a “cat”; it is a great; hideous catfish, of which the hotel at Tiberias possesses a specimen of about 101 b weight.—F. G. Aflalo, m the MorningLeader, London. j