Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1870-02-10
Instinct OF Animals.

o,n, land. This circumstance may throw
,so U light on the fact of dogs, which
bome been sent to France or Ireland from
fsrcland, finding their way back. The
.asant Earl OF L. sent some drafted
hounds from his kennel in Cumberland to
Ireland, where they were safely received
snd A receipt given for them to the person
who brought them over. Three weeks
'asrward, two of these hounds made
,hair appearance at Lord LIS kennel,
thongh In very exhausted state. A gen.
.ia,nsn also informed me that pointer
doa Which had been lett at Calais made
;tO wsv over to England. But the most
omusing fact of this kind that know of
l. one that was related to me by o gentle.
nan on whose veracity can place most
;,nnlicit reliance; and though it may APP
Near to some of my readers to border
mon p the marvellous | think it too enter
tanning to withhold it. He informed me
that friend of his, an officer in the 44th
regiment who had occasion, when in
paris, to pass one of the bridges across
the Seine, had his boots, which had been
previously well polished, dirtied by a
noodle dog rubbing against them. He in
consequence went to man who was
stationed on the bridge and had them
cleaned. The same circumstance having
occurred more than once, his curiosity
was excited, and he watched the dog. He
cav him roll himself in the mud of the
river. and then watch for person with
well.polished boots against which he con-
triyed to rub. Finding that the shoe
black was the owner of the dog, he taxed
him with the artifice and after little
hesitation he confessed that he had taught
fine dog the trick in order to procure Gus
toners for himself. The officer, being
much struck with the dogs sagacity, pur
chased him at high price, and brought
him to England. He kept him tied up in
London for some time, and then released
MIN. The dog remained with him for
dav or two, and then made his escape. A
fortnight afterward he was found with his
former master, pursuing his old trade at
the bridge.
Nor is the dog the only animal which
has shown an extraordinary faculty in
finding his way home. The following
anecdote is mentioned in note in Messrs.
Kirby and Spence's Entomology, who
state that they had it from Lieutenant
Anderson, of the Royal Engineers, who
was personally acquainted with the facts.
In March, 1916, an ass was shipped at
Gibraltar on board the lister frigate, Cap
tain Forrest, which was bound for Malta.
The vessel having struck On the sands OFT
the point de Cat, at some distance from
the shore, the ass was thrown overheard,
- of IN m Oh
a poor one, for the sea was running so
high that boat which left the ship was
lost. A few days afterward, however,
when the gates of Gibraltar were opened
in the morning, the ass presented himself
for admission, and proceeded to the stable
which he had formerly occupied, to the
no small surprise of its former owner.
Who imagined that from some accident
the animal had never been shipped on
board the lister. On the return of this
vessel to repair, however, the mystery was
explained and it turned out that Valiante
Isl the ass was called) had not only swan
safely to shore, but, without guide, COM
pass, or travelling map, had found his way
from Point de Cat to Gibraltar, distance
of more than two hundred miles, which
he had never traversed before, through a
mountainous and intricate country, inter
sected by streams and in so short a period
that he could not have made one false
turn. His not having been stopped on
the road was attributed to the circum-
stance of his having been formerly used
to whip criminals upon, which was indi-
Gated to the peasants, who have super
stitious horror of such asses, by the holes
in his ears, to which the persons logged
were tied.
have also been assured that .avorite
cat belonging to nobleman, and who had
been conveyed to his country seat more
than hundred miles from London, found
her way back to his house in town. Moth
ing can be more extraordinary than the
way in which bees find their way back to
their hive Place it among hundreds OF
others, exactly similar in outward appear
ance, or at the top of house in London,
or conceal it in the thickest wood, and the
bee will regain it without the slightest
difficulty. Huber says they fly to it with
an extreme rapidity, and as straight as a
=, ball from musket. Nothing can show
more forcibly the wonderful instinct which
has been given to these insects If they
experienced any difficulty in finding their
homes, how much time would be lost, and
how inadequate would all their labors and
industry be, to furnish sufficient store of
honey to exist upon during the winter
have always observed that when fresh
hive has been brought to my garden from
distant place, the bees employ them
selves on first leaving it, not collecting
honey, but in making themselves acquaint-
ed with all the neighboring objects, and
these objects may possibly serve to guide
them to their respective homes. Some
naturalists are of the opinion that this
recognition of home by animals is the
result of memory. Perhaps in some in
stances it is so, but memory could not
nave guided poor Valiante over two hun
ared miles of country, which he had never
passed before; and the same unexplained
instinct which brought him back to his
sable at Gibraltar, may guide the bee to
his hive.
"A, NJ, anst ~,