The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1873-07-20

AEbNOAh6 AAesA-Ss 80 ~As.
+ The power or instinct animals exhibit OF
finding their way back to spot from
whence they may have been taken, by q
road never before traversed by them, has
long had deep interest for naturalists.
Da ssa 10 ss
certainly and their way back by means Of
sight. This is evidenced by the fact of
the long training required, and their in-
ability or disinclination to fly during q
fog. But this means Of finding out dis
sant locality cannot apply in the cases we
At vancouver's Island a gentleman had
a house on one side Of Esquimalt Harbor,
wherein he and his family resided. They
had a favorfte cat which was petteda great
deal. II SO happened that the ownergof
the house had occasion to change his, resi-
dence to the other side Of the harbor. The
while to reach the house by making orr
cult of the harbor, q distance of quite four
miles, mnst be travelled, and that through
q dense forestOf pinee thiekly under-grown
with brush wood. When the family re-
moved from one house to the other, pussy
was fastened securely into basket and
taken in boat across the harbor, and was
not let out of her prison until she was Sc
cured in a room at her new residence.
1t is quite clear in this case the cat could
not have seen anything of the route fol-
lowed by water from house to hO use.
Strange as il may seem, she made her es
cape during the night. and when on the
day following her removal some of the
family returned for articles left behind,
there was pussy, somewhat dirtyaand tired,
but in perfect safety. Now she could only
have reached the old residence in two
wsys-either by swimming the harbor,
which lie by no means probable, or she found
hac oh fho 1uha he had
never been before, and through thick I'M
derbrush, without any trail or path to
guide her and what makes the matter. far
more wonderful is the fact that the cat
must have passed close to an. Indian vii
lage round which Largo number of half
wild dogs were always pEowhng. -..
There is another story of somewhat SINH
lar character told of cat, which is, be-
lieve, we'll authenticated. "When liv-
ing,n says the writer, Cat Four Paths,
Clarendon, Jamaica, wanted cat, and
had one given me, which was nearly full.
grown: it was brought frsm Morgan's.
Valley Estate, where it was bred, and had
never been removed from that place before.
The distance was i've miles. Il was put
into o canvas bag and carried by man 3on
horseback. Between the two places there
were two rivers one Of them eighty feet
bread and two feet and . half deep, run
ming strong the other is wider, and moro
rapid; but less deep, over these rivers
at Four Paths for seme days, and when
considered to be reconciled to her dwelling
she was allowed to 60 about the house.
The day after obtaining her liberty she
was missing, and upon my next visiting the
estate abe was brought from, was quite
amazed to learn that the cat had come
back again. Did she swim over the rivers
at the fords, whore the horse came through
with her; OF did she ascend the banks for q
considerable distance In search of o more
shallow place, and where the stream was
less powerful : AT all events, she must
have crossed the rivers, in opposition to
her natural habits"
I myself once had favorite spaniel,
called Sport. He was lent to q friend,
who came to fetch him. Sport was placed
in dog.cart, and driven to my friends
residence, distance of over twenty miles.
The cart was SO made that air could freely
get in for the dog to breathe but by no
ssen during the journey. On his arrival
sport was tied up with q rope under the
Hanger in the stable. During the night
the dog gnawed his rope, made his escape
through q broken window, and he was
discovered early in the morning succeed
ing his departure sitting weary, hungry,
own residence. Now the question which
naturally presents itself is: how did the
dog fad his way back along a road, not
one foot of which he had ever seen before
The remembrance of particular objects
noted by the way could not have guided
the dog, simply because he had no oppor-
tunity afforded him of seeing them.
once, whilst living in. the Far West,
rode horse from my camp across prairie
to an encampment Of squatters, distance
of more than twenty miles. A river of
some width was crossed on the route, the
the horse being ferried over in large
boat. The animal had never travelled the
road previously, nor had it ever rua upon
the prairie, and yet during the night it
contrived to break it's tether line, and in
the dark to ind its way back to oar camp.
and what is more strange, the horse SEXUAL
ly swan the stream 1t had, during the day,
been ferried over in a boat. By what
meaps, it may be asked, did the horse con-
trive to fud it's way over q grassy waste,
never trodden by it previously, to given
point 80 far distantR There was no path
or trail, and in the dark the horse could
not, except by smelling, have retraced its
own footprints.
Many similar anecdotes are on record, to
which the following authenticated cases
NAV be added. A horse was turned. out
in some marshes adjoining the Thames.
The distance in q straight line from his