Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1896-01-02
ANIMAL AFFECTION.
Instances of Strong Attachment Arnoni
the BruteS.

Instances of Strong Attachment Arnoni
the Brutes-
Wordsworth bears out to the lettel
the statement of the old Cambridge
scholar, that 1.-The dogge forsaketh no
his master, no, not when he is starcks
dead" The story of the Dog of Hell
vellyn" is given with sufficient detail
in Wordsworth's verses. For three
months it remained the only mournel
by the body of its master, until it wa
found by a shepherd, who recognized
it as the dog which he had seen with
the lost man on the high passes late
one summer evening. 4 shepherd gav'
the following account of the inciden
some years afterward. 'The unfor
tunate man." he said, twas a residen
of Manchester, who was in the habit o
visiting the lakes, and. trusting to hi
knowledge of the country had venturec
to cross one of the passes of Hell
vellyp late in the afternoon accompan
led only by his dog. In the dusk h
wandered from the track, fell over the
rocks, and perished. After many week.
of fruitless search the dog was discov
cred guarding his masters body" The
shepherd had never heard the poem
but concluded his story with exactly
the same sentiment, if not the same
words. "God knows" he said, "how
the poor beast was supported SO long.
The dog of Helvellyn" gained q mon
ument in Wordsworth's verse.
Another dog mourner has been hon
ored by a monument of stone This i.
the Edinburgh dog, "Greyfriars' Bob
by" which followed its masters body
to the funeral, and, after the burial
lay so constantly by the grave that the
keepers OF the graveyard gave it small
kennel in which to lie. It's masters
grave became from that time its home
and on its death it was honored with q
monument recording its devotion.
In the case of the dog the strongest
forms of the emotions of affection
jealousy and grief center round human
beings. They are shown in a very
minor degree in their relation to each
other. Perhaps the most curious in
stance is that of female which mated
for life with handsome male dog, for
which she reserved her entire affec
tions, and after his death would asso
ciate with no other-an instance both
of grief and constancy. But the minor
forms of sorrow are very readily evoked
in their dealings with men. why
should leave the dog at homer asks
the sportsman in Mr.. Oswald Craw-
ford's witty account of Portuguese
.'cacada." If / leave him at home he
will howl all dav, and my wife will
wish herself dead" Their sensitive.
ness under temporary disgrace or neg
lect is no less obvious; but canine sor
row is in its strongest form reserved
to deplore the loss of human friends OF
masters In no other domestic animal
is the emotion so constantly exhibited,
or in so strong a form, although Mr..
Rudyard Kipling's story of My Lord,
the Elephant iii founded on fact) shows
that that animal is sometimes capable
of as great devotion as the dog.
Horses and cattle, though attached
to individuals, do not usually exhibit
emotion at their loss. In all the rumi
nant animals the expression of emo
tion is very limited, and not easily
recognized. Cows certainly are much
distressed at the loss of calf. and deer
by that of fawn. On the other hand
the former are so inexplicably dull of
comprehension that in India it is the
custom to stuff the skin of calf which
has been turned into veal. and set in
the COW stable, which at once induces
the COW to continue giving milk. Cats,
when in distress, seem moved by exact
ly opposite causes to those which in
duce sorrow in the dog. They are in
fnitely miserable at the loss of their
kittens, and freouently adopt some
oJner creature in Their pace, but they
seem little moved by the death or sick
ness of human friends. But this is moi
always the case During the last in
fluenza epidemic a lady who was at
tackled was moved into different
room from that which she usually oc
cupied. Her cat a gray Angora, a.
once discovered this, and came and sa'
outside for some days, but was not ad'
mitted, for fear it might also catch the
universal plague. When it did con
trive to enter it sprang on the bed
purring and showing as much pleasure
as it had previously shown detection.
Wild animals naturally limit botf
their affections and regrets to eacl
others society. In the social life o
most animals there is so little differ
ence between the individuals that the
loss of one is easily replaced. 1t leaves
no gap in the daily life, as the loss o
a human being may in that of do
mestic animal. But Lord Lovat has
given a sufficient number of instance:
of the grief felt by wild deer at thu
death or wounding of their compan
ions to supplement the lesson of Sir Z
Landseer's picture entitled Highland
Nurses" in which the kinds are watch
ing by a wounded stag. Birds, which
since the days when Aeschylus de
scribed the hurried and anxious figh
of the vultures of their young have al
ways shown the utmost distress ant
grief at the loss of their nestlings
seem seldom affected to sorrow by an.
other circumstance. though Miss Ben
son, in her book. Subject to Vanity,
has lately given an account Of the in
human" indifference OF a hen Budjer
igar parrakeet when its mate was i'll
and of the obvious detection which thi
Indifference caused in the sick bird
But it is now doubted whether ''lov'
birds" die of grief after the loss of thei
mate, though the fact that one usual.
dies very soon, often only few hour
after the other, is not disputed. Blu
they are delicate birds, and the sam
unsuitable food or sudden draugh
which kills one. usually affects tn
other. They are probably victims, no
of sorrow, but of errors in 'domesti
hygiene. London Spectator.
You are right in it," remarked
the whale to Jonah. You bet am il
it," was the answer; 'and what i
more, if am not out of it in less thar