The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-06-15
INITIATING ANIMAL SOUNDS. REMARKABLE INSTANCES OF
 USE OF RARE FACULTY.

Abyssinian's limitations That Be-
 trayed a Lion Hunter.
 The art of decoying wild animals by imitation of their cries is a very primi- tive one, practised by savages in all countries as means of procuring food. Many white men excel in calling" animals and birds, notably the moose among the larger animals, but if in- Guiry could be carried far enough it would probably be found, writes Lieut. Col. Andrew Haggard in Forest and Stream, that the most skilful owe their aptitude in this respect to the teachings of untutored savages, whose, lives depend upon the exercise of this gift. An exception to this origin of the art of calling may perhaps, be found in the art of using the hare pipe" which initiated the voice of the hare. This was employed largely in England in medieval times and was made penal
 offense in somewhat more modern days
 when utilized by poachers in the pur-
 suit of their nefarious occupation. young lad in the wflds of northern
 Manitoba was one of the most remark able imitators of animals whom I ever met. My young friend had been in- structed from his earliest youth by 8 Swanpy Indian in the art, with the re- suit that, at the age of 15, he could call any tame or wild animal about the
 backwoods settlement where he lived.
 His father. he and used to drive to- fhA,. s,,A@ sas1 +a
 rushy lagoons in search of ducks and geese, which abounded. The animals
 harnessed to the blackboard were mares
 each of which had a foal, and these foals used. as a rule, to follow the
 blackboard, cantering along behind. Never shall forget my astonish-
 ment one evening when, after having
 driven a few hundred yards from the
 Hudson Bay post, his father suddenly stopped the mares, saying: Rae, the
 foals have stopped behind; call them"
 Instantly. the lad commenced whinny | ing exactly like mare He repeated | the cry several times, ending up on | each occasion with two or three little
 natural shorts. The imitation was so exact that not only were the foals de- ceived and came gailoping up to join ] us, but it was almost impossible to be-
 lieve that it was not one of the mares that had called them.
 One evening when. out shooting
 prairie chicken, night fell upon us be-
 fore we got back to the wagon, to the | wheels of which we had failed to attach the mares properly. One of them we found close by, the other had escaped, and as it was a wet, misty night not a sign of her was to be seen anywhere. Then it was that , the boys ac- complishment proved most useful, for while his father and remained by the
 blackboard the youth sallied forth into
 the foggy darkness making sound to initiate the voice of a foal. He was 1 absent for half an hour, but returned l in. triumph with the missing mare. The way that boy could also initiate | ducks and geese was simply marvellous. l We'll do remember a trick he played one evening in the reeds. He had joined me, unknown to his father, who was standing about fifty yards away in the tall rushes, waiting for the wild l LcWL WtllSil hAll INV SpiitC. SLOuSttlIlS down by my side, so that he could watch his parent, the mischievous youth several times initiated the cry of
 wild geese, at first only the sound of geese at distance, then he made them
 seem nearer, until apparently over | head. The old sportsman was instantly
 on the alert craning his neck and peer | ing in all directions for the fowl, At last | frantic at not being able to see them,
 the old man shouted out to me, wild | ly: Where are the geese? Where are l they7"
 Here, father" answered the boy,
 rising from the reeds and bursting into
 a roar of laughter.
 It was lucky for him that there was,
 upon that occasion, a deep pool between | him and his outraged parent which ! enabled him to make tracks for home before the old boy could get around. It was once my lot to come across a | native in quite another part of the world who possessed similar &C., con1plishments. I cannot say that
 while he was with me he put them to
 any useful purpose, although he cer- tainly afforded occasional variety and
 amusement during a trying journey.
 was travelling through the Abyssinian province of Bogos, with my Egyptian
 staff officer, and English servant and
 8 bodyguard of rapscallions who called l themselves Bashi Bazouks They were
 a mixed lot-Asysinians, Beni Amer
 Arabs, negroes and all sorts, and a
 merry, undisciplined crew they were, | indeed. The native that refer to was
 an Absyssian, and he was the prin-
 cipal wag, or buffoon, of the crowd. l The country I was passing through
 was of the widest description it was, moreover, full of wild beats of every
 kind. Apart from the troops of hideous l grinacing baboons met with on tthe
 cliffs of the rocky passes, there were
 everywhere traces of lions, hyenas,
 wolves and jackals, and these animals,
 some of which we saw daily, used to make night hideous with their horrible
 howlings. My retainer, the Abyssinian
 Wag, however, was not content with
 letting us be disturbed by the real
 bowling of the actual wild beasts, for
 he would have his little joke.
 l On several occasions when we least
 expected 1t and were marching along
 in some narrow jungle clad ravine, the whole cavalcade would be stopped by | a terriblenOise in the thOrnV hushes