Year: 1870

THE THING NEXT BEST TO REASON.


From Wilkes Spirit of The Times


The Captain Of trading vessel who
now resides at Brighton, picked up,
lately, dog at sea, more than go
miles from land. This circumstance
may throw some light on the fact of
dogs, which have been sent to France
or Ireland, from England, finding their
way back. The present Earl of l.
sent some drafted hounds from his ken.
mel in Cumberiand to Ireland, where
they were safely received and re-
ceipt given for them to the person who
brought them over. Three weeks af.
terward, two of these hounds made
their appearance at Lord LIS kennel,
though in very exhausted state. A
gentleman also informed me that a
pointer dog which had been left at
Calais, made its way over to England.
But the most amusing fact of this kind
that | know of is one that was related
to me by gentleman on whose verac
ity | can place most implicit reliance;
and although it may appear to some of
my readers to border upon the marvel


Gus, think it too entertaining to with
old 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
poodle dog rubbing against them He,
in consequence, went to man who
was stationed on the bridge, and had
them cleaned. The same circum-
stances having occurred more than
once. his curiosity was excited, and he
watched the dog. He saw him roll
himself in the mud of the river, and
then watch for person with well-pol-
ished boots, against which he contrived
to rub. Finding that the shoe-black
was the owner of the dog, he taxed
him with the artifce; and, after little
hesitation, he confessed that he had
taught the dog the trick in order to
procure customers for himself. The
officer, being much struck by the
dogs sagacity, purchased him at a
high price, and brought him to Eng
land. He kept him tied up in London
for some time, and then released him.
The dog remained with him day 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 facility in
finding his way home. The following
anecdote is mentioned, in a note in
Messrs. Kirby and Spence's Entomo-
logy, who state that they had il from
Lieutenant Anderson, of the Royal En-
gineers, who was personally acquaint
ed with the facts. In March, 1916,
an ass was shipped at Gibraltar on
board the lister frigate, Capt. Forrest,
which was bound for Malta. The yes
sci having struck on the sands off the
Point de Cat, at some distance from
the shore, the ass was thrown over
board, to give it chance of swimming
to land, poor one, for the sea was
running so high that a boat which left
the ship was lost A few days after
ward, however, when the gates of Glib
raltar 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 i'm
agined that from some accident the an
imal 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 Va
liante { so the ass was called, had not
only swan safely to shore, but without
guide, compass or travelling map, had
found his way from Point de Cat to
Gibraltar, a distance of more than 200 |
miles, which he had never trayersed
before, through mountainous and in
tricate country, interseeted by streams,
and in SO short period that he could
not have made one false turn. His not
having been stopped on the road was
attributed to his having been formerly |
used to whip criminals upon, which
was indicated to the peasants, who
have superstitious horror of such |
asses, by the holes in his ears, to which
the persons flogged had been tied.


have also been assured that IA
vorite cat belonging to a nobleman,
and who had been conveyed to his
country seat more than one hundred
miles from London, found her way
back to his house in town. Nothing
can be more extraordinary than the
way in which bees find their way back
to their hive. Place it among hun
dreds of others, exactly similar in out
ward appearance, or at the top of a
housein London, or conceal it in the
thickest wood and the bee viii regain
it without the slightest apparent diff
Guilty, Huber SAYS they fiy to it with