Part 17 (1/2)

ADMIRAL NAPIER AND THE LION IN THE TOWER.

Admiral Sir Charles Napier, K.C.B., when a boy in his fourteenth year, visited London on his way to join his first s.h.i.+p at Spithead, the _Renown_. His biographer tells us he was staying at the house of a relative, who, ”after showing the youngster all the London sights, took him to see the lions at the Tower. Amongst them was one which the keeper represented as being so very tame that, said he, 'you might put your hand into his mouth.' Taking him at his word, the young middy, to the horror of the spectators, thrust his hand into the jaws of the animal, who, no doubt, was taken as much by surprise as the lookers-on. It was a daring feat; but providentially he did not suffer for his temerity.”[143] This reminds the biographer of Nelson's feat with the polar bear, and of Charles Napier's (the soldier) bold adventure with an eagle in his boyhood, as related by Sir William Napier in the history of his gallant brother's life.

OLD LADY AND THE BEASTS ON THE MOUND.

When the houses were cleared from the head of the Mound in Edinburgh, a travelling menagerie had set up its caravans on that great earthen bridge, just at the time when George Ferguson, the celebrated Scotch advocate, better known by his justiciary t.i.tle of Lord Hermand, came up, full of Pitt.i.te triumph that the ministry of ”all the talents” had fallen. ”They are out! they are all out! every mother's son of them!” he shouted. A lady, who heard the words, and perceived his excited condition, imagined that he referred to the wild beasts; and seizing the judge by his arm, exclaimed, ”Gude heaven! we shall a' be devoored!”[144]

FOOTNOTES:

[136] ”Physics and Physicians: a Medical Sketch-Book,” vol. i. p. 174.

It was published anonymously in 1839.

[137] ”Life in the Mission, the Camp, and the Zenana; or, Six Years in India,” vol. ii. p. 382.

[138] Mark Lemon, ”Jest Book,” p. 237.

[139] August 20, 1713. Chalmers's edition of ”British Essayists,” vol.

xviii. p. 85.

[140] Up for lost.

[141] August 28, 1713. Chalmers's edition of ”British Essayists,” vol.

xviii p. 116.

[142] ”Memoirs of Antonio Canova,” by J. S. Memes, A.M. 1825. Pp. 332, 334, 346.

[143] ”The Life of Admiral Sir Charles Napier, K.C.B,” by Major-General Elers Napier, vol. i. p. 8.

SEALS.

A most intelligent group of creatures, some of which the compiler has watched in Yell Sound, close to Mossbank. He has even seen them once or twice in the Forth, close to the end of the pier. In the Zoological Gardens a specimen of the common seal proved for months a great source of attraction by its mild nature, and its singular form and activity. It soon died, and, had a coroner's jury returned a verdict, it would have been ”Death from the hooks swallowed with the fish” daily provided. We have heard seal-fishers describe the great rapidity of the growth of seals in the Arctic seas. They seem in about a fortnight after their birth to attain nearly the size of their mothers. The same has been recorded of the whale order. Both seals and whales have powers of a.s.similating food and making fat that are unparalleled even by pigs. The intelligence of seals is marvellous. Many who visited the Zoological Gardens in the Regent's Park in May and June 1866 witnessed instances of this in a seal from the South Seas, recently exhibited in London.

Persons on the sea-side might readily domesticate these interesting and truly affectionate creatures. Hooker's sea-bear, the species exhibited in London, was at first, so the kind Frenchman told us, very fierce, but soon got reconciled to him, and, when I saw it, great was the mutual attachment. It was a strangely interesting sight to see the great creature walk on its fin-like legs, and clamber up and kiss the genial-bearded French sailor.

DR ADAM CLARKE ON SHETLAND SEALS.

In Shetland, Dr Adam Clarke tells us the popular belief is that the seals, or, as they call them, _selkies_, are fallen spirits, and that it is dangerous to kill any of them, as evil will a.s.suredly happen to him who does. They think that when the blood of a seal touches the water, the sea begins to rise and swell. Those who shoot them notice that gulls appear to watch carefully over them; and Mr Edmonston a.s.sured him that he has known a gull scratch, a seal to warn it of his approach. Dr Clarke, in the second of his voyages to Shetland, had a seal on board, which was caught on the Island of Papa. He says:--”It refuses all nourishment; it is very young, and about three feet long; it roars nearly like a calf, but not so loud, and continually crawls about the deck, seeking to get again to sea. As I cannot bear its cries, I intend to return it to the giver. Several of them have been tamed by the Shetlanders, and these will attend their owners to the place where the cows are milked, in order to get a drink. This was the case with one Mr Henry of Burrastow brought up. When it thought proper it would go to sea and forage there, but was sure to return to land, and to its owner. They tell me that it is a creature of considerable sagacity. The young seal mentioned above made his escape over the gangway, and got to sea. I am glad of it; for its plaintive lowing was painful to me. We saw it afterwards making its way to the ocean.”[145]

DR EDMONSTON ON SHETLAND SEALS.

Every one familiar with seals is struck with their plaintive, intelligent faces, and any one who has seen the seals from time to time living in the Zoological Gardens must have been pleased with the marks of attention paid by them to their keepers. Dr Edmonston of Balta Sound has published in the ”Memoirs of the Wernerian Society”[146] a graphic and valuable paper on the distinctions, history, and hunting of seals in the Shetland Isles. As that gentleman is a native of Unst, and had, when he wrote the Memoir, been for more than twenty years actively engaged in their pursuit, both as an amus.e.m.e.nt and as a study, we may extract two or three interesting pa.s.sages.

He remarks (p. 29) on the singular circ.u.mstance that so few additions have been made to the list of domestic animals bequeathed to us from remote antiquity, and mentions the practicability of an attempt being made to tame seals; and also says that it is yet to be learned whether they would breed in captivity and remain reclaimed from the wild state.

The few instances recorded in books of natural history of tame seals refer to the species called _Phoca vitulina_, but of the processes of rearing and education we have no details. ”The trials,” continues Dr Edmonston, ”I have made on these points have been equally numerous on the great as on the common seal. By far the most interesting one I ever had was a young male of the _barbata_ species: he was taken by myself from a cave when only a few hours old, and in a day or two became as attached as a dog to me. The varied movements and sounds by which he expressed delight at my presence and regret at my absence were most affecting; these sounds were as like as possible to the inarticulate tones of the human voice. I know no animal capable of displaying more affection than he did, and his temper was the gentlest imaginable. I kept him for four or five weeks, feeding him entirely on warm milk from the cow; in my temporary absence b.u.t.ter-milk was given to him, and he died soon after.