Another World Part 31

An animal thus captured is never so wild and vicious as when with the herd, and often becomes comparatively tame.

On the other hand, the animal increases in cunning, and if again set at liberty, he still remembers how he was once served, and utterly disregards the nuts with which he may be tempted.

In our world a plant grows wild, which is much liked by the hippopotamus. It forms a bulb which contains a sort of meal, while the stem contains a juice. In my planet large patches of ground, particularly in the vicinity of rivers, abound with these plants, which grow thickly together like wheat, and in long blades.

The beast eats these plants in the green, the ripe, and the over-ripe states; and as they are thrown up in some places when others have been exhausted, the herds will pa.s.s over large tracts of country to get at their favourite food.

The nearest approach to this food in your world would be parched flour mixed with water. It would of course be preferable if the plant itself could be found.

In confined situations, when the young are sickly, we feed them with turnips and new milk boiled together. This compound is with us a sovereign remedy, and almost invariably restores them, but cannot be safely administered till the animal is at least a month old.

XLVI.

WILD ANIMALS.

"The hippopotamus exceeds the mite in size, strength, and usefulness to man far less than do the riches yet concealed in the air, in the earth, in the waters, on the land, exceed those already possessed by Montalluyah."

I may mention here, that although the hippopotamus is to us the most valuable of all the wild animals, nearly all other beasts furnish us with materials that are turned to account.

The serpent, and particularly the boa, possesses wondrous properties.

Birds of prey, many insects, and, in fact, nearly all that has life, is turned to some use. The living animals generally contain electricity of more or less value.

A large body of professors are kept by the State solely for the purpose of examining the various medicinal and other qualities found in the fat, marrow, oil, bones, and carcases of animals.

This is the mode of capturing lions, tigers, and many other wild beasts, when it is desirable to take them alive:

The huntsmen selected are men of a fearless, daring nature, and of great address and agility.

A net of iron-work of very large dimensions is taken into the wilds most frequented by the beast. This net is placed on the ground and covered over with leaves and other, materials so as to be concealed from view.

Close to one extremity of the network a pit is dug, in which is placed a hut large enough to contain two men. The pit is then covered over, though an aperture is left sufficiently large to admit air and to serve for observation and egress from the hut, from the top of which is an opening corresponding to the aperture above.

In the centre of the net some dead goats have been previously placed with a stuff of a very savoury odour, which the beast can smell for miles off, and which is so strong that when he approaches, he does not scent the men in the hut.

The rest of the hunters lie in wait in a secure place. The two concealed in the pit are on the watch, and as soon as the beast has seized the goat or is fairly within the net, they give the alarm by hoisting a long pole, and the men in ambush slip out, and by a dexterous movement close all sides of the net, which is constructed with this view, so as to form one large cage.

The efforts of the animals to break out are useless; they first rage about in all directions, but the joints of the net are so constructed that they yield without breaking.

When it is not desirable to take the animals alive their capture is more easy. One mode of killing them is as follows:--A man stations himself among the branches of a high tree, near the haunts of the animals, and holds a long pole which hangs downwards, and at the end of this a dead rabbit is fixed, in which, besides a strongly-smelling stuff, is placed a deadly poison. As soon as the wild beast sees the rabbit, he makes a dash at the pole, seizes the rabbit, eats it and, the effects of the poison being instantaneous, falls down almost immediately to expire.

Dead animals are not allowed to be brought into the city, but are flayed in the country, where are also our manufactories and other establishments, in which everything valuable in the carcase of the beast can be readily utilised.

Some of our beasts are unlike yours, but the greater number are similar, though in many of these, the nature of the animal may be somewhat different. Tigers, for instance, are in form like those on your wilds, but are not without generosity. Thus, they seldom attack each other except when the females are young, and after a fight, when one of the males has prostrated the other, the victor will lick the wounds of the vanquished in order to heal them. After this the two will be friendly, the vanquished tiger resigning his pretensions without further struggle.

I will relate to you a "Tiger" incident that occurred in our world, a long distance from Montalluyah.

THE TIGER AND THE CHILD.

Our hurricanes disturb wild animals, numbers of which approach the outskirts of the towns bordering on the prairies. People are on the watch, for sometimes they have entered the habitations.

A curious incident occurred on the confines of one of these towns. A mother had gone into the next house to fetch something required for her household use, leaving her young child, about three years old, playing on the ground. The door of her cottage was open, and she little knew that a large tiger was prowling near. The watchers had gone into the field, and the tiger approached the outskirts of the town, close to the hut where the child was playing, entered through the door, and found the little innocent, who, not knowing what danger was, allowed the animal to approach, and even patted him. The tiger crouched down close to the pillow on which the child had been playing.

The mother returned, and, to her horror and bewilderment, saw this huge tiger, with her darling child fast asleep, its head resting on the belly of the animal. She was for a moment paralysed with fear, and was unable to utter a single cry, but, recovering herself, she ran and gave the alarm. No time was lost in communicating with the officials, and very soon hunters and men skilled in pursuit of wild animals were on the spot; but the comparatively short time that elapsed was to the poor mother, who saw the child of her affection, beaming with health, in the power of the monster.

The huntsmen viewed the great beast, but they were at a loss what to do; for the chief said, that if they shot him, even in the most vital part, he would most likely, in his death-struggle, kill the child. After some consultation, they procured a hook, fixed it firmly at the end of a long rod, and then took hold of the child's dress and pulled it by the hook gently towards them. The movement roused the tiger, who caught the rod in his mouth and broke it, as though desirous to retain the child. The child woke and cried, but the tiger licked him, and whilst so engaged the men managed to get partly over him the iron network (used, as I have described, to secure wild beasts), so as to disable him, and to get the child away. When the beast saw the child removed he uttered a piercing howl, such as had never been heard before, and, strange to say, the child was also grieved to leave the tiger, or, to use his own words, the "large beautiful cat."

The animal having been killed, the skin was dressed and presented to the mother of the child.

THE UNICORN.

There exists an animal in my planet like your heraldic unicorn. He is very graceful, but very ferocious, not heeding kindness, whilst harshness increases his ferocity.

One mode of taming him for a time was discovered--namely, to feed him with oranges! I saw one who, a few minutes previously had been dashing about with restless fury, and who, after eating some oranges, lay down quietly, and even licked the hand of the keeper who had fed him with the fruit.

Particular hurricanes bring swarms of insects, which never come near the unicorn; they seem to have a great antipathy to him.

XLVII.

THE SUN.

THE ELECTRIC STAR-INSTRUMENT.

"The infinity of the universe of worlds is but a faint reflection of the Infinite Power that created them. By His will they were called into existence. By His will they, and all that they contain, could be swept away in an instant!"

"Not even in thought can ye grasp the boundlessness of His works.

How then can ye measure the infinite might of their Creator?"

My palace stands on the highest ground in the uppermost city in Montalluyah. It is of circular shape, and has twenty floors and terraces raised one above the other, the circ.u.mference of each gradually diminishing from the lowest to the highest. There are no stairs, in your sense of the word, but we are raised from one story to the other with ease by electric power. Besides the internal communication, there is another circular tower of considerably smaller dimensions contiguous to the palace, with each floor of which it communicates by a species of temporary bridge, so that persons can be moved at once to the floor they desire to reach, without the necessity of entering the palace by a lower floor. This communication can be suspended instantaneously by stopping the electric generating power which acts from within the palace, and communicates subterraneously with the "Lift" Tower.

On the highest terrace of the palace, and dominating every part of the upper cities, and many of the other cities of Montalluyah, is erected my Observatory, whence I could observe the various worlds suspended in s.p.a.ce.

We had for a long time possessed instruments through which we could see many of the most distant stars, but with none of these was electric power combined, and their scope was not sufficient to solve certain problems of great interest.