HOW TO MAKE FRIENDS WITS A LION. 293 



pass without paying at least one visit to his favourite 

 animals. And partly by his own natural talent for 

 going wherever and doing whatever he wished, partly, 

 I have reason to believe, by the still more potent aid of 

 an appeal to the pocket, he soon contrived to gain 

 admission, as it were, behind the scenes, struck up a 

 great friendship with the head-keeper, and was permitted 

 to do exactly what he pleased without any sort of inter- 

 ference from anyone. And he soon came to be on terms 

 of the most perfect friendship with the lions and tigers, 

 which would allow him to pull them about, examine 

 their claws, and, in fact, do just whatever he liked with 

 them. And all this amiability was due to his habit of 

 taking a small bottle of lavender water with him when- 

 ever he visited the menagerie, sprinkling a few drops 

 upon a rolled-up ball of paper, and then throwing it 

 into the cage. The animals used to go nearly wild in 

 their exuberant delight. They would grasp the ball 

 with both fore-paws, hold it close to their nostrils, 

 and then draw in a succession of deep inhalations of the 

 fascinating perfume, purring loudly the while. Then 

 would come, perhaps, a loud roar, expressive of deep 

 enjoyment, and then more inhalations ; and so on. 

 And after he had visited them a few times they used to 

 detect my father in the far distance, and dance about in 

 their cages with excitement, roaring loudly, until he 

 came up and produced his paper balls. 



But my father had that peculiar knack, enjoyed 

 only by a few, of making friends at once with any 

 animal with which he happened to meet. No dog ever 



