156 THE CHRONICLES OF A GARDEN, 



it was eventually sent to tlie Zoological Gardens. It was 

 rather touching to see how instantly he recognised any of 

 his old friends while there, coming close to the bars of the 

 large cage, and clasping his long black fingers round their 

 hands, reluctantly letting go, and following them with his 

 eyes round the room as long as he could see them. He 

 died of consumption, a disease which carries off many of 

 these animals when brought to this country. 



The propensity to make pets of live creatures is by no 

 means confined to taming beasts and birds ; almost any 

 living thing Avill do, although no doubt this propensity is 

 most fully gratified when the pet returns the affection 

 bestowed, or even recognises its owner. Many animals, 

 generally considered disgusting, have been made pets of — 

 such as toads, newts, and lizards ; indeed, I can recall a 

 summer when a glass globe, usually filled with gold-fish, 

 about the most uninteresting of pets, was converted into a 

 fresh-water aquarium, and all sorts of queer creatures kept 

 therein. It was long before the days of aquariums, so 

 perhaps the novelty was one attraction ; but certainly no 

 one entered the drawing-room who did not examine and 

 watch with interest the reptiles and insects hving there, 

 an interest the pretty but stupid gold-fish never excited. 

 (3ne large water-newt was an especial object of curiosity; 

 he did not object to being taken out of the water and 

 handled : indeed he had to submit occasionally to be made 

 a plaything of by the children of the family, and more than 

 once he was dressed in a doll's frock and carried about 

 tenderly, the little fat forelegs of the newt being suggestive 



