GEESE. 



337 



known to the ancients, might have rendered it an object of 

 high esteem, and, even in some cases, sacred, as, for instance, 

 it was to Juno, the queen of their idol gods. In addition to 

 which it has other qualifications, proving the fallacy of the 

 proverbial libel, "as silly as a Goose." Thus, its watchful- 

 ness at night-time has always been noted, and it certainly is 

 endowed with a strong organ of self-preservation, for, as it has 

 been well observed, you may drive over cat, dog, hen, pig, or even 

 pigeon, but few, if any, can record an instance of driving over 

 a tame Goose ; and as for wild Geese, there are no animals, 

 biped or quadruped, so difficult to deceive or approach, their 

 sense of hearing, seeing, and smelling being so extremely acute ; 

 independently of which, they appear to act in so organised and 

 cautious a manner, when feeding or roosting, as to defy all 

 danger. Sportsmen could give instances without number of 

 their utmost skill being of no avail in attempting to approach 

 these birds ; either a careless step on a piece of gravel, or an 

 eddy of wind, however light, or letting them perceive the 

 smallest portion of their persons, has rendered useless whole 

 hours of manoeuvring. 



We shall briefly illustrate this part of our history, alluding 

 to their instinct and affection, by examples drawn from various 

 Bources, ancient as well as modern, corroborating them with a 

 case which occurred in our own neighbourhood. 



We have just mentioned that this bird was held sacred to 

 Juno, and we have good reason for supposing that, by the 

 Gauls, an ancient and barbarous people, inhabiting the northern 

 and western parts of Europe, it was held in almost equal esti- 

 mation. How long this continued we do not know ; but, at 

 the time of the Crusades, that famous expedition under- 

 taken by our ancestors in the reign of Henry the Second, about 

 seven hundred years ago, a Goose was carried as a standard 

 at the head of one of those irregular bands proceeding from 

 Europe to Asia with the design of rescuing the city of Jeru- 

 salem from the hands of the Saracens. Of its attachment to 

 the human race, Pliny, an ancient Roman writer, gives several 

 instances ; one only we select, as closely resembling that with 

 which we shall conclude. A person named Lacydes, a philo- 



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