CHILDREN IX TRZ CAGES. 135 



been told, had been a lion tamer, and bad been killed by one of 

 the animals. Before his death this man had sometimes allowed 

 his wife to enter the cage with him, thus accustoming the ani- 

 mals to her presence — though with no thought, probably, of her 

 ever performing them professionally. Exactly how it came 

 about we cannot t^U, but probably she saw no other means of 

 support 5 at any rate, in the very cage in which her husband met 

 his death she set out to win her daily bread. We cannot vouch 

 for the story ; we cannot now even recall the name of our inform- 

 ant ; but for all that it may be true. We only remember that 

 she was harsher toward her animals than are most masculine 

 members ot the profession, and it is possible she was meting out 

 to them a sort of ^'poetic justice" for the murder of her 

 husband. 



Children have at times been introduced into these cages to 

 make the exhibition appeal more strongly to the sympathies of 

 the audience. The public always flock to see these scenes, how- 

 ever they may cry out against the barbarity of exposing a child 

 to the danger of being torn to pieces by wild beasts. In one or 

 two cases a little girl has entered the cage entirely alone and 

 performed the animals; but animals are often more tractable 

 with children than with grown persons, as probably many of 

 our readers have witnessed in the case of savage clogs. Mrs. 

 Bowdich says of a panther kept at Cape Coast, Africa, as the 

 pet of an officer, that he was particularly gentle with children, 

 lymg by them as they slept. Even the infant shared his ca- 

 resses without the slightest attempt on the animaPs part to in- 

 jure the child. Besides this docility with children the tamer is 

 always near at hand, sometimes in the guise of an- attendant, 

 keeping a watchful eye upon the animals, and ready to lend 

 prompt assistance should it be required. 



In Persia the leopard is trained to hunt gazelles just as a fal- 

 con will hunt herons. The huntsman provides the leopard with 

 a hood, which can be drawn over his face and mouth, and seats 

 him on his saddle-bow. The moment a deer or gazelle is sight- 

 ed the leopard's head is uncovered, and he is let down from the 

 horse. In one or two bounds, according to the distance, the 

 leopard springs upon the back of his prey and seizing it by the 

 neck brings it to the ground. The huntsman then comes up, 

 and after caressing the leopard, who has already begun to feast 

 upon the prey, he gives him a piece of meat to divert his atten- 

 tion, and slipping on the hood restores him to his place upon the 

 saddle-bow. When the leopard fails to bring down the prey, 

 which rarely happens, he hides himself and lies down, and can 

 only be prevailed on to renew the chase by repeated caresses. 



