64 ANIMALS AT WORK AND PLA Y 



his own alarm was so extreme that he did not 

 observe the further demeanour of either till he saw 

 the tiger cantering away followed by the little dog 

 barking. It is, of course, just possible that the tiger 

 was * nervous/ and that the little dog merely ex- 

 hibited the impudence habitual to little dogs who 

 know that they can worry a horse or a bullock into 

 beating a retreat when quietly lying down in a 

 field. Extreme nervousness is often the accompani- 

 ment of great courage in certain animals, especially 

 of the larger kinds. Indian rhinoceroses, kept by a 

 Rajah for fighting in the arena, where they would 

 exhibit the most obstinate courage when matched 

 with elephant or buffalo, would tremble and lie 

 down at the unusual sight of a horse outside their 

 pen ; and the elephant is more liable to sudden 

 panics and alarm than any other animal. It is 

 strange to think of the same animal advancing 

 boldly to face a wounded tiger and receiving its 

 charge upon its tusks, and running away in uncon- 

 trollable panic from a piece of newspaper blown by 

 the wind across the road. 



It is said that the scent or roar of a bear in the 

 jungle will often scare elephants beyond control ; 

 and they have the same intense nervousness shown 

 by the horse at the sight of things unusual or out 

 of place. A big elephant which was employed to 

 drag away the carcase of a dead bullock, and had 



