274 THE WILDERNESS AND JUNGLE 



The word "taming" means something over 



and above merely accustoming wild animals to 



the presence of man and teaching them to take 



food and to allow themselves to be handled. 



This is done in every Zoo, and is, after all, no 



more than any schoolboy does with his " pets." 



All manner of singular creatures are made pets 



of, and one of the most curious I ever heard 



of was an immense South African rat, which 



Major Herapath saw at the front in the Boer 



War. He tells me that when he first saw the 



animal it was sitting on the saddle of one of the 



drivers of a gun team. The battery was 



inspanned, in readiness to move at a moment's 



notice, but the drivers were dismounted. The 



rat's story was rather pathetic. It had belonged 



to a Boer who was taken prisoner at Paardeberg, 



and it had always lived on its owner's saddle. 



The Boer had been much attached to his pet 



rat and, not knowing where he might be sent, 



or what would become of it, he had given it to 



the driver, begging him to be kind to it. 



Fortunately the Boer rat took a great fancy to 



the enemy, and whenever the gun was on the 



move, even when galloping, it would nestle 



securely on the inside of the man's leg just above 



the knee. When, however, he dismounted, the 



rat stayed on the saddle. Yet it was by no 



means friendly to anyone but its new owner, 



and when Major Herapath tried to make 



