THE TAMING OF THE WILD 295 



leopard realised that these were creatures that 

 it was expected to kill. 



The cormorant and otter, which eastern 

 fishermen train as allies, are also no more than 

 half tame, and the same may be said of the 

 more homely case of the silkworm. The 

 worm, it is true, spins its silk, and the moth 

 lays her eggs, for the owner's benefit, but we 

 cannot regard these unresponsive insects as 

 recognising those who look after them to the 

 same extent as bees are known to do. 



It is a remarkable fact that when animals 

 that have been tamed revert to the wild 

 state, they seem to run wilder than ever. 

 Indeed, these " feral" animals, as they are 

 called, are generally better dead than alive, 

 for the mischief of which they are capable 

 is almost incredible. Our own house cats 

 escape to the woods and live by poaching, and 

 these are the worst enemies the keeper has to 

 reckon with, giving him far more trouble than 

 such natural poachers as the fox and stoat. A 

 solitary elephant, escaped from captivity, is 

 sometimes more destructive than even the 

 ordinary " rogue." There are many cases of so- 

 called "wild" cattle, camels and horses, which 

 are in reality only descended from tame stock. 

 Thus Australia has no native animal of its own 

 larger than the kangaroo, and the ancestors 

 of the " wild cattle" in the extreme north of 



